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<p>DEPOE BAY, Ore. (AP) — State Parks and Recreation officials say this week is an excellent time to see whales on the Oregon coast.</p>
<p>Ranger Luke Parsons from the Whale Watching Center in Depoe Bay says an estimated 20,000 gray whale are traveling south from Alaska to warm lagoons off the coast of Baja, Mexico.</p>
<p>The parks department marks its annual whale-watching week by designating 24 “Whale Watching Spoken Here” sites that offer the best viewpoints. Volunteers staff the sites from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., offering viewing tips and facts about whales.</p>
<p>Whale-watching week began Wednesday and ends Dec. 31.</p>
<p>DEPOE BAY, Ore. (AP) — State Parks and Recreation officials say this week is an excellent time to see whales on the Oregon coast.</p>
<p>Ranger Luke Parsons from the Whale Watching Center in Depoe Bay says an estimated 20,000 gray whale are traveling south from Alaska to warm lagoons off the coast of Baja, Mexico.</p>
<p>The parks department marks its annual whale-watching week by designating 24 “Whale Watching Spoken Here” sites that offer the best viewpoints. Volunteers staff the sites from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., offering viewing tips and facts about whales.</p>
<p>Whale-watching week began Wednesday and ends Dec. 31.</p> | Whale-watching week begins on Oregon Coast | false | https://apnews.com/417aa28994334aa488e076f2796854cf | 2017-12-27 | 2least
| Whale-watching week begins on Oregon Coast
<p>DEPOE BAY, Ore. (AP) — State Parks and Recreation officials say this week is an excellent time to see whales on the Oregon coast.</p>
<p>Ranger Luke Parsons from the Whale Watching Center in Depoe Bay says an estimated 20,000 gray whale are traveling south from Alaska to warm lagoons off the coast of Baja, Mexico.</p>
<p>The parks department marks its annual whale-watching week by designating 24 “Whale Watching Spoken Here” sites that offer the best viewpoints. Volunteers staff the sites from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., offering viewing tips and facts about whales.</p>
<p>Whale-watching week began Wednesday and ends Dec. 31.</p>
<p>DEPOE BAY, Ore. (AP) — State Parks and Recreation officials say this week is an excellent time to see whales on the Oregon coast.</p>
<p>Ranger Luke Parsons from the Whale Watching Center in Depoe Bay says an estimated 20,000 gray whale are traveling south from Alaska to warm lagoons off the coast of Baja, Mexico.</p>
<p>The parks department marks its annual whale-watching week by designating 24 “Whale Watching Spoken Here” sites that offer the best viewpoints. Volunteers staff the sites from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., offering viewing tips and facts about whales.</p>
<p>Whale-watching week began Wednesday and ends Dec. 31.</p> | 599,300 |
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<p />
<p>UNM’s Caroline Durbin (24) shoots past Eastern New Mexico’s Amber Williford in Saturday’s game. (Greg Sorber/Journal)</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The UNM women’s basketball team received a collective kick in the pants Saturday at the Pit.</p>
<p>It may have been just what the Lobos needed.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>After coasting to a one-sided 91-18 win over Northern New Mexico College earlier in the week, UNM had to work significantly harder in Saturday’s second and final exhibition game. The Lobos led Eastern New Mexico by just five points at halftime before pulling away for a 56-37 victory.</p>
<p>“We missed a lot of shots we make every day in practice,” Lobo coach Yvonne Sanchez said, “but credit to Eastern. They played harder than we did for a good portion of the first half. This was absolutely good for our kids.”</p>
<p>Caroline Durbin and Deeva Vaughn scored 11 points apiece to lead New Mexico, which opens the regular season at home Friday against Northern Arizona. Durbin and Vaughn both considered Saturday’s win good preparation.</p>
<p>“It was an eye-opener,” Durbin said. “Eastern played really hard, and our concentration was not what it should have been in the first half.”</p>
<p>Asked what she told her players after the sluggish first half, Sanchez shook her head.</p>
<p>“I told ’em I was gonna kill ’em,” she joked.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“Actually, I didn’t have to say much. They knew they weren’t playing well, and this team has a lot of pride.”</p>
<p>Vaughn confirmed no actual locker-room threats took place.</p>
<p>“No, we were all really quiet in there, though,” she said with a laugh.</p>
<p>With a late-arriving crowd of 5,747 still filing in, the Zias quickly accomplished two things Northern New Mexico never did – hitting a 3-pointer and taking a lead.</p>
<p>The Lobos, meanwhile, set a poor tone for the first half, needing nearly three minutes to score their first points. UNM shot terribly (8-for-31 from the field) throughout the first 20 minutes, missing several wide-open shots from inside 5 feet.</p>
<p>Vaughn scored nine of her points in the first half, when she was the only player for either team to make more than one field goal. New Mexico led just 23-18 at intermission.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“I just thought (the Zias) played smarter than us,” Durbin said. “We were rushing a lot of shots, not really executing our offense.”</p>
<p>UNM failed to work the ball inside much against the shorter Zias, but began to correct that oversight after halftime.</p>
<p>Chinyere Nnaji and Khadijah Shumpert cashed in easy post baskets early in the second half. Jayme Jackson followed with a layup on a slick pass from Bryce Owens to increase UNM’s lead to 31-22.</p>
<p>It was one of 10 assists for Owens, who could have amassed more with some better shooting by her teammates. As it was, the freshman point guard ended up with four points, seven rebounds, four steals and just one turnover in 28 minutes.</p>
<p>She became the first Lobo to post double-digit assists in a game since Mandi Moore did so in 2004-05.</p>
<p>“Bryce plays like a veteran,” Sanchez said. “She’s going to be pretty special.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Durbin was just 1-for-5 from the field in the first half and seemed slowed by what Sanchez called “sore ribs.” She warmed up in the second half, converting a four-point play and swishing a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions as UNM’s lead grew to 38-24.</p>
<p>“I’m fine, good to go,” Durbin said of her injury.</p>
<p>The Lobos steadily pulled away from there, leading by as many as 22 in the closing minutes.</p>
<p>UNM shot a more respectable 45 percent in the second half, but Sanchez was considerably happier about her team’s defense. Eastern finished with more turnovers (15) than field goals (12) and collected just four offensive rebounds.</p>
<p>Tara Johnson and Ashlee Pierson scored six points apiece to lead the Zias. — This article appeared on page D1 of the Albuquerque Journal</p> | Lobos Pull Away From ENMU | false | https://abqjournal.com/28536/lobos-pull-away-from-enmu.html | 2least
| Lobos Pull Away From ENMU
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<p />
<p>UNM’s Caroline Durbin (24) shoots past Eastern New Mexico’s Amber Williford in Saturday’s game. (Greg Sorber/Journal)</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The UNM women’s basketball team received a collective kick in the pants Saturday at the Pit.</p>
<p>It may have been just what the Lobos needed.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>After coasting to a one-sided 91-18 win over Northern New Mexico College earlier in the week, UNM had to work significantly harder in Saturday’s second and final exhibition game. The Lobos led Eastern New Mexico by just five points at halftime before pulling away for a 56-37 victory.</p>
<p>“We missed a lot of shots we make every day in practice,” Lobo coach Yvonne Sanchez said, “but credit to Eastern. They played harder than we did for a good portion of the first half. This was absolutely good for our kids.”</p>
<p>Caroline Durbin and Deeva Vaughn scored 11 points apiece to lead New Mexico, which opens the regular season at home Friday against Northern Arizona. Durbin and Vaughn both considered Saturday’s win good preparation.</p>
<p>“It was an eye-opener,” Durbin said. “Eastern played really hard, and our concentration was not what it should have been in the first half.”</p>
<p>Asked what she told her players after the sluggish first half, Sanchez shook her head.</p>
<p>“I told ’em I was gonna kill ’em,” she joked.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“Actually, I didn’t have to say much. They knew they weren’t playing well, and this team has a lot of pride.”</p>
<p>Vaughn confirmed no actual locker-room threats took place.</p>
<p>“No, we were all really quiet in there, though,” she said with a laugh.</p>
<p>With a late-arriving crowd of 5,747 still filing in, the Zias quickly accomplished two things Northern New Mexico never did – hitting a 3-pointer and taking a lead.</p>
<p>The Lobos, meanwhile, set a poor tone for the first half, needing nearly three minutes to score their first points. UNM shot terribly (8-for-31 from the field) throughout the first 20 minutes, missing several wide-open shots from inside 5 feet.</p>
<p>Vaughn scored nine of her points in the first half, when she was the only player for either team to make more than one field goal. New Mexico led just 23-18 at intermission.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“I just thought (the Zias) played smarter than us,” Durbin said. “We were rushing a lot of shots, not really executing our offense.”</p>
<p>UNM failed to work the ball inside much against the shorter Zias, but began to correct that oversight after halftime.</p>
<p>Chinyere Nnaji and Khadijah Shumpert cashed in easy post baskets early in the second half. Jayme Jackson followed with a layup on a slick pass from Bryce Owens to increase UNM’s lead to 31-22.</p>
<p>It was one of 10 assists for Owens, who could have amassed more with some better shooting by her teammates. As it was, the freshman point guard ended up with four points, seven rebounds, four steals and just one turnover in 28 minutes.</p>
<p>She became the first Lobo to post double-digit assists in a game since Mandi Moore did so in 2004-05.</p>
<p>“Bryce plays like a veteran,” Sanchez said. “She’s going to be pretty special.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Durbin was just 1-for-5 from the field in the first half and seemed slowed by what Sanchez called “sore ribs.” She warmed up in the second half, converting a four-point play and swishing a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions as UNM’s lead grew to 38-24.</p>
<p>“I’m fine, good to go,” Durbin said of her injury.</p>
<p>The Lobos steadily pulled away from there, leading by as many as 22 in the closing minutes.</p>
<p>UNM shot a more respectable 45 percent in the second half, but Sanchez was considerably happier about her team’s defense. Eastern finished with more turnovers (15) than field goals (12) and collected just four offensive rebounds.</p>
<p>Tara Johnson and Ashlee Pierson scored six points apiece to lead the Zias. — This article appeared on page D1 of the Albuquerque Journal</p> | 599,301 |
|
<p>By Zlata Garasyuta</p>
<p>MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s economy is seen growing slightly faster this year than previously and inflation is seen slowing, a Reuters monthly poll of economists showed on Thursday.</p>
<p>The median forecast of 20 analysts and economists polled by Reuters in late August was for Russian 2017 gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 1.7 percent, above last month’s call of 1.4 percent.</p>
<p>Even though Russia’s economic outlook has improved, the poll’s median forecast is still below the economy ministry’s forecast of 2.1 percent this year.</p>
<p>Russia’s economic prospects could improve further, however, if the central bank cuts lending rates as analysts expect.</p>
<p>Respondents said the conditions were now right for the central bank to trim the key rate, now at 9 percent, at its next board meeting on Sept. 15.</p>
<p>A resilient rouble and steady oil prices have given the central bank room for a rate cut, analysts at Bank St Petersburg said in comments with their forecasts.</p>
<p>The central bank is now widely expected to trim the key rate to 8.75 percent next month, taking it to 8.25 percent by the end of the year, the poll showed.</p>
<p>“There are the conditions for a further rate reduction, and a step of 25 basis points is optimal,” said VTB economist Alexander Isakov. “It insures the central bank against overshooting the trajectory which leads to 4 percent inflation.”</p>
<p>The Reuters poll showed 2017 consumer inflation at 4.1 percent, compared with last month’s forecast of 4.2 percent.</p>
<p>This marks a slowdown of nearly 17 percent from early 2015.</p>
<p>Now, when headline inflation has already hit a post-Soviet low of below 4 percent, the central bank may embark on monetary easing cycle after keeping rates on hold since in July, the economy ministry predicted.</p>
<p>Russian Economy Minister Maxim Oreshkin said earlier on Thursday he expected consumer inflation to reach 3.5-3.7 percent by the end of the year.</p>
<p>“We think this would be among the factors that open the door for monetary policy easing by the central bank,” he said.</p>
<p>The poll also showed that the rouble is seen trading at 61.60 versus the dollar in a year from now , slightly weaker than the 61.00 forecast last month.</p>
<p />
<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | Russian economic growth upgraded, inflation seen slowing: Reuters poll | false | https://newsline.com/russian-economic-growth-upgraded-inflation-seen-slowing-reuters-poll/ | 2017-09-01 | 1right-center
| Russian economic growth upgraded, inflation seen slowing: Reuters poll
<p>By Zlata Garasyuta</p>
<p>MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s economy is seen growing slightly faster this year than previously and inflation is seen slowing, a Reuters monthly poll of economists showed on Thursday.</p>
<p>The median forecast of 20 analysts and economists polled by Reuters in late August was for Russian 2017 gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 1.7 percent, above last month’s call of 1.4 percent.</p>
<p>Even though Russia’s economic outlook has improved, the poll’s median forecast is still below the economy ministry’s forecast of 2.1 percent this year.</p>
<p>Russia’s economic prospects could improve further, however, if the central bank cuts lending rates as analysts expect.</p>
<p>Respondents said the conditions were now right for the central bank to trim the key rate, now at 9 percent, at its next board meeting on Sept. 15.</p>
<p>A resilient rouble and steady oil prices have given the central bank room for a rate cut, analysts at Bank St Petersburg said in comments with their forecasts.</p>
<p>The central bank is now widely expected to trim the key rate to 8.75 percent next month, taking it to 8.25 percent by the end of the year, the poll showed.</p>
<p>“There are the conditions for a further rate reduction, and a step of 25 basis points is optimal,” said VTB economist Alexander Isakov. “It insures the central bank against overshooting the trajectory which leads to 4 percent inflation.”</p>
<p>The Reuters poll showed 2017 consumer inflation at 4.1 percent, compared with last month’s forecast of 4.2 percent.</p>
<p>This marks a slowdown of nearly 17 percent from early 2015.</p>
<p>Now, when headline inflation has already hit a post-Soviet low of below 4 percent, the central bank may embark on monetary easing cycle after keeping rates on hold since in July, the economy ministry predicted.</p>
<p>Russian Economy Minister Maxim Oreshkin said earlier on Thursday he expected consumer inflation to reach 3.5-3.7 percent by the end of the year.</p>
<p>“We think this would be among the factors that open the door for monetary policy easing by the central bank,” he said.</p>
<p>The poll also showed that the rouble is seen trading at 61.60 versus the dollar in a year from now , slightly weaker than the 61.00 forecast last month.</p>
<p />
<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | 599,302 |
<p>President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul law, upheld by the Supreme Court on Thursday, contains a slew of new tax provisions.</p>
<p>Some have been put into effect in the two years since Obama signed the law, including a tanning salon tax and tax credits for small businesses. Other provisions will be phased in over time.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Here is a look at major tax provisions in Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.</p>
<p>IN EFFECT</p>
<p>* Small business tax credits. For businesses with fewer than 25 workers and average annual wages of less than $50,000 a person, the credit is meant to offset the costs of healthcare coverage provided by the businesses. Set now at up to 35 percent of employer contribution for small employers and 25 percent for tax-exempt employers, the credit will rise by 2014 to up to 50 percent.</p>
<p>* Drugmaker fees. An annual fee on drugmakers based on sales and market share, this will raise $2.8 billion in government revenue for 2012-2013, rising to $4.1 billion in 2018. The fee then ticks back down to raise $2.8 billion in 2019 and later.</p>
<p>* Medical device excise tax. An excise tax of 2.3 percent on sales of medical devices is levied on manufacturers, which are responsible for reporting and paying the tax.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>* Tanning salon tax. A 10 percent excise tax on consumer payments to indoor tanning salons, it is collected by the salons at the time of service and passed onto the government.</p>
<p>BEGINNING IN 2013</p>
<p>* Medicare insurance tax increase for wealthy. This is an increase in the Medicare hospital insurance payroll tax rate for individuals with incomes exceeding $200,000, or married couples making more than $250,000. The rate will rise to 2.35 percent of wages from its current level of 1.45 percent.</p>
<p>* Unearned income tax. This is a new tax on investment income such as capital gains and dividends of 3.8 percent, on top of the current 15 percent tax, also for higher-income groups.</p>
<p>BEGINNING IN 2014</p>
<p>* Individual mandate penalty fee. Under the "individual mandate" portion of the healthcare law, Americans must have health insurance or pay a fee to the Internal Revenue Service.</p>
<p>The fee will be $95, or 1 percent of taxable household income, in 2014. By 2016, it will rise in phases to $695 per person, with a cap that equals the greater of $2,085 per family or 2.5 percent of household income.</p>
<p>* Employer mandate fee. Under the healthcare law, companies with more than 50 workers must pay the IRS $2,000 for each full-time employee they do not provide health coverage. The first 30 employees are excluded from the fee.</p>
<p>* Healthcare premium tax credit. This is a credit, based on a percentage of income, for low and middle income individuals to help them buy insurance in state-run insurance marketplaces.</p>
<p>* Health insurers fee. The government will collect revenue from health plans, beginning by raising $8 billion in 2014 and ramping up to raise $14.3 billion in 2018. Subsequent years' fees will be based on the rate of premium growth.</p>
<p>COMING LATER</p>
<p>* "Cadillac" health plan tax. This is a tax of 40 percent above threshold amounts on what are considered expensive policies. The tax, imposed on the insurer, is based on the value of plans with coverage costing more than $10,200 in benefits for individuals and $27,500 for families. Effective in 2018.</p>
<p>Sources: Congressional Budget Office, Internal Revenue Service, Kaiser Family Foundation.</p> | Closer Look: The Tax Provisions in Obama's Health-Care Law | true | http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2012/06/28/closer-look-tax-provisions-in-obama-health-care-law.html | 2016-03-03 | 0right
| Closer Look: The Tax Provisions in Obama's Health-Care Law
<p>President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul law, upheld by the Supreme Court on Thursday, contains a slew of new tax provisions.</p>
<p>Some have been put into effect in the two years since Obama signed the law, including a tanning salon tax and tax credits for small businesses. Other provisions will be phased in over time.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Here is a look at major tax provisions in Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.</p>
<p>IN EFFECT</p>
<p>* Small business tax credits. For businesses with fewer than 25 workers and average annual wages of less than $50,000 a person, the credit is meant to offset the costs of healthcare coverage provided by the businesses. Set now at up to 35 percent of employer contribution for small employers and 25 percent for tax-exempt employers, the credit will rise by 2014 to up to 50 percent.</p>
<p>* Drugmaker fees. An annual fee on drugmakers based on sales and market share, this will raise $2.8 billion in government revenue for 2012-2013, rising to $4.1 billion in 2018. The fee then ticks back down to raise $2.8 billion in 2019 and later.</p>
<p>* Medical device excise tax. An excise tax of 2.3 percent on sales of medical devices is levied on manufacturers, which are responsible for reporting and paying the tax.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>* Tanning salon tax. A 10 percent excise tax on consumer payments to indoor tanning salons, it is collected by the salons at the time of service and passed onto the government.</p>
<p>BEGINNING IN 2013</p>
<p>* Medicare insurance tax increase for wealthy. This is an increase in the Medicare hospital insurance payroll tax rate for individuals with incomes exceeding $200,000, or married couples making more than $250,000. The rate will rise to 2.35 percent of wages from its current level of 1.45 percent.</p>
<p>* Unearned income tax. This is a new tax on investment income such as capital gains and dividends of 3.8 percent, on top of the current 15 percent tax, also for higher-income groups.</p>
<p>BEGINNING IN 2014</p>
<p>* Individual mandate penalty fee. Under the "individual mandate" portion of the healthcare law, Americans must have health insurance or pay a fee to the Internal Revenue Service.</p>
<p>The fee will be $95, or 1 percent of taxable household income, in 2014. By 2016, it will rise in phases to $695 per person, with a cap that equals the greater of $2,085 per family or 2.5 percent of household income.</p>
<p>* Employer mandate fee. Under the healthcare law, companies with more than 50 workers must pay the IRS $2,000 for each full-time employee they do not provide health coverage. The first 30 employees are excluded from the fee.</p>
<p>* Healthcare premium tax credit. This is a credit, based on a percentage of income, for low and middle income individuals to help them buy insurance in state-run insurance marketplaces.</p>
<p>* Health insurers fee. The government will collect revenue from health plans, beginning by raising $8 billion in 2014 and ramping up to raise $14.3 billion in 2018. Subsequent years' fees will be based on the rate of premium growth.</p>
<p>COMING LATER</p>
<p>* "Cadillac" health plan tax. This is a tax of 40 percent above threshold amounts on what are considered expensive policies. The tax, imposed on the insurer, is based on the value of plans with coverage costing more than $10,200 in benefits for individuals and $27,500 for families. Effective in 2018.</p>
<p>Sources: Congressional Budget Office, Internal Revenue Service, Kaiser Family Foundation.</p> | 599,303 |
<p />
<p>Dear To Her Credit,</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>I have been working on my credit since April. I have two credit cards that I pay on time. I keep the balances low. I have a car note that I pay on time, along with a school loan payment.</p>
<p>How long will it take before I really see a drastic change to my credit?&#160;</p>
<p>- Corry</p>
<p>Dear Corry,</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Three or four months are not very long in the life of a credit history! It sounds like you're doing great, but you're going to have to be patient.</p>
<p>You should be able to see a difference in your score in that amount of time. One variable, however, is how often your creditors report to the credit bureaus. Some creditors report every month, or even more often, while others may report every few months. Chances are, your credit card companies report every billing cycle.</p>
<p>You can ask your creditors how often they report to the credit bureaus. If you're in a hurry to see improvements in your score, for example, if you're about to buy a house, you might even ask your lender to request a " <a href="http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/rapid-rescore-fix-credit_score-1270.php?aid=52aae854" type="external">rapid rescore</a>" service. Your lender generally pays an extra fee to have your credit score manually updated. It may raise your score in days, rather than in weeks or months.</p>
<p>If you have negative information on your report from before you started working on your credit in April, and the information is correct, you'll just have to be patient as you wait for the bad history to move further and further away in your rear-view mirror. When people have a long history of having trouble paying their bills, they can't expect potential creditors to be suddenly impressed by three or four months of on-time bill paying. There's only one way to build trust, and that's by doing what you say you will do, over and over again.</p>
<p>One thing in your favor is that you have a good mix of credit. Ten percent of your score is based on credit mix. A car note, along with your student loan and a couple of credit cards, should be a good mix. You're also doing well keeping your balances low. The lower you keep them, the better.</p>
<p>Have you checked your credit recently (you can pull your FICO credit score for about $20 at <a href="http://www.myfico.com" type="external">MyFICO.com Opens a New Window.</a> and your credit reports for free once a year from <a href="http://www.annualcreditreport.com" type="external">AnnualCreditReport.com Opens a New Window.</a>)? It may be doing drastically better already. If it's only improving gradually, give it some time. As long as your credit score is headed in the right direction, you're taking good care of your credit.</p>
<p>See related: <a href="http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/help/5-parts-components-fico-credit-score-6000.php?aid=52aae854" type="external">FICO's 5 factors: The components of a FICO credit score</a></p> | Building Good Credit Doesn't Happen Quickly | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/08/23/building-good-credit-doesnt-happen-quickly.html | 2016-03-05 | 0right
| Building Good Credit Doesn't Happen Quickly
<p />
<p>Dear To Her Credit,</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>I have been working on my credit since April. I have two credit cards that I pay on time. I keep the balances low. I have a car note that I pay on time, along with a school loan payment.</p>
<p>How long will it take before I really see a drastic change to my credit?&#160;</p>
<p>- Corry</p>
<p>Dear Corry,</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Three or four months are not very long in the life of a credit history! It sounds like you're doing great, but you're going to have to be patient.</p>
<p>You should be able to see a difference in your score in that amount of time. One variable, however, is how often your creditors report to the credit bureaus. Some creditors report every month, or even more often, while others may report every few months. Chances are, your credit card companies report every billing cycle.</p>
<p>You can ask your creditors how often they report to the credit bureaus. If you're in a hurry to see improvements in your score, for example, if you're about to buy a house, you might even ask your lender to request a " <a href="http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/rapid-rescore-fix-credit_score-1270.php?aid=52aae854" type="external">rapid rescore</a>" service. Your lender generally pays an extra fee to have your credit score manually updated. It may raise your score in days, rather than in weeks or months.</p>
<p>If you have negative information on your report from before you started working on your credit in April, and the information is correct, you'll just have to be patient as you wait for the bad history to move further and further away in your rear-view mirror. When people have a long history of having trouble paying their bills, they can't expect potential creditors to be suddenly impressed by three or four months of on-time bill paying. There's only one way to build trust, and that's by doing what you say you will do, over and over again.</p>
<p>One thing in your favor is that you have a good mix of credit. Ten percent of your score is based on credit mix. A car note, along with your student loan and a couple of credit cards, should be a good mix. You're also doing well keeping your balances low. The lower you keep them, the better.</p>
<p>Have you checked your credit recently (you can pull your FICO credit score for about $20 at <a href="http://www.myfico.com" type="external">MyFICO.com Opens a New Window.</a> and your credit reports for free once a year from <a href="http://www.annualcreditreport.com" type="external">AnnualCreditReport.com Opens a New Window.</a>)? It may be doing drastically better already. If it's only improving gradually, give it some time. As long as your credit score is headed in the right direction, you're taking good care of your credit.</p>
<p>See related: <a href="http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/help/5-parts-components-fico-credit-score-6000.php?aid=52aae854" type="external">FICO's 5 factors: The components of a FICO credit score</a></p> | 599,304 |
<p>&lt;a href=http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/SIPA-Balkis-Press-Sipa-USA-I-unknown-524106-0-/436e66e3d23c4a9897948c7df1686b15/8/0&gt;Balkis Press&lt;/a&gt;/AP</p>
<p />
<p>At a Monday press conference at the G20 meeting in Turkey, President Barack Obama was repeatedly asked by American reporters a version of this question: What are you doing to defeat ISIS? CNN’s Jim Acosta put it in <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/tv/cnns-jim-acosta-grills-obama-on-isis-why-cant-we-take-out-these-bastards/" type="external">these Twitterish terms</a>: “Why can’t we take out these bastards?” His passionate formulation seemed to imply that the Obama administration was not doing everything reasonably possible to vanquish ISIS. And throughout the presser, Obama explained that there was a strategy in place, asserted that other ideas (such as sending in ground troops or establishing a no-fly zone in Syria) were constantly being scrutinized, and expressed frustration that he was being asked the same question (what’s your plan?) repeatedly.</p>
<p>Obama was right. He does have a strategy, and for more than a year the United States has taken many actions to thwart ISIS. Whether these steps are the best that can be attempted (weighing all the complicated costs and benefits) is subject to debate. But Obama’s opponents—particularly those Republicans seeking to succeed him in the White House—often assail him as if he’s a feckless, do-nothing commander-in-chief who has no understanding of ISIS and has mounted practically no effort to counter these murderous extremists. But that’s hardly the case.</p>
<p>Ask the White House what the president has done to combat ISIS—the president prefers to call the group ISIL—and aides will quickly point out that Obama has forged a coalition of 65 nations that are supporting local forces in Iraq fighting against ISIS. This effort has launched 8,100 airstrikes on ISIS targets in a little more than a year. (For comparison’s sake, there have been about <a href="http://www.longwarjournal.org/pakistan-strikes/" type="external">400 drone strikes</a> against targets in Pakistan since 2004.) The White House notes that US military forces recently struck <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/International/us-warplanes-destroy-116-isis-fuel-trucks/story?id=35229047" type="external">116 ISIS fuel trucks</a> and disrupted the group’s oil-smuggling and financing capabilities. And two weeks ago the president announced he would be sending <a href="" type="internal">additional special operations forces</a> to work with Kurds battling ISIS in northern Syria. At the same time, Obama noted the administration would step up supplying equipment to anti-ISIS forces in Syria.</p>
<p>For weeks, administration reps have been describing their anti-ISIS efforts. In late October, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter <a href="http://www.defense.gov/News/Speeches/Speech-View/Article/626037/statement-on-the-us-military-strategy-in-the-middle-east-and-the-counter-isil-c" type="external">testified</a> on Capitol Hill and claimed that the US military effort to help moderate Syrians fighting to gain control of Raqqa, an ISIS stronghold in Syria, had made gains and that these Syrians were 30 miles from the strategically important city. He noted the overall air campaign against ISIS was intensifying, and he said the United States was prepared to provide more air support and equipment to Iraqi forces battling ISIS, provided that the Iraqis demonstrate progress and the ability to preserve recent gains in Anbar province. “We’ve given the Iraqi government two battalions’ worth of equipment for mobilizing Sunni tribal forces,” Carter said. “As we continue to provide this support, the Iraqi government must ensure it is distributed effectively.”</p>
<p>Carter cited recent successes on the ground: the <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/inside-isis-prison-raid-left-us-service-member/story?id=34649433" type="external">Kurdish-led hostage rescue mission</a> in northern Iraq and assorted raids against ISIS leaders: “The raid on Abu Sayyaf’s home, and strikes against Junaid Hussain and most recently Sanafi al-Nasr, should all serve notice to ISIL and other terrorist leaders that once we locate them, no target is beyond our reach.” He told the senators that all the ideas touted by Obama’s critics—a no-fly zone, a buffer zone, humanitarian zone—had been reviewed and pose their own challenges.</p>
<p>In a November 12 <a href="http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2015/11/249454.htm" type="external">speech</a>, Secretary of State John Kerry also outlined details of the administration’s anti-ISIS campaign. He said that the number of airstrikes was rising: “There were more than 40 just last night.” He added that “the coalition and its allies on the ground have defended Mosul Dam and other vital facilities in Iraq while also preventing a terrorist assault on Baghdad. We have driven [ISIS] from the critical border town of Kobani…We’ve seen the city of Tikrit liberated.” He pointed out that “thousands of American advisers” were training and assisting Iraqi security forces. “We have significantly degraded [ISIS’s] top leadership, including Haji Mutazz, the organization’s second in command,” Kerry added, “and we continue to eliminate commanders and other personnel from the battlefield.”</p>
<p>And there’s more: helping Iraqi forces aiming to take back Ramadi and boosting the shipment of supplies and ammo to Syrians fighting ISIS. Also, Kerry remarked, the Obama administration was trying to bolster the efforts of its European allies and those allies in the region: “Not long ago, [ISIS] controlled more than half of Syria’s 500-mile-long border with Turkey. Today, it has a grip on only about 15 percent, and we have a plan with our partners to pry open and secure the rest.” And, Kerry noted, the administration had been pushing a diplomatic initiative in Syria aimed at deescalating the conflict within that country, which, if successful, would allow for a more concentrated multilateral assault on ISIS.</p>
<p>“Remember, this [anti-ISIS] coalition has only been together for 14 months,” Kerry said. And administration officials like to toss out this particular stat: ISIS has lost between 20 and 25 percent of the populated territory it used to control in Iraq.</p>
<p>So Obama and his team can recite a long list of actions and a short—but significant—list of accomplishments. Still, the <a href="" type="internal">Paris attacks</a> (as well as attacks in Beirut and the downing of a Russian airliner, which have been attributed to ISIS) and the ability of ISIS to maintain its quasi-state within not one but two countries can be cited as a sign that ISIS, to some extent, is prevailing, even if it has lost ground.</p>
<p>Obama’s anti-ISIS plan is nuanced, multifaceted, tethered to the vexing realities of the region, and focused on long-term success—and it avoids the risks and unforeseen consequences of deploying American ground troops to directly engage with ISIS on Syrian or Iraqi territory. It does not involve grand or sweeping actions. It does not promise complete and immediate success by a date certain. Consequently, Obama is vulnerable to criticism from those who claim bolder (if sometimes unspecified) action would yield better and quicker results. Perhaps additional steps could produce more progress. For example, Brian Katulis, an expert on the Middle East and terrorism at the Center for American Progress, faults Obama for not leaning hard enough on partners in the region, such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey, to make busting ISIS a top priority. But with the national discourse so thoroughly shaped by politics and ideology, it will be hard to have a cool and reasonable debate over alternatives or add-ons to Obama’s approach.</p>
<p>The Bush-Cheney invasion of Iraq in 2003 unleashed forces and challenges that might require decades to counter, and Obama has been trying to implement a series of actions to end the danger that war generated. Yet any decent plan could take a long time to take out the bastards.</p>
<p /> | Yes, Obama Does Have an Anti-ISIS Plan “to Take Out These Bastards” | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2015/11/obama-does-have-anti-isis-plan-take-out-bastards/ | 2015-11-16 | 4left
| Yes, Obama Does Have an Anti-ISIS Plan “to Take Out These Bastards”
<p>&lt;a href=http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/SIPA-Balkis-Press-Sipa-USA-I-unknown-524106-0-/436e66e3d23c4a9897948c7df1686b15/8/0&gt;Balkis Press&lt;/a&gt;/AP</p>
<p />
<p>At a Monday press conference at the G20 meeting in Turkey, President Barack Obama was repeatedly asked by American reporters a version of this question: What are you doing to defeat ISIS? CNN’s Jim Acosta put it in <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/tv/cnns-jim-acosta-grills-obama-on-isis-why-cant-we-take-out-these-bastards/" type="external">these Twitterish terms</a>: “Why can’t we take out these bastards?” His passionate formulation seemed to imply that the Obama administration was not doing everything reasonably possible to vanquish ISIS. And throughout the presser, Obama explained that there was a strategy in place, asserted that other ideas (such as sending in ground troops or establishing a no-fly zone in Syria) were constantly being scrutinized, and expressed frustration that he was being asked the same question (what’s your plan?) repeatedly.</p>
<p>Obama was right. He does have a strategy, and for more than a year the United States has taken many actions to thwart ISIS. Whether these steps are the best that can be attempted (weighing all the complicated costs and benefits) is subject to debate. But Obama’s opponents—particularly those Republicans seeking to succeed him in the White House—often assail him as if he’s a feckless, do-nothing commander-in-chief who has no understanding of ISIS and has mounted practically no effort to counter these murderous extremists. But that’s hardly the case.</p>
<p>Ask the White House what the president has done to combat ISIS—the president prefers to call the group ISIL—and aides will quickly point out that Obama has forged a coalition of 65 nations that are supporting local forces in Iraq fighting against ISIS. This effort has launched 8,100 airstrikes on ISIS targets in a little more than a year. (For comparison’s sake, there have been about <a href="http://www.longwarjournal.org/pakistan-strikes/" type="external">400 drone strikes</a> against targets in Pakistan since 2004.) The White House notes that US military forces recently struck <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/International/us-warplanes-destroy-116-isis-fuel-trucks/story?id=35229047" type="external">116 ISIS fuel trucks</a> and disrupted the group’s oil-smuggling and financing capabilities. And two weeks ago the president announced he would be sending <a href="" type="internal">additional special operations forces</a> to work with Kurds battling ISIS in northern Syria. At the same time, Obama noted the administration would step up supplying equipment to anti-ISIS forces in Syria.</p>
<p>For weeks, administration reps have been describing their anti-ISIS efforts. In late October, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter <a href="http://www.defense.gov/News/Speeches/Speech-View/Article/626037/statement-on-the-us-military-strategy-in-the-middle-east-and-the-counter-isil-c" type="external">testified</a> on Capitol Hill and claimed that the US military effort to help moderate Syrians fighting to gain control of Raqqa, an ISIS stronghold in Syria, had made gains and that these Syrians were 30 miles from the strategically important city. He noted the overall air campaign against ISIS was intensifying, and he said the United States was prepared to provide more air support and equipment to Iraqi forces battling ISIS, provided that the Iraqis demonstrate progress and the ability to preserve recent gains in Anbar province. “We’ve given the Iraqi government two battalions’ worth of equipment for mobilizing Sunni tribal forces,” Carter said. “As we continue to provide this support, the Iraqi government must ensure it is distributed effectively.”</p>
<p>Carter cited recent successes on the ground: the <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/inside-isis-prison-raid-left-us-service-member/story?id=34649433" type="external">Kurdish-led hostage rescue mission</a> in northern Iraq and assorted raids against ISIS leaders: “The raid on Abu Sayyaf’s home, and strikes against Junaid Hussain and most recently Sanafi al-Nasr, should all serve notice to ISIL and other terrorist leaders that once we locate them, no target is beyond our reach.” He told the senators that all the ideas touted by Obama’s critics—a no-fly zone, a buffer zone, humanitarian zone—had been reviewed and pose their own challenges.</p>
<p>In a November 12 <a href="http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2015/11/249454.htm" type="external">speech</a>, Secretary of State John Kerry also outlined details of the administration’s anti-ISIS campaign. He said that the number of airstrikes was rising: “There were more than 40 just last night.” He added that “the coalition and its allies on the ground have defended Mosul Dam and other vital facilities in Iraq while also preventing a terrorist assault on Baghdad. We have driven [ISIS] from the critical border town of Kobani…We’ve seen the city of Tikrit liberated.” He pointed out that “thousands of American advisers” were training and assisting Iraqi security forces. “We have significantly degraded [ISIS’s] top leadership, including Haji Mutazz, the organization’s second in command,” Kerry added, “and we continue to eliminate commanders and other personnel from the battlefield.”</p>
<p>And there’s more: helping Iraqi forces aiming to take back Ramadi and boosting the shipment of supplies and ammo to Syrians fighting ISIS. Also, Kerry remarked, the Obama administration was trying to bolster the efforts of its European allies and those allies in the region: “Not long ago, [ISIS] controlled more than half of Syria’s 500-mile-long border with Turkey. Today, it has a grip on only about 15 percent, and we have a plan with our partners to pry open and secure the rest.” And, Kerry noted, the administration had been pushing a diplomatic initiative in Syria aimed at deescalating the conflict within that country, which, if successful, would allow for a more concentrated multilateral assault on ISIS.</p>
<p>“Remember, this [anti-ISIS] coalition has only been together for 14 months,” Kerry said. And administration officials like to toss out this particular stat: ISIS has lost between 20 and 25 percent of the populated territory it used to control in Iraq.</p>
<p>So Obama and his team can recite a long list of actions and a short—but significant—list of accomplishments. Still, the <a href="" type="internal">Paris attacks</a> (as well as attacks in Beirut and the downing of a Russian airliner, which have been attributed to ISIS) and the ability of ISIS to maintain its quasi-state within not one but two countries can be cited as a sign that ISIS, to some extent, is prevailing, even if it has lost ground.</p>
<p>Obama’s anti-ISIS plan is nuanced, multifaceted, tethered to the vexing realities of the region, and focused on long-term success—and it avoids the risks and unforeseen consequences of deploying American ground troops to directly engage with ISIS on Syrian or Iraqi territory. It does not involve grand or sweeping actions. It does not promise complete and immediate success by a date certain. Consequently, Obama is vulnerable to criticism from those who claim bolder (if sometimes unspecified) action would yield better and quicker results. Perhaps additional steps could produce more progress. For example, Brian Katulis, an expert on the Middle East and terrorism at the Center for American Progress, faults Obama for not leaning hard enough on partners in the region, such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey, to make busting ISIS a top priority. But with the national discourse so thoroughly shaped by politics and ideology, it will be hard to have a cool and reasonable debate over alternatives or add-ons to Obama’s approach.</p>
<p>The Bush-Cheney invasion of Iraq in 2003 unleashed forces and challenges that might require decades to counter, and Obama has been trying to implement a series of actions to end the danger that war generated. Yet any decent plan could take a long time to take out the bastards.</p>
<p /> | 599,305 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>A 16-yr-old African American boy was sexually assaulted by a police officer during a “stop and frisk” pat-down. The assault was committed with such violence that the youth’s testicles were literally ruptured.</p>
<p>Now, Darrin Manning of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania may never be able to father children, according to the doctors who performed surgery on his virtually destroyed testicles.</p>
<p>Darrin was a star basketball player with no criminal history to speak of. He was a straight-A student who never got into any sort of trouble. He was with his teammates heading to a game right after school when he encountered an officer who decided he was “suspicious” and needed to be subjected to local “stop and frisk” procedures.</p>
<p>All of the boys with Darrin had scarves covering the lower parts of their faces. But this was simply due to the extreme cold weather that had swept the region, with record-low temperatures that day.</p>
<p>Veronica Joyner, the Principal of the high school the teens attended, said that she herself had given the boys scarves to wear to keep warm in the freezing temperatures. Twenty minutes later, she was informed of Darrin’s “arrest.”</p>
<p>Darrin was put in handcuffs. When the officer began “frisking” him, they grabbed hold of Darrin’s genitals so hard, pulled and twisted, that the teen’s genitals literally tore off.</p>
<p>“I felt her reach, and she grabbed my butt. And then she grabbed and squeezed again and pulled down. And that’s when I heard something pop, like I felt it&#160;POP,” Manning said.</p>
<p>Keon Gerow, Pastor of Catalyst for Change Church, said “We want to have some questions answered and some accountability. We want the entire public to be aware, not only of the Darrin Manning situation, but the entire issue of police brutality.”</p>
<p>This story is without question one of the most severe cases of documented police abuses of power, brutality and sexual assault. Watch the video below and SPREAD THE WORD! There is no excuse for staying silent about this!</p>
<p>(Article by M.B. David; image via local Fox)</p> | Cop ‘Stops And Frisks’ African American Teen, Literally Destroying His Genitals | true | http://politicalblindspot.com/stop-and-frisk-of-african-american-teen/ | 2014-01-22 | 4left
| Cop ‘Stops And Frisks’ African American Teen, Literally Destroying His Genitals
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p>A 16-yr-old African American boy was sexually assaulted by a police officer during a “stop and frisk” pat-down. The assault was committed with such violence that the youth’s testicles were literally ruptured.</p>
<p>Now, Darrin Manning of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania may never be able to father children, according to the doctors who performed surgery on his virtually destroyed testicles.</p>
<p>Darrin was a star basketball player with no criminal history to speak of. He was a straight-A student who never got into any sort of trouble. He was with his teammates heading to a game right after school when he encountered an officer who decided he was “suspicious” and needed to be subjected to local “stop and frisk” procedures.</p>
<p>All of the boys with Darrin had scarves covering the lower parts of their faces. But this was simply due to the extreme cold weather that had swept the region, with record-low temperatures that day.</p>
<p>Veronica Joyner, the Principal of the high school the teens attended, said that she herself had given the boys scarves to wear to keep warm in the freezing temperatures. Twenty minutes later, she was informed of Darrin’s “arrest.”</p>
<p>Darrin was put in handcuffs. When the officer began “frisking” him, they grabbed hold of Darrin’s genitals so hard, pulled and twisted, that the teen’s genitals literally tore off.</p>
<p>“I felt her reach, and she grabbed my butt. And then she grabbed and squeezed again and pulled down. And that’s when I heard something pop, like I felt it&#160;POP,” Manning said.</p>
<p>Keon Gerow, Pastor of Catalyst for Change Church, said “We want to have some questions answered and some accountability. We want the entire public to be aware, not only of the Darrin Manning situation, but the entire issue of police brutality.”</p>
<p>This story is without question one of the most severe cases of documented police abuses of power, brutality and sexual assault. Watch the video below and SPREAD THE WORD! There is no excuse for staying silent about this!</p>
<p>(Article by M.B. David; image via local Fox)</p> | 599,306 |
<p>Fiat SpA has told the minority shareholder in Chrysler Group LLC of its intention to buy another 3.3 percent stake in the smallest U.S. automaker for $198 million, the Italian automaker said on Thursday.</p>
<p>The announcement is another step to fulfil Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne's aim for Fiat to own all of Chrysler by buying the 41.5 percent stake now owned by the retiree healthcare trust fund affiliated with the United Auto Workers union.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The two investors have been wrangling over Chrysler's value since last year, when the UAW trust fund rebuffed Fiat's attempts to buy a 3.3 percent stake in Chrysler for $139.7 million, saying the price was too low.</p>
<p>Fiat, which owns 58.5 percent of Chrysler, then sued the UAW trust fund, and the two parties are attempting to resolve the dispute in a Delaware court.</p>
<p>A determination by the court "is currently expected within the next several months," Fiat said in a statement. If this sale and the transaction announced Thursday go through, Fiat will own 65.17 percent of Chrysler.</p>
<p>The UAW trust, known as a VEBA, or voluntary employees beneficiary association, took the stake in Chrysler during the carmaker's U.S.-government-led restructuring in 2009.</p>
<p>The entity, which manages medical benefits for 824,000 blue-collar retirees, is seeking to maximize the holding's value to cover escalating healthcare costs for Chrysler's retirees.</p>
<p>Fiat holds options to buy up to 40 percent of Chrysler owned by the UAW trust that can be exercised until the end of June 2016.</p>
<p>The price will be based on a multiple - not exceeding Fiat's multiples - of Chrysler's core earnings in the past four quarters, less net industrial debt, Fiat said on Thursday.</p>
<p>A spokesman and an attorney for the VEBA did not have an immediate comment on Fiat's announcement.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | Fiat aims to boost Chrysler stake | true | http://foxbusiness.com/2013/01/03/fiat-aims-to-boost-chrysler-stake-amid-legal-tussle-713025899.html | 2016-03-02 | 0right
| Fiat aims to boost Chrysler stake
<p>Fiat SpA has told the minority shareholder in Chrysler Group LLC of its intention to buy another 3.3 percent stake in the smallest U.S. automaker for $198 million, the Italian automaker said on Thursday.</p>
<p>The announcement is another step to fulfil Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne's aim for Fiat to own all of Chrysler by buying the 41.5 percent stake now owned by the retiree healthcare trust fund affiliated with the United Auto Workers union.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The two investors have been wrangling over Chrysler's value since last year, when the UAW trust fund rebuffed Fiat's attempts to buy a 3.3 percent stake in Chrysler for $139.7 million, saying the price was too low.</p>
<p>Fiat, which owns 58.5 percent of Chrysler, then sued the UAW trust fund, and the two parties are attempting to resolve the dispute in a Delaware court.</p>
<p>A determination by the court "is currently expected within the next several months," Fiat said in a statement. If this sale and the transaction announced Thursday go through, Fiat will own 65.17 percent of Chrysler.</p>
<p>The UAW trust, known as a VEBA, or voluntary employees beneficiary association, took the stake in Chrysler during the carmaker's U.S.-government-led restructuring in 2009.</p>
<p>The entity, which manages medical benefits for 824,000 blue-collar retirees, is seeking to maximize the holding's value to cover escalating healthcare costs for Chrysler's retirees.</p>
<p>Fiat holds options to buy up to 40 percent of Chrysler owned by the UAW trust that can be exercised until the end of June 2016.</p>
<p>The price will be based on a multiple - not exceeding Fiat's multiples - of Chrysler's core earnings in the past four quarters, less net industrial debt, Fiat said on Thursday.</p>
<p>A spokesman and an attorney for the VEBA did not have an immediate comment on Fiat's announcement.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p> | 599,307 |
<p>Ukrainian lawmakers have backed a controversial draft law granting the Russian the status of a regional language.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/06/world/europe/ukraine-russian-language-law-wins-first-passage-in-parliament.html" type="external">According to the Associated Press</a>, the use of Russian in Ukraine - where Ukrainian just over half the population use Ukrainian, also the official language - is one of the country's most divisive topics.</p>
<p>A debate on the law in parliament last month ended in a fight that left one lawmaker hospitalized, while riot police were called in to quell a crowd of protesters in Kiev during the vote yesterday.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ukrainianjournal.com/index.php?w=article&amp;id=14601" type="external">According to the Ukrainian Journal</a>, as many as 9,000 demonstrators gathered in front of the parliament building and pelted police with eggs and bottles when news of the vote in favor of moving the legislation onto a second reading emerged.</p>
<p>According to the Journal, the bill would allow a given territory to declare a second official language if at least 10 percent of the people living in the area speak that language.</p>
<p>Based on that condition, Russian would become the an official language in 13 out of Ukraine's 27 administrative-territorial entities, including the cities of Kiev and Sevastopol, <a href="http://en.ria.ru/world/20120605/173867105.html" type="external">RIA Novosti reported</a>.</p>
<p>The bill, passed by 234 votes with a required minimum of 226, has been criticized as an attempt by President Viktor Yanukovych to mobilize voters in Russian-speaking areas. Yanukovych promised to make Russian a second language during his presidential campaign last year.&#160;</p>
<p>Russia's parliament welcomed the vote, with <a href="http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_06_06/77189391/" type="external">the Voice of Russia citing</a> State Duma spokesman Leonid Slutsky as noting that Moscow "is interested in the highest possible status of the language in which millions of people in Ukraine think and speak.?</p>
<p>He also said it would help in the "development" of relations between the two countries.</p>
<p>Ukraine is preparing to host the 2012 UEFA European soccer championships beginning Friday.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/world-at-play/soccer-fans-safe-poland-despite-racism-fears-government-sa" type="external">Poland, Ukraine safe for Euro 2012 soccer fans</a></p> | Ukraine moves divisive Russian language bill to next stage | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-06-06/ukraine-moves-divisive-russian-language-bill-next-stage | 2012-06-06 | 3left-center
| Ukraine moves divisive Russian language bill to next stage
<p>Ukrainian lawmakers have backed a controversial draft law granting the Russian the status of a regional language.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/06/world/europe/ukraine-russian-language-law-wins-first-passage-in-parliament.html" type="external">According to the Associated Press</a>, the use of Russian in Ukraine - where Ukrainian just over half the population use Ukrainian, also the official language - is one of the country's most divisive topics.</p>
<p>A debate on the law in parliament last month ended in a fight that left one lawmaker hospitalized, while riot police were called in to quell a crowd of protesters in Kiev during the vote yesterday.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ukrainianjournal.com/index.php?w=article&amp;id=14601" type="external">According to the Ukrainian Journal</a>, as many as 9,000 demonstrators gathered in front of the parliament building and pelted police with eggs and bottles when news of the vote in favor of moving the legislation onto a second reading emerged.</p>
<p>According to the Journal, the bill would allow a given territory to declare a second official language if at least 10 percent of the people living in the area speak that language.</p>
<p>Based on that condition, Russian would become the an official language in 13 out of Ukraine's 27 administrative-territorial entities, including the cities of Kiev and Sevastopol, <a href="http://en.ria.ru/world/20120605/173867105.html" type="external">RIA Novosti reported</a>.</p>
<p>The bill, passed by 234 votes with a required minimum of 226, has been criticized as an attempt by President Viktor Yanukovych to mobilize voters in Russian-speaking areas. Yanukovych promised to make Russian a second language during his presidential campaign last year.&#160;</p>
<p>Russia's parliament welcomed the vote, with <a href="http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_06_06/77189391/" type="external">the Voice of Russia citing</a> State Duma spokesman Leonid Slutsky as noting that Moscow "is interested in the highest possible status of the language in which millions of people in Ukraine think and speak.?</p>
<p>He also said it would help in the "development" of relations between the two countries.</p>
<p>Ukraine is preparing to host the 2012 UEFA European soccer championships beginning Friday.</p>
<p>More from GlobalPost:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/world-at-play/soccer-fans-safe-poland-despite-racism-fears-government-sa" type="external">Poland, Ukraine safe for Euro 2012 soccer fans</a></p> | 599,308 |
<p>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/spirit_rainbow_sunshine/3862588859/"&gt;Rockin Robin&lt;/a&gt;/Flickr</p>
<p />
<p>Texas Gov. Rick Perry and fellow Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20115279-503544.html" type="external">sparred</a> last weekend over Perry’s suggestion that the threat of Mexican drug violence spilling into the United States “may require our military in Mexico…to kill these drug cartels and to keep them off of our border and to destroy their networks.” Liberals <a href="" type="internal">mocked Perry’s comments</a>, and on Thursday, a border town judge chided both candidates in a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/opinion/rick-perry-is-wrong-about-el-paso.html?ref=opinion" type="external">New York Times op-ed</a> for their “quasi-military approach [that] ignores the need for real solutions to our economic and social challenges.”</p>
<p>In her piece, El Paso County Judge Veronica Escobar claims that Perry’s border hawk posturing—for instance, saying President Obama was either poorly informed or <a href="http://www.factcheck.org/2011/09/factchecking-the-reagan-debate/" type="external">“an abject liar”</a> for claiming in a <a href="http://www.hulu.com/watch/240385/the-obama-administration-president-urges-support-for-immigration-reform" type="external">spring speech</a> that El Paso and other border cities had become safer on his watch—could actually end up hurting places like El Paso. According to a July report in <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2011-07-15-border-violence-main_n.htm" type="external">USA&#160;Today</a>, the border city has recently “seen sharp declines in violent crimes despite being in the shadow of Ciudad Juárez, one of the main battlegrounds of Mexico’s drug wars where 3,400 people were murdered last year.” Writes Escobar, a Democrat: “Claims about our supposedly dangerous border would be laughable if they didn’t damage our image and our ability to recruit talent, investment and events.”</p>
<p>She continues:&#160;</p>
<p>Mr. Perry is far from alone. Many Republican politicians—and not a few Democrats, too—use the bogeyman of border violence to justify exorbitant security measures, like the ever-lengthening border fence that costs $2.8 million per mile (for a total of $6.5 billion, including maintenance, over the 20-year lifetime of the fence). Mr. Perry’s brainchild, security cameras, have so far cost $4 million to put in place and maintain.</p>
<p>These measures do little besides waste money. Tunnels already run below the border fence. During their first two years in operation, Mr. Perry’s cameras led to the arrest of a whopping 26 people—that’s $154,000 per arrest. And once undocumented immigrants are apprehended, costs continue to mount: in this fiscal year alone, the federal government is budgeting $2 billion just for detention.</p>
<p>Those facts haven’t stopped the likes of Romney and “every mile, every yard, every foot, every inch” <a href="" type="internal">Michele Bachmann</a> from talking up the idea of a fence running the entire length of southern border. Still, as unlikely (and unmanageable)&#160;as it seems, don’t look now:&#160;The <a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.R.1299:" type="external">Secure Border Act of 2011</a>—which would require the Department of Homeland Security to gain “operational control”&#160;of US&#160;borders within five years—just recently made its way through the <a href="http://homeland.house.gov/press-release/homeland-security-committee-passes-transportation-and-border-security-bills" type="external">House Homeland Security Committee</a>.</p>
<p /> | El Paso Judge Tells Perry Et Al. to Get Smarter, Not Tougher, on Border | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2011/10/el-paso-judge-perry-romney-border/ | 2011-10-06 | 4left
| El Paso Judge Tells Perry Et Al. to Get Smarter, Not Tougher, on Border
<p>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/spirit_rainbow_sunshine/3862588859/"&gt;Rockin Robin&lt;/a&gt;/Flickr</p>
<p />
<p>Texas Gov. Rick Perry and fellow Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20115279-503544.html" type="external">sparred</a> last weekend over Perry’s suggestion that the threat of Mexican drug violence spilling into the United States “may require our military in Mexico…to kill these drug cartels and to keep them off of our border and to destroy their networks.” Liberals <a href="" type="internal">mocked Perry’s comments</a>, and on Thursday, a border town judge chided both candidates in a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/opinion/rick-perry-is-wrong-about-el-paso.html?ref=opinion" type="external">New York Times op-ed</a> for their “quasi-military approach [that] ignores the need for real solutions to our economic and social challenges.”</p>
<p>In her piece, El Paso County Judge Veronica Escobar claims that Perry’s border hawk posturing—for instance, saying President Obama was either poorly informed or <a href="http://www.factcheck.org/2011/09/factchecking-the-reagan-debate/" type="external">“an abject liar”</a> for claiming in a <a href="http://www.hulu.com/watch/240385/the-obama-administration-president-urges-support-for-immigration-reform" type="external">spring speech</a> that El Paso and other border cities had become safer on his watch—could actually end up hurting places like El Paso. According to a July report in <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2011-07-15-border-violence-main_n.htm" type="external">USA&#160;Today</a>, the border city has recently “seen sharp declines in violent crimes despite being in the shadow of Ciudad Juárez, one of the main battlegrounds of Mexico’s drug wars where 3,400 people were murdered last year.” Writes Escobar, a Democrat: “Claims about our supposedly dangerous border would be laughable if they didn’t damage our image and our ability to recruit talent, investment and events.”</p>
<p>She continues:&#160;</p>
<p>Mr. Perry is far from alone. Many Republican politicians—and not a few Democrats, too—use the bogeyman of border violence to justify exorbitant security measures, like the ever-lengthening border fence that costs $2.8 million per mile (for a total of $6.5 billion, including maintenance, over the 20-year lifetime of the fence). Mr. Perry’s brainchild, security cameras, have so far cost $4 million to put in place and maintain.</p>
<p>These measures do little besides waste money. Tunnels already run below the border fence. During their first two years in operation, Mr. Perry’s cameras led to the arrest of a whopping 26 people—that’s $154,000 per arrest. And once undocumented immigrants are apprehended, costs continue to mount: in this fiscal year alone, the federal government is budgeting $2 billion just for detention.</p>
<p>Those facts haven’t stopped the likes of Romney and “every mile, every yard, every foot, every inch” <a href="" type="internal">Michele Bachmann</a> from talking up the idea of a fence running the entire length of southern border. Still, as unlikely (and unmanageable)&#160;as it seems, don’t look now:&#160;The <a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.R.1299:" type="external">Secure Border Act of 2011</a>—which would require the Department of Homeland Security to gain “operational control”&#160;of US&#160;borders within five years—just recently made its way through the <a href="http://homeland.house.gov/press-release/homeland-security-committee-passes-transportation-and-border-security-bills" type="external">House Homeland Security Committee</a>.</p>
<p /> | 599,309 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Rather, it was for the absolute master class she offered in that elusive quality of leadership: “authenticity.” It is among the most jargon-laden, vague concepts touted by leadership consultants and coaches, the subject of countless books and training seminars promising yet another elixir to effective speech-making or good leadership.</p>
<p>But on Thursday, Obama provided a stark reminder that this nebulous quality comes not from a book. It comes from the gut. With inclusive and personal stories, emotionally strong yet vulnerable tone and body language, and a passionate appeal rooted in her own experiences, Obama embodied the widely praised but rarely replicated feat of seeming “real” that escapes so many leaders.</p>
<p>Much has been said about the first lady’s skill at this. In her extraordinary July Democratic National Convention speech, Obama made moving, personal remarks, delivered in emotional terms, about what it meant for her to be a black woman raising two daughters in the White House. She previewed her aspirational, moral high-road approach to taking on Trump in her commencement speech at the City University of New York in June.</p>
<p>Yet on Thursday, that ability, combined with the urgency of the election’s final sprint, resulted in one of the most powerful speeches yet delivered — by any candidate or any surrogate — in this campaign. She opened with a relatable appeal, still appearing to be awed somewhat by where she is, drawing the audience in by talking to them like friends. “Let me just say, hello everyone!” Obama said in an almost girlish voice, and then “that’s very sweet of you, I love you, too!” No hint of a speechwriter or a script.</p>
<p>Though she didn’t share specifics around stories of her own (she doesn’t have to — we’re all too familiar with how her body has again and again been the subject of derision), she made clear how much she can personally relate to the experiences other women have — much as her husband did when, following the Trayvon Martin shooting, he talked about the racism he’s experienced himself. “It’s like that sick, sinking feeling you get when you’re walking down the street minding your own business and some guy yells out vulgar words about your body. Or when you see that guy at work that stands just a little too close, stares a little too long, and makes you feel uncomfortable in your own skin.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>By casting her own experience as similar to others’, she made herself relatable and accessible, even if she in fact has experienced worse slights and body shaming than many women ever do. Here was the first lady of the United States, among the most popular and influential women in America today, saying she too identifies with the feelings of women on the street. “Maybe we’re afraid to be that vulnerable. Maybe we’ve grown accustomed to swallowing these emotions and staying quiet, because we’ve seen that people often won’t take our word over his.”</p>
<p>But it’s not just the words she used, it’s the way she used them, channeling emotion that was both intense and vulnerable at the same time. Obama’s voice cracked when she spoke, seemingly shaken by raw feelings just under the surface. She slipped up, having to restart or repeat words several times, making her seem less rehearsed and appear that genuine emotion is just getting ahead of what her mouth could say. Her body language was at times literally heartfelt — placing an outstretched hand over her heart as she made a key point. “It is cruel. It’s frightening. And the truth is, it hurts. It, it, it hurts,” she said Thursday, touching her chest.</p>
<p>Perhaps most of all, she both spoke about and showcased in her delivery the passion she feels about the subject. Using highly personal, unguarded language about how she’s been affected by the language Trump used in the video released last week, she said “it has shaken me to my core in a way that I couldn’t have predicted.” And then: “I listen to all of this and I feel it so personally, and I’m sure that many of you do too, particularly the women. The shameful comments about our bodies. The disrespect of our ambitions and intellect.”</p>
<p>Obama has no doubt worked to carefully nurture a relatable imagefor herself, one of a woman who mixes high and low fashion, who can poke fun at mom dancing, who just wants to shop at Target. But she has also endured scorching criticism from the right about her body and her initiatives that offer real fuel for the fiery passion she displayed on Thursday. As Obama showed, personal stories, a natural delivery and raw emotion can help leaders get at that amorphous quality of “authenticity.” But it must also come from the gut.</p>
<p>obama-speech-comment</p> | Michelle Obama’s New Hampshire speech was a master class in speaking from the gut | false | https://abqjournal.com/867695/michelle-obamas-new-hampshire-speech-was-a-master-class-in-speaking-from-the-gut.html | 2least
| Michelle Obama’s New Hampshire speech was a master class in speaking from the gut
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Rather, it was for the absolute master class she offered in that elusive quality of leadership: “authenticity.” It is among the most jargon-laden, vague concepts touted by leadership consultants and coaches, the subject of countless books and training seminars promising yet another elixir to effective speech-making or good leadership.</p>
<p>But on Thursday, Obama provided a stark reminder that this nebulous quality comes not from a book. It comes from the gut. With inclusive and personal stories, emotionally strong yet vulnerable tone and body language, and a passionate appeal rooted in her own experiences, Obama embodied the widely praised but rarely replicated feat of seeming “real” that escapes so many leaders.</p>
<p>Much has been said about the first lady’s skill at this. In her extraordinary July Democratic National Convention speech, Obama made moving, personal remarks, delivered in emotional terms, about what it meant for her to be a black woman raising two daughters in the White House. She previewed her aspirational, moral high-road approach to taking on Trump in her commencement speech at the City University of New York in June.</p>
<p>Yet on Thursday, that ability, combined with the urgency of the election’s final sprint, resulted in one of the most powerful speeches yet delivered — by any candidate or any surrogate — in this campaign. She opened with a relatable appeal, still appearing to be awed somewhat by where she is, drawing the audience in by talking to them like friends. “Let me just say, hello everyone!” Obama said in an almost girlish voice, and then “that’s very sweet of you, I love you, too!” No hint of a speechwriter or a script.</p>
<p>Though she didn’t share specifics around stories of her own (she doesn’t have to — we’re all too familiar with how her body has again and again been the subject of derision), she made clear how much she can personally relate to the experiences other women have — much as her husband did when, following the Trayvon Martin shooting, he talked about the racism he’s experienced himself. “It’s like that sick, sinking feeling you get when you’re walking down the street minding your own business and some guy yells out vulgar words about your body. Or when you see that guy at work that stands just a little too close, stares a little too long, and makes you feel uncomfortable in your own skin.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>By casting her own experience as similar to others’, she made herself relatable and accessible, even if she in fact has experienced worse slights and body shaming than many women ever do. Here was the first lady of the United States, among the most popular and influential women in America today, saying she too identifies with the feelings of women on the street. “Maybe we’re afraid to be that vulnerable. Maybe we’ve grown accustomed to swallowing these emotions and staying quiet, because we’ve seen that people often won’t take our word over his.”</p>
<p>But it’s not just the words she used, it’s the way she used them, channeling emotion that was both intense and vulnerable at the same time. Obama’s voice cracked when she spoke, seemingly shaken by raw feelings just under the surface. She slipped up, having to restart or repeat words several times, making her seem less rehearsed and appear that genuine emotion is just getting ahead of what her mouth could say. Her body language was at times literally heartfelt — placing an outstretched hand over her heart as she made a key point. “It is cruel. It’s frightening. And the truth is, it hurts. It, it, it hurts,” she said Thursday, touching her chest.</p>
<p>Perhaps most of all, she both spoke about and showcased in her delivery the passion she feels about the subject. Using highly personal, unguarded language about how she’s been affected by the language Trump used in the video released last week, she said “it has shaken me to my core in a way that I couldn’t have predicted.” And then: “I listen to all of this and I feel it so personally, and I’m sure that many of you do too, particularly the women. The shameful comments about our bodies. The disrespect of our ambitions and intellect.”</p>
<p>Obama has no doubt worked to carefully nurture a relatable imagefor herself, one of a woman who mixes high and low fashion, who can poke fun at mom dancing, who just wants to shop at Target. But she has also endured scorching criticism from the right about her body and her initiatives that offer real fuel for the fiery passion she displayed on Thursday. As Obama showed, personal stories, a natural delivery and raw emotion can help leaders get at that amorphous quality of “authenticity.” But it must also come from the gut.</p>
<p>obama-speech-comment</p> | 599,310 |
|
<p>“Regarding running, which we talked a little bit about with Jonathan Gilliam — and I’m a little bit reluctant to use humor at this movement in time because it’s a dark moment but I will anyway. Those of you who listen to the show with some regularity have heard me mention that I’m a horror movie fan. And one of the fun horror movie comedies that’s really great over the last five or six years or so is the movie called Zombieland, where they actually put together a survival guide for how to survive the Zombie apocalypse and rule number one: cardio. Rule number one is cardio. So if you want to survive a major attack, maybe the first thing to do is hit the treadmill a little bit.” – Breitbart editor-in-chief <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2017/10/03/breitbart-editor-chief-if-you-want-survive-major-attack-maybe-first-thing-do-hit-treadmill-little/218123" type="external">Alex Marlow</a>, speaking today on their SiriusXM channel.</p> | Breitbart Editor Alex Marlow: If You Want To Survive A Mass Shooting, Maybe You Should Hit The Treadmill | true | http://joemygod.com/2017/10/03/breitbart-editor-alex-marlow-want-survive-mass-shooting-maybe-hit-treadmill/ | 2017-10-03 | 4left
| Breitbart Editor Alex Marlow: If You Want To Survive A Mass Shooting, Maybe You Should Hit The Treadmill
<p>“Regarding running, which we talked a little bit about with Jonathan Gilliam — and I’m a little bit reluctant to use humor at this movement in time because it’s a dark moment but I will anyway. Those of you who listen to the show with some regularity have heard me mention that I’m a horror movie fan. And one of the fun horror movie comedies that’s really great over the last five or six years or so is the movie called Zombieland, where they actually put together a survival guide for how to survive the Zombie apocalypse and rule number one: cardio. Rule number one is cardio. So if you want to survive a major attack, maybe the first thing to do is hit the treadmill a little bit.” – Breitbart editor-in-chief <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2017/10/03/breitbart-editor-chief-if-you-want-survive-major-attack-maybe-first-thing-do-hit-treadmill-little/218123" type="external">Alex Marlow</a>, speaking today on their SiriusXM channel.</p> | 599,311 |
<p>CARSON CITY — State workers would be entitled to collective bargaining under a bill introduced Monday in the Nevada Senate.</p>
<p>Senate Bill 486 was among dozens of bills read into the record and referred for hearings as lawmakers faced a deadline for committee introductions.</p>
<p>Under existing law, state workers are barred from collective bargaining.</p>
<p>SB486 establishes bargaining units for various occupational groups including labor and maintenance, administrative and clerical, technical, professional, peace officers and firefighters.</p>
<p>The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Government Affairs.</p>
<p>Contact Sandra Chereb at [email protected] or 775-461-3821. Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/SandraChereb" type="external">@SandraChereb</a> on Twitter.</p> | Nevada Senate bill would allow state workers to unionize | false | https://reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/nevada/nevada-senate-bill-would-allow-state-workers-to-unionize/ | 2017-03-27 | 1right-center
| Nevada Senate bill would allow state workers to unionize
<p>CARSON CITY — State workers would be entitled to collective bargaining under a bill introduced Monday in the Nevada Senate.</p>
<p>Senate Bill 486 was among dozens of bills read into the record and referred for hearings as lawmakers faced a deadline for committee introductions.</p>
<p>Under existing law, state workers are barred from collective bargaining.</p>
<p>SB486 establishes bargaining units for various occupational groups including labor and maintenance, administrative and clerical, technical, professional, peace officers and firefighters.</p>
<p>The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Government Affairs.</p>
<p>Contact Sandra Chereb at [email protected] or 775-461-3821. Follow <a href="https://twitter.com/SandraChereb" type="external">@SandraChereb</a> on Twitter.</p> | 599,312 |
<p />
<p>Image source: Twitter via <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/twitteroffice/10073432733/in/album-72157636304103706/" type="external">Flickr</a>.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>It's safe to say that a lot of media outlets aren't very happy with Facebook right now, which could crack open a window of opportunity for Twitter.</p>
<p>Facebook's decision to make a News Feed algorithm change that favors posts from your friends and family over those from news publishers has rankled publishers large and small, some of which responded with defiant pieces like <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/30/technology/facebook-a-news-giant-that-would-rather-show-us-baby-pictures.html?_r=0" type="external">this one</a> from The New York Times, one of Facebook's biggest news users.</p>
<p>Publishers have reason to be upset, especially since Facebook spent the last several months courting them to its Instant Articles platform with sweetened offers of revenue sharing and increased reach. They're undoubtedly feeling the sting of a jilted lover.</p>
<p>But this dust-up probably won't lead to much trouble for Facebook. It knows those publications need to keep posting on its site to reach their audiences, and the change is likely an experiment intended to increase user engagement. Facebook's most important job, after all, is to keep users on its sites as long as possible, looking at ads and serving up data.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The more interesting question at this point is whether the jolt sent through media outlets willpresent an opportunity for one of Facebook's competitors to capitalize on.</p>
<p>If there's one company in the social media/digital advertising space that can use a catalyst about now, it's Twitter. But can it really offer something to these media outlets that they aren't getting through Facebook? And if it can, can it convert that into revenue?</p>
<p>In ways, Twitter has been a natural fit for news. It is, after all, a real-time platform.</p>
<p>But there's been one big obstacle standing in the way of Twitter's developing deeper relations with media outlets: It historically has delivered very little traffic to their websites.</p>
<p>Indeed, more than four of every five visits made to media sites through web referrals come through two sources: Facebook and Alphabet's Google, which are responsible for 41% and 40% of that traffic, respectively.</p>
<p>Twitter's contribution? Somewhere around 1.5% for the "typical" news site, according to a recent Parse.ly report.</p>
<p>One area where Twitter does excel, however, is video. And it's making video -- especially live video -- a priority moving forward.</p>
<p>Some media outlets recently told Digiday that despite the smaller audience that Twitter delivers, they were seeing bigger revenue from the ads on their videos on the platform than they were from videos posted to Facebook.</p>
<p>Twitter has been rolling out new features for videos and video monetization, too, not the least of which was dropping the old six-second limit on videos, thus paving the way for longer ads.</p>
<p>Twitter is also in a strong position when it comes to developing a live-video platform. Its three-year agreement to broadcast NFL games is a critical early step to building out what could be a much larger live video-programming platform -- one it hopes can draw a larger audience to Twitter on a regular basis.</p>
<p>The development of a bigger video platform dovetails with the earnest efforts many news outlets are making in digital video content and live video. What news outlets like The New York Times have been creating for Facebook Live can certainly be done with live video on Twitter's platform.</p>
<p>News publishers are desperate for reliable online distribution, and Facebook had been shaping up to look like just what many media outlets needed -- a near all-in-one digital distribution network. But the News Feed algorithm tweak serves as a stark reminder that a market as dynamic as social media is no place to get comfortable with a singular strategy.</p>
<p>Twitter may not have everything it needs in place just yet to be advertisers' Plan B, and it will have to do more to deliver traffic to proprietary websites. But this News Feed kerfuffle serves as a reminder that with the right set of products and advertising opportunities, Twitter can still get back into the game and become a more important platform in news.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/07/08/is-facebooks-news-feed-shakeup-an-opportunity-fo-2.aspx" type="external">Is Facebook's News Feed Shakeup an Opportunity for Twitter?</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/jekoslosky/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">John-Erik Koslosky</a> owns shares of Facebook and Twitter. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Facebook and Twitter. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy</a>.</p> | Is Facebook's News Feed Shakeup an Opportunity for Twitter? | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/07/08/is-facebook-news-feed-shakeup-opportunity-for-twitter.html | 2016-07-08 | 0right
| Is Facebook's News Feed Shakeup an Opportunity for Twitter?
<p />
<p>Image source: Twitter via <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/twitteroffice/10073432733/in/album-72157636304103706/" type="external">Flickr</a>.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>It's safe to say that a lot of media outlets aren't very happy with Facebook right now, which could crack open a window of opportunity for Twitter.</p>
<p>Facebook's decision to make a News Feed algorithm change that favors posts from your friends and family over those from news publishers has rankled publishers large and small, some of which responded with defiant pieces like <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/30/technology/facebook-a-news-giant-that-would-rather-show-us-baby-pictures.html?_r=0" type="external">this one</a> from The New York Times, one of Facebook's biggest news users.</p>
<p>Publishers have reason to be upset, especially since Facebook spent the last several months courting them to its Instant Articles platform with sweetened offers of revenue sharing and increased reach. They're undoubtedly feeling the sting of a jilted lover.</p>
<p>But this dust-up probably won't lead to much trouble for Facebook. It knows those publications need to keep posting on its site to reach their audiences, and the change is likely an experiment intended to increase user engagement. Facebook's most important job, after all, is to keep users on its sites as long as possible, looking at ads and serving up data.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>The more interesting question at this point is whether the jolt sent through media outlets willpresent an opportunity for one of Facebook's competitors to capitalize on.</p>
<p>If there's one company in the social media/digital advertising space that can use a catalyst about now, it's Twitter. But can it really offer something to these media outlets that they aren't getting through Facebook? And if it can, can it convert that into revenue?</p>
<p>In ways, Twitter has been a natural fit for news. It is, after all, a real-time platform.</p>
<p>But there's been one big obstacle standing in the way of Twitter's developing deeper relations with media outlets: It historically has delivered very little traffic to their websites.</p>
<p>Indeed, more than four of every five visits made to media sites through web referrals come through two sources: Facebook and Alphabet's Google, which are responsible for 41% and 40% of that traffic, respectively.</p>
<p>Twitter's contribution? Somewhere around 1.5% for the "typical" news site, according to a recent Parse.ly report.</p>
<p>One area where Twitter does excel, however, is video. And it's making video -- especially live video -- a priority moving forward.</p>
<p>Some media outlets recently told Digiday that despite the smaller audience that Twitter delivers, they were seeing bigger revenue from the ads on their videos on the platform than they were from videos posted to Facebook.</p>
<p>Twitter has been rolling out new features for videos and video monetization, too, not the least of which was dropping the old six-second limit on videos, thus paving the way for longer ads.</p>
<p>Twitter is also in a strong position when it comes to developing a live-video platform. Its three-year agreement to broadcast NFL games is a critical early step to building out what could be a much larger live video-programming platform -- one it hopes can draw a larger audience to Twitter on a regular basis.</p>
<p>The development of a bigger video platform dovetails with the earnest efforts many news outlets are making in digital video content and live video. What news outlets like The New York Times have been creating for Facebook Live can certainly be done with live video on Twitter's platform.</p>
<p>News publishers are desperate for reliable online distribution, and Facebook had been shaping up to look like just what many media outlets needed -- a near all-in-one digital distribution network. But the News Feed algorithm tweak serves as a stark reminder that a market as dynamic as social media is no place to get comfortable with a singular strategy.</p>
<p>Twitter may not have everything it needs in place just yet to be advertisers' Plan B, and it will have to do more to deliver traffic to proprietary websites. But this News Feed kerfuffle serves as a reminder that with the right set of products and advertising opportunities, Twitter can still get back into the game and become a more important platform in news.</p>
<p>The article <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/07/08/is-facebooks-news-feed-shakeup-an-opportunity-fo-2.aspx" type="external">Is Facebook's News Feed Shakeup an Opportunity for Twitter?</a> originally appeared on Fool.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/jekoslosky/info.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">John-Erik Koslosky</a> owns shares of Facebook and Twitter. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Facebook and Twitter. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services <a href="http://www.fool.com/shop/newsletters/index.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">free for 30 days</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://wiki.fool.com/Motley?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?source=eptfxblnk0000004" type="external">disclosure policy</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 1995 - 2016 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/help/index.htm?display=about02" type="external">disclosure policy</a>.</p> | 599,313 |
<p>House and Senate Democrats are planning a symbolic vote on Bush's escalation of the Iraq war, partially to force Republicans to take a stand on the issue. While they haven't ruled out more aggressive - and meaningful - measures, the Dems agreed that <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/10/washington/10capitol.html?ex=1169096400&amp;en=1b887a4da2ff8dd7&amp;ei=5070&amp;emc=eta1" type="external">demonstrating</a> their opposition was the least they could do.</p>
<p>New York Times:</p>
<p>Senate Democrats decided to schedule a vote on the resolution after a closed-door meeting on a day when Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts introduced legislation to require Mr. Bush to gain Congressional approval before sending more troops to Iraq.</p>
<p>The Senate vote is expected as early as next week, after an initial round of committee hearings on the plan Mr. Bush will lay out for the nation Wednesday night in a televised address delivered from the White House library, a setting chosen because it will provide a fresh backdrop for a presidential message.</p>
<p />
<p>The office of Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House, followed with an announcement that the House would also take up a resolution in opposition to a troop increase. House Democrats were scheduled to meet Wednesday morning to consider whether to interrupt their carefully choreographed 100-hour, two-week-long rollout of their domestic agenda this month to address the Iraq war.</p>
<p>In both chambers, Democrats made clear that the resolutions - which would do nothing in practical terms to block Mr. Bush's intention to increase the United States military presence in Iraq - would be the minimum steps they would pursue. They did not rule out eventually considering more muscular responses, like seeking to cap the number of troops being deployed to Iraq or limiting financing for the war - steps that could provoke a Constitutional and political showdown over the president's power to wage war.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/10/washington/10capitol.html?ex=1169096400&amp;en=1b887a4da2ff8dd7&amp;ei=5070&amp;emc=eta1" type="external">Read more</a></p> | Dems to Force Escalation Vote | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/dems-to-force-escalation-vote/ | 2007-01-10 | 4left
| Dems to Force Escalation Vote
<p>House and Senate Democrats are planning a symbolic vote on Bush's escalation of the Iraq war, partially to force Republicans to take a stand on the issue. While they haven't ruled out more aggressive - and meaningful - measures, the Dems agreed that <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/10/washington/10capitol.html?ex=1169096400&amp;en=1b887a4da2ff8dd7&amp;ei=5070&amp;emc=eta1" type="external">demonstrating</a> their opposition was the least they could do.</p>
<p>New York Times:</p>
<p>Senate Democrats decided to schedule a vote on the resolution after a closed-door meeting on a day when Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts introduced legislation to require Mr. Bush to gain Congressional approval before sending more troops to Iraq.</p>
<p>The Senate vote is expected as early as next week, after an initial round of committee hearings on the plan Mr. Bush will lay out for the nation Wednesday night in a televised address delivered from the White House library, a setting chosen because it will provide a fresh backdrop for a presidential message.</p>
<p />
<p>The office of Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House, followed with an announcement that the House would also take up a resolution in opposition to a troop increase. House Democrats were scheduled to meet Wednesday morning to consider whether to interrupt their carefully choreographed 100-hour, two-week-long rollout of their domestic agenda this month to address the Iraq war.</p>
<p>In both chambers, Democrats made clear that the resolutions - which would do nothing in practical terms to block Mr. Bush's intention to increase the United States military presence in Iraq - would be the minimum steps they would pursue. They did not rule out eventually considering more muscular responses, like seeking to cap the number of troops being deployed to Iraq or limiting financing for the war - steps that could provoke a Constitutional and political showdown over the president's power to wage war.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/10/washington/10capitol.html?ex=1169096400&amp;en=1b887a4da2ff8dd7&amp;ei=5070&amp;emc=eta1" type="external">Read more</a></p> | 599,314 |
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<p>NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A member of the New Mexico National Guard has died while taking part in a marksmanship competition in Arkansas.</p>
<p>Arkansas National Guard Lt. Col. Joel Lynch says 28-year-old Staff Sgt. Ryan Faraone collapsed Thursday afternoon after running approximately 200 yards at Camp Robinson in North Little Rock. Lynch told the Arkansas Democrat Gazette ( <a href="http://bit.ly/1EIHWyk" type="external">http://bit.ly/1EIHWyk</a> ) that Faraone was taken to a Little Rock hospital where he later died.</p>
<p>Camp Robinson hosted the competition and the 24th Armed Forces Skill at Arms Meeting from April 22 through Friday. There were 84, four-man teams from 46 states and territories and six allied nations competing.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | New Mexico National Guardsman dies at Arkansas event | false | https://abqjournal.com/579171/new-mexico-national-guardsman-dies-at-arkansas-event.html | 2least
| New Mexico National Guardsman dies at Arkansas event
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A member of the New Mexico National Guard has died while taking part in a marksmanship competition in Arkansas.</p>
<p>Arkansas National Guard Lt. Col. Joel Lynch says 28-year-old Staff Sgt. Ryan Faraone collapsed Thursday afternoon after running approximately 200 yards at Camp Robinson in North Little Rock. Lynch told the Arkansas Democrat Gazette ( <a href="http://bit.ly/1EIHWyk" type="external">http://bit.ly/1EIHWyk</a> ) that Faraone was taken to a Little Rock hospital where he later died.</p>
<p>Camp Robinson hosted the competition and the 24th Armed Forces Skill at Arms Meeting from April 22 through Friday. There were 84, four-man teams from 46 states and territories and six allied nations competing.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | 599,315 |
|
<p>The snow was frozen to the gutters and a gritty wind blowing hard out of the north this past Valentine’s Day when I kicked off this odyssey at an anarcho outpost down by the railroad yards, La Semilla, in Albuquerque. Two hardscrabble hoboes eyed me through the chain link fence when I walked out into the front yard to bust a joint. Could they come inside and get warm, the white guy asked. He was from New Jersey and the black man with him from Brooklyn. That’s what he called him: “Brooklyn.”</p>
<p>The two were heading west, California if they could get there. No, it wasn’t a pleasure trip. The railroads bulls had kicked them off the freight they had hopped in Texas and they had pooled their change to buy a short dog of wine to keep out the cold.</p>
<p>The black man squatted stoically by the wood stove and said nothing. What kind of place was this anyway, New Jersey wanted to know? “We’re Wobblies, the IWW, one big union” Clay told him and called the rescue van to book them a bed at the shelter.</p>
<p>There are a lot of homeless people walking the streets of Albuquerque this winter. They get booted off the freight trains or are thrown out by the family or just got out of prison with no fixed destination. Sasha just sent me a clip that reported there are 16,000,000 Americans living in deep poverty in this, the most overfed nation on the Planet Earth, a 26%increase in the six years since Bush declared the Terror War. We have 2,000,000 more locked down behind bars in American prisons – they’re not included in the mix – and 7,000,000 undocumented workers who are not counted anywhere. That’s about ten times the number of troops in the U.S. Armed Forces who are otherwise occupied with getting whacked in Iraq and Afghanistan. The numbers of the hopeless should be enough to incite serious social disruption but the fuse is damp. How can we jumpstart the revolution? That’s what I’m trying to find out out here on the road.</p>
<p>New Mexico is outlaw country. It is up near the top of all U.S.A jurisdictions in incarcerations per capita, heroin deaths, drunk driving arrests, radioactive contamination, and private prisons. The nuclear poisons are in the wind, leaking out of Los Alamos and Alamogordo and the slag heaps of yellow cake up in Navajo country. The skag comes up the pipeline from Sinaloa, Mexican Brown, and has cut a swatch of death through northern New Mexico. Read Chellis Glendinning’s “Chiva” to weigh its deadly embrace. Chellis lives out in Chimayo and knows where the bodies are buried.</p>
<p>My pal Tilda knows its terrible toll only too well. She lost her eldest to an o.d. and her second son is in his ninth year of a stretch for a teenage convenience store heist. Nine years! He was supposed to have been paroled in November but just got jacked up again for getting in his p.o.’s face and now his mom can’t even visit him. To stay sane, Tilda channels her rage into the prisoners’ rights movement, stalking the legislature up in Santa Fe for change.</p>
<p>Tilda came down from Pecos to a session at the Albuquerque Peace &amp; Justice Center on “being Zapatistas where we live”, an interchange between activists that I’ve been convoking as I travel between the coasts. By being a Zapatista where we live I mostly mean doing our work in a Zapatista way under the governing principal of “mandar obedeciendo”, that is serving the community and taking decisions together without hierarchies or patriarchy, confronting power with truth, ripping the mask off capitalist exploitation and building a new American left from the bottom up. Like the compas down south, we need to get off the mal gobierno’s grid and construct autonomous spaces and become the subjects of our own destiny. We can’t do this alone. We have to do battle with sectarianism, spread solidarity, and make coalitions. Talk to each other, I’m always urging the folks who come to these meetings.</p>
<p>I saw this being a Zapatista thing where we live taking root at South Central Farms in L.A, last summer where Zapatista solidarity people and white anarchists, undocumented workers and Chicano activists took on Wal-Mart and the Sheriff’s deputies and the first Mexican-American mayor of the city since 1842. Up and down the coast, Zapatista groups were working on immigrant rights and issues of homelessness, racism, juvenile justice, and the war. In New Mexico, activists circled up and spoke about taking on the prison system, water rights and the asequias of the pueblos, childcare, coal power plants and the trashing of the state’s once pristine environment. The Wobblies are trying to organize Starbucks and the war is driving people to take risks. The Hispanic community in particular is paying an awful price for the carnage in Iraq.</p>
<p>Up in Taos where the domestic Zapatistas gathered at an oasis with an “openly subversive” sign planted in the front yard, the issue was what to do about Donald Rumsfeld who has lived in that weird burg for too many years. Now the anarchists are carrying around paper towels and asking Rummy to wipe the blood off his hands whenever they spot him prowling the upscale haunts.</p>
<p>Keith McHenry, the big papa of Food Not Bombs is in residence these days fanning the flames in New Mexico these days and back in Burque, a posse of youngish anarchos decked out in red and black escorted me to the Mexican bus on their skateboards the morning I lit out for Las Cruces and the border.</p>
<p>Jeff Conant, a colleague who was kicked out of Chiapas back in ’98 for celebrating the advent of the autonomia named for the old anarchist Ricardo Flores Magon (Jeff returned to San Francisco to paint the mural the army had rubbed out on the wall of City Lights bookstore facing Jack Kerouac alley) thinks there’s a lot of “The Almanac of the Dead” in everyday New Mexico – the magic realist novel written by the Native American writer Leslie Marman Silko that prophesized the Zapatista rebellion. Jeff took me along to see a purported Mayan shaman living east of Albuquerque where he would hold a mic in front of Flor de Mayo for an interview someone else was conducting from the Bay Area.</p>
<p>Flor de Mayo turned out to be a short stocky woman in a gorgeous huipil who resembled a cross between Mother Jones and a pit bulldog and spoke in a sensational Bronx accent – she claimed that she had been spirited off to New York as a young girl from the jungles of Central America. Although Flor de Mayo appeared to know no Mayan, she did produce a volume bound in red leather that bore the legend “El Destino” (“The Destiny”) which fixed the final day of the current Mayan cycle at November 28th 2011. You read it here first. The volume sat cheek by howl on the bookshelf above her desk with a book on how to sail.</p>
<p>Flor de Mayos’s husband restored old Airstreams – several were parked in the back yard. She spoke of flying up Mount Everest in a helicopter with the Dali Lama and didn’t think much of the Zapatistas. Shamans, healers, fakirs, high priests, Ayahuascos, peyote eaters, and other variegated visionaries have always formed an important part of the northern New Mexico tax base.</p>
<p>II.</p>
<p>The border runs like a raw scar through the desert. The U.S. military, private contractors, and Israeli advisers are building The Wall to keep the global south from penetrating Fortress Amerikkka. Small mammals and reptiles will be denied passage between the two sides. Migratory birds will have to get visas to maneuver the flyway in from Canada. Larger mammals are being captured in record numbers (the toxically-named “Operation Return to Sender”) or else being taken as trophies by armed safaris.</p>
<p>At the Sleep Inn outside of Las Cruces, the National Guardsmen and women sporting their best Baghdad camou were changing shifts. “Kill a few for me!” I heard one incoming murderer yell joyfully at a comrade on his way down to patrol the border at Columbus where Pancho Villa once invaded. Where is the old revolutionary when we need him? I decided not to wear my kaffia down to the complimentary breakfast that morning for fear of triggering a flashback or being busted for impersonating a haji.</p>
<p>El Paso-Juarez is right at the heart of the war zone. A lot of bodies turn up floating face down in the Rio Bravo. Life is cheap on the southern bank of the river where 300 women have been slaughtered in the past 12 years and it’s not worth much more on El Otro Lado.</p>
<p>The Zapatista solidarity movement was chartered here back in the ’90s but the revolution has been spread by the four winds since then. Back then, we would send our old clothes to Chiapas to express solidarity – Subcomandante Marcos walked around with one pink pump (size six) in his rucksack, the “Cinderella Syndrome” he called it, to illustrate his frustration at such useless “material” aid. Now we are trying to do solidarity in a different way by being Zapatistas where we live.</p>
<p>Bobby Byrd, the soul of Cinco Puntos Press (Lee Byrd is the heart), the border booksellers who defied the National Council on the Arts by publishing Marcos’s “Story of Colors”, took me out to dinner in Paso del Norte with Reyes Tejirina, the legendary leader of the 1967 raid on the courthouse at Tierra Amarilla New Mexico, since enshrined in Chicano history – although if the truth be told, the bold, armed action was actually in defense of the land grants the Spanish Crown had bestowed upon the first Hispanics to settle the land which, of course, really belonged to the Indian pueblos.</p>
<p>Despite the confusion, the raid, coming at a moment when the Panthers were picking up the gun and the Nation of Aztlan was being reborn, galvanized identity politics in America for a generation of would-be revolutionaries. Reyes is in his 80s now, broke and unwell. When we picked him up at the El Paso apartment Bobby found for him, he seemed so enfeebled that I thought he might give up the ghost over supper. But a big steaming bowl of Pho seemed to revive him and he was soon boiling over with unruly advice. Marcos needed the Indians more than the Indians needed Marcos, he opined and I agreed. Could I name the Seven Jews who had built the Atom Bomb? (I could – my uncle was one of them.) The old man, still as chiseled and ruggedly handsome as he was as a younger icon with a great shock of white hair under his battered Stetson, seemed obsessed with the Jews. He had been to the Holy Land and stood with the Palestinians against “the Synagogue of Satan” (Apocalypse 2,9 and 3.9 – you could look it up.)</p>
<p>Despite the looniness, sitting down to table with Reyes was like eating dinner with history and I handed him the new Zapatista book to chew on. He rang me up the next morning and called me “a warrior” and said he loved me and I carry that conversation proudly as I stumble through the country trying to convince another generation of American rebels to be Zapatistas where they are.</p>
<p>Over on the other end of Texas, I would meet other folks being Zapatistas where they live. Dianne Wilson, an unreasonable woman, was one. She’s the shrimp boat captain who launched hunger strikes and scuttled her own shrimper to protest Big Plastics’ poisoning of the Gulf, then flew off to Baghdad to try and stop the war and even took herself to Washington where she sat and starved in front of the White House for a while in pursuit of the justice of which we have all been denied.</p>
<p>I bumped into this valiant companera at the Texas Bend Social Forum over in Corpus Christi where we both keynoted the conclave, about 150 souls out there in the wilderness learning how to be Zapatistas in their own backyard. Some of those backyards are the Colonias where unscrupulous land speculators have sold off squalid lots without any services whatsoever to impoverished families of undocumented workers, converting the south Texas scrubland into an extension of squatter colonies that now extend from Nuevo Laredo all the way to Tierra del Fuego.</p>
<p>The southwest leg of this endless perambulation took me back through Austin and Houston for a hot reading with old camaradas – ex-Sandanista guerrillero Roberto Vargas and the honored elder Raul Salinas at his Resistencia bookstore, and an afternoon with the prescient Mexican historian of anarchist uprising John Hart. and even a day with Lluvia, the three year-old granddaughter of la bella Elizabeth, my eternal editor, who played the strings of my heart like it was a busted ukulele.</p>
<p>But something was missing in Tejas this time around. Maybe it was its sense of humor. They have taken Molly Ivins from us and suddenly George Bush and the rest of those bastards are not so funny. The business about which we are about is so serious, Subcomandante Marcos once counseled, that if we can’t laugh at ourselves we will soon go nuts. I fear for the country. Molly Ivins, presente!</p>
<p>Next stop, the New Old South.</p>
<p>JOHN ROSS is on the road at Cape Fear North Carolina with his latest opus <a href="" type="internal">ZAPATISTAS! Making Another World Possible–Chronicles of Resistance 2000-2006</a>. and will be touring the south (North Carolina, Berea Kentucky, Atlanta Georgia, New Orleans) and the Midwest (Minneapolis, Madison, Chicago, Cincinnati) in March before hitting the east coast in April. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Being a Zapatista Where You Live | true | https://counterpunch.org/2007/03/17/being-a-zapatista-where-you-live/ | 2007-03-17 | 4left
| Being a Zapatista Where You Live
<p>The snow was frozen to the gutters and a gritty wind blowing hard out of the north this past Valentine’s Day when I kicked off this odyssey at an anarcho outpost down by the railroad yards, La Semilla, in Albuquerque. Two hardscrabble hoboes eyed me through the chain link fence when I walked out into the front yard to bust a joint. Could they come inside and get warm, the white guy asked. He was from New Jersey and the black man with him from Brooklyn. That’s what he called him: “Brooklyn.”</p>
<p>The two were heading west, California if they could get there. No, it wasn’t a pleasure trip. The railroads bulls had kicked them off the freight they had hopped in Texas and they had pooled their change to buy a short dog of wine to keep out the cold.</p>
<p>The black man squatted stoically by the wood stove and said nothing. What kind of place was this anyway, New Jersey wanted to know? “We’re Wobblies, the IWW, one big union” Clay told him and called the rescue van to book them a bed at the shelter.</p>
<p>There are a lot of homeless people walking the streets of Albuquerque this winter. They get booted off the freight trains or are thrown out by the family or just got out of prison with no fixed destination. Sasha just sent me a clip that reported there are 16,000,000 Americans living in deep poverty in this, the most overfed nation on the Planet Earth, a 26%increase in the six years since Bush declared the Terror War. We have 2,000,000 more locked down behind bars in American prisons – they’re not included in the mix – and 7,000,000 undocumented workers who are not counted anywhere. That’s about ten times the number of troops in the U.S. Armed Forces who are otherwise occupied with getting whacked in Iraq and Afghanistan. The numbers of the hopeless should be enough to incite serious social disruption but the fuse is damp. How can we jumpstart the revolution? That’s what I’m trying to find out out here on the road.</p>
<p>New Mexico is outlaw country. It is up near the top of all U.S.A jurisdictions in incarcerations per capita, heroin deaths, drunk driving arrests, radioactive contamination, and private prisons. The nuclear poisons are in the wind, leaking out of Los Alamos and Alamogordo and the slag heaps of yellow cake up in Navajo country. The skag comes up the pipeline from Sinaloa, Mexican Brown, and has cut a swatch of death through northern New Mexico. Read Chellis Glendinning’s “Chiva” to weigh its deadly embrace. Chellis lives out in Chimayo and knows where the bodies are buried.</p>
<p>My pal Tilda knows its terrible toll only too well. She lost her eldest to an o.d. and her second son is in his ninth year of a stretch for a teenage convenience store heist. Nine years! He was supposed to have been paroled in November but just got jacked up again for getting in his p.o.’s face and now his mom can’t even visit him. To stay sane, Tilda channels her rage into the prisoners’ rights movement, stalking the legislature up in Santa Fe for change.</p>
<p>Tilda came down from Pecos to a session at the Albuquerque Peace &amp; Justice Center on “being Zapatistas where we live”, an interchange between activists that I’ve been convoking as I travel between the coasts. By being a Zapatista where we live I mostly mean doing our work in a Zapatista way under the governing principal of “mandar obedeciendo”, that is serving the community and taking decisions together without hierarchies or patriarchy, confronting power with truth, ripping the mask off capitalist exploitation and building a new American left from the bottom up. Like the compas down south, we need to get off the mal gobierno’s grid and construct autonomous spaces and become the subjects of our own destiny. We can’t do this alone. We have to do battle with sectarianism, spread solidarity, and make coalitions. Talk to each other, I’m always urging the folks who come to these meetings.</p>
<p>I saw this being a Zapatista thing where we live taking root at South Central Farms in L.A, last summer where Zapatista solidarity people and white anarchists, undocumented workers and Chicano activists took on Wal-Mart and the Sheriff’s deputies and the first Mexican-American mayor of the city since 1842. Up and down the coast, Zapatista groups were working on immigrant rights and issues of homelessness, racism, juvenile justice, and the war. In New Mexico, activists circled up and spoke about taking on the prison system, water rights and the asequias of the pueblos, childcare, coal power plants and the trashing of the state’s once pristine environment. The Wobblies are trying to organize Starbucks and the war is driving people to take risks. The Hispanic community in particular is paying an awful price for the carnage in Iraq.</p>
<p>Up in Taos where the domestic Zapatistas gathered at an oasis with an “openly subversive” sign planted in the front yard, the issue was what to do about Donald Rumsfeld who has lived in that weird burg for too many years. Now the anarchists are carrying around paper towels and asking Rummy to wipe the blood off his hands whenever they spot him prowling the upscale haunts.</p>
<p>Keith McHenry, the big papa of Food Not Bombs is in residence these days fanning the flames in New Mexico these days and back in Burque, a posse of youngish anarchos decked out in red and black escorted me to the Mexican bus on their skateboards the morning I lit out for Las Cruces and the border.</p>
<p>Jeff Conant, a colleague who was kicked out of Chiapas back in ’98 for celebrating the advent of the autonomia named for the old anarchist Ricardo Flores Magon (Jeff returned to San Francisco to paint the mural the army had rubbed out on the wall of City Lights bookstore facing Jack Kerouac alley) thinks there’s a lot of “The Almanac of the Dead” in everyday New Mexico – the magic realist novel written by the Native American writer Leslie Marman Silko that prophesized the Zapatista rebellion. Jeff took me along to see a purported Mayan shaman living east of Albuquerque where he would hold a mic in front of Flor de Mayo for an interview someone else was conducting from the Bay Area.</p>
<p>Flor de Mayo turned out to be a short stocky woman in a gorgeous huipil who resembled a cross between Mother Jones and a pit bulldog and spoke in a sensational Bronx accent – she claimed that she had been spirited off to New York as a young girl from the jungles of Central America. Although Flor de Mayo appeared to know no Mayan, she did produce a volume bound in red leather that bore the legend “El Destino” (“The Destiny”) which fixed the final day of the current Mayan cycle at November 28th 2011. You read it here first. The volume sat cheek by howl on the bookshelf above her desk with a book on how to sail.</p>
<p>Flor de Mayos’s husband restored old Airstreams – several were parked in the back yard. She spoke of flying up Mount Everest in a helicopter with the Dali Lama and didn’t think much of the Zapatistas. Shamans, healers, fakirs, high priests, Ayahuascos, peyote eaters, and other variegated visionaries have always formed an important part of the northern New Mexico tax base.</p>
<p>II.</p>
<p>The border runs like a raw scar through the desert. The U.S. military, private contractors, and Israeli advisers are building The Wall to keep the global south from penetrating Fortress Amerikkka. Small mammals and reptiles will be denied passage between the two sides. Migratory birds will have to get visas to maneuver the flyway in from Canada. Larger mammals are being captured in record numbers (the toxically-named “Operation Return to Sender”) or else being taken as trophies by armed safaris.</p>
<p>At the Sleep Inn outside of Las Cruces, the National Guardsmen and women sporting their best Baghdad camou were changing shifts. “Kill a few for me!” I heard one incoming murderer yell joyfully at a comrade on his way down to patrol the border at Columbus where Pancho Villa once invaded. Where is the old revolutionary when we need him? I decided not to wear my kaffia down to the complimentary breakfast that morning for fear of triggering a flashback or being busted for impersonating a haji.</p>
<p>El Paso-Juarez is right at the heart of the war zone. A lot of bodies turn up floating face down in the Rio Bravo. Life is cheap on the southern bank of the river where 300 women have been slaughtered in the past 12 years and it’s not worth much more on El Otro Lado.</p>
<p>The Zapatista solidarity movement was chartered here back in the ’90s but the revolution has been spread by the four winds since then. Back then, we would send our old clothes to Chiapas to express solidarity – Subcomandante Marcos walked around with one pink pump (size six) in his rucksack, the “Cinderella Syndrome” he called it, to illustrate his frustration at such useless “material” aid. Now we are trying to do solidarity in a different way by being Zapatistas where we live.</p>
<p>Bobby Byrd, the soul of Cinco Puntos Press (Lee Byrd is the heart), the border booksellers who defied the National Council on the Arts by publishing Marcos’s “Story of Colors”, took me out to dinner in Paso del Norte with Reyes Tejirina, the legendary leader of the 1967 raid on the courthouse at Tierra Amarilla New Mexico, since enshrined in Chicano history – although if the truth be told, the bold, armed action was actually in defense of the land grants the Spanish Crown had bestowed upon the first Hispanics to settle the land which, of course, really belonged to the Indian pueblos.</p>
<p>Despite the confusion, the raid, coming at a moment when the Panthers were picking up the gun and the Nation of Aztlan was being reborn, galvanized identity politics in America for a generation of would-be revolutionaries. Reyes is in his 80s now, broke and unwell. When we picked him up at the El Paso apartment Bobby found for him, he seemed so enfeebled that I thought he might give up the ghost over supper. But a big steaming bowl of Pho seemed to revive him and he was soon boiling over with unruly advice. Marcos needed the Indians more than the Indians needed Marcos, he opined and I agreed. Could I name the Seven Jews who had built the Atom Bomb? (I could – my uncle was one of them.) The old man, still as chiseled and ruggedly handsome as he was as a younger icon with a great shock of white hair under his battered Stetson, seemed obsessed with the Jews. He had been to the Holy Land and stood with the Palestinians against “the Synagogue of Satan” (Apocalypse 2,9 and 3.9 – you could look it up.)</p>
<p>Despite the looniness, sitting down to table with Reyes was like eating dinner with history and I handed him the new Zapatista book to chew on. He rang me up the next morning and called me “a warrior” and said he loved me and I carry that conversation proudly as I stumble through the country trying to convince another generation of American rebels to be Zapatistas where they are.</p>
<p>Over on the other end of Texas, I would meet other folks being Zapatistas where they live. Dianne Wilson, an unreasonable woman, was one. She’s the shrimp boat captain who launched hunger strikes and scuttled her own shrimper to protest Big Plastics’ poisoning of the Gulf, then flew off to Baghdad to try and stop the war and even took herself to Washington where she sat and starved in front of the White House for a while in pursuit of the justice of which we have all been denied.</p>
<p>I bumped into this valiant companera at the Texas Bend Social Forum over in Corpus Christi where we both keynoted the conclave, about 150 souls out there in the wilderness learning how to be Zapatistas in their own backyard. Some of those backyards are the Colonias where unscrupulous land speculators have sold off squalid lots without any services whatsoever to impoverished families of undocumented workers, converting the south Texas scrubland into an extension of squatter colonies that now extend from Nuevo Laredo all the way to Tierra del Fuego.</p>
<p>The southwest leg of this endless perambulation took me back through Austin and Houston for a hot reading with old camaradas – ex-Sandanista guerrillero Roberto Vargas and the honored elder Raul Salinas at his Resistencia bookstore, and an afternoon with the prescient Mexican historian of anarchist uprising John Hart. and even a day with Lluvia, the three year-old granddaughter of la bella Elizabeth, my eternal editor, who played the strings of my heart like it was a busted ukulele.</p>
<p>But something was missing in Tejas this time around. Maybe it was its sense of humor. They have taken Molly Ivins from us and suddenly George Bush and the rest of those bastards are not so funny. The business about which we are about is so serious, Subcomandante Marcos once counseled, that if we can’t laugh at ourselves we will soon go nuts. I fear for the country. Molly Ivins, presente!</p>
<p>Next stop, the New Old South.</p>
<p>JOHN ROSS is on the road at Cape Fear North Carolina with his latest opus <a href="" type="internal">ZAPATISTAS! Making Another World Possible–Chronicles of Resistance 2000-2006</a>. and will be touring the south (North Carolina, Berea Kentucky, Atlanta Georgia, New Orleans) and the Midwest (Minneapolis, Madison, Chicago, Cincinnati) in March before hitting the east coast in April. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
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<p>California State University (CSU) at Fresno hosted a three-day retreat for black students only, in an effort to promote social justice and inclusion.</p>
<p>The pre-fall semester “ <a href="http://fresnostate.edu/studentaffairs/ccgc/african-american/harambee.html" type="external">Harambee! Retreat</a>” took place from August 14 to August 17 at the University Courtyard dorms, where the student participated in free meals, workshops, activities, seminars, and other social events. The students also received career and academic counseling, and assistance with financial aid and housing for the upcoming year.</p>
<p>“THIS EVENT IS FOR INCOMING STUDENTS OF BLACK/AFRICAN HERITAGE,” the event’s Facebook description stated in all-caps lettering.</p>
<p>Shirley Melikian Armbruster, associate vice president of communications at CSU Fresno, <a href="http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/28597/" type="external">told</a> the College Fix’s Michael McGrady the event consisted of about new 40 students plus a dozen returning students, and cost the university an estimated $16,000. Armbruster said the final cost of the event has yet to be determined. CSU Fresno is a state-funded college.</p>
<p>“The retreat was a student success event to assist African-American students in their transition to university life and instill a sense of belonging at the institution, which has an approximately 4 percent African-American student population, and help boost retention and graduation rates of African-American students, which are slightly below other groups at Fresno State,” she said. “With this proactive approach, the goal was to provide experiences and activities to facilitate a smooth social and academic integration of African-American students into the campus community.”</p>
<p>The event was also endorsed by the university’s president Joseph Castro in a welcoming <a href="http://www.fresnostatenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Castro-Fall-Assembly-Speech-2016.pdf" type="external">email</a> addressed to the entire student body.</p>
<p>“A first ever retreat – appropriately titled Harambee, which means “Let’s pull together,” was held this week where new and continuing African American students, along with African-American faculty, staff and alumni, could exchange ideas of how to create a greater sense of belonging on campus,” Castro wrote to students, praising the event as one helpful in “connecting” black students “with their peers and the University”-- by racially isolating them, of course.</p>
<p>Bold new <a href="https://twitter.com/Fresno_State" type="external">@Fresno_State</a> initiative to prepare African American students for success! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Harambee?src=hash" type="external">#Harambee</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Letspulltogether?src=hash" type="external">#Letspulltogether</a> <a href="https://t.co/w87KhZNsng" type="external">pic.twitter.com/w87KhZNsng</a></p>
<p>Event co-host Davion Barker told The Daily Wire the retreat's name was not connected to the death of a gorilla that was tragically murdered at a zoo this past summer.</p>
<p>"The Harambee Student Retreat is a transitional program to help African American students become accumulated to Fresno State," he said. "Also Harambee is Swahili for 'Pulling Together.'"</p>
<p>The student attendees at the event later posted videos and photos of their daily activities to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/276313096059762/?active_tab=posts" type="external">Facebook</a>, where other students and Facebook users offered their thoughts.</p>
<p>“You preach equality and exclude everyone else? Funny you need a 3 day retreat to get ready for school. I guess all other races showing up ready to on their first day aren't victims of the white man’s privilege?” was one comment.</p>
<p>The retreat was sponsored through CSU Fresno’s Office of Black Student Success and the Cross Cultural and Gender Center.</p>
<p>Follow Pardes Seleh on <a href="https://twitter.com/PardesSeleh" type="external">Twitter</a>.</p> | State University Has Blacks-Only Student Retreat | true | https://dailywire.com/news/8667/state-university-has-blacks-only-student-retreat-pardes-seleh | 2016-08-25 | 0right
| State University Has Blacks-Only Student Retreat
<p>California State University (CSU) at Fresno hosted a three-day retreat for black students only, in an effort to promote social justice and inclusion.</p>
<p>The pre-fall semester “ <a href="http://fresnostate.edu/studentaffairs/ccgc/african-american/harambee.html" type="external">Harambee! Retreat</a>” took place from August 14 to August 17 at the University Courtyard dorms, where the student participated in free meals, workshops, activities, seminars, and other social events. The students also received career and academic counseling, and assistance with financial aid and housing for the upcoming year.</p>
<p>“THIS EVENT IS FOR INCOMING STUDENTS OF BLACK/AFRICAN HERITAGE,” the event’s Facebook description stated in all-caps lettering.</p>
<p>Shirley Melikian Armbruster, associate vice president of communications at CSU Fresno, <a href="http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/28597/" type="external">told</a> the College Fix’s Michael McGrady the event consisted of about new 40 students plus a dozen returning students, and cost the university an estimated $16,000. Armbruster said the final cost of the event has yet to be determined. CSU Fresno is a state-funded college.</p>
<p>“The retreat was a student success event to assist African-American students in their transition to university life and instill a sense of belonging at the institution, which has an approximately 4 percent African-American student population, and help boost retention and graduation rates of African-American students, which are slightly below other groups at Fresno State,” she said. “With this proactive approach, the goal was to provide experiences and activities to facilitate a smooth social and academic integration of African-American students into the campus community.”</p>
<p>The event was also endorsed by the university’s president Joseph Castro in a welcoming <a href="http://www.fresnostatenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Castro-Fall-Assembly-Speech-2016.pdf" type="external">email</a> addressed to the entire student body.</p>
<p>“A first ever retreat – appropriately titled Harambee, which means “Let’s pull together,” was held this week where new and continuing African American students, along with African-American faculty, staff and alumni, could exchange ideas of how to create a greater sense of belonging on campus,” Castro wrote to students, praising the event as one helpful in “connecting” black students “with their peers and the University”-- by racially isolating them, of course.</p>
<p>Bold new <a href="https://twitter.com/Fresno_State" type="external">@Fresno_State</a> initiative to prepare African American students for success! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Harambee?src=hash" type="external">#Harambee</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Letspulltogether?src=hash" type="external">#Letspulltogether</a> <a href="https://t.co/w87KhZNsng" type="external">pic.twitter.com/w87KhZNsng</a></p>
<p>Event co-host Davion Barker told The Daily Wire the retreat's name was not connected to the death of a gorilla that was tragically murdered at a zoo this past summer.</p>
<p>"The Harambee Student Retreat is a transitional program to help African American students become accumulated to Fresno State," he said. "Also Harambee is Swahili for 'Pulling Together.'"</p>
<p>The student attendees at the event later posted videos and photos of their daily activities to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/276313096059762/?active_tab=posts" type="external">Facebook</a>, where other students and Facebook users offered their thoughts.</p>
<p>“You preach equality and exclude everyone else? Funny you need a 3 day retreat to get ready for school. I guess all other races showing up ready to on their first day aren't victims of the white man’s privilege?” was one comment.</p>
<p>The retreat was sponsored through CSU Fresno’s Office of Black Student Success and the Cross Cultural and Gender Center.</p>
<p>Follow Pardes Seleh on <a href="https://twitter.com/PardesSeleh" type="external">Twitter</a>.</p> | 599,317 |
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<p>The Philadelphia Phillies have dealt relief pitcher and Albuquerque native Ken Giles to the Houston Astros in exchange for three players, <a href="http://m.mlb.com/news/article/159237380/astros-acquire-ken-giles-from-phillies" type="external">MLB.com reported</a> late Wednesday. Going to Philadelphia, MLB.com reported, are pitcher <a href="http://m.mlb.com/player/592826/vincent-velasquez" type="external">Vincent Velasquez</a>, left-handed pitcher <a href="http://m.mlb.com/player/519085/brett-oberholtzer" type="external">Brett Oberholtzer</a> and a minor leaguer.</p>
<p>Neither team confirmed the deal.</p>
<p>Giles, who played and attended Eldorado and Rio Grande high schools, was 6-3 with a 1.80 earned-run average and 15 saves last year as he took over the closer's role with the rebuilding Philadelphia Phillies. He is 9-4 with a 1.56 ERA over his career.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Report: Phillies deal Giles to Astros | false | https://abqjournal.com/688676/report-phillies-deal-giles-to-astros.html | 2015-12-09 | 2least
| Report: Phillies deal Giles to Astros
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<p>The Philadelphia Phillies have dealt relief pitcher and Albuquerque native Ken Giles to the Houston Astros in exchange for three players, <a href="http://m.mlb.com/news/article/159237380/astros-acquire-ken-giles-from-phillies" type="external">MLB.com reported</a> late Wednesday. Going to Philadelphia, MLB.com reported, are pitcher <a href="http://m.mlb.com/player/592826/vincent-velasquez" type="external">Vincent Velasquez</a>, left-handed pitcher <a href="http://m.mlb.com/player/519085/brett-oberholtzer" type="external">Brett Oberholtzer</a> and a minor leaguer.</p>
<p>Neither team confirmed the deal.</p>
<p>Giles, who played and attended Eldorado and Rio Grande high schools, was 6-3 with a 1.80 earned-run average and 15 saves last year as he took over the closer's role with the rebuilding Philadelphia Phillies. He is 9-4 with a 1.56 ERA over his career.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | 599,318 |
<p />
<p>Last winter, Lt. David Zonsheine, an Israeli reserve officer who had just returned from a tour of duty in the Gaza Strip, published an open letter stating why he and fifty other soldiers felt they could no longer serve in the occupied territories. At this date, more than 500 Israeli soldiers have joined the resulting movement: Courage to Refuse.</p>
<p>As writer Gershom Gorenberg discusses, the refuseniks have ignited a furious debate, drawing criticism not only from the country’s hawks, but from many of its doves. Their actions pose deep dilemnas: Is it appropriate for the army to become a forum for civil disobedience against the policies of democratically elected officials? Is withdrawing from the territories the quickest route to peace? And do such protests, which run counter to the national tradition of public service, unnecessarily alienate the public from the left?</p>
<p>This fall, Lt. Zonsheine is due to go before the Israeli Supreme Court to make his case that the occupation is morally untenable and tactically wrong.</p>
<p>MotherJones.com: (In your article) you point out that the refusenik movement has plateaued. Do you think it will fade away, or continue to grow?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Gershom Gorenberg: Well, there’s been a slow, not dramatic increase in the number of soldiers … who signed the list, and said they intend to refuse service, and there is always continued sentencing of specific refuseniks to disciplinary terms as their reserve duty comes up. I certainly don’t expect the number to go down. The large initial response was probably due to the fact that there were many people who were already considering this when the letter appeared, so it crystallized their decisions, and gave them a group backing to something that they were already considering … I would guess that the extent to which it increases depends on a variety of factors, including what is actually taking place on the ground in the territories, what sort of measures the army is using. The Zonsheine hearings themselves at the Supreme Court will almost certainly inspire new debate and coverage and activity around the entire issue, which may or may not bring new supporters.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>I think, in a wider sense, you have to remember two factors. One is that protest movements don’t happen overnight. In America it took years for the Vietnam protest movement to develop and gain the strength it eventually did, and to have the effect it eventually did. In terms of the Lebanon war, here, also, the movement grew over time. … In this particular case, you have to remember that there are strong counter-factors that I’ve discussed in the article. There’s the democracy issue, and the desire to keep the army out of politics, and, of course, there’s the issue of a sense in a wide part of the public that the Palestinian tactics indicate a threat toward Israel as such, rather than just being aimed at ending the occupation. And as long as that’s the case, it also creates a counter-force to the growth of the movement.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>MJ.com: Aside from generating a lot of public debate, have the refuseniks had any real impact on official Israeli policy?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>GG: Well … Ariel Sharon is certainly not changing his ideas on how to conduct the conflict on the basis of the refusenik movement. However, the real question is, what effect has it had on the political environment? … The movement, at least when it began, helped to reinvigorate the left … but it’s possible that it may have turned off a lot of people who are closer to the center, who dislike the idea of refusal, and might have identified the entire left with the idea of refusal.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>I think if you look at the overall situation in terms of Israeli opinion, the interesting thing is that, in a sense, public opinion is moving in two directions — two opposite directions — at once. There’s a greater number of people who, according to the polls, identify themselves as being on the right, as being more hawkish. And, yet, there’s also a rising number that favor having a Palestinian state, favor evacuation of settlements. And the numbers in both groups are so large that what you’ve actually got is a large overlapping group of people, who both say that they’re more right-wing, and yet favor things like evacuating settlements. Those are, I think, long-term changes in Israeli opinion, and, in that respect, I think that the refusenik movement is an expression of wider changes in the political environment.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>.. What you have is a situation in which the level of distrust and of anger has risen, but at the same time, a growing number of people have realized that to reach a peace agreement will require greater concessions and compromises than they had been willing to accept a couple years ago.</p>
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<p>MJ.com: One of the men you quote in your article says that “Leftists are the absolute worst.” Could you explain what he meant by that?</p>
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<p>GG: I think what it shows here is an example of the tension on the left over this issue, that there is a very deep argument within the Israeli left over the issue of refusal. … Within the Israeli left what you’re talking about is a conflict between people who share a sense that they’re peaceniks, and who share a sense that they’re patriotic, but who disagree on the best way to pursue those commitments.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>MJ.com: Right-wingers are keen on arguing that the refusenik movement emboldens Palestinian militants, and gives them the impression that Israelis are losing heart and can be forced to evacuate the occupied territories unconditionally. Is there anything to that?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>GG: That is one argument that is raised even on the left by people who oppose unilateral withdrawl from the occupied territories … I think it’s legitimate to say that a negotiated settlement in which both sides give up further claims is more likely to end the conflict than a unilateral Israeli move. Part of the argument is, if such an agreement is unachievable, if the Palestinian side is unwilling or unable to enter into such an agreement, what should Israel’s next step be?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>MJ.com: Is there a Palestinian counterpart to the refusenik movement?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>GG: Well, there wouldn’t be an exact counterpart, because there’s no universal draft on the Palestinian side, and one of the very difficult aspects of the situation is that there is no unified military force. In a large sense, authority has broken down on the Palestinian side. … But, the major problem, on a deeper level, is in terms of moral objections to tactics being used. And here, the problem is Palestinian organizations are using terror against civilians — against non-combatants — which is very clearly immoral, and very clearly a war crime, and very clearly a violation of the law of war. In recent weeks, there have been efforts by some Palestinian public figures to publicly reject those methods. I have no doubt that their failure so far to gain wider support also weakens the Israeli peace movement. In other words, if the Israeli public saw that there was widespread public rejection on the Palestinian side to attacks on civilians, I think that that would certainly strengthen support on the Israeli side for peace and for making compromises.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>But I would add one other thing — that the refuseniks also stress that, from their point of view, the Palestinian tactics aren’t the central issue. The key question is the moral dilemma for Israeli society and for the Israeli army, and the best way to defend Israel. Their argument is that first of all, the Palestinian terrorists shouldn’t lead Israel to give up its own principles, and the only way to avoid that is to ultimately end the occupation.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>MJ.com: In the ‘Soldier’s Letter,’ there were no demands that were made, such as a call for Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories. Will the refusenik movement make any demands?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>GG: Well, their clear aim is an end to the occupation. … The movement has avoided making more specific policy arguments, and — here I combine what I’ve heard from various people — there are several different reasons (for that). One is they want to focus on the moral argument that service in the territories has become untenable. I think implicit in that is that they’re trying to minimize the degree to which they’re bringing politics into the army. I’d also guess that one of the reasons that they’d avoid making more specific demands is to avoid leading to the usual splintering within a protest group. The more specific you make your demands, the more likely you are to breakup — a well-known disease on the left.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>MJ.com: Unlike Vietnam and Lebanon, a simple withdrawl doesn’t seem to be the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Another man you quote in your article points out that Vietnam was no threat to the US, and that seems to be different from the threat Palestine poses to Israel. How do the refuseniks respond to this?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>GG: This is one of the differences that has to be understood here. I mean, with the Vietnam protest movement, one of the basic claims was, ‘what are we doing on the other side of the globe?’ Here, I don’t think anybody involved denies the fact that you’re facing a conflict in which the Israeli public is directly threatened.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>The refuseniks respond to this by saying that Israel would be in a better position to defend itself behind a clearly-marked border, and against a sovereign state, than it is today. In the current situation, between Israel and the West bank, there is no clearly-marked border, there’s no border fence. In the social sense there’s no border between the combatants and non-combatants in the West Bank. In other words the Israeli army is facing the classic dilemma of an army engaged in a battle against guerilla forces and underground forces and terrorists, in which you’re fighting against people who aren’t wearing uniforms, who fade into the civilian population, and therefore it becomes very difficult to make the distinction between who is a combatant and who is a non-combatant. I think the refuseniks would also argue that by ending the occupation that you would, for most of the Palestinian population, remove the motivation to attack Israel.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Indeed, I would say that the entire Israeli left makes that argument, that Israel would be safer and more secure without controlling a hostile population of another nationality. The security argument is always (central) to the argument of the Israeli peace camp, and that is in fact why you will find so many prominent ex-military and security figures in the peace camp, and, in fact, why the original agreement with the Palestinians — the Oslo agreement — was signed by a Prime Minister who was a former military chief-of-staff.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>MJ.com: The crux of the refusenik movement is the philosophical argument of ‘selective objection.’ So if right-wing soldiers were ordered to evacuate Israeli settlements as part of a peace deal, could they selectively object to that?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>GG: Well, this is actually an issue that comes up in many of the street debates that you hear on the subject … And, in fact, during the Oslo process, when Israel carried out its withdrawl from most of the West Bank, there were public figures on the religious right who said that it’s in principle forbidden to give up any part of the land of Israel, and therefore soldiers should not carry out orders to participate in the withdraw. By the way, there was absolutely no response to that call…</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>But the philosophical issue is a real one … Israeli law itself recognizes that there are orders that should not be obeyed. And, I think, certainly on a philosophical level, it’s clear that morally the law of the state cannot be the highest moral principle. Soldiers are not guns, they are not mechanical items. There is a point at which a soldier should refuse an order. But the crucial question here is what’s the principle that overrides the law of the state, overrides a democratic decision. And the secondary question, connected to that, is how extreme does the situation have to be to refuse orders?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>The debate, in a sense, on the left today is how extreme has the situation become and does it justify disobeying orders. Where I think that the right-wingers have been wrong here, on a philosophical level, is (the argument some have made that disobeying orders can be justified) because the principle of the Jewish rule of the land of Israel overrides the orders of a democratic government. In that sense, the ultimate principle that they are placing above the law of the state is the mythic right of the nation to a particular definition of territory, and I think that that’s where they’re mistaken.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>MJ.com: What kind of an effect do you think the philosophical doctrine of selective refusal will have, logistically, on the chain of command?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>GG: I don’t think that, democratically, it would be a good situation if people were disobeying orders right and left based on their political views. On the other hand, I think that it is good for commanders (to) know that they can’t simply order anything they want. The question, therefore, is what is the political impact of this particular kind of refusal in this particular context?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>It certainly could have an impact if there was large-scale refusal. … I think that the fact that the people who are currently refusing service in the territories are people who are, by and large, members of combat units — often officers — carries a message to the military that they have to take into account what the tolerance of the soldiers is for the orders they’ve received. At the moment, the number of people who have refused is not large enough to have created a sudden change in how the army is conducting matters. But I am certain that the brass is aware of the phenomenon and takes it as a warning that there are limits.</p>
<p /> | Behind the Thin Green Line | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2002/08/behind-thin-green-line/ | 2002-08-22 | 4left
| Behind the Thin Green Line
<p />
<p>Last winter, Lt. David Zonsheine, an Israeli reserve officer who had just returned from a tour of duty in the Gaza Strip, published an open letter stating why he and fifty other soldiers felt they could no longer serve in the occupied territories. At this date, more than 500 Israeli soldiers have joined the resulting movement: Courage to Refuse.</p>
<p>As writer Gershom Gorenberg discusses, the refuseniks have ignited a furious debate, drawing criticism not only from the country’s hawks, but from many of its doves. Their actions pose deep dilemnas: Is it appropriate for the army to become a forum for civil disobedience against the policies of democratically elected officials? Is withdrawing from the territories the quickest route to peace? And do such protests, which run counter to the national tradition of public service, unnecessarily alienate the public from the left?</p>
<p>This fall, Lt. Zonsheine is due to go before the Israeli Supreme Court to make his case that the occupation is morally untenable and tactically wrong.</p>
<p>MotherJones.com: (In your article) you point out that the refusenik movement has plateaued. Do you think it will fade away, or continue to grow?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Gershom Gorenberg: Well, there’s been a slow, not dramatic increase in the number of soldiers … who signed the list, and said they intend to refuse service, and there is always continued sentencing of specific refuseniks to disciplinary terms as their reserve duty comes up. I certainly don’t expect the number to go down. The large initial response was probably due to the fact that there were many people who were already considering this when the letter appeared, so it crystallized their decisions, and gave them a group backing to something that they were already considering … I would guess that the extent to which it increases depends on a variety of factors, including what is actually taking place on the ground in the territories, what sort of measures the army is using. The Zonsheine hearings themselves at the Supreme Court will almost certainly inspire new debate and coverage and activity around the entire issue, which may or may not bring new supporters.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>I think, in a wider sense, you have to remember two factors. One is that protest movements don’t happen overnight. In America it took years for the Vietnam protest movement to develop and gain the strength it eventually did, and to have the effect it eventually did. In terms of the Lebanon war, here, also, the movement grew over time. … In this particular case, you have to remember that there are strong counter-factors that I’ve discussed in the article. There’s the democracy issue, and the desire to keep the army out of politics, and, of course, there’s the issue of a sense in a wide part of the public that the Palestinian tactics indicate a threat toward Israel as such, rather than just being aimed at ending the occupation. And as long as that’s the case, it also creates a counter-force to the growth of the movement.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>MJ.com: Aside from generating a lot of public debate, have the refuseniks had any real impact on official Israeli policy?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>GG: Well … Ariel Sharon is certainly not changing his ideas on how to conduct the conflict on the basis of the refusenik movement. However, the real question is, what effect has it had on the political environment? … The movement, at least when it began, helped to reinvigorate the left … but it’s possible that it may have turned off a lot of people who are closer to the center, who dislike the idea of refusal, and might have identified the entire left with the idea of refusal.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>I think if you look at the overall situation in terms of Israeli opinion, the interesting thing is that, in a sense, public opinion is moving in two directions — two opposite directions — at once. There’s a greater number of people who, according to the polls, identify themselves as being on the right, as being more hawkish. And, yet, there’s also a rising number that favor having a Palestinian state, favor evacuation of settlements. And the numbers in both groups are so large that what you’ve actually got is a large overlapping group of people, who both say that they’re more right-wing, and yet favor things like evacuating settlements. Those are, I think, long-term changes in Israeli opinion, and, in that respect, I think that the refusenik movement is an expression of wider changes in the political environment.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>.. What you have is a situation in which the level of distrust and of anger has risen, but at the same time, a growing number of people have realized that to reach a peace agreement will require greater concessions and compromises than they had been willing to accept a couple years ago.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>MJ.com: One of the men you quote in your article says that “Leftists are the absolute worst.” Could you explain what he meant by that?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>GG: I think what it shows here is an example of the tension on the left over this issue, that there is a very deep argument within the Israeli left over the issue of refusal. … Within the Israeli left what you’re talking about is a conflict between people who share a sense that they’re peaceniks, and who share a sense that they’re patriotic, but who disagree on the best way to pursue those commitments.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>MJ.com: Right-wingers are keen on arguing that the refusenik movement emboldens Palestinian militants, and gives them the impression that Israelis are losing heart and can be forced to evacuate the occupied territories unconditionally. Is there anything to that?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>GG: That is one argument that is raised even on the left by people who oppose unilateral withdrawl from the occupied territories … I think it’s legitimate to say that a negotiated settlement in which both sides give up further claims is more likely to end the conflict than a unilateral Israeli move. Part of the argument is, if such an agreement is unachievable, if the Palestinian side is unwilling or unable to enter into such an agreement, what should Israel’s next step be?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>MJ.com: Is there a Palestinian counterpart to the refusenik movement?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>GG: Well, there wouldn’t be an exact counterpart, because there’s no universal draft on the Palestinian side, and one of the very difficult aspects of the situation is that there is no unified military force. In a large sense, authority has broken down on the Palestinian side. … But, the major problem, on a deeper level, is in terms of moral objections to tactics being used. And here, the problem is Palestinian organizations are using terror against civilians — against non-combatants — which is very clearly immoral, and very clearly a war crime, and very clearly a violation of the law of war. In recent weeks, there have been efforts by some Palestinian public figures to publicly reject those methods. I have no doubt that their failure so far to gain wider support also weakens the Israeli peace movement. In other words, if the Israeli public saw that there was widespread public rejection on the Palestinian side to attacks on civilians, I think that that would certainly strengthen support on the Israeli side for peace and for making compromises.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>But I would add one other thing — that the refuseniks also stress that, from their point of view, the Palestinian tactics aren’t the central issue. The key question is the moral dilemma for Israeli society and for the Israeli army, and the best way to defend Israel. Their argument is that first of all, the Palestinian terrorists shouldn’t lead Israel to give up its own principles, and the only way to avoid that is to ultimately end the occupation.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>MJ.com: In the ‘Soldier’s Letter,’ there were no demands that were made, such as a call for Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories. Will the refusenik movement make any demands?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>GG: Well, their clear aim is an end to the occupation. … The movement has avoided making more specific policy arguments, and — here I combine what I’ve heard from various people — there are several different reasons (for that). One is they want to focus on the moral argument that service in the territories has become untenable. I think implicit in that is that they’re trying to minimize the degree to which they’re bringing politics into the army. I’d also guess that one of the reasons that they’d avoid making more specific demands is to avoid leading to the usual splintering within a protest group. The more specific you make your demands, the more likely you are to breakup — a well-known disease on the left.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>MJ.com: Unlike Vietnam and Lebanon, a simple withdrawl doesn’t seem to be the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Another man you quote in your article points out that Vietnam was no threat to the US, and that seems to be different from the threat Palestine poses to Israel. How do the refuseniks respond to this?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>GG: This is one of the differences that has to be understood here. I mean, with the Vietnam protest movement, one of the basic claims was, ‘what are we doing on the other side of the globe?’ Here, I don’t think anybody involved denies the fact that you’re facing a conflict in which the Israeli public is directly threatened.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>The refuseniks respond to this by saying that Israel would be in a better position to defend itself behind a clearly-marked border, and against a sovereign state, than it is today. In the current situation, between Israel and the West bank, there is no clearly-marked border, there’s no border fence. In the social sense there’s no border between the combatants and non-combatants in the West Bank. In other words the Israeli army is facing the classic dilemma of an army engaged in a battle against guerilla forces and underground forces and terrorists, in which you’re fighting against people who aren’t wearing uniforms, who fade into the civilian population, and therefore it becomes very difficult to make the distinction between who is a combatant and who is a non-combatant. I think the refuseniks would also argue that by ending the occupation that you would, for most of the Palestinian population, remove the motivation to attack Israel.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Indeed, I would say that the entire Israeli left makes that argument, that Israel would be safer and more secure without controlling a hostile population of another nationality. The security argument is always (central) to the argument of the Israeli peace camp, and that is in fact why you will find so many prominent ex-military and security figures in the peace camp, and, in fact, why the original agreement with the Palestinians — the Oslo agreement — was signed by a Prime Minister who was a former military chief-of-staff.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>MJ.com: The crux of the refusenik movement is the philosophical argument of ‘selective objection.’ So if right-wing soldiers were ordered to evacuate Israeli settlements as part of a peace deal, could they selectively object to that?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>GG: Well, this is actually an issue that comes up in many of the street debates that you hear on the subject … And, in fact, during the Oslo process, when Israel carried out its withdrawl from most of the West Bank, there were public figures on the religious right who said that it’s in principle forbidden to give up any part of the land of Israel, and therefore soldiers should not carry out orders to participate in the withdraw. By the way, there was absolutely no response to that call…</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>But the philosophical issue is a real one … Israeli law itself recognizes that there are orders that should not be obeyed. And, I think, certainly on a philosophical level, it’s clear that morally the law of the state cannot be the highest moral principle. Soldiers are not guns, they are not mechanical items. There is a point at which a soldier should refuse an order. But the crucial question here is what’s the principle that overrides the law of the state, overrides a democratic decision. And the secondary question, connected to that, is how extreme does the situation have to be to refuse orders?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>The debate, in a sense, on the left today is how extreme has the situation become and does it justify disobeying orders. Where I think that the right-wingers have been wrong here, on a philosophical level, is (the argument some have made that disobeying orders can be justified) because the principle of the Jewish rule of the land of Israel overrides the orders of a democratic government. In that sense, the ultimate principle that they are placing above the law of the state is the mythic right of the nation to a particular definition of territory, and I think that that’s where they’re mistaken.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>MJ.com: What kind of an effect do you think the philosophical doctrine of selective refusal will have, logistically, on the chain of command?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>GG: I don’t think that, democratically, it would be a good situation if people were disobeying orders right and left based on their political views. On the other hand, I think that it is good for commanders (to) know that they can’t simply order anything they want. The question, therefore, is what is the political impact of this particular kind of refusal in this particular context?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>It certainly could have an impact if there was large-scale refusal. … I think that the fact that the people who are currently refusing service in the territories are people who are, by and large, members of combat units — often officers — carries a message to the military that they have to take into account what the tolerance of the soldiers is for the orders they’ve received. At the moment, the number of people who have refused is not large enough to have created a sudden change in how the army is conducting matters. But I am certain that the brass is aware of the phenomenon and takes it as a warning that there are limits.</p>
<p /> | 599,319 |
<p>LOS ANGELES -- Police are asking for the public's help in finding a suspect wanted for the <a href="http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/30/17532420-lapd-names-suspect-in-10-year-old-girls-abduction?lite" type="external">kidnapping of a 10-year-old girl</a>from her home in Northridge on Wednesday.</p>
<p>The LAPD has named the suspect as 30-year-old Tobias Dustin Summers, who has a long criminal history and was recently released from prison.</p>
<p>According to police, Summers has short blond hair <a href="http://laist.com/2013/03/30/police_name_suspect_accused_of_kidn.php" type="external">and large distinctive tattoos of a flaming skeleton and a woman</a> on his right arm.</p>
<p>The young victim told police she was taken from her home between 1am and&#160; 3:30 am and was driven in a pick up truck to an abandoned home near a storage facility where she was held for 10 hours.</p>
<p>Her abductors then dropped her off in Woodland Hills where she walked to a nearby Starbucks and was found by police later that afternoon.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.scpr.org/blogs/news/2013/03/30/13113/police-say-they-have-suspect-in-kidnapping-of-nort/?slide=1" type="external">At a news conference Saturday afternoon,</a> LAPD Deputy Chief Kirk J. Albanese described Summers as a transient in the San Fernando Valley area north of Los Angeles.</p>
<p>"Currently there are 40 detectives working 24 hours on this case, and that current effort is to locate and arrest Tobias Summers," <a href="http://www.scpr.org/blogs/news/2013/03/30/13113/police-say-they-have-suspect-in-kidnapping-of-nort/?slide=1" type="external">Albanese said.</a></p>
<p>Albanese confirmed that Summers is the only suspect the LAPD is searching for despite the girl reporting that she was abducted by two men.</p>
<p>There is <a href="http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/30/17532420-lapd-names-suspect-in-10-year-old-girls-abduction?lite" type="external">no evidence that there was any relationship</a> between Summers and the victim.&#160;</p> | LA police name suspect in kidnapping of 10-year-old girl | false | https://pri.org/stories/2013-03-31/la-police-name-suspect-kidnapping-10-year-old-girl | 2013-03-31 | 3left-center
| LA police name suspect in kidnapping of 10-year-old girl
<p>LOS ANGELES -- Police are asking for the public's help in finding a suspect wanted for the <a href="http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/30/17532420-lapd-names-suspect-in-10-year-old-girls-abduction?lite" type="external">kidnapping of a 10-year-old girl</a>from her home in Northridge on Wednesday.</p>
<p>The LAPD has named the suspect as 30-year-old Tobias Dustin Summers, who has a long criminal history and was recently released from prison.</p>
<p>According to police, Summers has short blond hair <a href="http://laist.com/2013/03/30/police_name_suspect_accused_of_kidn.php" type="external">and large distinctive tattoos of a flaming skeleton and a woman</a> on his right arm.</p>
<p>The young victim told police she was taken from her home between 1am and&#160; 3:30 am and was driven in a pick up truck to an abandoned home near a storage facility where she was held for 10 hours.</p>
<p>Her abductors then dropped her off in Woodland Hills where she walked to a nearby Starbucks and was found by police later that afternoon.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.scpr.org/blogs/news/2013/03/30/13113/police-say-they-have-suspect-in-kidnapping-of-nort/?slide=1" type="external">At a news conference Saturday afternoon,</a> LAPD Deputy Chief Kirk J. Albanese described Summers as a transient in the San Fernando Valley area north of Los Angeles.</p>
<p>"Currently there are 40 detectives working 24 hours on this case, and that current effort is to locate and arrest Tobias Summers," <a href="http://www.scpr.org/blogs/news/2013/03/30/13113/police-say-they-have-suspect-in-kidnapping-of-nort/?slide=1" type="external">Albanese said.</a></p>
<p>Albanese confirmed that Summers is the only suspect the LAPD is searching for despite the girl reporting that she was abducted by two men.</p>
<p>There is <a href="http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/30/17532420-lapd-names-suspect-in-10-year-old-girls-abduction?lite" type="external">no evidence that there was any relationship</a> between Summers and the victim.&#160;</p> | 599,320 |
<p>When a Washington State abortion clinic received a bomb threat earlier this year, they figured it was anti-choice violence, trying to shut the clinic down to stop people from having abortions. In fact, it was one man trying to stop one woman – his partner – from having an abortion. It was intimate partner violence on a public stage. In The Seattle Times, Mercedes Sanchez, communications and education director at the clinic, writes about the too-rarely-discussed connection between abusive relationships and pregnancy:</p>
<p>Pregnancy is often the focus of reproductive coercion. Abusers may see pregnancy as a way to further control a woman and to establish a lifetime connection. As reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in every 21 women in the U.S. has had a partner try to get her pregnant against her will.</p>
<p>Women and teens with abusive partners are five times more likely to have unwanted pregnancies.</p>
<p>Abusers may be threatened by pregnancy and see it as a sign of losing control of their partners. Abuse can escalate out of resentment toward either the partner or the potential child.</p>
<p>The&#160; <a href="http://www1.paho.org/english/ad/ge/vawpregnancy.pdf" type="external">Pan American Health Organization found</a>pregnant women are 61 percent more likely to be beaten than women who are not pregnant. The most startling statistic is that homicide is the second leading cause of traumatic death for pregnant women in the U.S.,&#160; <a href="http://www.futureswithoutviolence.org/userfiles/file/Maternal_Health/Reproductive_Health_FS.pdf" type="external">according to Futures Without Violence.</a></p>
<p>You can read the whole thing <a href="http://seattletimes.com/html/opinion/2022458505_mercedessanchezopeddomesticviolence14xml.html#.Uq8T-n3b9XU.facebook" type="external">here</a>.</p> | Quick hit: When intimate partner violence and anti-choice violence collide | true | http://feministing.com/2013/12/16/quick-hit-when-intimate-partner-violence-and-anti-choice-violence-collide/ | 4left
| Quick hit: When intimate partner violence and anti-choice violence collide
<p>When a Washington State abortion clinic received a bomb threat earlier this year, they figured it was anti-choice violence, trying to shut the clinic down to stop people from having abortions. In fact, it was one man trying to stop one woman – his partner – from having an abortion. It was intimate partner violence on a public stage. In The Seattle Times, Mercedes Sanchez, communications and education director at the clinic, writes about the too-rarely-discussed connection between abusive relationships and pregnancy:</p>
<p>Pregnancy is often the focus of reproductive coercion. Abusers may see pregnancy as a way to further control a woman and to establish a lifetime connection. As reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in every 21 women in the U.S. has had a partner try to get her pregnant against her will.</p>
<p>Women and teens with abusive partners are five times more likely to have unwanted pregnancies.</p>
<p>Abusers may be threatened by pregnancy and see it as a sign of losing control of their partners. Abuse can escalate out of resentment toward either the partner or the potential child.</p>
<p>The&#160; <a href="http://www1.paho.org/english/ad/ge/vawpregnancy.pdf" type="external">Pan American Health Organization found</a>pregnant women are 61 percent more likely to be beaten than women who are not pregnant. The most startling statistic is that homicide is the second leading cause of traumatic death for pregnant women in the U.S.,&#160; <a href="http://www.futureswithoutviolence.org/userfiles/file/Maternal_Health/Reproductive_Health_FS.pdf" type="external">according to Futures Without Violence.</a></p>
<p>You can read the whole thing <a href="http://seattletimes.com/html/opinion/2022458505_mercedessanchezopeddomesticviolence14xml.html#.Uq8T-n3b9XU.facebook" type="external">here</a>.</p> | 599,321 |
|
<p>U.S. ending stocks in million bushels, except soyoil in million pounds,</p>
<p>cotton in million (480 pound) bales and rice in million cwt. Exports and</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Production in million metric tons except cotton in million (480 pound)</p>
<p>bales.</p>
<p>Projections based on trends and analysts' judgments, not survey</p>
<p>date. Source: USDA's World Agricultural Outlook Board.</p>
<p>======US====== ================WORLD==============</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Ending Stocks Exports Production</p>
<p>17-18 16-17 15-16 : 17-18 16-17 15-16 17-18 16-17 15-16</p>
<p>Soybeans 475 345 197 :151.42 146.29 132.46 348.44 351.44 313.71</p>
<p>Brazil na na na : 64.00 62.50 54.38 107.00 114.00 96.50</p>
<p>Argentina na na na : 8.00 6.50 9.92 57.00 57.80 56.80</p>
<p>China na na na : 0.15 0.12 0.11 14.00 12.90 11.79</p>
<p>Soyoil 1,757 1,827 1,687 : 11.92 11.54 11.68 56.13 53.94 51.50</p>
<p>Corn 2,335 2,350 1,737 :150.58 165.26 119.69 1,032.63 1,071.23 969.62</p>
<p>China na na na : 0.02 0.05 0.00 215.00 219.55 224.63</p>
<p>Argentina na na na : 28.50 27.50 21.64 42.00 41.00 29.00</p>
<p>S. Africa na na na : 1.70 2.50 0.84 12.50 17.15 8.21</p>
<p>Cotton(a) 6.00 2.75 3.80 : 37.78 37.54 35.28 120.75 106.74 96.25</p>
<p>All Wheat 933 1,184 976 :180.03 181.68 172.84 744.85 753.31 735.30</p>
<p>China na na na : 0.80 0.75 0.73 130.00 128.85 130.19</p>
<p>EU 27 na na na : 28.50 27.31 34.69 148.87 145.43 160.48</p>
<p>Canada na na na : 20.50 20.20 22.11 26.50 31.70 27.59</p>
<p>Argentina na na na : 11.50 12.00 9.60 17.50 17.50 11.30</p>
<p>Australia na na na : 18.50 23.20 16.12 22.50 33.50 22.28</p>
<p>Russia na na na : 32.50 27.80 25.54 81.00 72.53 61.04</p>
<p>Ukraine na na na : 16.50 18.11 17.43 26.50 26.80 27.27</p>
<p>Sorghum 29 29 37 : na na na na na na</p>
<p>Barley 70 108 102 : na na na na na na</p>
<p>Oats 34 52 57 : na na na na na na</p>
<p>Rice 29.0 46.0 46.5 : 44.22 44.60 40.25 483.36 486.39 471.72</p>
<p>Write to Rodney Christian at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>September 12, 2017 12:15 ET (16:15 GMT)</p> | USDA Supply/Demand: Crop Summary - Sep 12 | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2017/09/12/usda-supplydemand-crop-summary-sep-12.html | 2017-09-12 | 0right
| USDA Supply/Demand: Crop Summary - Sep 12
<p>U.S. ending stocks in million bushels, except soyoil in million pounds,</p>
<p>cotton in million (480 pound) bales and rice in million cwt. Exports and</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Production in million metric tons except cotton in million (480 pound)</p>
<p>bales.</p>
<p>Projections based on trends and analysts' judgments, not survey</p>
<p>date. Source: USDA's World Agricultural Outlook Board.</p>
<p>======US====== ================WORLD==============</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Ending Stocks Exports Production</p>
<p>17-18 16-17 15-16 : 17-18 16-17 15-16 17-18 16-17 15-16</p>
<p>Soybeans 475 345 197 :151.42 146.29 132.46 348.44 351.44 313.71</p>
<p>Brazil na na na : 64.00 62.50 54.38 107.00 114.00 96.50</p>
<p>Argentina na na na : 8.00 6.50 9.92 57.00 57.80 56.80</p>
<p>China na na na : 0.15 0.12 0.11 14.00 12.90 11.79</p>
<p>Soyoil 1,757 1,827 1,687 : 11.92 11.54 11.68 56.13 53.94 51.50</p>
<p>Corn 2,335 2,350 1,737 :150.58 165.26 119.69 1,032.63 1,071.23 969.62</p>
<p>China na na na : 0.02 0.05 0.00 215.00 219.55 224.63</p>
<p>Argentina na na na : 28.50 27.50 21.64 42.00 41.00 29.00</p>
<p>S. Africa na na na : 1.70 2.50 0.84 12.50 17.15 8.21</p>
<p>Cotton(a) 6.00 2.75 3.80 : 37.78 37.54 35.28 120.75 106.74 96.25</p>
<p>All Wheat 933 1,184 976 :180.03 181.68 172.84 744.85 753.31 735.30</p>
<p>China na na na : 0.80 0.75 0.73 130.00 128.85 130.19</p>
<p>EU 27 na na na : 28.50 27.31 34.69 148.87 145.43 160.48</p>
<p>Canada na na na : 20.50 20.20 22.11 26.50 31.70 27.59</p>
<p>Argentina na na na : 11.50 12.00 9.60 17.50 17.50 11.30</p>
<p>Australia na na na : 18.50 23.20 16.12 22.50 33.50 22.28</p>
<p>Russia na na na : 32.50 27.80 25.54 81.00 72.53 61.04</p>
<p>Ukraine na na na : 16.50 18.11 17.43 26.50 26.80 27.27</p>
<p>Sorghum 29 29 37 : na na na na na na</p>
<p>Barley 70 108 102 : na na na na na na</p>
<p>Oats 34 52 57 : na na na na na na</p>
<p>Rice 29.0 46.0 46.5 : 44.22 44.60 40.25 483.36 486.39 471.72</p>
<p>Write to Rodney Christian at [email protected]</p>
<p>(END) Dow Jones Newswires</p>
<p>September 12, 2017 12:15 ET (16:15 GMT)</p> | 599,322 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Shares of Goodyear rose more than 4 percent in premarket trading Tuesday.</p>
<p>The tire company reported net income of $2.13 billion, or $7.68 per share in the three months ending Dec. 31.</p>
<p>Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, were 59 cents per share. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 58 cents per share.</p>
<p>Revenue fell 9.1 percent to $4.36 billion in the period, which missed Street forecasts. Analysts expected $4.39 billion, according to Zacks.</p>
<p>The company said sales were hurt by $256 million due to a stronger U.S. dollar and $181 million due to lower sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Goodyear shares rose $1.08, or 4.2 percent, to $26.99 in premarket trading about a half-hour before the market opens Tuesday. Its shares have fallen more than 9 percent since the beginning of the year.</p>
<p>———-</p>
<p>Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights ( <a href="http://automatedinsights.com/ap)" type="external">http://automatedinsights.com/ap)</a> using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on GT at <a href="http://www.zacks.com/ap/GT" type="external">http://www.zacks.com/ap/GT</a></p>
<p>———-</p>
<p>Keywords: Goodyear, Earnings Report, Priority Earnings</p> | Goodyear beats 4Q profit forecasts | false | https://abqjournal.com/542595/goodyear-beats-4q-profit-forecasts.html | 2least
| Goodyear beats 4Q profit forecasts
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>Shares of Goodyear rose more than 4 percent in premarket trading Tuesday.</p>
<p>The tire company reported net income of $2.13 billion, or $7.68 per share in the three months ending Dec. 31.</p>
<p>Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, were 59 cents per share. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 58 cents per share.</p>
<p>Revenue fell 9.1 percent to $4.36 billion in the period, which missed Street forecasts. Analysts expected $4.39 billion, according to Zacks.</p>
<p>The company said sales were hurt by $256 million due to a stronger U.S. dollar and $181 million due to lower sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Goodyear shares rose $1.08, or 4.2 percent, to $26.99 in premarket trading about a half-hour before the market opens Tuesday. Its shares have fallen more than 9 percent since the beginning of the year.</p>
<p>———-</p>
<p>Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights ( <a href="http://automatedinsights.com/ap)" type="external">http://automatedinsights.com/ap)</a> using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on GT at <a href="http://www.zacks.com/ap/GT" type="external">http://www.zacks.com/ap/GT</a></p>
<p>———-</p>
<p>Keywords: Goodyear, Earnings Report, Priority Earnings</p> | 599,323 |
|
<p>If you can’t pay attention to the Greek debt crisis, you might be interested to know that the issue is captivating a lot of people across Africa.</p>
<p>The blog <a href="http://africasacountry.com/" type="external">Africa is a Country</a>&#160;asked its contributors to answer the question:&#160; <a href="http://africasacountry.com/what-can-africa-learn-from-the-greek-crisis/" type="external">What can Africa learn from the Greek crisis?</a></p>
<p>Grieve Chelwa, a doctoral candidate at the University of Cape Town, in South Africa, answered it this way:</p>
<p>Austerity in Africa imposed under the "structural adjustment programs"&#160;of international agencies like the IMF and the World Bank, caused a lot of suffering in many African nations, slashing spending on health care, education and agriculture.</p>
<p>“We in Africa,” Chelwa said in an interview, “we are pretty excited to see that Greece had politicians who were brave enough to say, ‘you know what, if we’re going to agree to any further terms, any further conditions, we are going to have to consult our people.’ This is something that didn’t happen, for example, in the case of Africa.”</p>
<p>“So that’s what we’re really happy about here,” he says. “But at the same time, we’re sad because we were never consulted when we were going through the same thing.”</p>
<p>He says that consultation is key to getting the people to buy-in to any new austerity measures. “The people need to be involved, because, whether we like it or not, down the line, they bear the burden.”</p>
<p>The other big lesson, Chelwa says, is for modern African governments, who have benefitted from a wave of debt forgiveness over the last decade.&#160;“As we accumulate new debt, we have to be really careful and cognizant of the fact that when stuff goes really bad, it can go very bad. So we have to think really carefully how we accumulate this new debt, in terms of what sort of burden we’re leaving for those who come afterwards. Our children, and our children’s children.”</p> | What Africa is learning from the Greek debt crisis | false | https://pri.org/stories/2015-07-10/what-africa-learning-greek-debt-crisis | 2015-07-10 | 3left-center
| What Africa is learning from the Greek debt crisis
<p>If you can’t pay attention to the Greek debt crisis, you might be interested to know that the issue is captivating a lot of people across Africa.</p>
<p>The blog <a href="http://africasacountry.com/" type="external">Africa is a Country</a>&#160;asked its contributors to answer the question:&#160; <a href="http://africasacountry.com/what-can-africa-learn-from-the-greek-crisis/" type="external">What can Africa learn from the Greek crisis?</a></p>
<p>Grieve Chelwa, a doctoral candidate at the University of Cape Town, in South Africa, answered it this way:</p>
<p>Austerity in Africa imposed under the "structural adjustment programs"&#160;of international agencies like the IMF and the World Bank, caused a lot of suffering in many African nations, slashing spending on health care, education and agriculture.</p>
<p>“We in Africa,” Chelwa said in an interview, “we are pretty excited to see that Greece had politicians who were brave enough to say, ‘you know what, if we’re going to agree to any further terms, any further conditions, we are going to have to consult our people.’ This is something that didn’t happen, for example, in the case of Africa.”</p>
<p>“So that’s what we’re really happy about here,” he says. “But at the same time, we’re sad because we were never consulted when we were going through the same thing.”</p>
<p>He says that consultation is key to getting the people to buy-in to any new austerity measures. “The people need to be involved, because, whether we like it or not, down the line, they bear the burden.”</p>
<p>The other big lesson, Chelwa says, is for modern African governments, who have benefitted from a wave of debt forgiveness over the last decade.&#160;“As we accumulate new debt, we have to be really careful and cognizant of the fact that when stuff goes really bad, it can go very bad. So we have to think really carefully how we accumulate this new debt, in terms of what sort of burden we’re leaving for those who come afterwards. Our children, and our children’s children.”</p> | 599,324 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>During a recent visit for dinner, three friends and I had our choice of patio tables — only one other table was occupied. (The indoor dining room was deserted as well.) Sure, it was a weeknight, but this is tourist season! The hotel’s Secreto bar buzzed with business and nearly every chair on the street-facing terrace was occupied with people enjoying evening cocktails.</p>
<p>I don’t think the problem here is the food. My friends and I liked it — I’ll explain in a moment. Service was good. The prices are a touch higher than you’d find at a Mom-and-Pop place on Cerrillos Road or a shopping mall restaurant. But I figure the patio ambiance and the overlay of Santa Fe history is worth a bit extra. Parking is relatively easy, with a public city-run lot right across the street if spaces at the meters along Water Street or Don Gaspar Avenue are filled.</p>
<p>The restaurant’s menu, small but more than adequate, seems to have been created with an eye toward what customers like and a focus on local and organic. The lightly breaded pan-fired trout, for example, arrived de-boned but on the skin with the head as proof of its origin and freshness. The tangy lemon finish accentuated the fresh, mild natural flavor of the fish without overwhelming it with fancy spices or extra richness. The quail, a serving of two birds, was also first-rate, tender and full of flavor. Our waiter explained that both the trout and the quail are fresh, never frozen. We could taste the difference. Unfortunately, the little birds came with an overpowering salty brown sauce, but it was easy enough to avoid it. The sauce aside, both the trout and the quail are some of the best I’ve had anywhere. They came with potatoes and perfectly cooked fresh vegetables that stayed crisp. I strongly recommend both these dishes.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The New Mexican food gave me and my guests a nice surprise. I expected to be underwhelmed since this is, after all, a hotel restaurant where many customers aren’t accustomed to our vibrant chile-inspired cuisine. But chef Estevan Garcia knows his chile and isn’t afraid to showcase it. The combination plate contained a tasty rolled enchilada, a large moist and meaty tamale with plenty of spice in the filling. It also had what I’d describe as a light version of a stuffed sopaipilla: two thin sopaipilla rectangles stacked with pinto beans between. The red chile sauce that we requested was rich with flavor and to our local palates had just the right amount of heat. The vegetable, calabacitas, made a lovely summer pairing of fresh zucchini and pretty yellow corn kernels. The evening’s specials included New Mexico lamb chops and salmon cooked anyway you’d like it.</p>
<p>As a starter, I’m crazy about the carne adovado ravioli; three large soft squares of fresh pasta with richly flavored spicy shredded meat inside presented in a creamy red chile sauce. The house-made salsa featured roasted/charred tomatoes mixed with garlic, jalapeño and a bit of onion. Even the salad was better than average and included interesting white and pink radishes.</p>
<p>The guacamole appetizer got high points for good looks — a layer of guacamole on the top followed by layers of yellow corn kernels and fresh red tomatoes. But it was tiny. One of the few other disappointments was the soup of the evening, a bowl of chopped, cooked veggies that tasted rather flat. My friend who ordered it suspected it had been around awhile; I blame under-seasoning for the boredom.</p>
<p>Try the wonderful goat milk flan, creamy, rich, not too sweet and all around delicious. We also shared a slice of tres leches cake, served with tangy swirls of mango and raspberry sauce. The cake was moist and not overly sweet with a pleasantly dense texture. Coffee was fresh, hot and strong. Service was consistently attentive and the presentations lovely.</p>
<p>We enjoyed our food and conversation with the sound of the fountain’s gentle splashing and birds chirping in the greenery. It’s too bad other folks haven’t discovered this oasis, but it was lovely having it all to ourselves. Our dinner for four was $101 before tax and tip. Los Santos Sets A Beautiful Tabla jeff caven/courtesy of hotel st. francis Tabla de los Santos in the St. Francis Hotel. Tabla de Los Santos</p>
<p>WHERE: Hotel St. Francis, 210 Don Gaspar Ave., Santa Fe, 505-983-5700.</p>
<p>HOURS: Breakfast daily, 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.; lunch Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; dinner Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday 5 to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 5 to 10 p.m.; Sunday brunch 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.</p>
<p>SERVICE: Good.</p>
<p>AMBIANCE: Beautiful enclosed patio, indoor and bar dining available.</p>
<p>FOOD: Santa Fe upscale. Full bar.</p> | Los Santos Sets A Beautiful Tabla | false | https://abqjournal.com/115732/los-santos-sets-a-beautiful-tabla.html | 2012-06-29 | 2least
| Los Santos Sets A Beautiful Tabla
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>During a recent visit for dinner, three friends and I had our choice of patio tables — only one other table was occupied. (The indoor dining room was deserted as well.) Sure, it was a weeknight, but this is tourist season! The hotel’s Secreto bar buzzed with business and nearly every chair on the street-facing terrace was occupied with people enjoying evening cocktails.</p>
<p>I don’t think the problem here is the food. My friends and I liked it — I’ll explain in a moment. Service was good. The prices are a touch higher than you’d find at a Mom-and-Pop place on Cerrillos Road or a shopping mall restaurant. But I figure the patio ambiance and the overlay of Santa Fe history is worth a bit extra. Parking is relatively easy, with a public city-run lot right across the street if spaces at the meters along Water Street or Don Gaspar Avenue are filled.</p>
<p>The restaurant’s menu, small but more than adequate, seems to have been created with an eye toward what customers like and a focus on local and organic. The lightly breaded pan-fired trout, for example, arrived de-boned but on the skin with the head as proof of its origin and freshness. The tangy lemon finish accentuated the fresh, mild natural flavor of the fish without overwhelming it with fancy spices or extra richness. The quail, a serving of two birds, was also first-rate, tender and full of flavor. Our waiter explained that both the trout and the quail are fresh, never frozen. We could taste the difference. Unfortunately, the little birds came with an overpowering salty brown sauce, but it was easy enough to avoid it. The sauce aside, both the trout and the quail are some of the best I’ve had anywhere. They came with potatoes and perfectly cooked fresh vegetables that stayed crisp. I strongly recommend both these dishes.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The New Mexican food gave me and my guests a nice surprise. I expected to be underwhelmed since this is, after all, a hotel restaurant where many customers aren’t accustomed to our vibrant chile-inspired cuisine. But chef Estevan Garcia knows his chile and isn’t afraid to showcase it. The combination plate contained a tasty rolled enchilada, a large moist and meaty tamale with plenty of spice in the filling. It also had what I’d describe as a light version of a stuffed sopaipilla: two thin sopaipilla rectangles stacked with pinto beans between. The red chile sauce that we requested was rich with flavor and to our local palates had just the right amount of heat. The vegetable, calabacitas, made a lovely summer pairing of fresh zucchini and pretty yellow corn kernels. The evening’s specials included New Mexico lamb chops and salmon cooked anyway you’d like it.</p>
<p>As a starter, I’m crazy about the carne adovado ravioli; three large soft squares of fresh pasta with richly flavored spicy shredded meat inside presented in a creamy red chile sauce. The house-made salsa featured roasted/charred tomatoes mixed with garlic, jalapeño and a bit of onion. Even the salad was better than average and included interesting white and pink radishes.</p>
<p>The guacamole appetizer got high points for good looks — a layer of guacamole on the top followed by layers of yellow corn kernels and fresh red tomatoes. But it was tiny. One of the few other disappointments was the soup of the evening, a bowl of chopped, cooked veggies that tasted rather flat. My friend who ordered it suspected it had been around awhile; I blame under-seasoning for the boredom.</p>
<p>Try the wonderful goat milk flan, creamy, rich, not too sweet and all around delicious. We also shared a slice of tres leches cake, served with tangy swirls of mango and raspberry sauce. The cake was moist and not overly sweet with a pleasantly dense texture. Coffee was fresh, hot and strong. Service was consistently attentive and the presentations lovely.</p>
<p>We enjoyed our food and conversation with the sound of the fountain’s gentle splashing and birds chirping in the greenery. It’s too bad other folks haven’t discovered this oasis, but it was lovely having it all to ourselves. Our dinner for four was $101 before tax and tip. Los Santos Sets A Beautiful Tabla jeff caven/courtesy of hotel st. francis Tabla de los Santos in the St. Francis Hotel. Tabla de Los Santos</p>
<p>WHERE: Hotel St. Francis, 210 Don Gaspar Ave., Santa Fe, 505-983-5700.</p>
<p>HOURS: Breakfast daily, 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.; lunch Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; dinner Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday 5 to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 5 to 10 p.m.; Sunday brunch 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.</p>
<p>SERVICE: Good.</p>
<p>AMBIANCE: Beautiful enclosed patio, indoor and bar dining available.</p>
<p>FOOD: Santa Fe upscale. Full bar.</p> | 599,325 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" />Thomas Ricks author of <a href="http://amzn.to/XX48CG" type="external">The Generals</a> illustrates exactly how an interviewee can get enough air time on Fox News to reveal the truth. Of course the interview is likely to be cut short and the interviewee is likely to never get an invite on Fox News again.</p>
<p>It is important however that a string of truth tellers be poised and ready to be on Fox News to get their one 90 seconds of Fox News fame. Interesting enough Fox News burned its viewers by giving them the impression that Mitt Romney would have a big win even as all the polls said otherwise. This means that truth tellers on Fox News at least in the near term will be able to have some impact on some of their viewers.</p>
<p>In the video below Fox News co-anchor Jon Scott attempts to give the Fox News Benghazi hyped story legs and credibility by using the gravitas of Thomas Ricks, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, to further disparage the Obama administration on its handling of the killing of our ambassador.</p>
<p>It was poetic justice the manner in which Mr. Rick answered. He called the incident a small fire fight. He did not try to diminish the death of the ambassador but the silly handling by Fox News. Most importantly he called Fox News out for what it is, the propaganda arm of the Republican Party. Listen to the video below, it is a classic.</p>
<p />
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/EgbertoWilliescom/181893712536" type="external">LIKE My Facebook Page</a></p> | Must See: Quickest Way To End Fox News Interview? Tell The Truth (VIDEO) | true | http://egbertowillies.com/2012/11/26/must-see-quickest-way-to-end-fox-news-interview-tell-the-truth-video/ | 2012-11-26 | 4left
| Must See: Quickest Way To End Fox News Interview? Tell The Truth (VIDEO)
<p><a href="" type="internal" />Thomas Ricks author of <a href="http://amzn.to/XX48CG" type="external">The Generals</a> illustrates exactly how an interviewee can get enough air time on Fox News to reveal the truth. Of course the interview is likely to be cut short and the interviewee is likely to never get an invite on Fox News again.</p>
<p>It is important however that a string of truth tellers be poised and ready to be on Fox News to get their one 90 seconds of Fox News fame. Interesting enough Fox News burned its viewers by giving them the impression that Mitt Romney would have a big win even as all the polls said otherwise. This means that truth tellers on Fox News at least in the near term will be able to have some impact on some of their viewers.</p>
<p>In the video below Fox News co-anchor Jon Scott attempts to give the Fox News Benghazi hyped story legs and credibility by using the gravitas of Thomas Ricks, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, to further disparage the Obama administration on its handling of the killing of our ambassador.</p>
<p>It was poetic justice the manner in which Mr. Rick answered. He called the incident a small fire fight. He did not try to diminish the death of the ambassador but the silly handling by Fox News. Most importantly he called Fox News out for what it is, the propaganda arm of the Republican Party. Listen to the video below, it is a classic.</p>
<p />
<p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/EgbertoWilliescom/181893712536" type="external">LIKE My Facebook Page</a></p> | 599,326 |
<p>Internet search company Yandex, fresh from raising $1.3 billion from an IPO, now has the clout to make an impact farther from its Russian heartland.</p>
<p>The IPO is the biggest U.S. Internet listing since <a href="" type="internal">Google</a> Inc went public in 2004, and is a long-held plan for the two founders, who met as teenagers at school.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Chief Executive Officer Arkady Volozh said the company's success was emblematic of a new Russia -- distinct from the country's energy-focused economy -- and said there is a place in the world for a "global technology company born in Russia".</p>
<p>"Russia is famous for its resources," said Volozh. "But Russia also has a lot of talent... Russia deserves to have a technology company of a global level."</p>
<p>The IPO values Yandex at around $8 billion but the duo, who founded Yandex in 1997, will retain most of their holdings.</p>
<p>Their rise is distinct from many of Russia's other billionaires, a number of which built their empires during the 1990s and profited from a boom in commodities.</p>
<p>Chief Technology Officer Ilya Segalovich, 46, described how the pair met at school, excelled at math and physics and got such good marks that teachers suspected them of copying.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Volozh, who has a degree in applied mathematics, began working on search technology in 1989. A year later, he started his own search software development firm, where he was joined by Segalovich, who had studied to be a geophysicist.</p>
<p>Yandex was founded in 1997.</p>
<p>In 2000 Yandex lost $2 million on revenue of $72,000. Last year the company generated revenue of $445 million and earnings of $135 million.</p>
<p>"I see this as one day on our way -- not the end," Segalovich said.</p>
<p>Now the company is looking at several ideas to go beyond its current business model, such as further expansion beyond Russia, although he declined to give details.</p>
<p>"We have several ideas (about) how to go beyond our current business models," Segalovich said. "Definitely there are some new business models we are trying to explore and also international expansion is one of the new areas for us."</p>
<p>Segalovich said Yandex has not yet decided how to use the proceeds of the IPO but that it could be potentially useful for acquisitions, noting that Yandex's rivals have large cash piles themselves.</p>
<p>"The landscape may change very fast," said Segalovich. "We may require maybe (an) acquisition or changes in strategy ... The Internet is very dynamic and growing very fast and all our big rivals are very rich."</p>
<p>SOPHISTICATED ALGORITHMS</p>
<p>Yandex's search algorithm, originally developed to conduct keyword searches of patents, Russian classical literature and the Bible, was a breakthrough as it accounted for the Russian language's complex grammar.</p>
<p>The duo coined the name "Yandex" -- with "Ya" standing for the Russian equivalent to English pronoun "I" -- as Segalovich was experimenting with derivatives of words that described the essence of the technology.</p>
<p>The full name originally stood for "Yet Another iNDEX." Today the word "Yandex" has become synonymous with Internet search in Russian-speaking countries, as people suggest "asking Yandex" for answers to their inquiries.</p>
<p>Segalovich said Yandex was not language specific and could create world-class products. Yandex has a website with limited coverage of English language pages, he said, describing the quality of those pages as good.</p>
<p>Launching the IPO on <a href="" type="internal">Nasdaq</a> on Tuesday, Volozh called out in Russian Yandex's tagline "Everything will be found" and offered some advice for tech entrepreneurs in Russia looking to become the next Yandex.</p>
<p>"Stick to your ideas, grow them into real businesses, serve your audience, focus on quality, have fun and get rich," he said.</p>
<p>Yandex shares closed up 55 percent, or $13.84 to $38.84.</p> | Yandex Has International Ambitions | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2011/05/25/yandex-international-ambitions.html | 2016-03-04 | 0right
| Yandex Has International Ambitions
<p>Internet search company Yandex, fresh from raising $1.3 billion from an IPO, now has the clout to make an impact farther from its Russian heartland.</p>
<p>The IPO is the biggest U.S. Internet listing since <a href="" type="internal">Google</a> Inc went public in 2004, and is a long-held plan for the two founders, who met as teenagers at school.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Chief Executive Officer Arkady Volozh said the company's success was emblematic of a new Russia -- distinct from the country's energy-focused economy -- and said there is a place in the world for a "global technology company born in Russia".</p>
<p>"Russia is famous for its resources," said Volozh. "But Russia also has a lot of talent... Russia deserves to have a technology company of a global level."</p>
<p>The IPO values Yandex at around $8 billion but the duo, who founded Yandex in 1997, will retain most of their holdings.</p>
<p>Their rise is distinct from many of Russia's other billionaires, a number of which built their empires during the 1990s and profited from a boom in commodities.</p>
<p>Chief Technology Officer Ilya Segalovich, 46, described how the pair met at school, excelled at math and physics and got such good marks that teachers suspected them of copying.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Volozh, who has a degree in applied mathematics, began working on search technology in 1989. A year later, he started his own search software development firm, where he was joined by Segalovich, who had studied to be a geophysicist.</p>
<p>Yandex was founded in 1997.</p>
<p>In 2000 Yandex lost $2 million on revenue of $72,000. Last year the company generated revenue of $445 million and earnings of $135 million.</p>
<p>"I see this as one day on our way -- not the end," Segalovich said.</p>
<p>Now the company is looking at several ideas to go beyond its current business model, such as further expansion beyond Russia, although he declined to give details.</p>
<p>"We have several ideas (about) how to go beyond our current business models," Segalovich said. "Definitely there are some new business models we are trying to explore and also international expansion is one of the new areas for us."</p>
<p>Segalovich said Yandex has not yet decided how to use the proceeds of the IPO but that it could be potentially useful for acquisitions, noting that Yandex's rivals have large cash piles themselves.</p>
<p>"The landscape may change very fast," said Segalovich. "We may require maybe (an) acquisition or changes in strategy ... The Internet is very dynamic and growing very fast and all our big rivals are very rich."</p>
<p>SOPHISTICATED ALGORITHMS</p>
<p>Yandex's search algorithm, originally developed to conduct keyword searches of patents, Russian classical literature and the Bible, was a breakthrough as it accounted for the Russian language's complex grammar.</p>
<p>The duo coined the name "Yandex" -- with "Ya" standing for the Russian equivalent to English pronoun "I" -- as Segalovich was experimenting with derivatives of words that described the essence of the technology.</p>
<p>The full name originally stood for "Yet Another iNDEX." Today the word "Yandex" has become synonymous with Internet search in Russian-speaking countries, as people suggest "asking Yandex" for answers to their inquiries.</p>
<p>Segalovich said Yandex was not language specific and could create world-class products. Yandex has a website with limited coverage of English language pages, he said, describing the quality of those pages as good.</p>
<p>Launching the IPO on <a href="" type="internal">Nasdaq</a> on Tuesday, Volozh called out in Russian Yandex's tagline "Everything will be found" and offered some advice for tech entrepreneurs in Russia looking to become the next Yandex.</p>
<p>"Stick to your ideas, grow them into real businesses, serve your audience, focus on quality, have fun and get rich," he said.</p>
<p>Yandex shares closed up 55 percent, or $13.84 to $38.84.</p> | 599,327 |
<p>LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Members of the Arkansas congressional delegation have asked U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry to block plans for a power line across the state, arguing that recent setbacks make it unlikely for the project to continue.</p>
<p>Delegation members sent a letter to Perry on Tuesday urging the Energy Department to either “pause or terminate” the $2.5 billion Plains &amp; Eastern Clean Line Energy project. The project is expected to bring several hundred miles of wind power lines from Oklahoma to Tennessee, cutting through Arkansas.</p>
<p>Supporters said the route would carry 4,000 megawatts, enough power to supply 1 million homes. The project would create jobs, reduce carbon emissions and diversify the country’s energy supply, according to supporters.</p>
<p>The Energy Department agreed during the Obama administration to partner with Clean Line on the project. The department moved the project forward despite objections from Arkansas leaders, citing the 2005 Energy Policy Act.</p>
<p>Arkansas government officials and landowners along the proposed route have opposed the project, saying it would be an eyesore, lower property values, endanger migratory waterfowl and force landowners to sell property against their will.</p>
<p>Recent business developments have fundamentally changed the project, the delegation’s letter stated. The project is currently stalled because a key public utility, Tennessee Valley Authority, declined to purchase the wind-generated power.</p>
<p>“Without an interconnection agreement, it is reasonable to conclude the project’s ultimate delivery of energy is not expected to occur for at least several more years,” the letter stated. “Meanwhile in Arkansas, there are landowners who agreed to easements, who now face an uncertain future, due to the circumstances in Oklahoma and Tennessee.”</p>
<p>A spokeswoman for Clean Line said Tuesday the project is delayed but not abandoned. The company declined to comment on the letter.</p>
<p>“Clean Line is committed to the Plains &amp; Eastern Clean Line and maintains ownership of the project assets in Arkansas in Tennessee,” said spokeswoman Sarah Bray in an email. “Before moving forward, we need market conditions in the Southeast to improve, as well as more commercial interest in the project.”</p>
<p>LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Members of the Arkansas congressional delegation have asked U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry to block plans for a power line across the state, arguing that recent setbacks make it unlikely for the project to continue.</p>
<p>Delegation members sent a letter to Perry on Tuesday urging the Energy Department to either “pause or terminate” the $2.5 billion Plains &amp; Eastern Clean Line Energy project. The project is expected to bring several hundred miles of wind power lines from Oklahoma to Tennessee, cutting through Arkansas.</p>
<p>Supporters said the route would carry 4,000 megawatts, enough power to supply 1 million homes. The project would create jobs, reduce carbon emissions and diversify the country’s energy supply, according to supporters.</p>
<p>The Energy Department agreed during the Obama administration to partner with Clean Line on the project. The department moved the project forward despite objections from Arkansas leaders, citing the 2005 Energy Policy Act.</p>
<p>Arkansas government officials and landowners along the proposed route have opposed the project, saying it would be an eyesore, lower property values, endanger migratory waterfowl and force landowners to sell property against their will.</p>
<p>Recent business developments have fundamentally changed the project, the delegation’s letter stated. The project is currently stalled because a key public utility, Tennessee Valley Authority, declined to purchase the wind-generated power.</p>
<p>“Without an interconnection agreement, it is reasonable to conclude the project’s ultimate delivery of energy is not expected to occur for at least several more years,” the letter stated. “Meanwhile in Arkansas, there are landowners who agreed to easements, who now face an uncertain future, due to the circumstances in Oklahoma and Tennessee.”</p>
<p>A spokeswoman for Clean Line said Tuesday the project is delayed but not abandoned. The company declined to comment on the letter.</p>
<p>“Clean Line is committed to the Plains &amp; Eastern Clean Line and maintains ownership of the project assets in Arkansas in Tennessee,” said spokeswoman Sarah Bray in an email. “Before moving forward, we need market conditions in the Southeast to improve, as well as more commercial interest in the project.”</p> | Arkansas lawmakers in DC look to stop power-line plan | false | https://apnews.com/3ec7afe9eeca4637bf52d5f966d9a086 | 2018-01-24 | 2least
| Arkansas lawmakers in DC look to stop power-line plan
<p>LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Members of the Arkansas congressional delegation have asked U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry to block plans for a power line across the state, arguing that recent setbacks make it unlikely for the project to continue.</p>
<p>Delegation members sent a letter to Perry on Tuesday urging the Energy Department to either “pause or terminate” the $2.5 billion Plains &amp; Eastern Clean Line Energy project. The project is expected to bring several hundred miles of wind power lines from Oklahoma to Tennessee, cutting through Arkansas.</p>
<p>Supporters said the route would carry 4,000 megawatts, enough power to supply 1 million homes. The project would create jobs, reduce carbon emissions and diversify the country’s energy supply, according to supporters.</p>
<p>The Energy Department agreed during the Obama administration to partner with Clean Line on the project. The department moved the project forward despite objections from Arkansas leaders, citing the 2005 Energy Policy Act.</p>
<p>Arkansas government officials and landowners along the proposed route have opposed the project, saying it would be an eyesore, lower property values, endanger migratory waterfowl and force landowners to sell property against their will.</p>
<p>Recent business developments have fundamentally changed the project, the delegation’s letter stated. The project is currently stalled because a key public utility, Tennessee Valley Authority, declined to purchase the wind-generated power.</p>
<p>“Without an interconnection agreement, it is reasonable to conclude the project’s ultimate delivery of energy is not expected to occur for at least several more years,” the letter stated. “Meanwhile in Arkansas, there are landowners who agreed to easements, who now face an uncertain future, due to the circumstances in Oklahoma and Tennessee.”</p>
<p>A spokeswoman for Clean Line said Tuesday the project is delayed but not abandoned. The company declined to comment on the letter.</p>
<p>“Clean Line is committed to the Plains &amp; Eastern Clean Line and maintains ownership of the project assets in Arkansas in Tennessee,” said spokeswoman Sarah Bray in an email. “Before moving forward, we need market conditions in the Southeast to improve, as well as more commercial interest in the project.”</p>
<p>LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Members of the Arkansas congressional delegation have asked U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry to block plans for a power line across the state, arguing that recent setbacks make it unlikely for the project to continue.</p>
<p>Delegation members sent a letter to Perry on Tuesday urging the Energy Department to either “pause or terminate” the $2.5 billion Plains &amp; Eastern Clean Line Energy project. The project is expected to bring several hundred miles of wind power lines from Oklahoma to Tennessee, cutting through Arkansas.</p>
<p>Supporters said the route would carry 4,000 megawatts, enough power to supply 1 million homes. The project would create jobs, reduce carbon emissions and diversify the country’s energy supply, according to supporters.</p>
<p>The Energy Department agreed during the Obama administration to partner with Clean Line on the project. The department moved the project forward despite objections from Arkansas leaders, citing the 2005 Energy Policy Act.</p>
<p>Arkansas government officials and landowners along the proposed route have opposed the project, saying it would be an eyesore, lower property values, endanger migratory waterfowl and force landowners to sell property against their will.</p>
<p>Recent business developments have fundamentally changed the project, the delegation’s letter stated. The project is currently stalled because a key public utility, Tennessee Valley Authority, declined to purchase the wind-generated power.</p>
<p>“Without an interconnection agreement, it is reasonable to conclude the project’s ultimate delivery of energy is not expected to occur for at least several more years,” the letter stated. “Meanwhile in Arkansas, there are landowners who agreed to easements, who now face an uncertain future, due to the circumstances in Oklahoma and Tennessee.”</p>
<p>A spokeswoman for Clean Line said Tuesday the project is delayed but not abandoned. The company declined to comment on the letter.</p>
<p>“Clean Line is committed to the Plains &amp; Eastern Clean Line and maintains ownership of the project assets in Arkansas in Tennessee,” said spokeswoman Sarah Bray in an email. “Before moving forward, we need market conditions in the Southeast to improve, as well as more commercial interest in the project.”</p> | 599,328 |
<p>India will have to wait a little longer for its Yao Ming--even in the WNBA.</p>
<p>The first Indian player to be invited to try out for the premier women's professional basketball league,&#160;Geethu Anna Jose tried out for the Chicago Sky, Los Angeles Sparks and San Antonio Silver Stars, but failed to win a spot on any team for the preseason, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/mystics/indian-basketball-player-geethu-anna-jose-doesnt-get-preseason-camp-invite-after-wnba-tryouts/2011/05/16/AF2WBB5G_story.html" type="external">the Associated Press reports</a>.</p>
<p />
<p>According to the AP's short blurb, at least one team was impressed with Jose's skills but couldn't find a spot for the 6 foot 2 forward on the roster because it already had several players for that position.</p>
<p>A native of Kerala, Jose has played professionally in Australia, but had told AP that her dream was to play against the world's best in the WNBA.</p> | Indian's WNBA hopes dashed before preseason | false | https://pri.org/stories/2011-05-17/indians-wnba-hopes-dashed-preseason | 2011-05-17 | 3left-center
| Indian's WNBA hopes dashed before preseason
<p>India will have to wait a little longer for its Yao Ming--even in the WNBA.</p>
<p>The first Indian player to be invited to try out for the premier women's professional basketball league,&#160;Geethu Anna Jose tried out for the Chicago Sky, Los Angeles Sparks and San Antonio Silver Stars, but failed to win a spot on any team for the preseason, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/mystics/indian-basketball-player-geethu-anna-jose-doesnt-get-preseason-camp-invite-after-wnba-tryouts/2011/05/16/AF2WBB5G_story.html" type="external">the Associated Press reports</a>.</p>
<p />
<p>According to the AP's short blurb, at least one team was impressed with Jose's skills but couldn't find a spot for the 6 foot 2 forward on the roster because it already had several players for that position.</p>
<p>A native of Kerala, Jose has played professionally in Australia, but had told AP that her dream was to play against the world's best in the WNBA.</p> | 599,329 |
<p>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Dave Toschi, the San Francisco police detective who led the unsuccessful investigation into the Zodiac serial killing a half-century ago, has died. He was 86.</p>
<p>Toschi died Saturday after a lengthy illness, his daughter, Linda Toschi-Chambers, <a href="http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/SF-cop-who-hunted-Zodiac-killer-dies-Dave-Toschi-12488886.php" type="external">told</a> the San Francisco Chronicle.</p>
<p>Toschi was put on the Zodiac case after a San Francisco taxi driver was shot to death in 1969. He was removed nine years later when he acknowledged writing and mailing anonymous fan letters to the Chronicle lauding his own work.</p>
<p>Five people were fatally stabbed or shot to death in Northern California in 1968 and 1969, and their killer sent taunting letters and cryptograms to the police and newspapers.</p>
<p>The killer was never caught. He was dubbed the Zodiac killer because some of his cryptograms included astrological symbols and references.</p>
<p>Duffy Jennings covered the killings for the Chronicle and grew close to Toschi.</p>
<p>Jenning said Toschi visited the San Francisco murder scene on the anniversary of the killing for many years in a row to see if he overlooked any clues.</p>
<p>“The Zodiac case gnawed at him,” Jennings said. “He said it gave him an ulcer.”</p>
<p>Actor Mark Ruffalo portrayed Toschi in the 2011 movie “Zodiac.”</p>
<p>Toschi was born in San Francisco and graduated from Galileo High School before serving in the Korean War with the Army. He returned to San Francisco in 1953 and was hired at the Police Department, where he worked until retiring in 1985.</p>
<p>Toschi’s family said the retired inspector enjoyed music and books.</p>
<p>He “could sing with the best of them,” said his daughter. “His greatest pleasure was his loving family, and we will miss his keen sense of humor, his gentle guidance and his unconditional love.”</p>
<p>Toschi is survived by his wife, Carol Toschi of San Francisco; two daughters, Toschi-Chambers of San Francisco and Karen Leight of San Mateo County; and two granddaughters, Sarah Leight of Pacifica and Emma Leight of Los Angeles.</p>
<p>Private services were held Wednesday.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, <a href="http://www.sfgate.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.sfgate.com" type="external">http://www.sfgate.com</a></p>
<p>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Dave Toschi, the San Francisco police detective who led the unsuccessful investigation into the Zodiac serial killing a half-century ago, has died. He was 86.</p>
<p>Toschi died Saturday after a lengthy illness, his daughter, Linda Toschi-Chambers, <a href="http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/SF-cop-who-hunted-Zodiac-killer-dies-Dave-Toschi-12488886.php" type="external">told</a> the San Francisco Chronicle.</p>
<p>Toschi was put on the Zodiac case after a San Francisco taxi driver was shot to death in 1969. He was removed nine years later when he acknowledged writing and mailing anonymous fan letters to the Chronicle lauding his own work.</p>
<p>Five people were fatally stabbed or shot to death in Northern California in 1968 and 1969, and their killer sent taunting letters and cryptograms to the police and newspapers.</p>
<p>The killer was never caught. He was dubbed the Zodiac killer because some of his cryptograms included astrological symbols and references.</p>
<p>Duffy Jennings covered the killings for the Chronicle and grew close to Toschi.</p>
<p>Jenning said Toschi visited the San Francisco murder scene on the anniversary of the killing for many years in a row to see if he overlooked any clues.</p>
<p>“The Zodiac case gnawed at him,” Jennings said. “He said it gave him an ulcer.”</p>
<p>Actor Mark Ruffalo portrayed Toschi in the 2011 movie “Zodiac.”</p>
<p>Toschi was born in San Francisco and graduated from Galileo High School before serving in the Korean War with the Army. He returned to San Francisco in 1953 and was hired at the Police Department, where he worked until retiring in 1985.</p>
<p>Toschi’s family said the retired inspector enjoyed music and books.</p>
<p>He “could sing with the best of them,” said his daughter. “His greatest pleasure was his loving family, and we will miss his keen sense of humor, his gentle guidance and his unconditional love.”</p>
<p>Toschi is survived by his wife, Carol Toschi of San Francisco; two daughters, Toschi-Chambers of San Francisco and Karen Leight of San Mateo County; and two granddaughters, Sarah Leight of Pacifica and Emma Leight of Los Angeles.</p>
<p>Private services were held Wednesday.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, <a href="http://www.sfgate.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.sfgate.com" type="external">http://www.sfgate.com</a></p> | Lead detective in San Francisco Zodiac killer case dies | false | https://apnews.com/69e58e4d2f2d451daf60319bd100dc1b | 2018-01-11 | 2least
| Lead detective in San Francisco Zodiac killer case dies
<p>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Dave Toschi, the San Francisco police detective who led the unsuccessful investigation into the Zodiac serial killing a half-century ago, has died. He was 86.</p>
<p>Toschi died Saturday after a lengthy illness, his daughter, Linda Toschi-Chambers, <a href="http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/SF-cop-who-hunted-Zodiac-killer-dies-Dave-Toschi-12488886.php" type="external">told</a> the San Francisco Chronicle.</p>
<p>Toschi was put on the Zodiac case after a San Francisco taxi driver was shot to death in 1969. He was removed nine years later when he acknowledged writing and mailing anonymous fan letters to the Chronicle lauding his own work.</p>
<p>Five people were fatally stabbed or shot to death in Northern California in 1968 and 1969, and their killer sent taunting letters and cryptograms to the police and newspapers.</p>
<p>The killer was never caught. He was dubbed the Zodiac killer because some of his cryptograms included astrological symbols and references.</p>
<p>Duffy Jennings covered the killings for the Chronicle and grew close to Toschi.</p>
<p>Jenning said Toschi visited the San Francisco murder scene on the anniversary of the killing for many years in a row to see if he overlooked any clues.</p>
<p>“The Zodiac case gnawed at him,” Jennings said. “He said it gave him an ulcer.”</p>
<p>Actor Mark Ruffalo portrayed Toschi in the 2011 movie “Zodiac.”</p>
<p>Toschi was born in San Francisco and graduated from Galileo High School before serving in the Korean War with the Army. He returned to San Francisco in 1953 and was hired at the Police Department, where he worked until retiring in 1985.</p>
<p>Toschi’s family said the retired inspector enjoyed music and books.</p>
<p>He “could sing with the best of them,” said his daughter. “His greatest pleasure was his loving family, and we will miss his keen sense of humor, his gentle guidance and his unconditional love.”</p>
<p>Toschi is survived by his wife, Carol Toschi of San Francisco; two daughters, Toschi-Chambers of San Francisco and Karen Leight of San Mateo County; and two granddaughters, Sarah Leight of Pacifica and Emma Leight of Los Angeles.</p>
<p>Private services were held Wednesday.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, <a href="http://www.sfgate.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.sfgate.com" type="external">http://www.sfgate.com</a></p>
<p>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Dave Toschi, the San Francisco police detective who led the unsuccessful investigation into the Zodiac serial killing a half-century ago, has died. He was 86.</p>
<p>Toschi died Saturday after a lengthy illness, his daughter, Linda Toschi-Chambers, <a href="http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/SF-cop-who-hunted-Zodiac-killer-dies-Dave-Toschi-12488886.php" type="external">told</a> the San Francisco Chronicle.</p>
<p>Toschi was put on the Zodiac case after a San Francisco taxi driver was shot to death in 1969. He was removed nine years later when he acknowledged writing and mailing anonymous fan letters to the Chronicle lauding his own work.</p>
<p>Five people were fatally stabbed or shot to death in Northern California in 1968 and 1969, and their killer sent taunting letters and cryptograms to the police and newspapers.</p>
<p>The killer was never caught. He was dubbed the Zodiac killer because some of his cryptograms included astrological symbols and references.</p>
<p>Duffy Jennings covered the killings for the Chronicle and grew close to Toschi.</p>
<p>Jenning said Toschi visited the San Francisco murder scene on the anniversary of the killing for many years in a row to see if he overlooked any clues.</p>
<p>“The Zodiac case gnawed at him,” Jennings said. “He said it gave him an ulcer.”</p>
<p>Actor Mark Ruffalo portrayed Toschi in the 2011 movie “Zodiac.”</p>
<p>Toschi was born in San Francisco and graduated from Galileo High School before serving in the Korean War with the Army. He returned to San Francisco in 1953 and was hired at the Police Department, where he worked until retiring in 1985.</p>
<p>Toschi’s family said the retired inspector enjoyed music and books.</p>
<p>He “could sing with the best of them,” said his daughter. “His greatest pleasure was his loving family, and we will miss his keen sense of humor, his gentle guidance and his unconditional love.”</p>
<p>Toschi is survived by his wife, Carol Toschi of San Francisco; two daughters, Toschi-Chambers of San Francisco and Karen Leight of San Mateo County; and two granddaughters, Sarah Leight of Pacifica and Emma Leight of Los Angeles.</p>
<p>Private services were held Wednesday.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, <a href="http://www.sfgate.com" type="external" /> <a href="http://www.sfgate.com" type="external">http://www.sfgate.com</a></p> | 599,330 |
<p>Female genital mutilation, known euphemistically as "female circumcision," has been <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6251426.stm" type="external">banned</a> completely in Egypt following the death of a girl. Although a soft ban has been in place for 10 years, some studies estimate that 90 percent of Egyptian women have had the procedure. Government and religious leaders have joined in condemning the practice.</p>
<p>BBC:</p>
<p>Egypt's first lady, Susanne Mubarak, has spoken out strongly against female circumcision, saying that it is a flagrant example of continued physical and psychological violence against children which must stop.</p>
<p>The country's top religious authorities also expressed unequivocal support for the ban.</p>
<p />
<p>The Grand Mufti and the head of the Coptic Church said female circumcision had no basis either in the Koran or in the Bible.</p>
<p><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6251426.stm" type="external">Read more</a></p> | Egypt Bans Female Genital Mutilation | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/egypt-bans-female-genital-mutilation/ | 2007-06-29 | 4left
| Egypt Bans Female Genital Mutilation
<p>Female genital mutilation, known euphemistically as "female circumcision," has been <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6251426.stm" type="external">banned</a> completely in Egypt following the death of a girl. Although a soft ban has been in place for 10 years, some studies estimate that 90 percent of Egyptian women have had the procedure. Government and religious leaders have joined in condemning the practice.</p>
<p>BBC:</p>
<p>Egypt's first lady, Susanne Mubarak, has spoken out strongly against female circumcision, saying that it is a flagrant example of continued physical and psychological violence against children which must stop.</p>
<p>The country's top religious authorities also expressed unequivocal support for the ban.</p>
<p />
<p>The Grand Mufti and the head of the Coptic Church said female circumcision had no basis either in the Koran or in the Bible.</p>
<p><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6251426.stm" type="external">Read more</a></p> | 599,331 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>The computer hard drive of former IRS employee Lois Lerner – she who refused to testify so as not to incriminate herself about targeting conservative political groups – crashed. It seems, too, that the IRS has no way to retrieve her email exchanges with other governmental entities (though it could ask these entities for cooperation) because there is no backup system.</p>
<p>When I served in the federal government several years back, my technology officer told me repeatedly that every email I wrote – including those which were deleted – could be recovered.</p>
<p>Less well known is that apparently six other IRS computer hard drives crashed in exactly the same time frame. Every one of these belonged to an IRS employee in Cincinnati’s tax-exempt office or at headquarters in Washington, D.C. Each of these six other employees played a role in targeting tea party groups.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Try that kind of selective loss of records at your next audit.</p>
<p>One missing computer hard drive belonged to Nikole Flax, chief of staff to the then-commissioner of the IRS. Flax, by the way, visited the White House no fewer than 31 times during the period the tea party was targeted between 2010 and 2012.</p>
<p>The picture gets more depressing.</p>
<p>IRS employees are represented by the National Treasury Employees Union. Most Americans are not aware that union representatives working at the IRS are not paid through union dues, but by the taxpayer. More than 200 IRS employees – yes, 200 – are paid government salaries (some in excess of $100,000 per year) to do union work.</p>
<p>The cost of this taxpayer subsidized union work in 2013 was $23.5 million. Here is a good place to look for funds for a new IRS computer backup system.</p>
<p>What do these union workers do? They are essentially paid to lobby the very same government for which they work. In order to combat the apparently permanent federal employee problem of “low morale” – well earned in the case of the IRS – they lobby for higher salaries, more extensive benefits, better working conditions and untouchable job security.</p>
<p>Among activities of the NTEU is lobbying for outrageous, unearned government bonuses.</p>
<p>At the time the IRS was under investigation for illegal political targeting in 2013, the IRS paid $70 million in bonuses to its employees as a result of a previously negotiated contract with the NTEU. By the way, Lois Lerner – who has ungraciously declined to offer any information which might be helpful – received a total of $110,035 in bonuses between 2006 and 2012. Not bad for government work.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The NTEU also makes political contributions through its Political Action Committee, TEPAC as part of its lobbying activities. These contributions do not come directly from union dues, but from voluntary contributions to TEPAC from union members. In the case of the IRS, they come largely out of salaries which taxpayers are paying to IRS employees to do union work, not government work.</p>
<p>Where do these political contributions go?</p>
<p>In the 2012 election cycle, TEPAC gave $583,912 to federal candidates. A full 94 percent of these contributions went to Democrats, 4 percent to Republicans.</p>
<p>The current president of the NTEU is Colleen Kelley, a vocal opponent of the tea party. Kelley has visited the White House no fewer than 11 times during the Obama administration, the most recent of which included an event with President Barack Obama on March 31, 2010.</p>
<p>On the following two days, the IRS developed its guidance to treat tea party applications for tax exempt status differently than other requests. Kelley was earlier nominated by Obama to the Federal Salary Council, no doubt to share her wisdom about raising employee morale more widely across the federal government.</p>
<p>About all this the president says there is not a “smidgen” of corruption.</p>
<p>We are well beyond the issue of political targeting by a powerful but supposedly neutral government agency. We are into a massive political cover-up, which hints strongly at destruction of records and obstruction of justice. It is no wonder the American public’s confidence in government is at an all-time low.</p>
<p>This might also explain why many Americans are concerned about the IRS playing a lead role in administering health care, as it is required to do by Obamacare.</p>
<p>It is long past time for the appointment of a special prosecutor to bring some accountability to the out of control, self-dealing agency which is the IRS.</p>
<p>Jeff Bergner served in the executive and legislative branches of the federal government. He currently lives in Norfolk, Va. He wrote this for the Virginian-Pilot. Distributed by MCT Information Services</p>
<p />
<p /> | Special prosecutor needed for IRS case | false | https://abqjournal.com/438075/special-prosecutor-needed-for-irs-case.html | 2least
| Special prosecutor needed for IRS case
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>The computer hard drive of former IRS employee Lois Lerner – she who refused to testify so as not to incriminate herself about targeting conservative political groups – crashed. It seems, too, that the IRS has no way to retrieve her email exchanges with other governmental entities (though it could ask these entities for cooperation) because there is no backup system.</p>
<p>When I served in the federal government several years back, my technology officer told me repeatedly that every email I wrote – including those which were deleted – could be recovered.</p>
<p>Less well known is that apparently six other IRS computer hard drives crashed in exactly the same time frame. Every one of these belonged to an IRS employee in Cincinnati’s tax-exempt office or at headquarters in Washington, D.C. Each of these six other employees played a role in targeting tea party groups.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Try that kind of selective loss of records at your next audit.</p>
<p>One missing computer hard drive belonged to Nikole Flax, chief of staff to the then-commissioner of the IRS. Flax, by the way, visited the White House no fewer than 31 times during the period the tea party was targeted between 2010 and 2012.</p>
<p>The picture gets more depressing.</p>
<p>IRS employees are represented by the National Treasury Employees Union. Most Americans are not aware that union representatives working at the IRS are not paid through union dues, but by the taxpayer. More than 200 IRS employees – yes, 200 – are paid government salaries (some in excess of $100,000 per year) to do union work.</p>
<p>The cost of this taxpayer subsidized union work in 2013 was $23.5 million. Here is a good place to look for funds for a new IRS computer backup system.</p>
<p>What do these union workers do? They are essentially paid to lobby the very same government for which they work. In order to combat the apparently permanent federal employee problem of “low morale” – well earned in the case of the IRS – they lobby for higher salaries, more extensive benefits, better working conditions and untouchable job security.</p>
<p>Among activities of the NTEU is lobbying for outrageous, unearned government bonuses.</p>
<p>At the time the IRS was under investigation for illegal political targeting in 2013, the IRS paid $70 million in bonuses to its employees as a result of a previously negotiated contract with the NTEU. By the way, Lois Lerner – who has ungraciously declined to offer any information which might be helpful – received a total of $110,035 in bonuses between 2006 and 2012. Not bad for government work.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The NTEU also makes political contributions through its Political Action Committee, TEPAC as part of its lobbying activities. These contributions do not come directly from union dues, but from voluntary contributions to TEPAC from union members. In the case of the IRS, they come largely out of salaries which taxpayers are paying to IRS employees to do union work, not government work.</p>
<p>Where do these political contributions go?</p>
<p>In the 2012 election cycle, TEPAC gave $583,912 to federal candidates. A full 94 percent of these contributions went to Democrats, 4 percent to Republicans.</p>
<p>The current president of the NTEU is Colleen Kelley, a vocal opponent of the tea party. Kelley has visited the White House no fewer than 11 times during the Obama administration, the most recent of which included an event with President Barack Obama on March 31, 2010.</p>
<p>On the following two days, the IRS developed its guidance to treat tea party applications for tax exempt status differently than other requests. Kelley was earlier nominated by Obama to the Federal Salary Council, no doubt to share her wisdom about raising employee morale more widely across the federal government.</p>
<p>About all this the president says there is not a “smidgen” of corruption.</p>
<p>We are well beyond the issue of political targeting by a powerful but supposedly neutral government agency. We are into a massive political cover-up, which hints strongly at destruction of records and obstruction of justice. It is no wonder the American public’s confidence in government is at an all-time low.</p>
<p>This might also explain why many Americans are concerned about the IRS playing a lead role in administering health care, as it is required to do by Obamacare.</p>
<p>It is long past time for the appointment of a special prosecutor to bring some accountability to the out of control, self-dealing agency which is the IRS.</p>
<p>Jeff Bergner served in the executive and legislative branches of the federal government. He currently lives in Norfolk, Va. He wrote this for the Virginian-Pilot. Distributed by MCT Information Services</p>
<p />
<p /> | 599,332 |
|
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>Trilumina’s high-power lasers are designed for use in light and ranging capabilities. Trilumina’s laser chips will use Analog Devices’ high-speed pulse-laser driver to flash lasers out in all directions, enabling sensing and detection for autonomous vehicles and advanced driving and safety features. (COURTESY TRILUMINA)</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Trilumina’s high-power lasers are designed for use in light and ranging capabilities. Trilumina’s laser chips will use Analog Devices’ high-speed pulse-laser driver to flash lasers out in all directions, enabling sensing and detection for autonomous vehicles</p>
<p>Albuquerque-based Trilumina Corp.’s laser-chip technology is driving a little faster into automotive markets through a new partnership with Analog Devices Inc., a global semiconductor company with firm ties to the auto industry.</p>
<p>The two companies will combine Trilumina’s advanced laser chips — which can enable powerful 3-D sensing capabilities for things like autonomous vehicles — with an ADI-made high-speed “pulse-laser driver” that will be used to flash Trilumina’s lasers out in all directions. The technologies will be fused into a single integrated module to allow cars to calculate size, shape and distance of objects.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Such light and ranging technology, or LiDAR, is critical to the future of automated vehicles and advanced driving and safety features like collision avoidance, pedestrian detection and automatic braking.</p>
<p>The combined, single-module technology can offer a much more compact and powerful system at lower cost than other LiDAR technologies on the market today, said Trilumina CEO Brian Wong.</p>
<p>“The industry is rushing toward 2020 deployment of broad-based LiDAR systems for autos, and we’re working to become a key part of that,” Wong said. “Our collaboration with ADI will help us get ready to go to production by 2019.”</p>
<p>Apart from complementary technologies, ADI has the manufacturing muscle needed to build the integrated modules and to scale production to meet market demand. It also has a long history of selling products into automotive markets, offering inroads into the industry.</p>
<p>Massachusetts-based ADI is a 50-year-old, publicly-traded company with $3.4 billion in annual revenue, 10,000 employees, and operations in 23 countries.</p>
<p>Trilumina is a venture-backed startup that launched in 2011 with homegrown technology. It created a new type of engineering architecture that allows it to pack hundreds of tiny lasers on a single chip, providing much more power and speed than traditional optics chips, which generally only include four to eight lasers.</p>
<p>In addition, the chips are small enough to pack 24 or more of them on a platform smaller than a penny, allowing Trilumina to create tiny modules with multiple laser arrays.</p>
<p>It also created a new, patented design that eliminates the need for the wiring typically used to connect chips with electronic circuitry when they’re set down on a packaging platform. Trilumina’s chips connect directly with circuits once placed in the module, allowing developers to significantly reduce the size and cost of LiDAR systems.</p>
<p>“Today’s systems are bulky and expensive, costing from about $10,000 to $30,000,” Wong said. “They also use mechanical spinning devices and other methods to get the laser to scan the entire environment, which is what’s making the systems expensive and holding LiDAR back from broad deployment.”</p>
<p>In contrast, Trilumina and ADI are building a pulse-laser flash LiDAR system with no moving parts, making the modules smaller and less expensive, possibly less than $1,000 each, Wong said.</p>
<p>Trilumina has received about $10 million in private investment to date from venture firms, including Cottonwood Technology Fund and Sun Mountain Capital in New Mexico, plus corporate partners such as the Japanese company DENSO International America Inc. and Caterpillar Ventures, a subsidiary of the global giant Caterpillar Inc.</p>
<p>“The collaboration with ADI is great for Trilumina,” said Cottonwood managing director David Blivin. “ADI is a big company that can handle all the automotive industry certification for the final product, and it has all the manufacturing systems in place. It’s a great endorsement of Trilumina’s technology.”</p> | Trilumina partners with semiconductor company ADI | false | https://abqjournal.com/932679/trilumina-partners-with-semiconductor-company-adi.html | 2least
| Trilumina partners with semiconductor company ADI
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<p>Trilumina’s high-power lasers are designed for use in light and ranging capabilities. Trilumina’s laser chips will use Analog Devices’ high-speed pulse-laser driver to flash lasers out in all directions, enabling sensing and detection for autonomous vehicles and advanced driving and safety features. (COURTESY TRILUMINA)</p>
<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Trilumina’s high-power lasers are designed for use in light and ranging capabilities. Trilumina’s laser chips will use Analog Devices’ high-speed pulse-laser driver to flash lasers out in all directions, enabling sensing and detection for autonomous vehicles</p>
<p>Albuquerque-based Trilumina Corp.’s laser-chip technology is driving a little faster into automotive markets through a new partnership with Analog Devices Inc., a global semiconductor company with firm ties to the auto industry.</p>
<p>The two companies will combine Trilumina’s advanced laser chips — which can enable powerful 3-D sensing capabilities for things like autonomous vehicles — with an ADI-made high-speed “pulse-laser driver” that will be used to flash Trilumina’s lasers out in all directions. The technologies will be fused into a single integrated module to allow cars to calculate size, shape and distance of objects.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Such light and ranging technology, or LiDAR, is critical to the future of automated vehicles and advanced driving and safety features like collision avoidance, pedestrian detection and automatic braking.</p>
<p>The combined, single-module technology can offer a much more compact and powerful system at lower cost than other LiDAR technologies on the market today, said Trilumina CEO Brian Wong.</p>
<p>“The industry is rushing toward 2020 deployment of broad-based LiDAR systems for autos, and we’re working to become a key part of that,” Wong said. “Our collaboration with ADI will help us get ready to go to production by 2019.”</p>
<p>Apart from complementary technologies, ADI has the manufacturing muscle needed to build the integrated modules and to scale production to meet market demand. It also has a long history of selling products into automotive markets, offering inroads into the industry.</p>
<p>Massachusetts-based ADI is a 50-year-old, publicly-traded company with $3.4 billion in annual revenue, 10,000 employees, and operations in 23 countries.</p>
<p>Trilumina is a venture-backed startup that launched in 2011 with homegrown technology. It created a new type of engineering architecture that allows it to pack hundreds of tiny lasers on a single chip, providing much more power and speed than traditional optics chips, which generally only include four to eight lasers.</p>
<p>In addition, the chips are small enough to pack 24 or more of them on a platform smaller than a penny, allowing Trilumina to create tiny modules with multiple laser arrays.</p>
<p>It also created a new, patented design that eliminates the need for the wiring typically used to connect chips with electronic circuitry when they’re set down on a packaging platform. Trilumina’s chips connect directly with circuits once placed in the module, allowing developers to significantly reduce the size and cost of LiDAR systems.</p>
<p>“Today’s systems are bulky and expensive, costing from about $10,000 to $30,000,” Wong said. “They also use mechanical spinning devices and other methods to get the laser to scan the entire environment, which is what’s making the systems expensive and holding LiDAR back from broad deployment.”</p>
<p>In contrast, Trilumina and ADI are building a pulse-laser flash LiDAR system with no moving parts, making the modules smaller and less expensive, possibly less than $1,000 each, Wong said.</p>
<p>Trilumina has received about $10 million in private investment to date from venture firms, including Cottonwood Technology Fund and Sun Mountain Capital in New Mexico, plus corporate partners such as the Japanese company DENSO International America Inc. and Caterpillar Ventures, a subsidiary of the global giant Caterpillar Inc.</p>
<p>“The collaboration with ADI is great for Trilumina,” said Cottonwood managing director David Blivin. “ADI is a big company that can handle all the automotive industry certification for the final product, and it has all the manufacturing systems in place. It’s a great endorsement of Trilumina’s technology.”</p> | 599,333 |
|
<p>Fred Barnes, writing in The Weekly Standard, tells us that he doesn’t go to the movies anymore, partly because he has got out of the habit and partly because they start too late or too early but mainly because of the left-wing bias of most of the thrillers. “In most thrillers it’s some conspiratorial right-wing group or religious sect or business mogul who’s to blame for whatever bad occurs,” he writes. Nowadays, however, more than any of these the villain is likely to be a military man. In Chill Factor, for example, the bad guy is the renegade Army Major Andrew Brenner (Peter Firth), driven mad by the American military’s unconcern with civilian casualties in Vietnam and then wrongfully imprisoned, as part of a Pentagon cover-up, for the deaths of 18 men in an experiment with a new explosive that goes horribly awry.</p>
<p>His bad experience with the U.S. armed forces causes him to decide, when he is released after spending ten years in Leavenworth, to take to take a terrible revenge. Instantly provided, we know not whence, with big and ruthless soldiers and lots of equipment, he effortlessly defeats the security at the military laboratory where the experimental explosive—which is code-named Elvis and has the curious property of exploding if its temperature rises above 50 degrees Fahrenheit—is kept, intending to steal it and sell it to terrorists. But what all the might of the U.S. government cannot keep safe, soon finds its way into the possession of a couple of ne’er-do-well young men with an ice cream truck. Can they keep the explosive out of the hands of terrorists and at the same time keep it cool enough that it doesn’t blow them up?</p>
<p>As you might expect from a movie that amounts to Speed meeting The Rock, the result is a catastrophic. The loco major’s gung-ho soldiers and sophisticated equipment prove no match for the two kids, a not-terribly-bright all-night convenience-store clerk called Tim Mason (Skeet Ulrich) and a disgruntled employee of the ice cream company called Arlo (Cuba Gooding Jr.) who has stolen the truck in retaliation for not getting promoted. But Arlo is really just a classic black sidekick, the funny man to Mason’s wounded innocent. For like Childe Harold, or Manfred, or Werther, Tim has got a Secret Sorrow. It is that, as a college football player, he went out to celebrate when a teammate got chosen in the NFL draft and was driving home when there was an accident that caused an injury to the would-be pro quarterback. Now he “will never throw a ball in the NFL.” Tim, devastated, “couldn’t handle it; so I split.”</p>
<p>Now, in the wilds of Montana, he is working the night-shift in the all-night convenience store cum café and annoying the local fuzz by being picked up for vagrancy (can they still do that?). Poor Tim! He forms a bond, naturally, with Dr. Richard Long (David Paymer), a scientist at the local Army research institute, with whom he shares not only a passion for fly-fishing but also a Secret Sorrow. The doc’s Secret Sorrow is of course that he developed Elvis, the explosive that must be kept on ice, and so incinerated Maj Brenner’s men.”I never close my eyes without seeing those 18 guys,” he tells the major, shortly before the major shoots him.</p>
<p>At one level, the level at which it appeals to a mass audience, the movie is just a high-concept thriller, and there is a certain amount of excitement generated by this pursuit—though not as much as you might think. After Speed, in which the similar high-concept was that the bomb would go off if the bus’s speed dropped below 50 miles per hour (couldn’t they at least have made the number of degrees different, or counted them in Centigrade measure, like real scientists?), it is hard not to regard the device as too hokey and arbitrary. But what we are left to wonder is what is the point of including Mason’s Secret Sorrow. Or Long’s either, for that matter.</p>
<p>The answer is that the Secret Sorrow is for both of them a kind of fashion accessory, the guarantee of their cool and thus the mark that we are to sympathize with them. For it is made clear to us that their sacrifice and the risks they are prepared to run for their country are not in themselves to be counted on to generate enough sympathy for them. Their country is ungrateful for them in any case, just as it was to Major Brenner. So instead they have to be given, as Bill Clinton recently was by his obliging wife, a history of hidden (but, obviously, not too hidden) suffering in order to attest to their charming vulnerability—which is what the cool pose always masks. But, unlike Elvis, the cooler this movie gets, the more it becomes a disaster area.</p> | Chill Factor | false | https://eppc.org/publications/chill-factor/ | 1right-center
| Chill Factor
<p>Fred Barnes, writing in The Weekly Standard, tells us that he doesn’t go to the movies anymore, partly because he has got out of the habit and partly because they start too late or too early but mainly because of the left-wing bias of most of the thrillers. “In most thrillers it’s some conspiratorial right-wing group or religious sect or business mogul who’s to blame for whatever bad occurs,” he writes. Nowadays, however, more than any of these the villain is likely to be a military man. In Chill Factor, for example, the bad guy is the renegade Army Major Andrew Brenner (Peter Firth), driven mad by the American military’s unconcern with civilian casualties in Vietnam and then wrongfully imprisoned, as part of a Pentagon cover-up, for the deaths of 18 men in an experiment with a new explosive that goes horribly awry.</p>
<p>His bad experience with the U.S. armed forces causes him to decide, when he is released after spending ten years in Leavenworth, to take to take a terrible revenge. Instantly provided, we know not whence, with big and ruthless soldiers and lots of equipment, he effortlessly defeats the security at the military laboratory where the experimental explosive—which is code-named Elvis and has the curious property of exploding if its temperature rises above 50 degrees Fahrenheit—is kept, intending to steal it and sell it to terrorists. But what all the might of the U.S. government cannot keep safe, soon finds its way into the possession of a couple of ne’er-do-well young men with an ice cream truck. Can they keep the explosive out of the hands of terrorists and at the same time keep it cool enough that it doesn’t blow them up?</p>
<p>As you might expect from a movie that amounts to Speed meeting The Rock, the result is a catastrophic. The loco major’s gung-ho soldiers and sophisticated equipment prove no match for the two kids, a not-terribly-bright all-night convenience-store clerk called Tim Mason (Skeet Ulrich) and a disgruntled employee of the ice cream company called Arlo (Cuba Gooding Jr.) who has stolen the truck in retaliation for not getting promoted. But Arlo is really just a classic black sidekick, the funny man to Mason’s wounded innocent. For like Childe Harold, or Manfred, or Werther, Tim has got a Secret Sorrow. It is that, as a college football player, he went out to celebrate when a teammate got chosen in the NFL draft and was driving home when there was an accident that caused an injury to the would-be pro quarterback. Now he “will never throw a ball in the NFL.” Tim, devastated, “couldn’t handle it; so I split.”</p>
<p>Now, in the wilds of Montana, he is working the night-shift in the all-night convenience store cum café and annoying the local fuzz by being picked up for vagrancy (can they still do that?). Poor Tim! He forms a bond, naturally, with Dr. Richard Long (David Paymer), a scientist at the local Army research institute, with whom he shares not only a passion for fly-fishing but also a Secret Sorrow. The doc’s Secret Sorrow is of course that he developed Elvis, the explosive that must be kept on ice, and so incinerated Maj Brenner’s men.”I never close my eyes without seeing those 18 guys,” he tells the major, shortly before the major shoots him.</p>
<p>At one level, the level at which it appeals to a mass audience, the movie is just a high-concept thriller, and there is a certain amount of excitement generated by this pursuit—though not as much as you might think. After Speed, in which the similar high-concept was that the bomb would go off if the bus’s speed dropped below 50 miles per hour (couldn’t they at least have made the number of degrees different, or counted them in Centigrade measure, like real scientists?), it is hard not to regard the device as too hokey and arbitrary. But what we are left to wonder is what is the point of including Mason’s Secret Sorrow. Or Long’s either, for that matter.</p>
<p>The answer is that the Secret Sorrow is for both of them a kind of fashion accessory, the guarantee of their cool and thus the mark that we are to sympathize with them. For it is made clear to us that their sacrifice and the risks they are prepared to run for their country are not in themselves to be counted on to generate enough sympathy for them. Their country is ungrateful for them in any case, just as it was to Major Brenner. So instead they have to be given, as Bill Clinton recently was by his obliging wife, a history of hidden (but, obviously, not too hidden) suffering in order to attest to their charming vulnerability—which is what the cool pose always masks. But, unlike Elvis, the cooler this movie gets, the more it becomes a disaster area.</p> | 599,334 |
|
<p><a href="" type="internal">Truthdig Radio</a> airs Wednesdays at 2 p.m. Pacific time on <a href="http://kpfk.org" type="external">90.7 KPFK Los Angeles</a>.</p>
<p>This week on <a href="" type="internal">Truthdig Radio</a> in association with <a href="http://kpfk.org" type="external">KPFK</a>: Code Pink challenges Occupy movement “manarchists,” Oliver Stone talks history and Tariq Ali argues that President Obama is a continuation of President George W. Bush. Plus the winner of our protest song contest.</p>
<p>This week we edited out the extended on-air pitching segments that are required to raise the funds to keep KPFK going. You can show your support online for KPFK <a href="http://kpfk.org/pledgesupport.html" type="external">here</a> and Truthdig <a href="https://truthdig.wiredforchange.com/o/5225/p/salsa/donation/common/public/?donate_page_KEY=2264" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p>A full <a href="#transcript" type="external">transcript</a> is available below.</p>
<p />
<p>Listen to the show:</p>
<p>{g_podcast_box}</p>
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<p>Peter Scheer: This is Truthdig Radio in collaboration with KPFK in Los Angeles. I’m Truthdig.com managing editor Peter Scheer. Today on the show we’ve got a general strike in Oakland; manarchism in New York; and a Bush clone in the White House, says Tariq Ali, who we’ll be hearing from later in the show. Also, Oliver Stone, Jodie Evans and Melanie Butler, and later in the show we’ll announce the winner of our Ry Cooder-inspired Power of Protest Music Contest. You’ll definitely want to catch that. But first, Code Pink founder Jodie Evans has an update from Oakland’s general strike, and New York-based activist Melanie Butler tells us how to handle manarchism in the movement.</p>
<p>Josh Scheer: Welcome to Truthdig Radio. I’m on the phone with Jodie Evans of Code Pink and Melanie Butler. Thank you, ladies, for joining me.</p>
<p>Melanie Butler: Thank you, Josh.</p>
<p>Jodie Evans: Thank you, Josh, for having us.</p>
<p>Josh Scheer: So we’re going to go right to Jodie. What’s the situation in Occupy Oakland today with the general strike?</p>
<p>Jodie Evans: It’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen. There are just so many people, thousands and thousands, no police in sight. Every march totally takes over the street; people just march; they shut down the Wells Fargo branch this morning, and on the outside pasted a lot of stickers that said “You Owe the 99 Percent.” The people’s mic is going all the time. And there’s just people coming and offering, this morning about a hundred people did a flash mob, “I will survive capitalism”; there’s interfaith ceremonies; there’s a wailing wall that the Jewish Circle put up, and one of our Code Pinkers just put inside “Occupy Wall Street, Not Palestine.” The weather is gorgeous, and as Melanie sometimes calls the Occupies manarchies—it’s the opposite; it’s diverse, it’s women, it’s children, it’s glorious. And later this afternoon the goal is to shut down the port and that’ll start at around five o’clock; their shift changes at 7 and the longshoremen are onboard. And you know, the last general strike was in 1946, and that was before all the big changes in Wall Street happened that helped level the playing field in America until the ’80s, when Reagan and the onslaught of Republicans gutted all of those.</p>
<p>So today is an exciting day. Melanie, who you’ll hear from later, has been occupying Wall Street for six weeks. And through her presence there and our presence around the country in Maine and Texas and Florida and Boston and Philadelphia, and all the things that we learned, is we really came to understand that there needed to be a way the women could share their stories. And so we’ve created WomenOccupy.org and WomenOWS on Twitter, to help women be able to share their stories and best practices because of the issues that come up in the Occupies around women. I’m going to let Melanie talk more about that.</p>
<p>Josh Scheer: OK, great. Melanie—and, yeah, the Nation magazine wrote a piece on October 26 about how great these movements are, but women have found some issues. And can we get into that a little bit? What are the issues that women are facing?</p>
<p>Melanie Butler: Sure. Well, what’s important to remember first off the bat is that the issues women face at Occupy Wall Street are the issues that women face everywhere in the world, unfortunately. But the main difference that I see with our movement and what makes it, for me, so exciting, so new and so worth pursuing and worth fighting for, is that within this community that we’ve created there is a genuine willingness to tackle these issues and to truly make this a space where all voices can be heard equally, where there’s … representation from all sectors of the community, and where people can really be involved and have a voice.</p>
<p>So in the early days of Occupy Wall Street—and I just wanted to point out, women have been involved in this movement since the very beginning, since the very early planning stages back in July, back in August. We have been there, we have been on the front lines, and we continue to be on the front lines every day. Unfortunately, that is not always what is reflected by mainstream media, and it’s not always what you see when you go down, just like Jodie was saying, you know; sometimes on the streets it does seem like an angry mob of manarchists. And part of that is that the roles that women have been fulfilling, and the committees that they’re on, aren’t always the most glamorous or the most visible roles. But we are working on that, and we’re working on having more women’s involvement in every single committee, whether it’s media or medical or security.</p>
<p>So that’s the main difference, and that’s what I see that is so exciting. And in the early days of the occupation–just like I was saying, it’s gotten a little bit better now–but what I noticed was that, as I was watching the news coverage, there was such an underrepresentation of women. And you know, I went to the general assembly and I said—I had just come from seeing a media piece that interviewed 10 people, and nine of those people were men. And I said the 99 percent is not 90 percent men. And that was the message that really resonated with people. So what Code Pink has been doing, and some other groups have been doing, is we’ve been doing media trainings to help women get out there and have their voices represented in the media. And when we had that first media training to combat what I saw happening in the media, what we found when we did the sort of go-around of why people were there was that it wasn’t just a problem in the media; it was also a problem within the larger group of women really struggling to have their voices heard. And part of that is just because this is a reflection of the larger society, and even though this is a participatory and inclusive and horizontal movement, if you’ve never been given a platform to use your voice, you’re not going to be the one stepping up to use it; you’re not going to be the one that says ‘I have an idea worth sharing.’</p>
<p>So the work that we’ve been doing is to just work with women to talk about their stories, to get them feeling more confident and more comfortable speaking in the general assemblies, speaking to press, and to know that their ideas are important, and to encourage them to step up. And we still need more, you know; we still need more women coming down.</p>
<p>One of the other challenges is making sure that we are creating safer spaces for women on the ground. So I’ve been working a lot with the Safer Spaces Committee, in conjunction with all kinds of other teams; we have support circles; we have, within the Women’s Caucus that I’m a part of, we’re working on awareness of some of the issues that women face. And tonight we’re having a Safer Spaces sleep-out. We’ve done that before; it’s been really successful. So these are some of the things that we’ve been doing, and we’ve also been having, just basically creating forums for women to speak to one another—discussion circles where women can get together and just simply talk. Because what we found was that the space has become very male-dominated, and women are experiencing so much frustration with that that it’s really, really important sometimes to just sit around with other women in a safe space and just talk.</p>
<p>And actually I just wrote a piece on this, which is up on the Code Pink blog; I called it “Are We Bonobos or Chimpanzees?” And it draws inspiration from a story someone shared at the first meeting of our discussion group, where they compared our society to the bonobos and chimpanzees, which are two different kinds of monkey. But they’re almost exactly the same, and what sets them apart is that bonobo society, which is very, very peaceful, is characterized by strong female bonding, and the female bonobos spend a lot of time together; whereas female chimpanzees live in isolation and spend their days gathering food and, as a result, chimpanzee society is terribly violent and hierarchical. So we kind of took that model, and said women just need a time to talk.</p>
<p>Josh Scheer: Also, [in] bonobo society, women are the leaders; they’re the ones who empower.</p>
<p>Melanie Butler: That’s right.</p>
<p>Josh Scheer: They use violence, though, but they’re—I studied this; this is one of my favorite things, so you’re going to get me off on a tangent here—but yeah, bonobos handle their problems with sexuality and not as much violence. And then obviously, chimps, we know, are very violent.</p>
<p>Melanie Butler: Bonobos have a lot of sex. [Laughs]</p>
<p>Josh Scheer: Yeah, a lot of sex. Just one last thing, because we’re on KPFK and I know we’re both nonprofit organizations, and I know this is a fund drive. And I want to just make sure–can you guys tell us a little something, why we should support KPFK and Pacifica? And then I’ll just end it there, because we are in a fund drive, and I think KPFK is worth supporting. And again, it’s all public—I’m sure, like Code Pink—all public supported; it’s not supported by Wal-Mart or Bank of America.</p>
<p>Jodie Evans: Josh, let me talk, because this is so important. We wouldn’t be having this movement, we wouldn’t have the voices we have, if we didn’t have the opportunity of KPFK to tell the truth, to tell the story that’s not being told; to [make] the voices and the stories available to those of us who are hungry for them—what the dead mainstream media that doesn’t tell the truth, and doesn’t reflect reality, without KPFK and the amazing voices that have been there nonstop. The courage of some of these voices, the willingness to dig into the story and pull up the truth, is invaluable. And everyone should be supporting KPFK if they want democracy.</p>
<p>Josh Scheer: Well, thank you guys so much. And again, we’d love to have you both on to give live reports from both New York and Occupy Oakland, Occupy wherever you guys are, because I know you’re everywhere. And we’d love to hear it, because this is the biggest movement that we’ve seen in a long, long time, and it’s not going anywhere.</p>
<p>Jodie Evans: Well, and just the other thing is, L.A. really needs more women. L.A. … we’ve just gotten donated a big tent … we have our women’s circles that talk about manarchy. We need more women to be coming down to L.A. and not as looky-loos, but to get engaged and be supportive and bring the skills that you have into the women’s circles there. Thank you.</p>
<p>* * *Peter Scheer:</p>
<p>This is Truthdig Radio. I’m Peter Scheer … that interview was Joshua Scheer speaking with Code Pink’s Jodie Evans and Melanie Butler. Coming up on the show, we have a discussion with Tariq Ali and we reveal the winner of our Power of Protest Music Contest. But first, Oliver Stone speaks with Truthdig’s Kasia Anderson about his new book of interviews with Tariq Ali and also about Occupy Wall Street.</p>
<p>Kasia Anderson: The creative collaboration between director Oliver Stone and one-man political think tank Tariq Ali began not three years ago, but they’ve already produced three joint projects spanning multiple continents and eras.</p>
<p>Stone gave a talk at Book Soup in Los Angeles recently to introduce their latest venture, the book “On History: Tariq Ali and Oliver Stone in Conversation,” a deceptively slim volume that delivers a hefty dose of historical analysis and commentary. “On History” is the print-based byproduct of hours of interviews Stone conducted with Ali—covering everything from the Russian Revolution to World War II, the Soviet Union and post-9/11 America—for two documentaries. The first, “South of the Border,” came out in 2009, and the second, a 13-part series with a title that promises more of the sort of provocative stuff Stone is known for, “The Untold History of the United States,” is slated for a 2012 release on Showtime.</p>
<p>During a Q&amp;A session at the bookstore, Stone talked up the Showtime series, pointing out how “we don’t get that point of view, certainly not on television” — at least from where he sits.</p>
<p>He was careful to keep the spotlight on Tariq Ali during the discussion, but he let his own opinion be known about some timely topics that he believes are either missing from the mainstream media’s headlines and sound bites or covered in a way that serves their corporate interests.</p>
<p>Stone slammed Obama’s picks of the Wall Street litter for his economic advisory team, issuing a warning to the president that “If you’re going to enable people who are rotten, you’re going to become rotten after a while.” He was particularly critical of what he called the “self-delusional” mainstream media for their failure to tell the full story about the diplomatic impasse that the U.S. and Iraq reached over the Status of Forces Agreement, and particularly American troops’ immunity from Iraqi law—the sticking point that ultimately became the deal-breaker that dictated Obama’s withdrawal timeline. “There’s an arrogance to our media that we have a right to do these things,” he said .”The only issue is how this will affect Obama’s re-election campaign.”</p>
<p>Stone took a moment to sit down with Truthdig to talk about his book with Ali and the places his own professional and political instincts have taken him.</p>
<p>Oliver Stone: I love the idea [that] we grow up and we get the official story that the media keeps giving us over and over again. I think Tariq undercuts that, undermines it; and he does it pretty boldly. And he just says boom, boom, boom—he goes into the Russian Revolution and how that really terrified Europe and the United States, and how that set up so many issues that followed from the consequences of World War I, which is the Great War, you know. But we go into that, into the history a lot more, but Tariq does just this much; just give them a taste, and if they want to know more, let them go back and read more about this. But Tariq’s written many, many books; he is the Noam Chomsky of England in a way; he keeps turning them out, right? One after the other. He just did one on Obama; this was about a year ago. He had done some investigation in Chicago, and came to the conclusion that [Obama] was very much a product of the Chicago political machine. Which was before anybody was talking about his background, and it seems like he was looking at Obama a little bit more objectively than some of the starry-eyed media here.</p>
<p>Kasia Anderson: Did he change your mind about anything about American history in the process of these discussions?</p>
<p>Oliver Stone: Well, see, a lot of his answers are coming from my questions. There are so many things—Pakistan; the concept of communism in France and Italy; his view of Trotsky, of course, as opposed to Stalin; his view of when the Russian Revolution was betrayed. Very strong on Third World. And I remember the [Bandung], what the 1955 conference meant, and above all the murder of the Lumumba, as well as the betrayal by the United States in the 1950s of the Third World. … What we did in Pakistan in 1958. Nobody talks about it, but look where we are with Pakistan today. Go back to ’58, you know, we have a lot to do with the coup d’etat there. And that was separate from the coup d’etat in Baghdad in ’58; there was another one too. … History is littered with minefields of truth. Kasia Anderson: And what about the blowback section?</p>
<p>Oliver Stone: Johnson used that word, yeah, Chalmers Johnson. Wrote wonderful—four books before he died; more than four, but four books come to mind—he died in 2010, just died. But, God, what an elegant writer. And he deals with it very well. But this blowback is inevitable. And he talks about, in that same—the war on terror, he talks about the King David Hotel, of course, and Menachem Begin, the leader of Israel, and how he was one of the first terrorists on a big scale; he brought terrorism to another level with the bombing in Jerusalem. I mean, blowback’s inevitable. And as Chalmers Johnson called it, he called it Nemesis, which is the goddess of retribution in Greek mythology. Inevitably, we’ve committed so many crimes, Johnson is saying the whole 21st century is going to be a series of blowbacks. It’s pretty scary.</p>
<p>Kasia Anderson: I wanted to know, just for our listeners too, if you had a reaction or any statement about Occupy Wall Street and the movements going on, on [both] the domestic and international levels, feeding in somewhat from your conversations that you [and Tariq Ali] had for this book.</p>
<p>Oliver Stone: I made some comments in The New York Times; it’s on DealBook. We had screened “Salvador” the night before at the New York Film Festival’s 25th anniversary. So “Salvador” was done in 1986, and there were street protests all over that movie. And you see the results: The death squads come, and they basically slaughtered, in Central America, the entire protest class. They slaughtered teachers, nuns, bishops, priests and labor union agitators; everybody who was for reform got killed by these death squads.</p>
<p>And I was thinking about these protests in the film, and the next morning I went to Occupy Wall Street, and it was so peaceful. You don’t get a sense there that you’re going to be set upon by machine-gun-toting thugs who are going to cart you off and kill you, you know; there is a sense of security, and that undercuts the concept of the real protests. Seattle ’99 was rougher. But I certainly admire their desire for reform.</p>
<p>But the bankers have to laugh at this, I mean, they’re gonna shrug and keep walking. Nothing is going to affect them except the Volcker bill, which is where it all matters. I was reading today in some article that the Volcker bill was originally three pages by [Paul] Volcker. He wrote a three-page memo that’s now become 250 pages of dense bureaucratic exceptionalism. So it’s very hard to get anything through in this era of lawyers and specialization, but essentially the Glass-Steagall Act has to be restored. So, you know, the bankers—everyone knows what they did wrong. They had a feast, and they partied on other people’s money, basically, and they continue to party, although I think there are some changes.</p>
<p>So, I wish them well, but I don’t know if the culture can change. Because Wall Street is not just Wall Street, it’s also Washington; and that’s a big—I would occupy Washington. I think Washington is the one that needs to be changed the most, but you know, they tried. The Iraq War demonstrations were the biggest ever. More people objected to that war, and yet that was played down and basically trivialized by the media. …</p>
<p>Grab the power. Grab the power. Get it away, and get these people out of office. Democrat, Republican—it makes no difference.</p>
<p>* * *Peter Scheer:</p>
<p>That was Oliver Stone speaking to Truthdig’s Kasia Anderson. And we’re back with Truthdig Radio; I’m Peter Scheer, and I’m in the studio with Alan Minsky. Coming up, we’ll hear Tariq Ali’s conversation we had earlier today about President Obama’s decline into Bushdom. And we’ll announce the winner of our Power of Protest Music Contest. … Let’s go to that interview with Tariq Ali.</p>
<p>So you’ve come out with an update to “The Obama Syndrome: Surrender at Home, War Abroad,” which is really an ahead-of-the-curve look at how the Obama presidency is a continuation of W. Bush before it, Clinton before that, H.W. Bush before that. Maybe you want to summarize your thesis for us.</p>
<p>Tariq Ali: Well, my thesis in “The Obama Syndrome” is very simple. Which is that despite the hyped-up promises made by Obama on civil liberties, on health, essentially he has delivered nothing. The only reform is to take the Clinton views on homosexuality, ‘don’t ask don’t tell,’ further and legalize that; that’s good. But you know, on the main issues of world politics the continuity with Bush is quite startling. Escalation of the war in Afghanistan, more drone attacks on Pakistan than during the Bush regime; the promises to close down Guantanamo totally dishonored, and in fact Obama has released fewer people from Guantanamo than Bush did. Small wonder that Bush, on his recent visit to India, and elsewhere, says he’s very pleased with the way Obama is governing the country. He has no disagreements with him. So my book highlights how that happened, why that happened and why Obama is continuing on this path. And why we need a movement to protest against all this.</p>
<p>Peter Scheer: Let me just ask about Guantanamo specifically, because that’s an example that’s often cited. And it’s also something that you know, he claims that Congress, or Congress wasn’t funding the transfer of prisoners, wouldn’t allow him to have trials on United States soil. To what extent is that a defense of Obama?</p>
<p>Tariq Ali: Well, he had a majority in Congress. Both the Senate and the House for the first two years of his office, you know. President’s first two years, with a majority in both houses, is very significant; so he can’t use that as an excuse. You know, within the first 400 days he could have done that; within the first year. This is a campaign pledge, and it’s being implemented. And told his party to vote for it, and had it not voted for it he could have done something else; he could have appealed to the people who elected him, the millions on his supporters’ list, on the Web, and asked them to come out. You know when Roosevelt, during the New Deal, was being disrupted he made direct appeal to the people in his firefight cap. This guy has accepted all this very quickly and is now using it as an excuse, saying I couldn’t do it because of Congress. I don’t accept that.</p>
<p>Peter Scheer: Since you’ve updated the book, have your findings been confirmed? Have they changed at all?</p>
<p>Tariq Ali: Yeah, I’m afraid the findings have been vindicated even more. I don’t say this with a great deal of pleasure, because it’s not nice to be proved right when what is being proved is a disastrous political and economic situation in the United States. So I’m not happy about it, because I know that large numbers of young people had real hopes which have now proved to be complete illusions, in Obama. But I think that’s the way he’s going, and given that the Republicans seem to be in a total mess, unless something unforeseen happens Obama will be re-elected; that’s what I write in the book. But re-elected to carry on as his predecessors, not to do anything new. Peter Scheer: You know, that issue of the young people has always bothered me, because you had this huge movement across the country. Granted, it was organized around some really vague ideals, but it was a huge movement of people, more unprecedented political involvement among young people who have traditionally been written off as a political force who really slaved away for Obama, working for free, devoting their time, traveling around the country. And came out in droves to vote for him; changed the politics of the country, and then almost immediately, must be the most cynical and disillusioned group of people in America, I would think, given the disappointment.</p>
<p>Tariq Ali: I agree with you. I was in the United States three times that year, election year, and witnessed for myself the enthusiasm. And often when I was speaking on campuses, I saw the enthusiasm for myself, and I also bit my lip; I didn’t want to say anything to disillusion them, you know, because it’s awful when someone older and from another generation tells them hey, you know, don’t believe a word of this. People have to learn from their own experiences, and they have done, and they’re very angry. And I think that is one reason for the occupation movement; that even though they’re sort of reluctant to say what their demands are, there’s no doubt that one reason they’re out is because they’re disillusioned with the Obama government. Otherwise they wouldn’t be protesting like this. So one result has been independent organization, discussions taking place nonstop, all over the country. I was in Oakland last week and talked to many of the occupiers and spoke to them, actually, in Oakland. And the mood is quite militant; it’s not a mood of the majority, but I think a majority of the country is very skeptical now about politics. I mean, a number of opinion polls have shown that. Not just students, but working people and the unemployed.</p>
<p>Peter Scheer: You know, you can compare these movements, like the Occupy Oakland or New York or Boston to Los Angeles, where they have a mostly sympathetic local government where they’re camped out. And the difference maybe in energy and attitude and focus. I mean, maybe you need something to react against, as supporters of Obama were in 2008, reacting against the years of Bush rule. I want to ask you about—you have this really great Malcolm X quote at the top of your book, and he said in 1964: “It isn’t the president who can help or hurt, it’s the system. And this system is not only ruling America; it is ruling the world.”</p>
<p>Tariq Ali: Well, I think Malcolm was absolutely right. And you know, on the one occasion that we met and talked he repeated all this to me. And he also knew the power of the system. Because at the end of this sort of conversation we had, I said, “Malcolm, great to meet you, and I hope we meet up again soon.” And he said, “I don’t think we will.” And I said, “What do you mean you don’t think we will? What is this?” And he said, “Oh, I think they’re going to kill me.” I said, “Who is going to kill you?” He said, “the nation, the FBI, both together; the system doesn’t like me. Black politicians, especially, when we begin to talk about blacks and whites uniting to fight the system, that’s what they hate the most; it’s fine if we stay in the ghettos.” And within a few months he was dead. I have never forgotten that conversation. And of course he is right.</p>
<p>On the other hand, even within the system, certain presidents, if they wish to, can bring about reforms. You know, it has happened, though it has to be pointed out that these reforms have never come without movements from below. The New Deal came when there were factory occupations, you know, Flint occupied; trade unions were being formed; there was a sense of radicalism in the air after the ’29 crisis. And Roosevelt used all this to push through reforms, and also of course at that time the Soviet Union was seen as a possible alternative to capitalism, and that too scared the governments of the day into instituting reforms lest the dreaded vulturism spread to their countries. So all of these things did it, and then the Johnson reforms, the Great Society reforms, were a very direct outcome of a huge civil rights movement that had developed. And the fact that GIs returning home from the Vietnam War, black GIs, were participating as snipers in the big revolts that hit every city with large black populations, and that’s what pushed that through, because they couldn’t fight a war abroad and at home at the same time. And so they did push things through, and whether Obama would, if the movement were really to increase in size, is an open question, because I think he is a deeply conservative politician. I mean, the account in my book of him operating in the Illinois State Assembly shows the future Obama much, much more clearly than the vacuous speeches and the slogans of the campaign.</p>
<p>Peter Scheer: How do you see this movement affecting the president? Certainly it’s adjusted his speeches, his style a little bit. But do you see that having a—</p>
<p>Tariq Ali: I think that, basically, they would like to co-opt the movement and use it to get—you know, sort of to show, “look, we have our own version of the tea party.” This is what he said on one occasion. But I don’t think it’s going to work like that. I think the fact is that the movement is largely, if you like, a movement which is proclaiming a moral and ethical campaign against the excesses of Wall Street, the bankers and the capitalist system. So the solution to their problems lie in deep structural reforms and changes at the top of American society. And even though they don’t demand it, that is the logic of what they say. They are attacking the system as it exists, and there is no way Obama is going to do that. But he can ignore the movement unless it increases in size, and you know, more or less says that “we’re not going to vote for any of these politicians.” Were it to do that, and increase in size, then I think he would feel the pinch. What he’d do is an open question, because you know, he’s very confident now, because the Republican candidates are utterly useless … he thinks he’s going to win anyway.</p>
<p>Peter Scheer: Other than the economy, the area where Obama seems to be most a continuation of his predecessors, and maybe even taking it further, is foreign policy. You yourself are from Pakistan; that’s a country where the president is waging a kind of casual war without declaring war, just flying in and bombing people. The justification for this, as you say in your book, is that it’s—and this is a legal reasoning—that it’s for the national security of the United States that we can fly drones anywhere and bomb anyone. Isn’t that just license to do whatever we want in the world?</p>
<p>Tariq Ali: It is. And the United States is the only country that has this license, and uses it at will. Most of Europe follows suit. I mean, you know, because in my opinion, in the Western world at any rate, the only country with real sovereignty is the imperial state—in this case, the United States. And they do what they want to get away with it, and they use the institutions available, so if the Security Council has passed a vote, they’ll use that. They’ll use NATO; if there are divisions in NATO they go themselves unilaterally. That’s been the way for some time. And there’s nothing new here. The problem now is that we live in a unipolar world; there’s no set of countries which, at least nominally, are opposed to all of this. So the U.S. now feels it can genuinely do whatever it wants, except in the Far East, [although] it’s got Japan and South Korea. The Chinese can’t be manipulated that easily; I mean, they don’t intervene in world politics; at the moment, they’re only interested in the economy. So the U.S. has essentially—you know, can do what they like. I mean, the fact that Obama is angry with UNESCO for recognizing the Palestinians as an entity—I mean, UNESCO’s decision is purely symbolic; it changes nothing, it just accepts that the Palestinians are an entity, and we can’t deny their existence. And for that, Obama has ordered that U.S. funding of UNESCO is immediately withdrawn.</p>
<p>Peter Scheer: Isn’t that, in and of itself, an indication that American influence has waned? That you can have this, that they have to negotiate behind the scenes in this protracted battle to get Palestinian statehood recognized, and the U.N. has gone a lot—you know, it’s not like they just pointed a finger and said “no,” right? They’ve been negotiating heavily, how are we going to sort out this problem, and you have a lot of countries willfully ignoring U.S. influence, including our allies in Europe. Tariq Ali: Yeah, on the question of Palestine the U.S. policies are deeply unpopular in most parts of the world. But that doesn’t mean that they change. I mean, the umbilical cord that now ties them to Israel via funding, via military links, is as strong as ever it was. And look, there was always opposition to the United States in the past; they ignored it, and they ignore it now even more strongly. It’s not the case that people always agreed. If you look back to the Vietnam War in the ’60s and ’70s, no European country sent troops to fight with them; even Britain, which is the closest to them, refused to send troops. Whereas in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and Libya, the Europeans by and large back them up and go along with them. So it’s, I think, too premature to say that U.S. power is waning. I know this is a popular view; I don’t accept it myself. I think that the U.S. has suffered some setbacks, but I don’t think that power is waning. I mean, at the present, even as we talk, there are discussions going on [about] whether to invade and attack Iran and destroy its nuclear reactors or not. I mean, there’s heavy pressure from Israel to do so; it’s reported in the British press today that the British military has been told to be on the alert for this attack on Iran. I mean, it may be just the rocket rattling, as has happened before, to frighten the Iranians. But were they to do this, let us imagine that they do it—I mean, the results throughout that region would be dire. You know, it would be full scale war, and it would be much, much more serious than Iraq because the Iranian armed forces are not a destroyed or spent force, as they were, which the U.S. knew quite well in the case of Iraq. The Iranians are going to fight back, and the war could spread into Iraq again, into Israel and into the—the Iranians could unleash campaigns in Afghanistan as well, which is why the Pentagon has always been opposed to this lunacy. But the fact that the politicians haven’t given up on that is revealing.</p>
<p>Peter Scheer: Didn’t Bush kill a war with Iran, that the Israelis wanted to attack, and he nixed it somehow?</p>
<p>Tariq Ali: He did. And I think that there is a lot of opposition to it within the U.S. military establishment. And if the politicians decide to go with it, they might well face a general’s revolt. I don’t know, but the fact that the politicians even take this as a serious option, including Obama, is frightening. In my book I point out that—I was teaching in Illinois one semester, and some friends said let’s, you know, this is a rising young senator who’s appearing on television; let’s watch him. And this was Obama; he was then fighting for the Senate seat. And he was asked by the interviewer, if President Bush were to declare war on Iran because it poses a threat because of its decision to make nuclear weapons, would you support the president? And Obama said, “absolutely”—without any question at all, putting on a very grim look. So that convinced me that this guy was a total opportunist, and quite reactionary in many ways. He’s now president, so if he’s going to do that, I mean, I think it would be the most serious mistake he makes. And as I said, I’m not convinced that they are going to do that, but there’s certainly a lot of rocket rattling going on. And then, in the case of Afghanistan, what did Obama do? He sent in more troops, which they are now saying they’re going to withdraw. But there was a huge debate within the American military elite; Petraeus wanted more troops, and Eikenberry, a more senior general, retired, and ambassador in Afghanistan, said no, we don’t need them. And Obama had a choice here, two generals saying two different things, and he went with the aggressive general. So it’s very clear that whenever he’s offered a choice, he usually makes the more aggressive, the more reactionary, choice either because he fails to understand the situation or he feels he has to prove something to someone. I don’t know, but it’s crazy to imagine that they can win the war in Afghanistan, when virtually every intelligence agency has pointed out to them that this is an unwinnable war.</p>
<p>Peter Scheer: Why do you think, then, that they pursue that policy? That policy, more than any other, the escalation of the war in Afghanistan, at least the way that they framed it in pitching it, the way the president introduced it, made absolutely no sense.</p>
<p>Tariq Ali: It made no sense except to show him as a tough leader.</p>
<p>Peter Scheer: So it’s purely political, you think?</p>
<p>Tariq Ali: I think it’s largely political. It couldn’t be military, because militarily they are bogged down there, and it’s not more troops they need; they need a political settlement. And reaching a political settlement by sending 30,000 troops in is a contradiction in terms. Because these troops fight more battles, kill more people, are killed in return, and the situation deteriorates; it doesn’t get better. So it was a calculated choice by Obama, and it’s failed. Since that escalation in Afghanistan, what have we seen? We’ve seen the insurgents striking at the very heart of NATO, hitting its headquarters, hitting the U.S. Embassy, targeting helicopters carrying intelligence agents and Navy SEALs, some of whom were involved in the operation to kill bin Laden, blowing up that helicopter, going in and killing senior collaborationist Afghans at will, killing the president’s brother and then attacking his funeral—I mean, this is a situation which has gotten much, much worse with every passing year of the occupation. And you know, even the most serious diplomats from the United States in that country report that this is an unwinnable war. It can’t be won. And yet Obama continues with it. I think they are now realizing that they’ll have to do something. But I mean, till now, the paralysis, if you like, in the White House on this war has been amazing.</p>
<p>Peter Scheer: I want to ask about, getting back to the domestic side of things, before we run out of time, because the great power of the presidency is that there’s much he can do without Congress, just purely through executive action and administering the country, in whom he hires. And we’ve seen recently a turnaround, a complete 180 degree turnaround on the issue of medicinal marijuana, where originally the Justice Department was directed essentially to ignore the issue, and now, getting closer to the election, we’ve had here in California, the authorities have told the landlords of medicinal marijuana dispensaries in the state they have 40 days or something to shut down or their property could be seized. And it’s just such an incredible opportunistic switch. But I think it speaks to a danger that’s much greater than the issue of marijuana.</p>
<p>Tariq Ali: It is. And I think it’s typical of this administration, that they’ve done this. It doesn’t surprise me at all; it’s cynical, it’s opportunistic, it’s immoral in my opinion. But you know, a far graver problem on that front is the decision taken by Obama in private to authorize the killing of U.S. citizens without trial. That is a decision this president has taken. And I’m a bit amazed that there’s been some protest about it, that liberal lawyers and jurists who normally write in The New York Review of Books haven’t written anything on this so far, as far as I can see. And it marks a very grave deterioration. I mean, some of the astute journalists like Tom Engelhardt describe the U.S. as a post-legal society. And I think that that is becoming true. If you decide you can kill your own citizens without trial, this is a grave deterioration. It’s difficult not to compare this. For instance, Bob Redford’s latest movie he’s directed about the trial of the conspirators who conspired to assassinate President Lincoln. It’s a very critical movie of how that trial was conducted. But at least there was a trial. And the union officer who was the lawyer who defended one of the conspirators, the woman who was not guilty—but nonetheless it was ordered by the secretary of defense, and ultimately the president, that she had to be hanged. … But nonetheless there was a trial, and this brave lawyer tried to defend her. Watching that movie, you really feel that what Redford is talking about is what we are seeing now, you know, in the United States, but in a much, much sharper way that killings can be ordered and that’s that. They’ve decided to circumvent trials altogether, and that’s appalling. You know, the way Bradley Manning is still being held in solitary without being charged, without being brought to trial, is just shocking, actually. So the deterioration of civil liberties and civil rights under the Bush administration has been continued by Obama.</p>
<p>Peter Scheer: Well, we’ve got just seconds left, and I just want to ask—say we go back in time before 2008; what would you tell someone who’s trying to decide who to vote for? I mean, are we better off with McCain?</p>
<p>Tariq Ali: No. I mean, I would say that in some conditions it’s better not to vote. And build up a huge majority of nonvoters to expose the system, and say that this is a system which is run by an extreme center that consists of both Democrats and Republicans, and unless there’s a real alternative it’s better not to vote. And the Bush administration was demonized, and understandably so, as being horrific on every level; and liberals were going crazy; people were talking, some nonsense, saying this is a fascist regime, there’s been a fascist coup; absolute nonsense. And then Obama comes in and behaves in the same way, and most of the people who were attacking Bush fall silent. And that is not a good thing for the health of the republic.</p>
<p>Peter Scheer: Tariq Ali, thank you so much for speaking with us.</p>
<p>Alan Minsky: And the voice of Tariq Ali critiquing Barack Obama’s presidency. We have a winner for a song, correct?</p>
<p>Peter Scheer: Yeah. So we had this contest because Ry Cooder’s new album, “Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down,” was really just inspirational in terms of its political content. And so we decided to have a contest for the best “Power of Protest” song. There are no wrong answers; people have great protest music; a lot of our readers wrote their own songs, which they sent in, and they’re really to be commended; there’s some great music out there. I just want to read, someone said: “I’ve wondered for years where our next protest music would come from and how it would arise. I can see now that it has been here all along, it just needed the right time and place to break out and be heard.” And they also added—this is [Truthdig reader] AdoAnnie—“Someone needs to write something for Scott Olsen.” So if that inspires you, go ahead and do it. But we decided the winner of the contest was Jenna Ware. I hope I’m pronouncing that right. And she will win a copy of Ry Cooder’s new album on vinyl and a CD courtesy of Nonesuch Records, along with his new book, “Los Angeles Stories” courtesy of City Lights Publishers. And we ended up choosing Leonard Cohen’s “First We Take Manhattan.”</p>
<p>[Music: “First We Take Manhattan” by Leonard Cohen]</p>
<p /> | Manarchy! | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/manarchy-2/ | 2011-11-04 | 4left
| Manarchy!
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<p>This week on <a href="" type="internal">Truthdig Radio</a> in association with <a href="http://kpfk.org" type="external">KPFK</a>: Code Pink challenges Occupy movement “manarchists,” Oliver Stone talks history and Tariq Ali argues that President Obama is a continuation of President George W. Bush. Plus the winner of our protest song contest.</p>
<p>This week we edited out the extended on-air pitching segments that are required to raise the funds to keep KPFK going. You can show your support online for KPFK <a href="http://kpfk.org/pledgesupport.html" type="external">here</a> and Truthdig <a href="https://truthdig.wiredforchange.com/o/5225/p/salsa/donation/common/public/?donate_page_KEY=2264" type="external">here</a>.</p>
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<p>Peter Scheer: This is Truthdig Radio in collaboration with KPFK in Los Angeles. I’m Truthdig.com managing editor Peter Scheer. Today on the show we’ve got a general strike in Oakland; manarchism in New York; and a Bush clone in the White House, says Tariq Ali, who we’ll be hearing from later in the show. Also, Oliver Stone, Jodie Evans and Melanie Butler, and later in the show we’ll announce the winner of our Ry Cooder-inspired Power of Protest Music Contest. You’ll definitely want to catch that. But first, Code Pink founder Jodie Evans has an update from Oakland’s general strike, and New York-based activist Melanie Butler tells us how to handle manarchism in the movement.</p>
<p>Josh Scheer: Welcome to Truthdig Radio. I’m on the phone with Jodie Evans of Code Pink and Melanie Butler. Thank you, ladies, for joining me.</p>
<p>Melanie Butler: Thank you, Josh.</p>
<p>Jodie Evans: Thank you, Josh, for having us.</p>
<p>Josh Scheer: So we’re going to go right to Jodie. What’s the situation in Occupy Oakland today with the general strike?</p>
<p>Jodie Evans: It’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen. There are just so many people, thousands and thousands, no police in sight. Every march totally takes over the street; people just march; they shut down the Wells Fargo branch this morning, and on the outside pasted a lot of stickers that said “You Owe the 99 Percent.” The people’s mic is going all the time. And there’s just people coming and offering, this morning about a hundred people did a flash mob, “I will survive capitalism”; there’s interfaith ceremonies; there’s a wailing wall that the Jewish Circle put up, and one of our Code Pinkers just put inside “Occupy Wall Street, Not Palestine.” The weather is gorgeous, and as Melanie sometimes calls the Occupies manarchies—it’s the opposite; it’s diverse, it’s women, it’s children, it’s glorious. And later this afternoon the goal is to shut down the port and that’ll start at around five o’clock; their shift changes at 7 and the longshoremen are onboard. And you know, the last general strike was in 1946, and that was before all the big changes in Wall Street happened that helped level the playing field in America until the ’80s, when Reagan and the onslaught of Republicans gutted all of those.</p>
<p>So today is an exciting day. Melanie, who you’ll hear from later, has been occupying Wall Street for six weeks. And through her presence there and our presence around the country in Maine and Texas and Florida and Boston and Philadelphia, and all the things that we learned, is we really came to understand that there needed to be a way the women could share their stories. And so we’ve created WomenOccupy.org and WomenOWS on Twitter, to help women be able to share their stories and best practices because of the issues that come up in the Occupies around women. I’m going to let Melanie talk more about that.</p>
<p>Josh Scheer: OK, great. Melanie—and, yeah, the Nation magazine wrote a piece on October 26 about how great these movements are, but women have found some issues. And can we get into that a little bit? What are the issues that women are facing?</p>
<p>Melanie Butler: Sure. Well, what’s important to remember first off the bat is that the issues women face at Occupy Wall Street are the issues that women face everywhere in the world, unfortunately. But the main difference that I see with our movement and what makes it, for me, so exciting, so new and so worth pursuing and worth fighting for, is that within this community that we’ve created there is a genuine willingness to tackle these issues and to truly make this a space where all voices can be heard equally, where there’s … representation from all sectors of the community, and where people can really be involved and have a voice.</p>
<p>So in the early days of Occupy Wall Street—and I just wanted to point out, women have been involved in this movement since the very beginning, since the very early planning stages back in July, back in August. We have been there, we have been on the front lines, and we continue to be on the front lines every day. Unfortunately, that is not always what is reflected by mainstream media, and it’s not always what you see when you go down, just like Jodie was saying, you know; sometimes on the streets it does seem like an angry mob of manarchists. And part of that is that the roles that women have been fulfilling, and the committees that they’re on, aren’t always the most glamorous or the most visible roles. But we are working on that, and we’re working on having more women’s involvement in every single committee, whether it’s media or medical or security.</p>
<p>So that’s the main difference, and that’s what I see that is so exciting. And in the early days of the occupation–just like I was saying, it’s gotten a little bit better now–but what I noticed was that, as I was watching the news coverage, there was such an underrepresentation of women. And you know, I went to the general assembly and I said—I had just come from seeing a media piece that interviewed 10 people, and nine of those people were men. And I said the 99 percent is not 90 percent men. And that was the message that really resonated with people. So what Code Pink has been doing, and some other groups have been doing, is we’ve been doing media trainings to help women get out there and have their voices represented in the media. And when we had that first media training to combat what I saw happening in the media, what we found when we did the sort of go-around of why people were there was that it wasn’t just a problem in the media; it was also a problem within the larger group of women really struggling to have their voices heard. And part of that is just because this is a reflection of the larger society, and even though this is a participatory and inclusive and horizontal movement, if you’ve never been given a platform to use your voice, you’re not going to be the one stepping up to use it; you’re not going to be the one that says ‘I have an idea worth sharing.’</p>
<p>So the work that we’ve been doing is to just work with women to talk about their stories, to get them feeling more confident and more comfortable speaking in the general assemblies, speaking to press, and to know that their ideas are important, and to encourage them to step up. And we still need more, you know; we still need more women coming down.</p>
<p>One of the other challenges is making sure that we are creating safer spaces for women on the ground. So I’ve been working a lot with the Safer Spaces Committee, in conjunction with all kinds of other teams; we have support circles; we have, within the Women’s Caucus that I’m a part of, we’re working on awareness of some of the issues that women face. And tonight we’re having a Safer Spaces sleep-out. We’ve done that before; it’s been really successful. So these are some of the things that we’ve been doing, and we’ve also been having, just basically creating forums for women to speak to one another—discussion circles where women can get together and just simply talk. Because what we found was that the space has become very male-dominated, and women are experiencing so much frustration with that that it’s really, really important sometimes to just sit around with other women in a safe space and just talk.</p>
<p>And actually I just wrote a piece on this, which is up on the Code Pink blog; I called it “Are We Bonobos or Chimpanzees?” And it draws inspiration from a story someone shared at the first meeting of our discussion group, where they compared our society to the bonobos and chimpanzees, which are two different kinds of monkey. But they’re almost exactly the same, and what sets them apart is that bonobo society, which is very, very peaceful, is characterized by strong female bonding, and the female bonobos spend a lot of time together; whereas female chimpanzees live in isolation and spend their days gathering food and, as a result, chimpanzee society is terribly violent and hierarchical. So we kind of took that model, and said women just need a time to talk.</p>
<p>Josh Scheer: Also, [in] bonobo society, women are the leaders; they’re the ones who empower.</p>
<p>Melanie Butler: That’s right.</p>
<p>Josh Scheer: They use violence, though, but they’re—I studied this; this is one of my favorite things, so you’re going to get me off on a tangent here—but yeah, bonobos handle their problems with sexuality and not as much violence. And then obviously, chimps, we know, are very violent.</p>
<p>Melanie Butler: Bonobos have a lot of sex. [Laughs]</p>
<p>Josh Scheer: Yeah, a lot of sex. Just one last thing, because we’re on KPFK and I know we’re both nonprofit organizations, and I know this is a fund drive. And I want to just make sure–can you guys tell us a little something, why we should support KPFK and Pacifica? And then I’ll just end it there, because we are in a fund drive, and I think KPFK is worth supporting. And again, it’s all public—I’m sure, like Code Pink—all public supported; it’s not supported by Wal-Mart or Bank of America.</p>
<p>Jodie Evans: Josh, let me talk, because this is so important. We wouldn’t be having this movement, we wouldn’t have the voices we have, if we didn’t have the opportunity of KPFK to tell the truth, to tell the story that’s not being told; to [make] the voices and the stories available to those of us who are hungry for them—what the dead mainstream media that doesn’t tell the truth, and doesn’t reflect reality, without KPFK and the amazing voices that have been there nonstop. The courage of some of these voices, the willingness to dig into the story and pull up the truth, is invaluable. And everyone should be supporting KPFK if they want democracy.</p>
<p>Josh Scheer: Well, thank you guys so much. And again, we’d love to have you both on to give live reports from both New York and Occupy Oakland, Occupy wherever you guys are, because I know you’re everywhere. And we’d love to hear it, because this is the biggest movement that we’ve seen in a long, long time, and it’s not going anywhere.</p>
<p>Jodie Evans: Well, and just the other thing is, L.A. really needs more women. L.A. … we’ve just gotten donated a big tent … we have our women’s circles that talk about manarchy. We need more women to be coming down to L.A. and not as looky-loos, but to get engaged and be supportive and bring the skills that you have into the women’s circles there. Thank you.</p>
<p>* * *Peter Scheer:</p>
<p>This is Truthdig Radio. I’m Peter Scheer … that interview was Joshua Scheer speaking with Code Pink’s Jodie Evans and Melanie Butler. Coming up on the show, we have a discussion with Tariq Ali and we reveal the winner of our Power of Protest Music Contest. But first, Oliver Stone speaks with Truthdig’s Kasia Anderson about his new book of interviews with Tariq Ali and also about Occupy Wall Street.</p>
<p>Kasia Anderson: The creative collaboration between director Oliver Stone and one-man political think tank Tariq Ali began not three years ago, but they’ve already produced three joint projects spanning multiple continents and eras.</p>
<p>Stone gave a talk at Book Soup in Los Angeles recently to introduce their latest venture, the book “On History: Tariq Ali and Oliver Stone in Conversation,” a deceptively slim volume that delivers a hefty dose of historical analysis and commentary. “On History” is the print-based byproduct of hours of interviews Stone conducted with Ali—covering everything from the Russian Revolution to World War II, the Soviet Union and post-9/11 America—for two documentaries. The first, “South of the Border,” came out in 2009, and the second, a 13-part series with a title that promises more of the sort of provocative stuff Stone is known for, “The Untold History of the United States,” is slated for a 2012 release on Showtime.</p>
<p>During a Q&amp;A session at the bookstore, Stone talked up the Showtime series, pointing out how “we don’t get that point of view, certainly not on television” — at least from where he sits.</p>
<p>He was careful to keep the spotlight on Tariq Ali during the discussion, but he let his own opinion be known about some timely topics that he believes are either missing from the mainstream media’s headlines and sound bites or covered in a way that serves their corporate interests.</p>
<p>Stone slammed Obama’s picks of the Wall Street litter for his economic advisory team, issuing a warning to the president that “If you’re going to enable people who are rotten, you’re going to become rotten after a while.” He was particularly critical of what he called the “self-delusional” mainstream media for their failure to tell the full story about the diplomatic impasse that the U.S. and Iraq reached over the Status of Forces Agreement, and particularly American troops’ immunity from Iraqi law—the sticking point that ultimately became the deal-breaker that dictated Obama’s withdrawal timeline. “There’s an arrogance to our media that we have a right to do these things,” he said .”The only issue is how this will affect Obama’s re-election campaign.”</p>
<p>Stone took a moment to sit down with Truthdig to talk about his book with Ali and the places his own professional and political instincts have taken him.</p>
<p>Oliver Stone: I love the idea [that] we grow up and we get the official story that the media keeps giving us over and over again. I think Tariq undercuts that, undermines it; and he does it pretty boldly. And he just says boom, boom, boom—he goes into the Russian Revolution and how that really terrified Europe and the United States, and how that set up so many issues that followed from the consequences of World War I, which is the Great War, you know. But we go into that, into the history a lot more, but Tariq does just this much; just give them a taste, and if they want to know more, let them go back and read more about this. But Tariq’s written many, many books; he is the Noam Chomsky of England in a way; he keeps turning them out, right? One after the other. He just did one on Obama; this was about a year ago. He had done some investigation in Chicago, and came to the conclusion that [Obama] was very much a product of the Chicago political machine. Which was before anybody was talking about his background, and it seems like he was looking at Obama a little bit more objectively than some of the starry-eyed media here.</p>
<p>Kasia Anderson: Did he change your mind about anything about American history in the process of these discussions?</p>
<p>Oliver Stone: Well, see, a lot of his answers are coming from my questions. There are so many things—Pakistan; the concept of communism in France and Italy; his view of Trotsky, of course, as opposed to Stalin; his view of when the Russian Revolution was betrayed. Very strong on Third World. And I remember the [Bandung], what the 1955 conference meant, and above all the murder of the Lumumba, as well as the betrayal by the United States in the 1950s of the Third World. … What we did in Pakistan in 1958. Nobody talks about it, but look where we are with Pakistan today. Go back to ’58, you know, we have a lot to do with the coup d’etat there. And that was separate from the coup d’etat in Baghdad in ’58; there was another one too. … History is littered with minefields of truth. Kasia Anderson: And what about the blowback section?</p>
<p>Oliver Stone: Johnson used that word, yeah, Chalmers Johnson. Wrote wonderful—four books before he died; more than four, but four books come to mind—he died in 2010, just died. But, God, what an elegant writer. And he deals with it very well. But this blowback is inevitable. And he talks about, in that same—the war on terror, he talks about the King David Hotel, of course, and Menachem Begin, the leader of Israel, and how he was one of the first terrorists on a big scale; he brought terrorism to another level with the bombing in Jerusalem. I mean, blowback’s inevitable. And as Chalmers Johnson called it, he called it Nemesis, which is the goddess of retribution in Greek mythology. Inevitably, we’ve committed so many crimes, Johnson is saying the whole 21st century is going to be a series of blowbacks. It’s pretty scary.</p>
<p>Kasia Anderson: I wanted to know, just for our listeners too, if you had a reaction or any statement about Occupy Wall Street and the movements going on, on [both] the domestic and international levels, feeding in somewhat from your conversations that you [and Tariq Ali] had for this book.</p>
<p>Oliver Stone: I made some comments in The New York Times; it’s on DealBook. We had screened “Salvador” the night before at the New York Film Festival’s 25th anniversary. So “Salvador” was done in 1986, and there were street protests all over that movie. And you see the results: The death squads come, and they basically slaughtered, in Central America, the entire protest class. They slaughtered teachers, nuns, bishops, priests and labor union agitators; everybody who was for reform got killed by these death squads.</p>
<p>And I was thinking about these protests in the film, and the next morning I went to Occupy Wall Street, and it was so peaceful. You don’t get a sense there that you’re going to be set upon by machine-gun-toting thugs who are going to cart you off and kill you, you know; there is a sense of security, and that undercuts the concept of the real protests. Seattle ’99 was rougher. But I certainly admire their desire for reform.</p>
<p>But the bankers have to laugh at this, I mean, they’re gonna shrug and keep walking. Nothing is going to affect them except the Volcker bill, which is where it all matters. I was reading today in some article that the Volcker bill was originally three pages by [Paul] Volcker. He wrote a three-page memo that’s now become 250 pages of dense bureaucratic exceptionalism. So it’s very hard to get anything through in this era of lawyers and specialization, but essentially the Glass-Steagall Act has to be restored. So, you know, the bankers—everyone knows what they did wrong. They had a feast, and they partied on other people’s money, basically, and they continue to party, although I think there are some changes.</p>
<p>So, I wish them well, but I don’t know if the culture can change. Because Wall Street is not just Wall Street, it’s also Washington; and that’s a big—I would occupy Washington. I think Washington is the one that needs to be changed the most, but you know, they tried. The Iraq War demonstrations were the biggest ever. More people objected to that war, and yet that was played down and basically trivialized by the media. …</p>
<p>Grab the power. Grab the power. Get it away, and get these people out of office. Democrat, Republican—it makes no difference.</p>
<p>* * *Peter Scheer:</p>
<p>That was Oliver Stone speaking to Truthdig’s Kasia Anderson. And we’re back with Truthdig Radio; I’m Peter Scheer, and I’m in the studio with Alan Minsky. Coming up, we’ll hear Tariq Ali’s conversation we had earlier today about President Obama’s decline into Bushdom. And we’ll announce the winner of our Power of Protest Music Contest. … Let’s go to that interview with Tariq Ali.</p>
<p>So you’ve come out with an update to “The Obama Syndrome: Surrender at Home, War Abroad,” which is really an ahead-of-the-curve look at how the Obama presidency is a continuation of W. Bush before it, Clinton before that, H.W. Bush before that. Maybe you want to summarize your thesis for us.</p>
<p>Tariq Ali: Well, my thesis in “The Obama Syndrome” is very simple. Which is that despite the hyped-up promises made by Obama on civil liberties, on health, essentially he has delivered nothing. The only reform is to take the Clinton views on homosexuality, ‘don’t ask don’t tell,’ further and legalize that; that’s good. But you know, on the main issues of world politics the continuity with Bush is quite startling. Escalation of the war in Afghanistan, more drone attacks on Pakistan than during the Bush regime; the promises to close down Guantanamo totally dishonored, and in fact Obama has released fewer people from Guantanamo than Bush did. Small wonder that Bush, on his recent visit to India, and elsewhere, says he’s very pleased with the way Obama is governing the country. He has no disagreements with him. So my book highlights how that happened, why that happened and why Obama is continuing on this path. And why we need a movement to protest against all this.</p>
<p>Peter Scheer: Let me just ask about Guantanamo specifically, because that’s an example that’s often cited. And it’s also something that you know, he claims that Congress, or Congress wasn’t funding the transfer of prisoners, wouldn’t allow him to have trials on United States soil. To what extent is that a defense of Obama?</p>
<p>Tariq Ali: Well, he had a majority in Congress. Both the Senate and the House for the first two years of his office, you know. President’s first two years, with a majority in both houses, is very significant; so he can’t use that as an excuse. You know, within the first 400 days he could have done that; within the first year. This is a campaign pledge, and it’s being implemented. And told his party to vote for it, and had it not voted for it he could have done something else; he could have appealed to the people who elected him, the millions on his supporters’ list, on the Web, and asked them to come out. You know when Roosevelt, during the New Deal, was being disrupted he made direct appeal to the people in his firefight cap. This guy has accepted all this very quickly and is now using it as an excuse, saying I couldn’t do it because of Congress. I don’t accept that.</p>
<p>Peter Scheer: Since you’ve updated the book, have your findings been confirmed? Have they changed at all?</p>
<p>Tariq Ali: Yeah, I’m afraid the findings have been vindicated even more. I don’t say this with a great deal of pleasure, because it’s not nice to be proved right when what is being proved is a disastrous political and economic situation in the United States. So I’m not happy about it, because I know that large numbers of young people had real hopes which have now proved to be complete illusions, in Obama. But I think that’s the way he’s going, and given that the Republicans seem to be in a total mess, unless something unforeseen happens Obama will be re-elected; that’s what I write in the book. But re-elected to carry on as his predecessors, not to do anything new. Peter Scheer: You know, that issue of the young people has always bothered me, because you had this huge movement across the country. Granted, it was organized around some really vague ideals, but it was a huge movement of people, more unprecedented political involvement among young people who have traditionally been written off as a political force who really slaved away for Obama, working for free, devoting their time, traveling around the country. And came out in droves to vote for him; changed the politics of the country, and then almost immediately, must be the most cynical and disillusioned group of people in America, I would think, given the disappointment.</p>
<p>Tariq Ali: I agree with you. I was in the United States three times that year, election year, and witnessed for myself the enthusiasm. And often when I was speaking on campuses, I saw the enthusiasm for myself, and I also bit my lip; I didn’t want to say anything to disillusion them, you know, because it’s awful when someone older and from another generation tells them hey, you know, don’t believe a word of this. People have to learn from their own experiences, and they have done, and they’re very angry. And I think that is one reason for the occupation movement; that even though they’re sort of reluctant to say what their demands are, there’s no doubt that one reason they’re out is because they’re disillusioned with the Obama government. Otherwise they wouldn’t be protesting like this. So one result has been independent organization, discussions taking place nonstop, all over the country. I was in Oakland last week and talked to many of the occupiers and spoke to them, actually, in Oakland. And the mood is quite militant; it’s not a mood of the majority, but I think a majority of the country is very skeptical now about politics. I mean, a number of opinion polls have shown that. Not just students, but working people and the unemployed.</p>
<p>Peter Scheer: You know, you can compare these movements, like the Occupy Oakland or New York or Boston to Los Angeles, where they have a mostly sympathetic local government where they’re camped out. And the difference maybe in energy and attitude and focus. I mean, maybe you need something to react against, as supporters of Obama were in 2008, reacting against the years of Bush rule. I want to ask you about—you have this really great Malcolm X quote at the top of your book, and he said in 1964: “It isn’t the president who can help or hurt, it’s the system. And this system is not only ruling America; it is ruling the world.”</p>
<p>Tariq Ali: Well, I think Malcolm was absolutely right. And you know, on the one occasion that we met and talked he repeated all this to me. And he also knew the power of the system. Because at the end of this sort of conversation we had, I said, “Malcolm, great to meet you, and I hope we meet up again soon.” And he said, “I don’t think we will.” And I said, “What do you mean you don’t think we will? What is this?” And he said, “Oh, I think they’re going to kill me.” I said, “Who is going to kill you?” He said, “the nation, the FBI, both together; the system doesn’t like me. Black politicians, especially, when we begin to talk about blacks and whites uniting to fight the system, that’s what they hate the most; it’s fine if we stay in the ghettos.” And within a few months he was dead. I have never forgotten that conversation. And of course he is right.</p>
<p>On the other hand, even within the system, certain presidents, if they wish to, can bring about reforms. You know, it has happened, though it has to be pointed out that these reforms have never come without movements from below. The New Deal came when there were factory occupations, you know, Flint occupied; trade unions were being formed; there was a sense of radicalism in the air after the ’29 crisis. And Roosevelt used all this to push through reforms, and also of course at that time the Soviet Union was seen as a possible alternative to capitalism, and that too scared the governments of the day into instituting reforms lest the dreaded vulturism spread to their countries. So all of these things did it, and then the Johnson reforms, the Great Society reforms, were a very direct outcome of a huge civil rights movement that had developed. And the fact that GIs returning home from the Vietnam War, black GIs, were participating as snipers in the big revolts that hit every city with large black populations, and that’s what pushed that through, because they couldn’t fight a war abroad and at home at the same time. And so they did push things through, and whether Obama would, if the movement were really to increase in size, is an open question, because I think he is a deeply conservative politician. I mean, the account in my book of him operating in the Illinois State Assembly shows the future Obama much, much more clearly than the vacuous speeches and the slogans of the campaign.</p>
<p>Peter Scheer: How do you see this movement affecting the president? Certainly it’s adjusted his speeches, his style a little bit. But do you see that having a—</p>
<p>Tariq Ali: I think that, basically, they would like to co-opt the movement and use it to get—you know, sort of to show, “look, we have our own version of the tea party.” This is what he said on one occasion. But I don’t think it’s going to work like that. I think the fact is that the movement is largely, if you like, a movement which is proclaiming a moral and ethical campaign against the excesses of Wall Street, the bankers and the capitalist system. So the solution to their problems lie in deep structural reforms and changes at the top of American society. And even though they don’t demand it, that is the logic of what they say. They are attacking the system as it exists, and there is no way Obama is going to do that. But he can ignore the movement unless it increases in size, and you know, more or less says that “we’re not going to vote for any of these politicians.” Were it to do that, and increase in size, then I think he would feel the pinch. What he’d do is an open question, because you know, he’s very confident now, because the Republican candidates are utterly useless … he thinks he’s going to win anyway.</p>
<p>Peter Scheer: Other than the economy, the area where Obama seems to be most a continuation of his predecessors, and maybe even taking it further, is foreign policy. You yourself are from Pakistan; that’s a country where the president is waging a kind of casual war without declaring war, just flying in and bombing people. The justification for this, as you say in your book, is that it’s—and this is a legal reasoning—that it’s for the national security of the United States that we can fly drones anywhere and bomb anyone. Isn’t that just license to do whatever we want in the world?</p>
<p>Tariq Ali: It is. And the United States is the only country that has this license, and uses it at will. Most of Europe follows suit. I mean, you know, because in my opinion, in the Western world at any rate, the only country with real sovereignty is the imperial state—in this case, the United States. And they do what they want to get away with it, and they use the institutions available, so if the Security Council has passed a vote, they’ll use that. They’ll use NATO; if there are divisions in NATO they go themselves unilaterally. That’s been the way for some time. And there’s nothing new here. The problem now is that we live in a unipolar world; there’s no set of countries which, at least nominally, are opposed to all of this. So the U.S. now feels it can genuinely do whatever it wants, except in the Far East, [although] it’s got Japan and South Korea. The Chinese can’t be manipulated that easily; I mean, they don’t intervene in world politics; at the moment, they’re only interested in the economy. So the U.S. has essentially—you know, can do what they like. I mean, the fact that Obama is angry with UNESCO for recognizing the Palestinians as an entity—I mean, UNESCO’s decision is purely symbolic; it changes nothing, it just accepts that the Palestinians are an entity, and we can’t deny their existence. And for that, Obama has ordered that U.S. funding of UNESCO is immediately withdrawn.</p>
<p>Peter Scheer: Isn’t that, in and of itself, an indication that American influence has waned? That you can have this, that they have to negotiate behind the scenes in this protracted battle to get Palestinian statehood recognized, and the U.N. has gone a lot—you know, it’s not like they just pointed a finger and said “no,” right? They’ve been negotiating heavily, how are we going to sort out this problem, and you have a lot of countries willfully ignoring U.S. influence, including our allies in Europe. Tariq Ali: Yeah, on the question of Palestine the U.S. policies are deeply unpopular in most parts of the world. But that doesn’t mean that they change. I mean, the umbilical cord that now ties them to Israel via funding, via military links, is as strong as ever it was. And look, there was always opposition to the United States in the past; they ignored it, and they ignore it now even more strongly. It’s not the case that people always agreed. If you look back to the Vietnam War in the ’60s and ’70s, no European country sent troops to fight with them; even Britain, which is the closest to them, refused to send troops. Whereas in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and Libya, the Europeans by and large back them up and go along with them. So it’s, I think, too premature to say that U.S. power is waning. I know this is a popular view; I don’t accept it myself. I think that the U.S. has suffered some setbacks, but I don’t think that power is waning. I mean, at the present, even as we talk, there are discussions going on [about] whether to invade and attack Iran and destroy its nuclear reactors or not. I mean, there’s heavy pressure from Israel to do so; it’s reported in the British press today that the British military has been told to be on the alert for this attack on Iran. I mean, it may be just the rocket rattling, as has happened before, to frighten the Iranians. But were they to do this, let us imagine that they do it—I mean, the results throughout that region would be dire. You know, it would be full scale war, and it would be much, much more serious than Iraq because the Iranian armed forces are not a destroyed or spent force, as they were, which the U.S. knew quite well in the case of Iraq. The Iranians are going to fight back, and the war could spread into Iraq again, into Israel and into the—the Iranians could unleash campaigns in Afghanistan as well, which is why the Pentagon has always been opposed to this lunacy. But the fact that the politicians haven’t given up on that is revealing.</p>
<p>Peter Scheer: Didn’t Bush kill a war with Iran, that the Israelis wanted to attack, and he nixed it somehow?</p>
<p>Tariq Ali: He did. And I think that there is a lot of opposition to it within the U.S. military establishment. And if the politicians decide to go with it, they might well face a general’s revolt. I don’t know, but the fact that the politicians even take this as a serious option, including Obama, is frightening. In my book I point out that—I was teaching in Illinois one semester, and some friends said let’s, you know, this is a rising young senator who’s appearing on television; let’s watch him. And this was Obama; he was then fighting for the Senate seat. And he was asked by the interviewer, if President Bush were to declare war on Iran because it poses a threat because of its decision to make nuclear weapons, would you support the president? And Obama said, “absolutely”—without any question at all, putting on a very grim look. So that convinced me that this guy was a total opportunist, and quite reactionary in many ways. He’s now president, so if he’s going to do that, I mean, I think it would be the most serious mistake he makes. And as I said, I’m not convinced that they are going to do that, but there’s certainly a lot of rocket rattling going on. And then, in the case of Afghanistan, what did Obama do? He sent in more troops, which they are now saying they’re going to withdraw. But there was a huge debate within the American military elite; Petraeus wanted more troops, and Eikenberry, a more senior general, retired, and ambassador in Afghanistan, said no, we don’t need them. And Obama had a choice here, two generals saying two different things, and he went with the aggressive general. So it’s very clear that whenever he’s offered a choice, he usually makes the more aggressive, the more reactionary, choice either because he fails to understand the situation or he feels he has to prove something to someone. I don’t know, but it’s crazy to imagine that they can win the war in Afghanistan, when virtually every intelligence agency has pointed out to them that this is an unwinnable war.</p>
<p>Peter Scheer: Why do you think, then, that they pursue that policy? That policy, more than any other, the escalation of the war in Afghanistan, at least the way that they framed it in pitching it, the way the president introduced it, made absolutely no sense.</p>
<p>Tariq Ali: It made no sense except to show him as a tough leader.</p>
<p>Peter Scheer: So it’s purely political, you think?</p>
<p>Tariq Ali: I think it’s largely political. It couldn’t be military, because militarily they are bogged down there, and it’s not more troops they need; they need a political settlement. And reaching a political settlement by sending 30,000 troops in is a contradiction in terms. Because these troops fight more battles, kill more people, are killed in return, and the situation deteriorates; it doesn’t get better. So it was a calculated choice by Obama, and it’s failed. Since that escalation in Afghanistan, what have we seen? We’ve seen the insurgents striking at the very heart of NATO, hitting its headquarters, hitting the U.S. Embassy, targeting helicopters carrying intelligence agents and Navy SEALs, some of whom were involved in the operation to kill bin Laden, blowing up that helicopter, going in and killing senior collaborationist Afghans at will, killing the president’s brother and then attacking his funeral—I mean, this is a situation which has gotten much, much worse with every passing year of the occupation. And you know, even the most serious diplomats from the United States in that country report that this is an unwinnable war. It can’t be won. And yet Obama continues with it. I think they are now realizing that they’ll have to do something. But I mean, till now, the paralysis, if you like, in the White House on this war has been amazing.</p>
<p>Peter Scheer: I want to ask about, getting back to the domestic side of things, before we run out of time, because the great power of the presidency is that there’s much he can do without Congress, just purely through executive action and administering the country, in whom he hires. And we’ve seen recently a turnaround, a complete 180 degree turnaround on the issue of medicinal marijuana, where originally the Justice Department was directed essentially to ignore the issue, and now, getting closer to the election, we’ve had here in California, the authorities have told the landlords of medicinal marijuana dispensaries in the state they have 40 days or something to shut down or their property could be seized. And it’s just such an incredible opportunistic switch. But I think it speaks to a danger that’s much greater than the issue of marijuana.</p>
<p>Tariq Ali: It is. And I think it’s typical of this administration, that they’ve done this. It doesn’t surprise me at all; it’s cynical, it’s opportunistic, it’s immoral in my opinion. But you know, a far graver problem on that front is the decision taken by Obama in private to authorize the killing of U.S. citizens without trial. That is a decision this president has taken. And I’m a bit amazed that there’s been some protest about it, that liberal lawyers and jurists who normally write in The New York Review of Books haven’t written anything on this so far, as far as I can see. And it marks a very grave deterioration. I mean, some of the astute journalists like Tom Engelhardt describe the U.S. as a post-legal society. And I think that that is becoming true. If you decide you can kill your own citizens without trial, this is a grave deterioration. It’s difficult not to compare this. For instance, Bob Redford’s latest movie he’s directed about the trial of the conspirators who conspired to assassinate President Lincoln. It’s a very critical movie of how that trial was conducted. But at least there was a trial. And the union officer who was the lawyer who defended one of the conspirators, the woman who was not guilty—but nonetheless it was ordered by the secretary of defense, and ultimately the president, that she had to be hanged. … But nonetheless there was a trial, and this brave lawyer tried to defend her. Watching that movie, you really feel that what Redford is talking about is what we are seeing now, you know, in the United States, but in a much, much sharper way that killings can be ordered and that’s that. They’ve decided to circumvent trials altogether, and that’s appalling. You know, the way Bradley Manning is still being held in solitary without being charged, without being brought to trial, is just shocking, actually. So the deterioration of civil liberties and civil rights under the Bush administration has been continued by Obama.</p>
<p>Peter Scheer: Well, we’ve got just seconds left, and I just want to ask—say we go back in time before 2008; what would you tell someone who’s trying to decide who to vote for? I mean, are we better off with McCain?</p>
<p>Tariq Ali: No. I mean, I would say that in some conditions it’s better not to vote. And build up a huge majority of nonvoters to expose the system, and say that this is a system which is run by an extreme center that consists of both Democrats and Republicans, and unless there’s a real alternative it’s better not to vote. And the Bush administration was demonized, and understandably so, as being horrific on every level; and liberals were going crazy; people were talking, some nonsense, saying this is a fascist regime, there’s been a fascist coup; absolute nonsense. And then Obama comes in and behaves in the same way, and most of the people who were attacking Bush fall silent. And that is not a good thing for the health of the republic.</p>
<p>Peter Scheer: Tariq Ali, thank you so much for speaking with us.</p>
<p>Alan Minsky: And the voice of Tariq Ali critiquing Barack Obama’s presidency. We have a winner for a song, correct?</p>
<p>Peter Scheer: Yeah. So we had this contest because Ry Cooder’s new album, “Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down,” was really just inspirational in terms of its political content. And so we decided to have a contest for the best “Power of Protest” song. There are no wrong answers; people have great protest music; a lot of our readers wrote their own songs, which they sent in, and they’re really to be commended; there’s some great music out there. I just want to read, someone said: “I’ve wondered for years where our next protest music would come from and how it would arise. I can see now that it has been here all along, it just needed the right time and place to break out and be heard.” And they also added—this is [Truthdig reader] AdoAnnie—“Someone needs to write something for Scott Olsen.” So if that inspires you, go ahead and do it. But we decided the winner of the contest was Jenna Ware. I hope I’m pronouncing that right. And she will win a copy of Ry Cooder’s new album on vinyl and a CD courtesy of Nonesuch Records, along with his new book, “Los Angeles Stories” courtesy of City Lights Publishers. And we ended up choosing Leonard Cohen’s “First We Take Manhattan.”</p>
<p>[Music: “First We Take Manhattan” by Leonard Cohen]</p>
<p /> | 599,335 |
<p>If you were wondering why liberals have abandoned Hillary Clinton in droves for a grumpy, 74-year-old socialist senator from Vermont, this video from the Sanders rally in Iowa Monday provides perhaps a little insight.</p>
<p>In short, they think she's a "liar."</p>
<p>While the broadcast of Clinton's "victory" speech (she was granted the razor-thin edge only because six coin tosses miraculously all went her way) played on a large screen, Sanders supporters began a not-so-flattering little chant in her honor.</p>
<p>"She's a liar! She's a liar! She's a liar!..."</p>
<p>Clinton's Achilles heel is her "trust deficit." Poll after poll have found that voters—including increasingly more Democrats—simply do not believe she is trustworthy. Quinnipiac has consistently found that around <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/article/426698/hillary-clinton-untrustworthy-unlikeable-extreme" type="external">60 percent</a> of Americans deem her "untrustworthy," the worst rating of the candidates.</p>
<p>As more details emerge about her egregious mishandling of classified material and as she continues to repeat <a href="" type="internal">preposterous explanations and excuses</a> for her actions, Clinton isn't going to be shaking that "liar" label anytime soon.</p>
<p>As for Sanders' supporters and their passion for the "truth," check out how they react when they learn that some of those billionaires he says he hates so much are actually <a href="" type="internal">funding his campaign</a>.</p> | Here's What Bernie Sanders Supporters Chanted During Hillary's Iowa Speech. It's Brutal. | true | https://dailywire.com/news/3062/heres-what-bernie-sanders-supporters-chanted-james-barrett | 2016-02-02 | 0right
| Here's What Bernie Sanders Supporters Chanted During Hillary's Iowa Speech. It's Brutal.
<p>If you were wondering why liberals have abandoned Hillary Clinton in droves for a grumpy, 74-year-old socialist senator from Vermont, this video from the Sanders rally in Iowa Monday provides perhaps a little insight.</p>
<p>In short, they think she's a "liar."</p>
<p>While the broadcast of Clinton's "victory" speech (she was granted the razor-thin edge only because six coin tosses miraculously all went her way) played on a large screen, Sanders supporters began a not-so-flattering little chant in her honor.</p>
<p>"She's a liar! She's a liar! She's a liar!..."</p>
<p>Clinton's Achilles heel is her "trust deficit." Poll after poll have found that voters—including increasingly more Democrats—simply do not believe she is trustworthy. Quinnipiac has consistently found that around <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/article/426698/hillary-clinton-untrustworthy-unlikeable-extreme" type="external">60 percent</a> of Americans deem her "untrustworthy," the worst rating of the candidates.</p>
<p>As more details emerge about her egregious mishandling of classified material and as she continues to repeat <a href="" type="internal">preposterous explanations and excuses</a> for her actions, Clinton isn't going to be shaking that "liar" label anytime soon.</p>
<p>As for Sanders' supporters and their passion for the "truth," check out how they react when they learn that some of those billionaires he says he hates so much are actually <a href="" type="internal">funding his campaign</a>.</p> | 599,336 |
<p>My words cannot tell a better story than what Life News just posted</p>
<p><a href="http://www.lifenews.com/2014/04/25/plant-worker-aborted-babies-had-been-incinerated-for-years-there-was-so-much-blood/" type="external">Life News–</a></p>
<p>A former plant worker at the facility found to be burning aborted babies for energy says the practice had been going on for years and he believes plant officials and perhaps even county government officials should have known.</p>
<p>Local officials in central Oregon are upset that&#160; <a href="http://www.lifenews.com/2014/04/23/energy-plant-in-oregon-burning-aborted-babies-from-canada-to-generate-electricity/" type="external">an energy plant is reportedly burning aborted babies from Canada to generate electricity</a>. As LifeNews reported on Thursday,&#160; <a href="http://www.lifenews.com/2014/04/24/county-launches-probe-into-why-aborted-babies-were-burned-for-electricity-were-horrified/" type="external">they launched an investigation into how and why aborted babies were included</a>&#160;along with medical waste shipped from Canada to Oregon to be incinerated for energy at a recycling plant.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.lifenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/burningwaste6.png" type="external" />The Marion County Commissioners heard about it for the first time yesterday, April 23, at 4 p.m. They immediately called Oregon Right to Life to express their horror and avow their lack of knowledge of the practice.</p>
<p>Commissioner Sam Brentano said the “waste-to-energy” plant was intended to efficiently destroy waste and, in the process, generate electricity, but the plant was “never intended to be a destruction of human fetal tissue.”</p>
<p>But plant worker KOIN&#160; <a href="http://koin.com/2014/04/23/human-tissue-disposed-marion-co-waste-facility/" type="external">interviewed&#160;</a>Bud Waterman, a former temp worker at Covanta Marion, Inc., who told the television station that he saw 53-foot tractor trailers carrying biohazardous material dropping off loads at the facility at least two to three times a week. He said plant officials had to know that aborted babies were part of the medical waste and had been for years.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p><a href="http://koin.com/2014/04/23/human-tissue-disposed-marion-co-waste-facility/" type="external">From the report</a>:</p>
<p>On more than one occasion, Waterman said the contents of the truck spilled out of their containers.</p>
<p>“It would make you sick, especially if you had to clean it up or have to pull a box off the trailer,” said Waterman.</p>
<p>Like this pro-life news article?&#160; <a href="http://www.lifenews.com/donate/" type="external">Please support LifeNews with a donation</a>&#160;during our April fundraising campaign!</p>
<p>Covanta responded to the claims early Thursday morning by placing blame on Marion County and said the company is halting the program until answers are given.</p>
<p>“The medical waste program at the Marion County Resource Recovery Facility is County run and managed,” Covanta said in a statement. “Marion County contracts for and delivers medical waste to the facility and Covanta has no responsibility for the program. Covanta is shocked by these allegations and is discontinuing the receipt of this waste stream until we have been assured by the County that this alleged material is not being delivered to the facility.”</p>
<p>Waterman said he believes certified contractors have been carrying fetuses from British Columbia to Oregon, where state statutes allow fetuses to be disposed.</p>
<p>“I don’t know that you can know just like I should have known, but I didn’t,” said Brentano. “I’m sorry I didn’t know that this included fetal tissue, but now that I do know, believe me things change.”</p>
<p>Waterman said he believes fetuses have been incinerated at the Marion County facility for years and used for energy, a practice that the Canadian government will not do.</p>
<p>“They knew it, they had to. I don’t see how they could not know it,” said Waterman.</p> | Aborted Babies Had Been Incinerated for Years At Oregon Plant, “There Was So Much Blood” | true | http://shark-tank.com/2014/04/25/aborted-babies-had-been-incinerated-for-years-at-oregon-plant-there-was-so-much-blood/ | 0right
| Aborted Babies Had Been Incinerated for Years At Oregon Plant, “There Was So Much Blood”
<p>My words cannot tell a better story than what Life News just posted</p>
<p><a href="http://www.lifenews.com/2014/04/25/plant-worker-aborted-babies-had-been-incinerated-for-years-there-was-so-much-blood/" type="external">Life News–</a></p>
<p>A former plant worker at the facility found to be burning aborted babies for energy says the practice had been going on for years and he believes plant officials and perhaps even county government officials should have known.</p>
<p>Local officials in central Oregon are upset that&#160; <a href="http://www.lifenews.com/2014/04/23/energy-plant-in-oregon-burning-aborted-babies-from-canada-to-generate-electricity/" type="external">an energy plant is reportedly burning aborted babies from Canada to generate electricity</a>. As LifeNews reported on Thursday,&#160; <a href="http://www.lifenews.com/2014/04/24/county-launches-probe-into-why-aborted-babies-were-burned-for-electricity-were-horrified/" type="external">they launched an investigation into how and why aborted babies were included</a>&#160;along with medical waste shipped from Canada to Oregon to be incinerated for energy at a recycling plant.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.lifenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/burningwaste6.png" type="external" />The Marion County Commissioners heard about it for the first time yesterday, April 23, at 4 p.m. They immediately called Oregon Right to Life to express their horror and avow their lack of knowledge of the practice.</p>
<p>Commissioner Sam Brentano said the “waste-to-energy” plant was intended to efficiently destroy waste and, in the process, generate electricity, but the plant was “never intended to be a destruction of human fetal tissue.”</p>
<p>But plant worker KOIN&#160; <a href="http://koin.com/2014/04/23/human-tissue-disposed-marion-co-waste-facility/" type="external">interviewed&#160;</a>Bud Waterman, a former temp worker at Covanta Marion, Inc., who told the television station that he saw 53-foot tractor trailers carrying biohazardous material dropping off loads at the facility at least two to three times a week. He said plant officials had to know that aborted babies were part of the medical waste and had been for years.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p><a href="http://koin.com/2014/04/23/human-tissue-disposed-marion-co-waste-facility/" type="external">From the report</a>:</p>
<p>On more than one occasion, Waterman said the contents of the truck spilled out of their containers.</p>
<p>“It would make you sick, especially if you had to clean it up or have to pull a box off the trailer,” said Waterman.</p>
<p>Like this pro-life news article?&#160; <a href="http://www.lifenews.com/donate/" type="external">Please support LifeNews with a donation</a>&#160;during our April fundraising campaign!</p>
<p>Covanta responded to the claims early Thursday morning by placing blame on Marion County and said the company is halting the program until answers are given.</p>
<p>“The medical waste program at the Marion County Resource Recovery Facility is County run and managed,” Covanta said in a statement. “Marion County contracts for and delivers medical waste to the facility and Covanta has no responsibility for the program. Covanta is shocked by these allegations and is discontinuing the receipt of this waste stream until we have been assured by the County that this alleged material is not being delivered to the facility.”</p>
<p>Waterman said he believes certified contractors have been carrying fetuses from British Columbia to Oregon, where state statutes allow fetuses to be disposed.</p>
<p>“I don’t know that you can know just like I should have known, but I didn’t,” said Brentano. “I’m sorry I didn’t know that this included fetal tissue, but now that I do know, believe me things change.”</p>
<p>Waterman said he believes fetuses have been incinerated at the Marion County facility for years and used for energy, a practice that the Canadian government will not do.</p>
<p>“They knew it, they had to. I don’t see how they could not know it,” said Waterman.</p> | 599,337 |
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<p>Backers of a proposed bill to ban coyote-killing derbies in New Mexico enlisted the help of a fearsome ally today, as mixed martial arts fighter Carlos Condit urged lawmakers to back the legislation.</p>
<p>Condit, an Albuquerque native whose father was former Gov. Bill Richardson’s chief of staff, described coyote-killing contests as “senseless acts of mass slaughter.”</p>
<p>“What does allowing these contests say about our values?” Condit asked a crowd of animal rights advocates gathered in the Capitol rotunda.</p>
<p>The proposal to ban coyote contests passed the Senate last week on a 27-13 vote. The legislation, Senate Bill 253, is expected to be debated in its first House committee late&#160;next week.</p>
<p>It is sponsored by Sen. Mark Moores, R-Albuquerque, and Rep. Jeff Steinborn, a Las Cruces Democrat.</p>
<p>Opponents of the measure have argued it would infringe on private property rights and reflects an urban bias against rural New Mexico.</p>
<p>The 30-year old Condit, whose nickname is “the Natural Born Killer,” has a 29-8 record in MMA.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | MMA fighter Carlos Condit urges lawmakers to knockout coyote-killing contests | false | https://abqjournal.com/544411/mma-fighter-carlos-condit-urges-lawmakers-to-knockout-coyote-killing-contests.html | 2least
| MMA fighter Carlos Condit urges lawmakers to knockout coyote-killing contests
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<p>Backers of a proposed bill to ban coyote-killing derbies in New Mexico enlisted the help of a fearsome ally today, as mixed martial arts fighter Carlos Condit urged lawmakers to back the legislation.</p>
<p>Condit, an Albuquerque native whose father was former Gov. Bill Richardson’s chief of staff, described coyote-killing contests as “senseless acts of mass slaughter.”</p>
<p>“What does allowing these contests say about our values?” Condit asked a crowd of animal rights advocates gathered in the Capitol rotunda.</p>
<p>The proposal to ban coyote contests passed the Senate last week on a 27-13 vote. The legislation, Senate Bill 253, is expected to be debated in its first House committee late&#160;next week.</p>
<p>It is sponsored by Sen. Mark Moores, R-Albuquerque, and Rep. Jeff Steinborn, a Las Cruces Democrat.</p>
<p>Opponents of the measure have argued it would infringe on private property rights and reflects an urban bias against rural New Mexico.</p>
<p>The 30-year old Condit, whose nickname is “the Natural Born Killer,” has a 29-8 record in MMA.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | 599,338 |
|
<p />
<p>Apparently the actions of <a href="http://www.nra.org/home.aspx" type="external">National Rifle Association</a> member Timothy McVeigh didn’t teach the organization that its violent anti-government rhetoric can have dangerous consequences. On a day when thousands of Tea Party activists are taking to the streets to protest Tax Day, the <a href="http://www.vpc.org/" type="external">Violence Policy Center</a> has <a href="http://www.vpc.org/studies/lessonsunlearned.pdf" type="external">released a report today</a> chronicling the increasing ties between the gun lobby and the Tea Party movement, and the NRA’s adoption of much of the “Patriot movement’s” anti-government language. The center sees direct parallels between the NRA’s current activities and those in the years leading up to McVeigh’s fateful decision to blow up the Oklahoma federal building:</p>
<p>“The gun lobby is once again embracing—and, equally important, validating—the anti-government rhetoric being offered by activists that range from Tea Party members, through pro-gun advocates, to members of the militia movement. And as was the case with Timothy McVeigh, the risk lies not so much with the organized members of these groups, but with the “lone wolves” who not only embrace their rhetoric, but are willing to act on it with violence.”</p>
<p>The report connects the NRA to the organizers of this Monday’s <a href="http://www.secondamendmentmarch.com/" type="external">Second Amendment March</a> in DC, an event the VPC finds ominous. The VPC quotes march organizer Skip Coryell, who wrote a March article in Human Events describing the event’s purpose:</p>
<p>My question to everyone reading this article is this: “For you, as an individual, when do you draw your saber? When do you say, “Yes, I am willing to rise up and overthrow an oppressive, totalitarian government?”…I hear the clank of metal on metal getting closer, but that’s not enough. The politicians have to hear it too. They have to hear it, and they have to believe it. Come and support me at the Second Amendment March on April 19th on the Washington Monument grounds. Let’s rattle some sabers and show the government we’re still here. We are here, and we are not silent!</p>
<p>The NRA&#160;is not an official sponsor of the event, but it’s provided an unofficial blessing and has helped promote the march to its members. The VPC finds the connections disturbing given that the march will feature such speakers as Larry Pratt, a Tea Party member who played a pivotal role in a 1992 meeting of racist and extremist activists in Colorado that essentially <a href="http://www.leonardzeskind.com/%20index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=75:armed-and-dangerous-the-nra-militias-and-white-supremacists%20-are-fostering-a-network-of-right-wing-warriors-&amp;catid=21:articles-op-eds-etc&amp;Itemid=35" type="external">launched the modern militia movement</a>.</p>
<p>The VPC also finds a big overlap between the NRA’s election volunteer coordinators and Tea Party activists in many states, and notes that the NRA has capitalized on the movement by marketing a line of “Don’t Tread on Me” T-shirts and other apparel regularly sported at Tea Party rallies. The report closes with a quote from Aitan Goelma, a former federal prosecutor who helped win convictions against McVeigh and Terry Nichols in the Oklahoma City bombing case, who <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/print/content/view/print/291795" type="external">told the Christian Science Monitor</a> in March:</p>
<p>Anytime you have group-think and this churning of ridiculous ideas back and forth, eventually you’ll get someone like McVeigh who’s going to say ‘I’m going to take the mantle of leadership and fire the shot heard around the world and start the second American revolution…’ Some of this is fantasy. I think the idea is that it is kind of fun to talk about a UN tank on your front lawn and the New World Order…but when someone blows up a building and kills 19 kids in a day-care center, it’s not so glamorous anymore”</p>
<p>As the VPC report suggests, the NRA ought to think twice before egging on people who frequently talk about how the tree of liberty needs periodic watering with the blood of patriots. A few of them might start to take that line a little too seriously. It wouldn’t be surprising of some of those folks showed up next week at the Second Amendment March—an event that promises to make today’s Tax Day antics look like, well, a tea party.</p>
<p /> | Is the NRA Encouraging Anti-Government Extremism? | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2010/04/nra-encouraging-tea-party-and-militia-violence/ | 2010-04-15 | 4left
| Is the NRA Encouraging Anti-Government Extremism?
<p />
<p>Apparently the actions of <a href="http://www.nra.org/home.aspx" type="external">National Rifle Association</a> member Timothy McVeigh didn’t teach the organization that its violent anti-government rhetoric can have dangerous consequences. On a day when thousands of Tea Party activists are taking to the streets to protest Tax Day, the <a href="http://www.vpc.org/" type="external">Violence Policy Center</a> has <a href="http://www.vpc.org/studies/lessonsunlearned.pdf" type="external">released a report today</a> chronicling the increasing ties between the gun lobby and the Tea Party movement, and the NRA’s adoption of much of the “Patriot movement’s” anti-government language. The center sees direct parallels between the NRA’s current activities and those in the years leading up to McVeigh’s fateful decision to blow up the Oklahoma federal building:</p>
<p>“The gun lobby is once again embracing—and, equally important, validating—the anti-government rhetoric being offered by activists that range from Tea Party members, through pro-gun advocates, to members of the militia movement. And as was the case with Timothy McVeigh, the risk lies not so much with the organized members of these groups, but with the “lone wolves” who not only embrace their rhetoric, but are willing to act on it with violence.”</p>
<p>The report connects the NRA to the organizers of this Monday’s <a href="http://www.secondamendmentmarch.com/" type="external">Second Amendment March</a> in DC, an event the VPC finds ominous. The VPC quotes march organizer Skip Coryell, who wrote a March article in Human Events describing the event’s purpose:</p>
<p>My question to everyone reading this article is this: “For you, as an individual, when do you draw your saber? When do you say, “Yes, I am willing to rise up and overthrow an oppressive, totalitarian government?”…I hear the clank of metal on metal getting closer, but that’s not enough. The politicians have to hear it too. They have to hear it, and they have to believe it. Come and support me at the Second Amendment March on April 19th on the Washington Monument grounds. Let’s rattle some sabers and show the government we’re still here. We are here, and we are not silent!</p>
<p>The NRA&#160;is not an official sponsor of the event, but it’s provided an unofficial blessing and has helped promote the march to its members. The VPC finds the connections disturbing given that the march will feature such speakers as Larry Pratt, a Tea Party member who played a pivotal role in a 1992 meeting of racist and extremist activists in Colorado that essentially <a href="http://www.leonardzeskind.com/%20index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=75:armed-and-dangerous-the-nra-militias-and-white-supremacists%20-are-fostering-a-network-of-right-wing-warriors-&amp;catid=21:articles-op-eds-etc&amp;Itemid=35" type="external">launched the modern militia movement</a>.</p>
<p>The VPC also finds a big overlap between the NRA’s election volunteer coordinators and Tea Party activists in many states, and notes that the NRA has capitalized on the movement by marketing a line of “Don’t Tread on Me” T-shirts and other apparel regularly sported at Tea Party rallies. The report closes with a quote from Aitan Goelma, a former federal prosecutor who helped win convictions against McVeigh and Terry Nichols in the Oklahoma City bombing case, who <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/print/content/view/print/291795" type="external">told the Christian Science Monitor</a> in March:</p>
<p>Anytime you have group-think and this churning of ridiculous ideas back and forth, eventually you’ll get someone like McVeigh who’s going to say ‘I’m going to take the mantle of leadership and fire the shot heard around the world and start the second American revolution…’ Some of this is fantasy. I think the idea is that it is kind of fun to talk about a UN tank on your front lawn and the New World Order…but when someone blows up a building and kills 19 kids in a day-care center, it’s not so glamorous anymore”</p>
<p>As the VPC report suggests, the NRA ought to think twice before egging on people who frequently talk about how the tree of liberty needs periodic watering with the blood of patriots. A few of them might start to take that line a little too seriously. It wouldn’t be surprising of some of those folks showed up next week at the Second Amendment March—an event that promises to make today’s Tax Day antics look like, well, a tea party.</p>
<p /> | 599,339 |
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<p />
<p>A New Mexico delegation made up of government, business and health care officials traveled to Tucson last week to visit Pima County’s Crisis Response Center, which offers short-term treatment for adults and children with mental health and substance abuse emergencies.</p>
<p>Several of them said the center offers a valuable entry point and triage center for Pima County’s behavioral health system and could serve as a model for Albuquerque.</p>
<p>But crisis-stabilization centers only work if other community treatment services are available to provide patients with intermediate and long-term treatment, they said.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“We learned in Tucson that it doesn’t do a lot of good to create a crisis recovery center in Albuquerque if you do not have a solid, effective provider network in place to send patients to,” said Terri Cole, president of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, which organized the trip.</p>
<p>The $6.29 billion budget recommendation unveiled Jan. 9 by the Legislative Finance Committee includes $2.5 million for regional crisis stabilization units statewide.</p>
<p>The nine who traveled plan to discuss the trip and decide whether to pursue behavioral health legislation during the 60-day legislative session, which began Tuesday, Cole said.</p>
<p>The Crisis Response Center in Tucson has an annual operating budget of about $20 million, and serves about 1,000 adults and up to 300 children each month, said Rodney McNease, the University of New Mexico’s executive director of behavioral health finance, who toured the facility.</p>
<p>The Tucson center offers an alternative to jails and hospital emergency rooms, which too often are destinations for substance abusers and mentally ill people in Bernalillo County, McNease said. Law enforcement officers deliver about half the center’s patients, he said.</p>
<p>“People who are taken to jail now could be diverted into this crisis system and handled more appropriately,” he said.</p>
<p>Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry, who visited the Tucson center, said New Mexico needs changes in state law that would allow law enforcement officers to take people to a crisis center who may not want to go willingly.</p>
<p>Berry said he supports a bill proposed by Senate President Pro Tem Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, who has described the measure as a “modified version” of New York’s Kendra’s Law, which authorizes judges to order people to undergo outpatient treatment under some circumstances.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“Papen’s bill wouldn’t be as strong as Arizona’s but it would be a big step forward for New Mexico,” Berry said.</p>
<p>A UNM survey of health care providers released in October estimated that 151,000 Bernalillo County residents had mental health problems that required treatment in 2013, but only 98,000 were served by local providers.</p>
<p>The community needs more intensive outpatient care and rehabilitative services to help people gain a job or education, the report concluded.</p>
<p>Bernalillo County needs to address service gaps for a crisis center to work effectively, McNease said.</p>
<p>“You can’t just talk about the crisis center in isolation,” he said. “You have to talk about it in the context of a broader system of care, and we have other gaps currently in that system.”</p>
<p>Others who traveled to Tucson include Bernalillo County Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins, state District Judge Nan Nash, Chamber board member Sherman McCorkle, and Dr. Wayne Lindstrom, director of the state Department of Human Services’s behavioral health services division.</p>
<p />
<p /> | Officials say crisis center promising | false | https://abqjournal.com/530485/officials-say-crisis-center-promising.html | 2least
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<p />
<p>A New Mexico delegation made up of government, business and health care officials traveled to Tucson last week to visit Pima County’s Crisis Response Center, which offers short-term treatment for adults and children with mental health and substance abuse emergencies.</p>
<p>Several of them said the center offers a valuable entry point and triage center for Pima County’s behavioral health system and could serve as a model for Albuquerque.</p>
<p>But crisis-stabilization centers only work if other community treatment services are available to provide patients with intermediate and long-term treatment, they said.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“We learned in Tucson that it doesn’t do a lot of good to create a crisis recovery center in Albuquerque if you do not have a solid, effective provider network in place to send patients to,” said Terri Cole, president of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, which organized the trip.</p>
<p>The $6.29 billion budget recommendation unveiled Jan. 9 by the Legislative Finance Committee includes $2.5 million for regional crisis stabilization units statewide.</p>
<p>The nine who traveled plan to discuss the trip and decide whether to pursue behavioral health legislation during the 60-day legislative session, which began Tuesday, Cole said.</p>
<p>The Crisis Response Center in Tucson has an annual operating budget of about $20 million, and serves about 1,000 adults and up to 300 children each month, said Rodney McNease, the University of New Mexico’s executive director of behavioral health finance, who toured the facility.</p>
<p>The Tucson center offers an alternative to jails and hospital emergency rooms, which too often are destinations for substance abusers and mentally ill people in Bernalillo County, McNease said. Law enforcement officers deliver about half the center’s patients, he said.</p>
<p>“People who are taken to jail now could be diverted into this crisis system and handled more appropriately,” he said.</p>
<p>Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry, who visited the Tucson center, said New Mexico needs changes in state law that would allow law enforcement officers to take people to a crisis center who may not want to go willingly.</p>
<p>Berry said he supports a bill proposed by Senate President Pro Tem Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, who has described the measure as a “modified version” of New York’s Kendra’s Law, which authorizes judges to order people to undergo outpatient treatment under some circumstances.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“Papen’s bill wouldn’t be as strong as Arizona’s but it would be a big step forward for New Mexico,” Berry said.</p>
<p>A UNM survey of health care providers released in October estimated that 151,000 Bernalillo County residents had mental health problems that required treatment in 2013, but only 98,000 were served by local providers.</p>
<p>The community needs more intensive outpatient care and rehabilitative services to help people gain a job or education, the report concluded.</p>
<p>Bernalillo County needs to address service gaps for a crisis center to work effectively, McNease said.</p>
<p>“You can’t just talk about the crisis center in isolation,” he said. “You have to talk about it in the context of a broader system of care, and we have other gaps currently in that system.”</p>
<p>Others who traveled to Tucson include Bernalillo County Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins, state District Judge Nan Nash, Chamber board member Sherman McCorkle, and Dr. Wayne Lindstrom, director of the state Department of Human Services’s behavioral health services division.</p>
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<p>Come to the game and find out, coach Bob Davie said on Sunday.</p>
<p>Cole Gautsche, the Lobos’ starting quarterback, injured a knee last Saturday late in UNM’s 38-31 loss to Wyoming. Clayton Mitchem, the No. 2 quarterback, missed the Wyoming game after exhibiting concussion-like symptoms stemming from hits he took in UNM’s 66-17 victory over New Mexico State on Oct. 5.</p>
<p>Sunday, Davie expressed cautious optimism that Gautsche’s injury – tentatively diagnosed as a sprained MCL – would not keep him out of the Utah State game. He said there’s a good chance Mitchem will be ready.</p>
<p>UNM quarterback Cole Gautsche, 8, hands off to Kasey Carrier, 5, in the first half of the game with Texas-San Antonio at University Stadium on Saturday, August 31, 2013. (Greg Sorber/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>Still, he said, junior walk-on David Vega will begin the week as the No. 1 quarterback. Vega threw a touchdown pass to Marquis Bundy at Wyoming after relieving Gautsche.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“So, we’ll kind of see how it goes,” Davie said – then added that he would say no more about the situation.</p>
<p>“I think what I’m going to do,” he said, “is probably not talk about (injuries) this week like most coaches do around the country, … I think the next time I’ll say anything about it is after the game.”</p>
<p>Davie said he was pleased with the play of Vega, who had runs of 6 and 9 yards on that final drive before hitting Bundy with a 23-yard touchdown pass.</p>
<p>“He’s got a lot of confidence,” Davie said. “… He stepped up and delivered a strike.”</p>
<p>SPECIAL FOR A REASON: The Lobos (2-4 overall, 0-2 in Mountain West Conference play) continue to get strong performances from their special teams.</p>
<p>Against Wyoming, with New Mexico trailing 21-10 in the third quarter, the punt coverage team forced (Crusoe Gongbay) and recovered (Cranston Jones) a fumble that set up the UNM offense on the Cowboys 8-yard line. Running back Jhurell Pressley scored on the next play.</p>
<p>Sophomore Carlos Wiggins returned two kickoffs for an average of 38 yards, prompting Wyoming to “pooch” their final kickoff in an effort to keep the ball way from him.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Senior Ben Skaer punted five times for a 51.2-yard average.</p>
<p>“We’ve spent a lot of time on special teams,” Davie said after the game, “and we continue to get rewarded for the time we spend.”</p>
<p>THE CASE FOR CARRIER: Was Lobo senior running back Kasey Carrier’s performance at Wyoming game the best of his record-breaking career?</p>
<p>It might have been, even though his rushing total of 104 yards (on 24 carries) is less than a third of his single-game career best.</p>
<p>Yards rushing were surprisingly hard to come by against the Cowboys, who found ways to disrupt the UNM triple option. Carrier’s longest run from scrimmage was just 13 yards.</p>
<p>Yet, finding the narrowest of creases and keeping his legs churning, he got his 100-plus yards.</p>
<p>Then, there was his 24-yard, sideline-hugging touchdown on a swing pass from Gautsche that tied the game at 24 on the fourth play of the fourth quarter.</p>
<p>“The defense thought I was gonna go out of bounds,” Carrier said after the game. “I decided not to, and it worked out pretty good.”</p>
<p>Carrier, Davie said, “is a total team player and one tough guy. I thought (Saturday) might have been one of his best performances, because he earned everything he got in that game.”</p>
<p>STAT SHEET: The Lobos are no longer the nation’s leader in rushing. Army, which rushed for 513 yards in a 50-25 win over Eastern Michigan, bumped UNM to No. 2 after a one-week stay at the top. The Lobos had 276 yards on the ground against Wyoming.</p>
<p>The Cadets are averaging 352.3 yards per game, the Lobos 349. 3.</p>
<p>Wiggins, after his two kickoff returns against the Cowboys, ranks second nationally with a 33.4-yard average on 15 returns.</p>
<p>The Lobos are No. 2 nationally in net punting average (punts minus returns and touchbacks) at 43.57.</p>
<p>END OF THE STREAK: Before Gautsche threw an interception at Wyoming in the fourth quarter, the Lobos had thrown 81 passes without one. New Mexico was the last FBS team not to have thrown a pick.</p>
<p />
<p /> | UNM football: QB situation murky | false | https://abqjournal.com/281379/special-teams-play-solid-for-unm.html | 2013-10-14 | 2least
| UNM football: QB situation murky
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<p>Come to the game and find out, coach Bob Davie said on Sunday.</p>
<p>Cole Gautsche, the Lobos’ starting quarterback, injured a knee last Saturday late in UNM’s 38-31 loss to Wyoming. Clayton Mitchem, the No. 2 quarterback, missed the Wyoming game after exhibiting concussion-like symptoms stemming from hits he took in UNM’s 66-17 victory over New Mexico State on Oct. 5.</p>
<p>Sunday, Davie expressed cautious optimism that Gautsche’s injury – tentatively diagnosed as a sprained MCL – would not keep him out of the Utah State game. He said there’s a good chance Mitchem will be ready.</p>
<p>UNM quarterback Cole Gautsche, 8, hands off to Kasey Carrier, 5, in the first half of the game with Texas-San Antonio at University Stadium on Saturday, August 31, 2013. (Greg Sorber/Albuquerque Journal)</p>
<p>Still, he said, junior walk-on David Vega will begin the week as the No. 1 quarterback. Vega threw a touchdown pass to Marquis Bundy at Wyoming after relieving Gautsche.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“So, we’ll kind of see how it goes,” Davie said – then added that he would say no more about the situation.</p>
<p>“I think what I’m going to do,” he said, “is probably not talk about (injuries) this week like most coaches do around the country, … I think the next time I’ll say anything about it is after the game.”</p>
<p>Davie said he was pleased with the play of Vega, who had runs of 6 and 9 yards on that final drive before hitting Bundy with a 23-yard touchdown pass.</p>
<p>“He’s got a lot of confidence,” Davie said. “… He stepped up and delivered a strike.”</p>
<p>SPECIAL FOR A REASON: The Lobos (2-4 overall, 0-2 in Mountain West Conference play) continue to get strong performances from their special teams.</p>
<p>Against Wyoming, with New Mexico trailing 21-10 in the third quarter, the punt coverage team forced (Crusoe Gongbay) and recovered (Cranston Jones) a fumble that set up the UNM offense on the Cowboys 8-yard line. Running back Jhurell Pressley scored on the next play.</p>
<p>Sophomore Carlos Wiggins returned two kickoffs for an average of 38 yards, prompting Wyoming to “pooch” their final kickoff in an effort to keep the ball way from him.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Senior Ben Skaer punted five times for a 51.2-yard average.</p>
<p>“We’ve spent a lot of time on special teams,” Davie said after the game, “and we continue to get rewarded for the time we spend.”</p>
<p>THE CASE FOR CARRIER: Was Lobo senior running back Kasey Carrier’s performance at Wyoming game the best of his record-breaking career?</p>
<p>It might have been, even though his rushing total of 104 yards (on 24 carries) is less than a third of his single-game career best.</p>
<p>Yards rushing were surprisingly hard to come by against the Cowboys, who found ways to disrupt the UNM triple option. Carrier’s longest run from scrimmage was just 13 yards.</p>
<p>Yet, finding the narrowest of creases and keeping his legs churning, he got his 100-plus yards.</p>
<p>Then, there was his 24-yard, sideline-hugging touchdown on a swing pass from Gautsche that tied the game at 24 on the fourth play of the fourth quarter.</p>
<p>“The defense thought I was gonna go out of bounds,” Carrier said after the game. “I decided not to, and it worked out pretty good.”</p>
<p>Carrier, Davie said, “is a total team player and one tough guy. I thought (Saturday) might have been one of his best performances, because he earned everything he got in that game.”</p>
<p>STAT SHEET: The Lobos are no longer the nation’s leader in rushing. Army, which rushed for 513 yards in a 50-25 win over Eastern Michigan, bumped UNM to No. 2 after a one-week stay at the top. The Lobos had 276 yards on the ground against Wyoming.</p>
<p>The Cadets are averaging 352.3 yards per game, the Lobos 349. 3.</p>
<p>Wiggins, after his two kickoff returns against the Cowboys, ranks second nationally with a 33.4-yard average on 15 returns.</p>
<p>The Lobos are No. 2 nationally in net punting average (punts minus returns and touchbacks) at 43.57.</p>
<p>END OF THE STREAK: Before Gautsche threw an interception at Wyoming in the fourth quarter, the Lobos had thrown 81 passes without one. New Mexico was the last FBS team not to have thrown a pick.</p>
<p />
<p /> | 599,341 |
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<p>Photos of stacked barricades and The People's Library by&#160; <a href="http://twitter.com/dontbeaputz" type="external">Jeff Smith</a></p>
<p>The barricades surrounding Zuccotti had become as much of a familiar park feature as the giant red sculpture called the "red thing" by protesters (the "thing" is also known as Joie de Vivre by Mark di Suvero).</p>
<p>For as long as Occupy Wall Street has existed, so have the barricades sectioning off not only the park, but also the famous bull sculpture, and entire sections of the financial district.</p>
<p>Civil liberties enthusiasts have for some time been complaining about the presence of the barricades, which effectively prevented the public from using Zuccotti.</p>
<p>In my post yesterday, I briefly summarized a <a href="" type="internal">complaint brought forth by the New York Civil Liberties Union and the National Lawyers Guild</a>. The groups filed a zoning complaint with the city's building department, urging officials to remove the metal barricades and <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/AP8c83e838d8fc4ea2bd01bbbd7dad1723.html" type="external">end the restriction</a> on public access to the space.</p>
<p>Wall Street Journal:</p>
<p>"The barricades have all but ended Liberty Plaza's role as a functioning public plaza," the letter says.</p>
<p>Since the eviction, members of the public have only been able to enter the public through two "checkpoints" at the park that are guarded by police officers or security personnel. The park had been the site of a months-long encampment that became the de facto headquarters for the Occupy movement, which targets economic inequality.</p>
<p>The Wall Street Journal reports that Zuccotti is one of more than 500 "bonus plazas" in the city, which are privately owned public parks that came about following a little-known 1961 compromise between the city and developers.</p>
<p>According to the compromise, in exchange for building a towering skyscraper, developers had to also construct a plaza that would provide "light and air" for passers-by. The bigger the plaza, the taller the building could be.</p>
<p>Virtually all bonus plazas are required to be open 24 hours a day, barring a safety issue. They are governed by specific regulations in the zoning law. For example, the law states that the layout of such plazas must promote public use and easy pedestrian circulation throughout the space. And any "design element" that limits public access is also prohibited by zoning law.</p>
<p>The NYCLU and NLG considered the barricades a "design element" that limited public access, and following their filed complaint, the barricades were stripped from the park and protesters were permitted back into the plaza, though officials claim their decision to remove the barricades came before the letter.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57356673/occupy-wall-street-returns-to-zuccotti-park/" type="external">CBS News</a>:</p>
<p>The atmosphere was celebratory but calm on Tuesday evening as about 300 protesters began filling New York City's Zuccotti Park a couple of hours after the barricades were taken down and a day after a complaint about the barricades was filed with the city. Protesters milled around, eating lasagna on paper plates and playing chess.</p>
<p>Security guards who were previously guarding the barricades stood off to the side, along with a handful of police officers. It was a minor victory for the protesters, who have complained about financial inequality in demonstrations that gained traction across the globe.</p>
<p>"Word spread pretty quickly, and we ran down here," demonstrator Lauren DiGioia said. "It's hard to remember what it was like before the barricades were put up."</p>
<p>DiGioia is the young woman who police allegedly <a href="" type="internal">locked up in the basement cell of Grand Central Station for 26 hours</a> following her attempt to speak using the People's Mic at the January 3 Occupy protest.</p>
<p />
<p>Police spokesman Paul Browne said the NYPD and Brookfield Properties decided to remove the barriers last week because officials felt they were no longer necessary.</p>
<p>A Brookfield employee who refused to give his name told the AP: "The barriers are down, but the other rules are the same."</p>
<p>Those rules include no sleeping bags or physical structures. Protester Jeff Smith <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/dontbeaputz/status/156891596036653056" type="external">tweeted</a> that someone immediately tried to put up a tent and security promptly dismantled it. "No biggie," Smith remarked.</p>
<p>The end of the barricades also marked the return of the People's Library, which is considerably smaller following the November raid on the park and destruction of numerous books by police.&#160;</p>
<p>"Brookfield has just informed us we can't have a library. NYPD poised to move in," Smith <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/dontbeaputz/status/156913829144559616" type="external">tweeted</a>. "People have gathered at the library to defend it from Brookfield and to enjoy the simple pleasure of a good book," he <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/dontbeaputz/status/156913161893715969" type="external">posted</a> minutes later.</p>
<p>However, at least for the time being, it seems as though all remains calm at Zuccotti.</p>
<p>AP shot video of the protesters re-entering the park:</p>
<p />
<p>NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman told CBS that they are "pleased the city is finally giving the park back to the people," adding, "We hope Zuccotti Park can now resume its rightful place as a center for meeting and protest in New York City."</p> | Occupy Returns To Zuccotti | true | http://inthesetimes.com/uprising/entry/12520/occupy_returns_to_zuccotti/ | 2012-01-11 | 4left
| Occupy Returns To Zuccotti
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<p>Photos of stacked barricades and The People's Library by&#160; <a href="http://twitter.com/dontbeaputz" type="external">Jeff Smith</a></p>
<p>The barricades surrounding Zuccotti had become as much of a familiar park feature as the giant red sculpture called the "red thing" by protesters (the "thing" is also known as Joie de Vivre by Mark di Suvero).</p>
<p>For as long as Occupy Wall Street has existed, so have the barricades sectioning off not only the park, but also the famous bull sculpture, and entire sections of the financial district.</p>
<p>Civil liberties enthusiasts have for some time been complaining about the presence of the barricades, which effectively prevented the public from using Zuccotti.</p>
<p>In my post yesterday, I briefly summarized a <a href="" type="internal">complaint brought forth by the New York Civil Liberties Union and the National Lawyers Guild</a>. The groups filed a zoning complaint with the city's building department, urging officials to remove the metal barricades and <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/AP8c83e838d8fc4ea2bd01bbbd7dad1723.html" type="external">end the restriction</a> on public access to the space.</p>
<p>Wall Street Journal:</p>
<p>"The barricades have all but ended Liberty Plaza's role as a functioning public plaza," the letter says.</p>
<p>Since the eviction, members of the public have only been able to enter the public through two "checkpoints" at the park that are guarded by police officers or security personnel. The park had been the site of a months-long encampment that became the de facto headquarters for the Occupy movement, which targets economic inequality.</p>
<p>The Wall Street Journal reports that Zuccotti is one of more than 500 "bonus plazas" in the city, which are privately owned public parks that came about following a little-known 1961 compromise between the city and developers.</p>
<p>According to the compromise, in exchange for building a towering skyscraper, developers had to also construct a plaza that would provide "light and air" for passers-by. The bigger the plaza, the taller the building could be.</p>
<p>Virtually all bonus plazas are required to be open 24 hours a day, barring a safety issue. They are governed by specific regulations in the zoning law. For example, the law states that the layout of such plazas must promote public use and easy pedestrian circulation throughout the space. And any "design element" that limits public access is also prohibited by zoning law.</p>
<p>The NYCLU and NLG considered the barricades a "design element" that limited public access, and following their filed complaint, the barricades were stripped from the park and protesters were permitted back into the plaza, though officials claim their decision to remove the barricades came before the letter.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57356673/occupy-wall-street-returns-to-zuccotti-park/" type="external">CBS News</a>:</p>
<p>The atmosphere was celebratory but calm on Tuesday evening as about 300 protesters began filling New York City's Zuccotti Park a couple of hours after the barricades were taken down and a day after a complaint about the barricades was filed with the city. Protesters milled around, eating lasagna on paper plates and playing chess.</p>
<p>Security guards who were previously guarding the barricades stood off to the side, along with a handful of police officers. It was a minor victory for the protesters, who have complained about financial inequality in demonstrations that gained traction across the globe.</p>
<p>"Word spread pretty quickly, and we ran down here," demonstrator Lauren DiGioia said. "It's hard to remember what it was like before the barricades were put up."</p>
<p>DiGioia is the young woman who police allegedly <a href="" type="internal">locked up in the basement cell of Grand Central Station for 26 hours</a> following her attempt to speak using the People's Mic at the January 3 Occupy protest.</p>
<p />
<p>Police spokesman Paul Browne said the NYPD and Brookfield Properties decided to remove the barriers last week because officials felt they were no longer necessary.</p>
<p>A Brookfield employee who refused to give his name told the AP: "The barriers are down, but the other rules are the same."</p>
<p>Those rules include no sleeping bags or physical structures. Protester Jeff Smith <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/dontbeaputz/status/156891596036653056" type="external">tweeted</a> that someone immediately tried to put up a tent and security promptly dismantled it. "No biggie," Smith remarked.</p>
<p>The end of the barricades also marked the return of the People's Library, which is considerably smaller following the November raid on the park and destruction of numerous books by police.&#160;</p>
<p>"Brookfield has just informed us we can't have a library. NYPD poised to move in," Smith <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/dontbeaputz/status/156913829144559616" type="external">tweeted</a>. "People have gathered at the library to defend it from Brookfield and to enjoy the simple pleasure of a good book," he <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/dontbeaputz/status/156913161893715969" type="external">posted</a> minutes later.</p>
<p>However, at least for the time being, it seems as though all remains calm at Zuccotti.</p>
<p>AP shot video of the protesters re-entering the park:</p>
<p />
<p>NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman told CBS that they are "pleased the city is finally giving the park back to the people," adding, "We hope Zuccotti Park can now resume its rightful place as a center for meeting and protest in New York City."</p> | 599,342 |
<p>SAN JOSE (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Leví Sucre, an indigenous leader from the Bribri community in Costa Rica, remembers how his family used to grow beans on 5 or 6 hectares of land at their home in the Talamanca region. But that was many years ago, he says.</p>
<p>“That’s impossible now. When growing beans, there’s a period where they can’t receive water (and need dry conditions). Now, unexpected cold fronts and rains are spoiling them” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.</p>
<p>According to Sucre, climate change is having serious impacts on the food security of indigenous communities. But they’re not able to adapt fast enough, since access to international climate funds to provide cash for needed changes is, as he puts it, “an almost impossible task”.</p>
<p>“We have too many limitations and they ask for too many things; starting with &#160;understanding how these things even work in the first place. In the end, the funds are created but never really reach us,” said the indigenous leader in an interview.</p>
<p>Getting climate finance to the places where it is needed most – particularly communities trying to adapt to climate change impacts such as more unpredictable and extreme weather – is a huge challenge.</p>
<p>International climate funds, trying to ensure the money is well spent, require extensive paperwork – something beyond the abilities of many poor communities, their members say.</p>
<p>Funds usually also prefer to make a few large-scale grants or loans rather than thousands of small ones, in an effort to speed the distribution of money and avoid the time involved in vetting many small projects, experts say.</p>
<p>The Green Climate Fund (GCF), created in 2010 by the United Nations to finance mitigation and adaptation projects, has faced criticism because of how difficult it can be for countries and local communities to get accredited and access the money.</p>
<p>Andrea Meza, climate change director for Costa Rica’s Ministry of Environment, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that accessing these funds tends to be a draining process for indigenous communities.</p>
<p>“It’s possible that they want to start projects with development banks or NGOs but it’s clear that accessing these funds is not a fast, short, cheap or easy process,” Meza said.</p>
<p>Between 2003 and 2015, only about 11 percent of $1.6 billion in climate finance flows reached local communities, according to research by the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).</p>
<p>That was despite communities taking some of the most effective action to tackle climate change, experts say.</p>
<p>“They’re the ones that are living in these environments on a day-to-day basis. They understand what interventions are going to make the most impact,” Marek Soanes, a climate finance researcher at IIED, said during last November’s U.N. climate talks in Bonn.</p> BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE
<p>But after struggling with a lack of access to international climate funding, Sucre and other indigenous leaders from Central America and Mexico have come up with a solution: They are trying to create their own climate fund.</p>
<p>With their regional organization, the Mesoamerican Alliance of People and Forests, they are assembling a “Mesoamerican Territorial Fund”, which they hope could receive international funding.</p>
<p>The initiative aims to give rapid and easy financing to indigenous communities so they can implement climate change adaptation and mitigation projects. &#160;</p>
<p>One of the key aspects of the fund is that it will be managed by indigenous people and benefit their own communities, with little input from outsiders, Sucre said – though the Central American Bank for Economic Integration would hold the money.</p>
<p>“We are trying to install this initiative in the Central American Bank for Economic Integration because they can meet the necessary requirements. However, the money would be politically administered by the territories, not by them,” the Bribri leader said.</p>
<p>The fund would finance projects that communities themselves propose and want to develop, he said, in an effort to avoid projects being imposed from outside, and to meet the different needs of each community.</p>
<p>That’s important because, in the past, foreign investment in indigenous communities has sparked tensions among the groups, indigenous leader Magaly Lázaro told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.</p>
<p>In particular, REDD+ - an effort to improve forest protection by giving communities living in forests incentives to protect them – “has provoked tensions in the relationship between communities”, she said.</p>
<p>“There’s been an inclusive process in certain territories but that hasn’t been the case for ours in Buenos Aires and the rest of the Southern region,” she said.</p>
<p>Her indigenous group ended up protesting against REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) efforts in their region, saying they imposed an alien form of conservation and created community conflicts.</p>
<p>The Mesoamerican Territorial Fund hopes to avoid such problems, Sucre said. He said he hoped funding could begin to flow into the fund as early as this year.</p>
<p>“We hope that by mid-2018 we already have the fund technically designed and ready to apply for international funds. By the second semester we hope to start financing,” he said.</p> CLIMATE PRESSURES
<p>The impact of climate change on indigenous territories is significant, Sucre said. Worsening natural disasters and weakening food security are some of the most threatening issues that indigenous communities face, he said.</p>
<p>U.N. research concurs that “indigenous peoples are among the first to face the direct consequences of climate change, owing to their dependence upon, and close relationship with the environment and its resources”, according to a 2008 report.</p>
<p>Sucre said indigenous communities need to change the way they farm their land in response to increasingly unstable weather.</p>
<p>Because of increasing harvest losses, he said, many communities are growing more dependent on supermarkets.</p>
<p>But with worsening storms blocking roads and cutting off access to indigenous territories, that dependence could leave people without food in emergencies, Magaly Lázaro said.</p>
<p>Last October for example, Hurricane Nate left many indigenous communities in the Southern region of Costa Rica isolated after the collapse of many main road routes.</p>
<p>According to government data, the country’s Aerial Surveillance Service had to transport 13,5 tons of food to the region by helicopter.</p>
<p>“We don’t want to depend on any external entities. We want to depend on our own way of working,” Lázaro said.</p>
<p>The Mesoamerican Territorial Fund, Sucre said, will aim to finance adaptation projects that protect the food security of indigenous territories, in part using traditional knowledge they have acquired through the years.</p>
<p>“We’re not dismissing the use of technology because we know that it must be complementary. But we want to incentivize the use of technologies that don’t erase our culture,” the indigenous leader said.</p>
<p>Reporting by Sebastian Rodriguez; editing by Laurie Goering : Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, resilience, women's rights, trafficking and property rights. Visit <a href="http://news.trust.org/climate" type="external">news.trust.org/climate</a></p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Several green groups criticized the Trump administration’s choice on Tuesday of CIA Director Mike Pompeo to replace Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State, saying his past skeptical comments about global warming show he is less suited to run U.S. foreign policy about climate change than the former Exxon Mobil CEO.</p> FILE PHOTO: CIA Director Mike Pompeo speaks at the FDD National Security Summit in Washington, DC, U.S., October 19, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo
<p>Pompeo, who was a Republican congressman from Kansas prior to running the CIA under U.S. President Donald Trump, has been among the biggest critics of efforts to combat global warming by past U.S. administrations, and has questioned the validity of existing climate science - saying it needs to be developed further.</p>
<p>“In this position, (Pompeo) could prove to be dangerous to our national security and the safety of our planet,” said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club.</p>
<p>Some climate advocates said, however, they hoped the long slate of issues facing the State Department now - from North Korea’s nuclear agenda to intensifying trade disputes - would keep climate change low on Pompeo’s list of priorities should he be confirmed by the Senate.</p>
<p>“Right now, climate change is not going to be a top 10 issue for him,” said Andrew Light, a former adviser to Todd Stern, the U.S. Special Envoy on Climate Change under Obama.</p>
<p>Pompeo is also a top recipient of campaign donations from Koch Industries, having taken over $375,500 from the family-owned energy conglomerate for campaigns going back to 2010, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics, a transparency watchdog. Koch Industries has donated millions of dollars to efforts opposing climate change regulation.</p>
<p>His background upsets many environmentalists, but dovetails neatly with Trump’s energy agenda to roll back Obama-era climate regulations and support domestic production of coal and crude oil - the fossil fuels that scientists blame for global warming. Trump has repeatedly bashed international efforts to combat climate change, and has at times called global warming a hoax.</p>
<p>Tillerson had also faced stern opposition from environmentalists when he was nominated as Secretary of State, given his years at the helm of one of the world’s biggest oil and gas companies, but he had tried to be a moderating influence on Trump over climate policy during his tenure.</p>
<p>For example, Tillerson advocated continued U.S. cooperation regarding the Paris Climate Agreement, a global deal to fight warming, a battle he lost when Trump announced in June the U.S. intention to withdraw. The State Department has since continued to send delegations to international climate summits, where envoys have been perceived by their foreign counterparts as constructive.</p>
<p>“We’ve gone from Exxon’s CEO to the Koch Brothers’ most loyal lapdog,” said May Boeve, executive director for climate activist group 350.org. Billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch own Koch Industries.</p>
<p>Environmental groups like Greenpeace and the Sierra Club issued similar statements, calling the nomination a potential step backwards.</p> Related Video
<p>Koch Industries did not immediately comment, and efforts to reach Pompeo were not successful.</p>
<p>Officials at the White House and the State Department did not immediately comment on whether Pompeo would be expected to update U.S. climate change policy.</p>
<p>“Tillerson was basically hands-off on the issue (of climate change),” said Alden Meyer, director of strategy and policy for the Union of Concerned Scientists. “It is not clear it is going to be any more of a priority for Pompeo.”</p>
<p>Reporting by Valerie Volcovici and Timothy Gardner in Washington, additional reporting by Nichola Groom in Los Angeles, writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Phil Berlowitz</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A Chinese program to integrate Beijing’s economy with neighbors Tianjin and Hebei has brought tangible benefits and helped ease damaging income gaps, a government official told Reuters, amid complaints the pace of reform has been too slow.</p> Cooling towers emit steam and chimneys billow in an industrial zone in Wu'an, Hebei province, China, February 20, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
<p>China announced plans to create the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei northern super-region, also known as Jing-Jin-Ji, in 2014, as it sought to upgrade the heavy industrial economy of the smog-prone Hebei province while easing congestion, pollution and overdevelopment in the capital.</p>
<p>Firms would be encouraged to relocate from Beijing to Hebei and Tianjin by introducing unified regulations, social services and an integrated transport network. The government also established the new Xiongan economic zone in Hebei last year where some of Beijing’s “non-capital” government functions and industries will be relocated.</p>
<p>But at this year’s full session of parliament, delegates have called for the program to be accelerated, especially when it comes to transportation, with Hebei hoping for improved access to a new international airport under construction in Beijing.</p>
<p>They also said not enough has been done to resolve the innovation gap between Hebei and the capital, which benefits from several high-tech industrial parks.</p>
<p>But the plan has already helped reduce a chronic income gap that forced Hebei to rely on low-end polluting industries while its workers flooded into Beijing in search of better-paid jobs, said Dang Xiaolong, head of Hebei’s economic planning body.</p> Apartments blocks are pictured during sunset on the outskirts of Tianjin, China February 2, 2018. Picture taken February 2, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee
<p>“The central government’s vigorous promotion of integrated development in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei... has brought immeasurable development potential to our province,” said Dang, who also chairs Hebei’s special office to promote regional integration.</p>
<p>“Because of gaps in development, industrial layout, innovation capability and the endowment of natural resources, the income gap between Beijing and Hebei has existed for a long time - this is a long-term, historical problem,” he said in written comments.</p>
<p>But integration efforts have already helped to raise average annual disposable income in Hebei to 21,484 yuan ($3,401.30) in 2017, up 41.4 percent since 2013, he said. Average income in Beijing, by comparison, stood at 57,230 yuan last year.</p>
<p>“It should be said that through the positive implementation of this national strategy.. the three regions have entered into their best development period in history through aspects such as integrated transportation development, industrial coordination and environmental protection.”</p>
<p>Dang said the focus this year was on the creation of cross-regional transportation networks and the establishment of a unified pollution prevention system.</p>
<p>Hebei will also work to improve communication and coordination with Beijing and Tianjin and sign more cross-regional strategic cooperation agreements, he added.</p>
<p>Reporting by David Stanway; Editing by Michael Perry</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>SINGAPORE/SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea’s move to shut coal-fired generators to control air pollution at the same time as nuclear reactors are going into scheduled maintenance is resulting in surging fuel oil imports, as utilities burn the dirty feedstock to meet power demand.</p> FILE PHOTO - A gas pump is seen hanging from the ceiling at a petrol station in Seoul June 27, 2011. REUTERS/Jo Yong-Hak/File Photo
<p>South Korea’s trade ministry said in February it would suspend five coal-fired power plants, with a combined capacity of 2.32 gigawatts (GW), from March to June, part of a broad campaign to reduce pollution.</p>
<p>That plan may backfire, at least in the short-term. A cold winter has raised power and heating demand, forcing utilities to burn more fuel oil in order to meet demand.</p>
<p>A by-product of the crude oil refining process, fuel oil’s biggest use ahead of power generation is as a shipping fuel.</p>
<p>“In the near-term, fuel oil imports will increase to make up for the shortfall in coal-fired generation capacity,” said Pat Markey, managing director of consultancy Sierra Vista Resources.</p>
<p>Fuel oil imports by power producers into Asia’s fourth largest economy have jumped to 200,000 tonnes in March so far, up from 92,000 tonnes in February, tender data compiled by Reuters showed.</p>
<p>First-quarter fuel oil imports are expected at 417,000 tonnes, up 28 percent from a year ago and already more than 60 percent of the 660,000 tonnes taken for all of last year.</p>
<p>Burning fuel oil for power results in lower carbon dioxide emissions than coal-fired plants, but releases more toxic particles into the air.</p>
<p>“Pollutants generated during combustion of fuel oils are nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, greenhouse gases, volatile compounds (like unburned hydrocarbons) and toxic trace metals,” according to the U.S. Commission for Environmental Cooperation.</p>
<p>An official from a South Korean state-owned utility, said the increased fuel oil demand was partly a result of the government’s decision to halt coal-fired plants temporarily due to pollution and reduced nuclear power because of planned maintenance.</p>
<p>The official, who declined to be identified as he is not unauthorized to speak to the media, said some 110,000 tonnes of fuel oil would&#160;be needed in April.</p>
<p>Only two of South Korea’s major utilities, Korea East-West Power Co Ltd (EWP) and Korea Western Power Co (WP), issue tenders for fuel oil for power generation, mostly during peak summer and winter demand, data on Thomson Reuters Eikon shows.</p>
<p>The two utilities declined to comment.</p>
<p>Coal power generates about 40 percent of South Korea’s total electricity needs, nuclear around 30 percent, and natural gas meets 20 percent. The rest comes from oil and renewables.</p>
<p>Even with the increase in fuel oil purchases, South Korea will have to raise imports of other fuels to meet demand as nearly half of its nuclear power plants are down for maintenance.</p>
<p>Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is the most likely to fill the gaps. Thomson Reuters Eikon data shows South Korea’s LNG shipments reached nearly 12 million tonnes between January and March 14, up 1.5 percent from the first quarter of last year.</p>
<p>Reporting by Roslan Khasawneh and Jessica Jaganathan in SINGAPORE, and Jane Chung and Yuna Park in SEOUL; Editing by Henning Gloystein and Tom Hogue</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>ULAANBAATAR (Reuters) - Mongolia’s harsh winter has killed more than 700,000 heads of livestock this year, the highest toll since 2011, according to the country’s statistics bureau, with extreme weather freezing animals dead in their tracks.</p>
<p>Mongolia is in the midst of a winter phenomenon called a dzud, when extremely low temperatures and snow make it difficult for animals to survive.</p>
<p>“I’ve seen horses frozen while standing,” said Ulaanbaatar livestock trader, Ganbaatar Burjaa, 38.&#160;</p>
<p>“This year’s dzud has been very hard.”</p>
<p>The 709,000 head of livestock lost in the first two months of the year is a toll five times higher than the same period last year, according to the National Statistics Office.</p>
<p>Mongolia’s winters have destroyed the livelihoods of thousands of herders, forcing them to move to the capital, Ulaanbaatar, in search of work.</p>
<p>Burjaa moved to the capital three years ago because of the dzud.</p>
<p>In total, 66 counties across 12 provinces are facing dzud conditions, with snowfall covering half the country, the National Emergency Management Agency said last week.</p>
<p>The government has not declared a natural disaster.</p>
<p>Tuyaa Chimedbaldir, an official at the emergency management agency, said given the end of the winter was approaching, the toll this year was unlikely to be as bad as the winter of 2009-2010, when 9.7 million animals were killed.</p>
<p>“This time, the government has worked hard to prevent and reduce the risk of the dzud,” she said.</p>
<p>However, experts warn the dzud could still kill many animals, with a severe drought that hit 70 percent of the country last summer leaving vast numbers of undernourished livestock weak and vulnerable.</p>
<p>According to the Mongolian Red Cross Society, thousands of families were unable to prepare feed to sustain their animals through the winter. The society has spent 1.2 billion tugrik ($500,000) to help 4,500 herder families.</p>
<p>“Mongolian herders did not purchase enough fodder, so the spring season might kill animals that are tired from the harsh winter,” said Bayarmaa Chimedtseren, a rangeland monitoring and evaluation specialist at the “Green Gold” animal health project run by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.&#160;</p>
<p>About 229,000 Mongolian families depend on animal husbandry for their livelihood. The total number of livestock reached 66.2 million as of December 2017.</p>
<p>Overgrazing, the degeneration of rangeland and poor land management contribute to the severity of the dzud, Chimedtseren said.</p>
<p>Reporting by Munkhchimeg Davaasharav; Editing by David Stanway and Robert Birsel</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | Frustrated indigenous leaders aim to start own climate fund Greens fear climate backslide with Pompeo as top U.S. diplomat North China integration push eases income gaps: official South Korea fuel oil imports soar as coal, nuclear plants shut Mongolian winter 'dzud' kills 700,000 head of livestock | false | https://reuters.com/article/us-costa-rica-indigenous-climatechange/frustrated-indigenous-leaders-aim-to-start-own-climate-fund-idUSKBN1FE1JP | 2018-01-25 | 2least
| Frustrated indigenous leaders aim to start own climate fund Greens fear climate backslide with Pompeo as top U.S. diplomat North China integration push eases income gaps: official South Korea fuel oil imports soar as coal, nuclear plants shut Mongolian winter 'dzud' kills 700,000 head of livestock
<p>SAN JOSE (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Leví Sucre, an indigenous leader from the Bribri community in Costa Rica, remembers how his family used to grow beans on 5 or 6 hectares of land at their home in the Talamanca region. But that was many years ago, he says.</p>
<p>“That’s impossible now. When growing beans, there’s a period where they can’t receive water (and need dry conditions). Now, unexpected cold fronts and rains are spoiling them” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.</p>
<p>According to Sucre, climate change is having serious impacts on the food security of indigenous communities. But they’re not able to adapt fast enough, since access to international climate funds to provide cash for needed changes is, as he puts it, “an almost impossible task”.</p>
<p>“We have too many limitations and they ask for too many things; starting with &#160;understanding how these things even work in the first place. In the end, the funds are created but never really reach us,” said the indigenous leader in an interview.</p>
<p>Getting climate finance to the places where it is needed most – particularly communities trying to adapt to climate change impacts such as more unpredictable and extreme weather – is a huge challenge.</p>
<p>International climate funds, trying to ensure the money is well spent, require extensive paperwork – something beyond the abilities of many poor communities, their members say.</p>
<p>Funds usually also prefer to make a few large-scale grants or loans rather than thousands of small ones, in an effort to speed the distribution of money and avoid the time involved in vetting many small projects, experts say.</p>
<p>The Green Climate Fund (GCF), created in 2010 by the United Nations to finance mitigation and adaptation projects, has faced criticism because of how difficult it can be for countries and local communities to get accredited and access the money.</p>
<p>Andrea Meza, climate change director for Costa Rica’s Ministry of Environment, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that accessing these funds tends to be a draining process for indigenous communities.</p>
<p>“It’s possible that they want to start projects with development banks or NGOs but it’s clear that accessing these funds is not a fast, short, cheap or easy process,” Meza said.</p>
<p>Between 2003 and 2015, only about 11 percent of $1.6 billion in climate finance flows reached local communities, according to research by the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).</p>
<p>That was despite communities taking some of the most effective action to tackle climate change, experts say.</p>
<p>“They’re the ones that are living in these environments on a day-to-day basis. They understand what interventions are going to make the most impact,” Marek Soanes, a climate finance researcher at IIED, said during last November’s U.N. climate talks in Bonn.</p> BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE
<p>But after struggling with a lack of access to international climate funding, Sucre and other indigenous leaders from Central America and Mexico have come up with a solution: They are trying to create their own climate fund.</p>
<p>With their regional organization, the Mesoamerican Alliance of People and Forests, they are assembling a “Mesoamerican Territorial Fund”, which they hope could receive international funding.</p>
<p>The initiative aims to give rapid and easy financing to indigenous communities so they can implement climate change adaptation and mitigation projects. &#160;</p>
<p>One of the key aspects of the fund is that it will be managed by indigenous people and benefit their own communities, with little input from outsiders, Sucre said – though the Central American Bank for Economic Integration would hold the money.</p>
<p>“We are trying to install this initiative in the Central American Bank for Economic Integration because they can meet the necessary requirements. However, the money would be politically administered by the territories, not by them,” the Bribri leader said.</p>
<p>The fund would finance projects that communities themselves propose and want to develop, he said, in an effort to avoid projects being imposed from outside, and to meet the different needs of each community.</p>
<p>That’s important because, in the past, foreign investment in indigenous communities has sparked tensions among the groups, indigenous leader Magaly Lázaro told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.</p>
<p>In particular, REDD+ - an effort to improve forest protection by giving communities living in forests incentives to protect them – “has provoked tensions in the relationship between communities”, she said.</p>
<p>“There’s been an inclusive process in certain territories but that hasn’t been the case for ours in Buenos Aires and the rest of the Southern region,” she said.</p>
<p>Her indigenous group ended up protesting against REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) efforts in their region, saying they imposed an alien form of conservation and created community conflicts.</p>
<p>The Mesoamerican Territorial Fund hopes to avoid such problems, Sucre said. He said he hoped funding could begin to flow into the fund as early as this year.</p>
<p>“We hope that by mid-2018 we already have the fund technically designed and ready to apply for international funds. By the second semester we hope to start financing,” he said.</p> CLIMATE PRESSURES
<p>The impact of climate change on indigenous territories is significant, Sucre said. Worsening natural disasters and weakening food security are some of the most threatening issues that indigenous communities face, he said.</p>
<p>U.N. research concurs that “indigenous peoples are among the first to face the direct consequences of climate change, owing to their dependence upon, and close relationship with the environment and its resources”, according to a 2008 report.</p>
<p>Sucre said indigenous communities need to change the way they farm their land in response to increasingly unstable weather.</p>
<p>Because of increasing harvest losses, he said, many communities are growing more dependent on supermarkets.</p>
<p>But with worsening storms blocking roads and cutting off access to indigenous territories, that dependence could leave people without food in emergencies, Magaly Lázaro said.</p>
<p>Last October for example, Hurricane Nate left many indigenous communities in the Southern region of Costa Rica isolated after the collapse of many main road routes.</p>
<p>According to government data, the country’s Aerial Surveillance Service had to transport 13,5 tons of food to the region by helicopter.</p>
<p>“We don’t want to depend on any external entities. We want to depend on our own way of working,” Lázaro said.</p>
<p>The Mesoamerican Territorial Fund, Sucre said, will aim to finance adaptation projects that protect the food security of indigenous territories, in part using traditional knowledge they have acquired through the years.</p>
<p>“We’re not dismissing the use of technology because we know that it must be complementary. But we want to incentivize the use of technologies that don’t erase our culture,” the indigenous leader said.</p>
<p>Reporting by Sebastian Rodriguez; editing by Laurie Goering : Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, resilience, women's rights, trafficking and property rights. Visit <a href="http://news.trust.org/climate" type="external">news.trust.org/climate</a></p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Several green groups criticized the Trump administration’s choice on Tuesday of CIA Director Mike Pompeo to replace Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State, saying his past skeptical comments about global warming show he is less suited to run U.S. foreign policy about climate change than the former Exxon Mobil CEO.</p> FILE PHOTO: CIA Director Mike Pompeo speaks at the FDD National Security Summit in Washington, DC, U.S., October 19, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo
<p>Pompeo, who was a Republican congressman from Kansas prior to running the CIA under U.S. President Donald Trump, has been among the biggest critics of efforts to combat global warming by past U.S. administrations, and has questioned the validity of existing climate science - saying it needs to be developed further.</p>
<p>“In this position, (Pompeo) could prove to be dangerous to our national security and the safety of our planet,” said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club.</p>
<p>Some climate advocates said, however, they hoped the long slate of issues facing the State Department now - from North Korea’s nuclear agenda to intensifying trade disputes - would keep climate change low on Pompeo’s list of priorities should he be confirmed by the Senate.</p>
<p>“Right now, climate change is not going to be a top 10 issue for him,” said Andrew Light, a former adviser to Todd Stern, the U.S. Special Envoy on Climate Change under Obama.</p>
<p>Pompeo is also a top recipient of campaign donations from Koch Industries, having taken over $375,500 from the family-owned energy conglomerate for campaigns going back to 2010, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics, a transparency watchdog. Koch Industries has donated millions of dollars to efforts opposing climate change regulation.</p>
<p>His background upsets many environmentalists, but dovetails neatly with Trump’s energy agenda to roll back Obama-era climate regulations and support domestic production of coal and crude oil - the fossil fuels that scientists blame for global warming. Trump has repeatedly bashed international efforts to combat climate change, and has at times called global warming a hoax.</p>
<p>Tillerson had also faced stern opposition from environmentalists when he was nominated as Secretary of State, given his years at the helm of one of the world’s biggest oil and gas companies, but he had tried to be a moderating influence on Trump over climate policy during his tenure.</p>
<p>For example, Tillerson advocated continued U.S. cooperation regarding the Paris Climate Agreement, a global deal to fight warming, a battle he lost when Trump announced in June the U.S. intention to withdraw. The State Department has since continued to send delegations to international climate summits, where envoys have been perceived by their foreign counterparts as constructive.</p>
<p>“We’ve gone from Exxon’s CEO to the Koch Brothers’ most loyal lapdog,” said May Boeve, executive director for climate activist group 350.org. Billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch own Koch Industries.</p>
<p>Environmental groups like Greenpeace and the Sierra Club issued similar statements, calling the nomination a potential step backwards.</p> Related Video
<p>Koch Industries did not immediately comment, and efforts to reach Pompeo were not successful.</p>
<p>Officials at the White House and the State Department did not immediately comment on whether Pompeo would be expected to update U.S. climate change policy.</p>
<p>“Tillerson was basically hands-off on the issue (of climate change),” said Alden Meyer, director of strategy and policy for the Union of Concerned Scientists. “It is not clear it is going to be any more of a priority for Pompeo.”</p>
<p>Reporting by Valerie Volcovici and Timothy Gardner in Washington, additional reporting by Nichola Groom in Los Angeles, writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Phil Berlowitz</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A Chinese program to integrate Beijing’s economy with neighbors Tianjin and Hebei has brought tangible benefits and helped ease damaging income gaps, a government official told Reuters, amid complaints the pace of reform has been too slow.</p> Cooling towers emit steam and chimneys billow in an industrial zone in Wu'an, Hebei province, China, February 20, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
<p>China announced plans to create the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei northern super-region, also known as Jing-Jin-Ji, in 2014, as it sought to upgrade the heavy industrial economy of the smog-prone Hebei province while easing congestion, pollution and overdevelopment in the capital.</p>
<p>Firms would be encouraged to relocate from Beijing to Hebei and Tianjin by introducing unified regulations, social services and an integrated transport network. The government also established the new Xiongan economic zone in Hebei last year where some of Beijing’s “non-capital” government functions and industries will be relocated.</p>
<p>But at this year’s full session of parliament, delegates have called for the program to be accelerated, especially when it comes to transportation, with Hebei hoping for improved access to a new international airport under construction in Beijing.</p>
<p>They also said not enough has been done to resolve the innovation gap between Hebei and the capital, which benefits from several high-tech industrial parks.</p>
<p>But the plan has already helped reduce a chronic income gap that forced Hebei to rely on low-end polluting industries while its workers flooded into Beijing in search of better-paid jobs, said Dang Xiaolong, head of Hebei’s economic planning body.</p> Apartments blocks are pictured during sunset on the outskirts of Tianjin, China February 2, 2018. Picture taken February 2, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee
<p>“The central government’s vigorous promotion of integrated development in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei... has brought immeasurable development potential to our province,” said Dang, who also chairs Hebei’s special office to promote regional integration.</p>
<p>“Because of gaps in development, industrial layout, innovation capability and the endowment of natural resources, the income gap between Beijing and Hebei has existed for a long time - this is a long-term, historical problem,” he said in written comments.</p>
<p>But integration efforts have already helped to raise average annual disposable income in Hebei to 21,484 yuan ($3,401.30) in 2017, up 41.4 percent since 2013, he said. Average income in Beijing, by comparison, stood at 57,230 yuan last year.</p>
<p>“It should be said that through the positive implementation of this national strategy.. the three regions have entered into their best development period in history through aspects such as integrated transportation development, industrial coordination and environmental protection.”</p>
<p>Dang said the focus this year was on the creation of cross-regional transportation networks and the establishment of a unified pollution prevention system.</p>
<p>Hebei will also work to improve communication and coordination with Beijing and Tianjin and sign more cross-regional strategic cooperation agreements, he added.</p>
<p>Reporting by David Stanway; Editing by Michael Perry</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>SINGAPORE/SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea’s move to shut coal-fired generators to control air pollution at the same time as nuclear reactors are going into scheduled maintenance is resulting in surging fuel oil imports, as utilities burn the dirty feedstock to meet power demand.</p> FILE PHOTO - A gas pump is seen hanging from the ceiling at a petrol station in Seoul June 27, 2011. REUTERS/Jo Yong-Hak/File Photo
<p>South Korea’s trade ministry said in February it would suspend five coal-fired power plants, with a combined capacity of 2.32 gigawatts (GW), from March to June, part of a broad campaign to reduce pollution.</p>
<p>That plan may backfire, at least in the short-term. A cold winter has raised power and heating demand, forcing utilities to burn more fuel oil in order to meet demand.</p>
<p>A by-product of the crude oil refining process, fuel oil’s biggest use ahead of power generation is as a shipping fuel.</p>
<p>“In the near-term, fuel oil imports will increase to make up for the shortfall in coal-fired generation capacity,” said Pat Markey, managing director of consultancy Sierra Vista Resources.</p>
<p>Fuel oil imports by power producers into Asia’s fourth largest economy have jumped to 200,000 tonnes in March so far, up from 92,000 tonnes in February, tender data compiled by Reuters showed.</p>
<p>First-quarter fuel oil imports are expected at 417,000 tonnes, up 28 percent from a year ago and already more than 60 percent of the 660,000 tonnes taken for all of last year.</p>
<p>Burning fuel oil for power results in lower carbon dioxide emissions than coal-fired plants, but releases more toxic particles into the air.</p>
<p>“Pollutants generated during combustion of fuel oils are nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, greenhouse gases, volatile compounds (like unburned hydrocarbons) and toxic trace metals,” according to the U.S. Commission for Environmental Cooperation.</p>
<p>An official from a South Korean state-owned utility, said the increased fuel oil demand was partly a result of the government’s decision to halt coal-fired plants temporarily due to pollution and reduced nuclear power because of planned maintenance.</p>
<p>The official, who declined to be identified as he is not unauthorized to speak to the media, said some 110,000 tonnes of fuel oil would&#160;be needed in April.</p>
<p>Only two of South Korea’s major utilities, Korea East-West Power Co Ltd (EWP) and Korea Western Power Co (WP), issue tenders for fuel oil for power generation, mostly during peak summer and winter demand, data on Thomson Reuters Eikon shows.</p>
<p>The two utilities declined to comment.</p>
<p>Coal power generates about 40 percent of South Korea’s total electricity needs, nuclear around 30 percent, and natural gas meets 20 percent. The rest comes from oil and renewables.</p>
<p>Even with the increase in fuel oil purchases, South Korea will have to raise imports of other fuels to meet demand as nearly half of its nuclear power plants are down for maintenance.</p>
<p>Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is the most likely to fill the gaps. Thomson Reuters Eikon data shows South Korea’s LNG shipments reached nearly 12 million tonnes between January and March 14, up 1.5 percent from the first quarter of last year.</p>
<p>Reporting by Roslan Khasawneh and Jessica Jaganathan in SINGAPORE, and Jane Chung and Yuna Park in SEOUL; Editing by Henning Gloystein and Tom Hogue</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a>
<p>ULAANBAATAR (Reuters) - Mongolia’s harsh winter has killed more than 700,000 heads of livestock this year, the highest toll since 2011, according to the country’s statistics bureau, with extreme weather freezing animals dead in their tracks.</p>
<p>Mongolia is in the midst of a winter phenomenon called a dzud, when extremely low temperatures and snow make it difficult for animals to survive.</p>
<p>“I’ve seen horses frozen while standing,” said Ulaanbaatar livestock trader, Ganbaatar Burjaa, 38.&#160;</p>
<p>“This year’s dzud has been very hard.”</p>
<p>The 709,000 head of livestock lost in the first two months of the year is a toll five times higher than the same period last year, according to the National Statistics Office.</p>
<p>Mongolia’s winters have destroyed the livelihoods of thousands of herders, forcing them to move to the capital, Ulaanbaatar, in search of work.</p>
<p>Burjaa moved to the capital three years ago because of the dzud.</p>
<p>In total, 66 counties across 12 provinces are facing dzud conditions, with snowfall covering half the country, the National Emergency Management Agency said last week.</p>
<p>The government has not declared a natural disaster.</p>
<p>Tuyaa Chimedbaldir, an official at the emergency management agency, said given the end of the winter was approaching, the toll this year was unlikely to be as bad as the winter of 2009-2010, when 9.7 million animals were killed.</p>
<p>“This time, the government has worked hard to prevent and reduce the risk of the dzud,” she said.</p>
<p>However, experts warn the dzud could still kill many animals, with a severe drought that hit 70 percent of the country last summer leaving vast numbers of undernourished livestock weak and vulnerable.</p>
<p>According to the Mongolian Red Cross Society, thousands of families were unable to prepare feed to sustain their animals through the winter. The society has spent 1.2 billion tugrik ($500,000) to help 4,500 herder families.</p>
<p>“Mongolian herders did not purchase enough fodder, so the spring season might kill animals that are tired from the harsh winter,” said Bayarmaa Chimedtseren, a rangeland monitoring and evaluation specialist at the “Green Gold” animal health project run by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.&#160;</p>
<p>About 229,000 Mongolian families depend on animal husbandry for their livelihood. The total number of livestock reached 66.2 million as of December 2017.</p>
<p>Overgrazing, the degeneration of rangeland and poor land management contribute to the severity of the dzud, Chimedtseren said.</p>
<p>Reporting by Munkhchimeg Davaasharav; Editing by David Stanway and Robert Birsel</p> Our Standards:
<a href="" type="internal">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.</a> | 599,343 |
<p>Irish low-cost airline Ryanair announced a $15.6 billion order for about 175 passenger jets from U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing on Tuesday.</p>
<p>The order for current-generation 737 aircraft delivers a boost to the U.S. company, which has struggled in recent months after the grounding of its 787 Dreamliner.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>(Reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by David Goodman)</p> | Ryanair unveils $15.6 billion Boeing order | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2013/03/19/ryanair-unveils-156-billion-boeing-order.html | 2016-01-25 | 0right
| Ryanair unveils $15.6 billion Boeing order
<p>Irish low-cost airline Ryanair announced a $15.6 billion order for about 175 passenger jets from U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing on Tuesday.</p>
<p>The order for current-generation 737 aircraft delivers a boost to the U.S. company, which has struggled in recent months after the grounding of its 787 Dreamliner.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>(Reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by David Goodman)</p> | 599,344 |
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<p>KANSAS CITY, MO. —&#160;The University of New Mexico men’s soccer team will kick off the 2017 season ranked No. 20 in the nation by the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll, the association announced Friday. The Lobos, who earned their 12th trip to the NCAA postseason in 16 years in 2016, will kick off the 2017 regular season on Friday, Aug. 25 at No. 11 Washington. The home opener is Sept. 1 against UNLV.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/soccer-men/d1" type="external">United Soccer Coaches Preseason Rankings</a></p>
<p>“Being ranked 20th&#160;in the country heading into the season is a good starting point,” head coach&#160; <a href="https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=http://golobos.com/coaches.aspx%3frc%3d484&amp;c=E,1,Db7FemATaaLzqsIE80AnDCS3xtSMsLqkD07kxYE8zcVv83AhWhHCimooWmeBoGzcQ9W6bEN8ldokYQpiFw0DF1b1ghsWktWelIMM1nGb2F_cYrU,&amp;typo=1" type="external">Jeremy Fishbein</a>&#160;said. “But it is not where we want to be at the end of the season. We’ve got an exciting, competitive schedule this year. Our guys are ready, and we’re excited to get started.”</p>
<p>UNM is one of just two squads in the Conference USA to earn a spot in the top 25; the other goes to No. 15 Charlotte. The Lobos will face Charlotte on Oct. 28 at home. Other top-25 opponents on UNM’s schedule include Denver (No. 3) and UCLA (No. 21).</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The Lobos are returning 14 players from last year’s squad including senior goalkeeper&#160; <a href="https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=http://golobos.com/roster.aspx%3frp_id%3d2715&amp;c=E,1,Y7qAMiKrsaY8Q5K27y6pWFiTJR-dIuCsCAhb3tirwKBt2SwnhEoNZmLQDc5NjumESETV8J07DTA8LIBE613XA3HiPuw-291fnFahHBfMx4yDQJY,&amp;typo=1" type="external">Jason Beaulieu</a>&#160;who racked up eight shutouts and posted a 0.87 goals against average last season.</p>
<p>New Mexico will host three exhibition games at the UNM Soccer Complex prior to kicking off the 2017 regular season. UNM will face Air Force at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 12, Colorado School of Mines on Thursday, Aug. 17 at 7 p.m. and Grand Canyon on Saturday, Aug. 19 at 7 p.m.</p>
<p>Click <a href="http://www.golobos.com/schedule.aspx?path=msoc" type="external">here</a> to see UNM’s schedule.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Lobo soccer men 20th in preseason coaches poll | false | https://abqjournal.com/1043484/lobo-soccer-men-20th-in-preseason-coaches-poll.html | 2least
| Lobo soccer men 20th in preseason coaches poll
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<p />
<p>KANSAS CITY, MO. —&#160;The University of New Mexico men’s soccer team will kick off the 2017 season ranked No. 20 in the nation by the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll, the association announced Friday. The Lobos, who earned their 12th trip to the NCAA postseason in 16 years in 2016, will kick off the 2017 regular season on Friday, Aug. 25 at No. 11 Washington. The home opener is Sept. 1 against UNLV.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/soccer-men/d1" type="external">United Soccer Coaches Preseason Rankings</a></p>
<p>“Being ranked 20th&#160;in the country heading into the season is a good starting point,” head coach&#160; <a href="https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=http://golobos.com/coaches.aspx%3frc%3d484&amp;c=E,1,Db7FemATaaLzqsIE80AnDCS3xtSMsLqkD07kxYE8zcVv83AhWhHCimooWmeBoGzcQ9W6bEN8ldokYQpiFw0DF1b1ghsWktWelIMM1nGb2F_cYrU,&amp;typo=1" type="external">Jeremy Fishbein</a>&#160;said. “But it is not where we want to be at the end of the season. We’ve got an exciting, competitive schedule this year. Our guys are ready, and we’re excited to get started.”</p>
<p>UNM is one of just two squads in the Conference USA to earn a spot in the top 25; the other goes to No. 15 Charlotte. The Lobos will face Charlotte on Oct. 28 at home. Other top-25 opponents on UNM’s schedule include Denver (No. 3) and UCLA (No. 21).</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The Lobos are returning 14 players from last year’s squad including senior goalkeeper&#160; <a href="https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=http://golobos.com/roster.aspx%3frp_id%3d2715&amp;c=E,1,Y7qAMiKrsaY8Q5K27y6pWFiTJR-dIuCsCAhb3tirwKBt2SwnhEoNZmLQDc5NjumESETV8J07DTA8LIBE613XA3HiPuw-291fnFahHBfMx4yDQJY,&amp;typo=1" type="external">Jason Beaulieu</a>&#160;who racked up eight shutouts and posted a 0.87 goals against average last season.</p>
<p>New Mexico will host three exhibition games at the UNM Soccer Complex prior to kicking off the 2017 regular season. UNM will face Air Force at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 12, Colorado School of Mines on Thursday, Aug. 17 at 7 p.m. and Grand Canyon on Saturday, Aug. 19 at 7 p.m.</p>
<p>Click <a href="http://www.golobos.com/schedule.aspx?path=msoc" type="external">here</a> to see UNM’s schedule.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | 599,345 |
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<p>DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) - A former Dubuque police officer has pleaded guilty to stealing from his employer.</p>
<p>The Dubuque <a href="http://www.telegraphherald.com/news/tri-state/article_e9effb0a-0c75-5b8e-86a3-a32f598aa3d6.html?utm_source=thonline&amp;utm_medium=click_source&amp;utm_campaign=left_column_news" type="external">Telegraph Herald reports</a> that Kyle Cross said in court Wednesday that he wasn't responsible for all the nearly $7,200 in cash and merchandise stolen from Boost Mobile, a Dubuque cellphone store. He says the loss was between $1,300 and $1,500.</p>
<p>Authorities say an employee that Cross fired contacted the store owner about thefts that he and Cross committed when they pocketed cash payments for phone repairs and fraudulently claiming to pay people for holding business signs on a sidewalk.</p>
<p>The judge reminded Cross that his guilty plea to theft would affect the probation sentence he'd been given in May 2016 for having sex with a 14-year-old girl.</p>
<p>Cross' sentencing is set for Feb. 26.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Telegraph Herald, <a href="http://www.thonline.com" type="external">http://www.thonline.com</a></p>
<p>DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) - A former Dubuque police officer has pleaded guilty to stealing from his employer.</p>
<p>The Dubuque <a href="http://www.telegraphherald.com/news/tri-state/article_e9effb0a-0c75-5b8e-86a3-a32f598aa3d6.html?utm_source=thonline&amp;utm_medium=click_source&amp;utm_campaign=left_column_news" type="external">Telegraph Herald reports</a> that Kyle Cross said in court Wednesday that he wasn't responsible for all the nearly $7,200 in cash and merchandise stolen from Boost Mobile, a Dubuque cellphone store. He says the loss was between $1,300 and $1,500.</p>
<p>Authorities say an employee that Cross fired contacted the store owner about thefts that he and Cross committed when they pocketed cash payments for phone repairs and fraudulently claiming to pay people for holding business signs on a sidewalk.</p>
<p>The judge reminded Cross that his guilty plea to theft would affect the probation sentence he'd been given in May 2016 for having sex with a 14-year-old girl.</p>
<p>Cross' sentencing is set for Feb. 26.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Telegraph Herald, <a href="http://www.thonline.com" type="external">http://www.thonline.com</a></p> | Former Dubuque officer pleads guilty to theft from employer | false | https://apnews.com/amp/d8dc649a8b54423fba06c4550caafc2d | 2018-01-04 | 2least
| Former Dubuque officer pleads guilty to theft from employer
<p>DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) - A former Dubuque police officer has pleaded guilty to stealing from his employer.</p>
<p>The Dubuque <a href="http://www.telegraphherald.com/news/tri-state/article_e9effb0a-0c75-5b8e-86a3-a32f598aa3d6.html?utm_source=thonline&amp;utm_medium=click_source&amp;utm_campaign=left_column_news" type="external">Telegraph Herald reports</a> that Kyle Cross said in court Wednesday that he wasn't responsible for all the nearly $7,200 in cash and merchandise stolen from Boost Mobile, a Dubuque cellphone store. He says the loss was between $1,300 and $1,500.</p>
<p>Authorities say an employee that Cross fired contacted the store owner about thefts that he and Cross committed when they pocketed cash payments for phone repairs and fraudulently claiming to pay people for holding business signs on a sidewalk.</p>
<p>The judge reminded Cross that his guilty plea to theft would affect the probation sentence he'd been given in May 2016 for having sex with a 14-year-old girl.</p>
<p>Cross' sentencing is set for Feb. 26.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Telegraph Herald, <a href="http://www.thonline.com" type="external">http://www.thonline.com</a></p>
<p>DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) - A former Dubuque police officer has pleaded guilty to stealing from his employer.</p>
<p>The Dubuque <a href="http://www.telegraphherald.com/news/tri-state/article_e9effb0a-0c75-5b8e-86a3-a32f598aa3d6.html?utm_source=thonline&amp;utm_medium=click_source&amp;utm_campaign=left_column_news" type="external">Telegraph Herald reports</a> that Kyle Cross said in court Wednesday that he wasn't responsible for all the nearly $7,200 in cash and merchandise stolen from Boost Mobile, a Dubuque cellphone store. He says the loss was between $1,300 and $1,500.</p>
<p>Authorities say an employee that Cross fired contacted the store owner about thefts that he and Cross committed when they pocketed cash payments for phone repairs and fraudulently claiming to pay people for holding business signs on a sidewalk.</p>
<p>The judge reminded Cross that his guilty plea to theft would affect the probation sentence he'd been given in May 2016 for having sex with a 14-year-old girl.</p>
<p>Cross' sentencing is set for Feb. 26.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Information from: Telegraph Herald, <a href="http://www.thonline.com" type="external">http://www.thonline.com</a></p> | 599,346 |
<p>Aug. 10 (UPI) — Traffic on a stretch of interstate in Arkansas was brought to a greasy halt when a truck crash spilled hundreds of frozen pizzas onto the road.</p>
<p>The Arkansas Department of Transportation said <a href="http://katv.com/news/local/frozen-pizzas-scattered-on-i-30-overpass-in-tractor-trailer-accident" type="external">the truck’s trailer was torn apart</a> about 1 p.m. Wednesday when it struck the Mabelvale Pike overpass on Interstate 30 in Little Rock.</p>
<p>The damage caused the truck’s diesel fuel and its load of frozen DiGiorno and Tombstone pizzas to spill out onto the road.</p>
<p>ARDOT spokesman Danny Straessle said there were <a href="https://twitter.com/myARDOT/status/895346735727431680" type="external">no human injuries</a>.</p>
<p>“But there’s a lot of frozen pizzas laying out on the interstate right now,” Straessle <a href="http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2017/aug/09/truck-spills-frozen-pizzas-i-30-little-rock-westbo/" type="external">told Arkansas Online</a>. “Lots of pizza fatalities.”</p>
<p>Heavy equipment was brought to the scene to scrape the dough, cheese, and pepperoni off the pavement.</p>
<p>“It made for some very slick conditions, believe it or not,” Straessle <a href="http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2017/aug/10/rig-crashes-spills-frozen-pizzas-on-i-3/" type="external">told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.</a></p>
<p>All lanes of traffic were reopened by 5:30 p.m., more than four hours after the crash.</p> | Truck crash covers Arkansas highway in hundreds of pizzas | false | https://newsline.com/truck-crash-covers-arkansas-highway-in-hundreds-of-pizzas/ | 2017-08-10 | 1right-center
| Truck crash covers Arkansas highway in hundreds of pizzas
<p>Aug. 10 (UPI) — Traffic on a stretch of interstate in Arkansas was brought to a greasy halt when a truck crash spilled hundreds of frozen pizzas onto the road.</p>
<p>The Arkansas Department of Transportation said <a href="http://katv.com/news/local/frozen-pizzas-scattered-on-i-30-overpass-in-tractor-trailer-accident" type="external">the truck’s trailer was torn apart</a> about 1 p.m. Wednesday when it struck the Mabelvale Pike overpass on Interstate 30 in Little Rock.</p>
<p>The damage caused the truck’s diesel fuel and its load of frozen DiGiorno and Tombstone pizzas to spill out onto the road.</p>
<p>ARDOT spokesman Danny Straessle said there were <a href="https://twitter.com/myARDOT/status/895346735727431680" type="external">no human injuries</a>.</p>
<p>“But there’s a lot of frozen pizzas laying out on the interstate right now,” Straessle <a href="http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2017/aug/09/truck-spills-frozen-pizzas-i-30-little-rock-westbo/" type="external">told Arkansas Online</a>. “Lots of pizza fatalities.”</p>
<p>Heavy equipment was brought to the scene to scrape the dough, cheese, and pepperoni off the pavement.</p>
<p>“It made for some very slick conditions, believe it or not,” Straessle <a href="http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2017/aug/10/rig-crashes-spills-frozen-pizzas-on-i-3/" type="external">told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.</a></p>
<p>All lanes of traffic were reopened by 5:30 p.m., more than four hours after the crash.</p> | 599,347 |
<p>AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Mainers who want to grow industrial hemp can apply for the 2018 growing season.</p>
<p>The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry acknowledges that would-be hemp growers face barriers that make it tricky to grow the crop legally.</p>
<p>Maine has allowed industrial hemp since 2016. But federal law requires a permit for the cannabis plant, regardless of whether it’s grown for fiber or marijuana.</p>
<p>States and higher education institutions can seek permits for hemp grown for research purposes. But Maine’s agriculture department doesn’t plan to apply for such a permit, and isn’t aware of universities seeking a permit.</p>
<p>Maine law also requires industrial hemp growers to certify their seed source.</p>
<p>Despite such barriers, the department says it signed 33 agreements with hemp growers this year, up from two in 2016.</p>
<p>AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Mainers who want to grow industrial hemp can apply for the 2018 growing season.</p>
<p>The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry acknowledges that would-be hemp growers face barriers that make it tricky to grow the crop legally.</p>
<p>Maine has allowed industrial hemp since 2016. But federal law requires a permit for the cannabis plant, regardless of whether it’s grown for fiber or marijuana.</p>
<p>States and higher education institutions can seek permits for hemp grown for research purposes. But Maine’s agriculture department doesn’t plan to apply for such a permit, and isn’t aware of universities seeking a permit.</p>
<p>Maine law also requires industrial hemp growers to certify their seed source.</p>
<p>Despite such barriers, the department says it signed 33 agreements with hemp growers this year, up from two in 2016.</p> | Mainers can again apply to grow industrial hemp | false | https://apnews.com/5c25223175944e59b972296baed47410 | 2017-12-31 | 2least
| Mainers can again apply to grow industrial hemp
<p>AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Mainers who want to grow industrial hemp can apply for the 2018 growing season.</p>
<p>The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry acknowledges that would-be hemp growers face barriers that make it tricky to grow the crop legally.</p>
<p>Maine has allowed industrial hemp since 2016. But federal law requires a permit for the cannabis plant, regardless of whether it’s grown for fiber or marijuana.</p>
<p>States and higher education institutions can seek permits for hemp grown for research purposes. But Maine’s agriculture department doesn’t plan to apply for such a permit, and isn’t aware of universities seeking a permit.</p>
<p>Maine law also requires industrial hemp growers to certify their seed source.</p>
<p>Despite such barriers, the department says it signed 33 agreements with hemp growers this year, up from two in 2016.</p>
<p>AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Mainers who want to grow industrial hemp can apply for the 2018 growing season.</p>
<p>The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry acknowledges that would-be hemp growers face barriers that make it tricky to grow the crop legally.</p>
<p>Maine has allowed industrial hemp since 2016. But federal law requires a permit for the cannabis plant, regardless of whether it’s grown for fiber or marijuana.</p>
<p>States and higher education institutions can seek permits for hemp grown for research purposes. But Maine’s agriculture department doesn’t plan to apply for such a permit, and isn’t aware of universities seeking a permit.</p>
<p>Maine law also requires industrial hemp growers to certify their seed source.</p>
<p>Despite such barriers, the department says it signed 33 agreements with hemp growers this year, up from two in 2016.</p> | 599,348 |
<p>Our loathsome, detestable 45th President Donald Trump may have owned the news cycle during his coronation on Washington, but he was certainly right in his speech that he has ceded power to the American people.</p>
<p>Now that Trump’s ego-boosting inauguration business has been settle, the news belongs to millions of women across America (and the world) who are marching in protest today against President Trump. These “nasty women” just got an amazing shout-out from a supportive flight attendant.</p>
<p>Women marching against Trump have traveled from far and wide to participate in the main march in Washington, D.C. to get right up in Trump’s bloated, orange face. Numerous marchers were flying about discount air carrier Spirit Airlines on a flight headed to Baltimore, Maryland, and their presence did not go unnoticed by the sympathetic female flight attendant. She took to the intercom to take a quick survey of her passengers and asked, “I just want to know, how many of you are going to the March on Washington?” right as the plane began its decent to the airport. She added, “You guys are going to the Women’s March, right? Let’s get a round of applause for all the nasty women on board. Stay safe, stay hydrated, have a good time, watch out for your fellow sisters. Just remember, we don’t take no ‘ish’ from no man.” The women on the plane who were marching (and likely many others who were not) pumped fists and cheered at her inspiring message. Twitter user @FlorBlake uploaded the video, and it quickly became a viral hit. How proud are you of the “nasty women” sticking it to Trump today?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | Flight Attendant Just Gave Epic Salute To “Nasty Women” Flying To DC For March, You’ll Cheer [Video] | true | http://liberalplug.com/2017/01/21/flight-attendant-just-gave-epic-salute-nasty-women-flying-dc-march-youll-cheer-video/ | 4left
| Flight Attendant Just Gave Epic Salute To “Nasty Women” Flying To DC For March, You’ll Cheer [Video]
<p>Our loathsome, detestable 45th President Donald Trump may have owned the news cycle during his coronation on Washington, but he was certainly right in his speech that he has ceded power to the American people.</p>
<p>Now that Trump’s ego-boosting inauguration business has been settle, the news belongs to millions of women across America (and the world) who are marching in protest today against President Trump. These “nasty women” just got an amazing shout-out from a supportive flight attendant.</p>
<p>Women marching against Trump have traveled from far and wide to participate in the main march in Washington, D.C. to get right up in Trump’s bloated, orange face. Numerous marchers were flying about discount air carrier Spirit Airlines on a flight headed to Baltimore, Maryland, and their presence did not go unnoticed by the sympathetic female flight attendant. She took to the intercom to take a quick survey of her passengers and asked, “I just want to know, how many of you are going to the March on Washington?” right as the plane began its decent to the airport. She added, “You guys are going to the Women’s March, right? Let’s get a round of applause for all the nasty women on board. Stay safe, stay hydrated, have a good time, watch out for your fellow sisters. Just remember, we don’t take no ‘ish’ from no man.” The women on the plane who were marching (and likely many others who were not) pumped fists and cheered at her inspiring message. Twitter user @FlorBlake uploaded the video, and it quickly became a viral hit. How proud are you of the “nasty women” sticking it to Trump today?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | 599,349 |
|
<p>Story by <a href="http://www.theworld.org/?s=Eric+Niiler" type="external">Eric Niiler</a>, PRI's The World. Listen to audio above for full report.</p>
<p>Nineteen schools are battling for green power supremacy in the 10-day Solar Decathlon, the US Energy Department-sponsored competition that tests students' engineering and architectural skills in building energy-efficient solar powered homes. This year, four international teams have entered the contest.</p>
<p>Ben Jagersma loads up a dishwasher in a wood-frame home that has traveled more than 9,000 miles from Wellington, New Zealand, to a patch of grass near the National Mall in Washington, DC.</p>
<p>Jagersma helps one of the Solar Decathlon judges put a temperature sensor inside the machine – testing how much energy it uses to wash dirty dishes. As engineering captain of the Victoria University of Wellington team, Jagersma leaves nothing to chance.</p>
<p>Judges measure everything from energy use and comfort level to market appeal and affordability. The Kiwis have designed a "bach," or holiday home, that uses natural resources to save energy – in this case, a coat of wool to keep it warm.</p>
<p>"In New Zealand, we have more sheep than people," Jagersma said. "Sheep wool insulation is a really good, really high performing product. It insulates the walls and floor and roof really well."</p>
<p>Inside, sliding glass doors face north and south, while solar panels soak up the elusive sun on the roof. Jagersma's next task is to use solar-powered hot water to wash – and dry – a few towels.</p>
<p>"All week we've been battling with cloudy skies in Washington, DC," he said.</p>
<p>His team has invented a special drying closet that uses solar-heated water pumped through a set of metal racks.</p>
<p>"The best that we've done in the competition here in the past 10 days is two-and-a-half hours to dry the six bath towels. Today, I predict we'll be close to two hours."</p>
<p>If it works, the solar-powered closet will consume 200 watts of energy, compared to the 1,500 to 5,000 watts used by typical clothes dryer.</p>
<p>Every team has come up with special ways to save energy. The University of Tennessee installed solar panels by the now-bankrupt firm Solyndra. Students from Belgium's Ghent University designed a two-story, do-it-yourself home called the E-Cube.</p>
<p>Charlotte Delhuvenne said their priority is keeping labor costs down.</p>
<p>"Normally, in Belgium we build with bricks, but with this system everything goes very fast," she said, adding that in Washington, about 30 students built the house in about three to four days. The boxy structure is put together with aluminum material that holds up pre-fabricated wall panels.</p>
<p>"The structure is a shelving system like you find in warehouses. It's very easy to assemble. It's cheap, flexible," Delhuvenne said.</p>
<p>Flexibility and re-usability is job one for the team from Shanghai's Tongji University. They put three metal shipping containers together in a Y-shape for their home design. A Japanese firm donated advanced solar panels that pick up even small amounts of light, said engineering student Jin Linhui.</p>
<p>"We can still get energy during the rainy weather," he said. "It can collect direct sunshine and also the radiant sunshine."</p>
<p>The US Department of Energy gave each team $100,000, while commercial sponsors donated building materials, appliances and technical help. The teams have to keep their overall budget under $250,000, or face a penalty.</p>
<p>Jin said he believes his team's design may persuade a few people back home in China to invest in solar power. "Although we are a big country, and we have so many people, we have to save energy. It's very hard work for the country."</p>
<p>Update: Team New Zealand finished third behind Maryland and Team Purdue.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.theworld.org/2011/09/solar-power-decathlon-in-dc/" type="external">Read the rest of this story and view a slideshow of some of the entries</a> on The World website.</p>
<p>----------------------------------------------------------</p>
<p>PRI's "The World" is a one-hour, weekday radio news magazine offering a mix of news, features, interviews, and music from around the globe. "The World" is a co-production of the BBC World Service, PRI and WGBH Boston. <a href="the-world.html" type="external">More about The World.</a></p> | Teams battle for green power supremacy at Solar Decathlon | false | https://pri.org/stories/2011-10-05/teams-battle-green-power-supremacy-solar-decathlon | 2011-10-05 | 3left-center
| Teams battle for green power supremacy at Solar Decathlon
<p>Story by <a href="http://www.theworld.org/?s=Eric+Niiler" type="external">Eric Niiler</a>, PRI's The World. Listen to audio above for full report.</p>
<p>Nineteen schools are battling for green power supremacy in the 10-day Solar Decathlon, the US Energy Department-sponsored competition that tests students' engineering and architectural skills in building energy-efficient solar powered homes. This year, four international teams have entered the contest.</p>
<p>Ben Jagersma loads up a dishwasher in a wood-frame home that has traveled more than 9,000 miles from Wellington, New Zealand, to a patch of grass near the National Mall in Washington, DC.</p>
<p>Jagersma helps one of the Solar Decathlon judges put a temperature sensor inside the machine – testing how much energy it uses to wash dirty dishes. As engineering captain of the Victoria University of Wellington team, Jagersma leaves nothing to chance.</p>
<p>Judges measure everything from energy use and comfort level to market appeal and affordability. The Kiwis have designed a "bach," or holiday home, that uses natural resources to save energy – in this case, a coat of wool to keep it warm.</p>
<p>"In New Zealand, we have more sheep than people," Jagersma said. "Sheep wool insulation is a really good, really high performing product. It insulates the walls and floor and roof really well."</p>
<p>Inside, sliding glass doors face north and south, while solar panels soak up the elusive sun on the roof. Jagersma's next task is to use solar-powered hot water to wash – and dry – a few towels.</p>
<p>"All week we've been battling with cloudy skies in Washington, DC," he said.</p>
<p>His team has invented a special drying closet that uses solar-heated water pumped through a set of metal racks.</p>
<p>"The best that we've done in the competition here in the past 10 days is two-and-a-half hours to dry the six bath towels. Today, I predict we'll be close to two hours."</p>
<p>If it works, the solar-powered closet will consume 200 watts of energy, compared to the 1,500 to 5,000 watts used by typical clothes dryer.</p>
<p>Every team has come up with special ways to save energy. The University of Tennessee installed solar panels by the now-bankrupt firm Solyndra. Students from Belgium's Ghent University designed a two-story, do-it-yourself home called the E-Cube.</p>
<p>Charlotte Delhuvenne said their priority is keeping labor costs down.</p>
<p>"Normally, in Belgium we build with bricks, but with this system everything goes very fast," she said, adding that in Washington, about 30 students built the house in about three to four days. The boxy structure is put together with aluminum material that holds up pre-fabricated wall panels.</p>
<p>"The structure is a shelving system like you find in warehouses. It's very easy to assemble. It's cheap, flexible," Delhuvenne said.</p>
<p>Flexibility and re-usability is job one for the team from Shanghai's Tongji University. They put three metal shipping containers together in a Y-shape for their home design. A Japanese firm donated advanced solar panels that pick up even small amounts of light, said engineering student Jin Linhui.</p>
<p>"We can still get energy during the rainy weather," he said. "It can collect direct sunshine and also the radiant sunshine."</p>
<p>The US Department of Energy gave each team $100,000, while commercial sponsors donated building materials, appliances and technical help. The teams have to keep their overall budget under $250,000, or face a penalty.</p>
<p>Jin said he believes his team's design may persuade a few people back home in China to invest in solar power. "Although we are a big country, and we have so many people, we have to save energy. It's very hard work for the country."</p>
<p>Update: Team New Zealand finished third behind Maryland and Team Purdue.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.theworld.org/2011/09/solar-power-decathlon-in-dc/" type="external">Read the rest of this story and view a slideshow of some of the entries</a> on The World website.</p>
<p>----------------------------------------------------------</p>
<p>PRI's "The World" is a one-hour, weekday radio news magazine offering a mix of news, features, interviews, and music from around the globe. "The World" is a co-production of the BBC World Service, PRI and WGBH Boston. <a href="the-world.html" type="external">More about The World.</a></p> | 599,350 |
<p>Investing.com – U.S. futures pointed to a flat Wall Street open on Monday as investors watch for news about American tax-cut proposals.</p>
<p>The were down four points or 0.16% as of 6:59 AM ET (11:59 AM GMT) while slumped 50 points or 0.21%. Meanwhile tech heavy fell just over six and a half points or 0.10%.</p>
<p>Uncertainty surrounding the highly anticipated tax reform has markets on edge. A corporate tax cut of 20% from 35%, which investors believe would spur the economy, could be delayed until 2019.</p>
<p>Among the top performers in pre-market trading were General Electric (NYSE:), which increased 0.93% amid expectations that the struggling conglomerate will cut costs and close some research centers in a bid to gain investor confidence. Chinese online consumer credit product firm Qudian Inc (NYSE:) rose 7.78% after it reported a strong third quarter while e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE:) rose 0.76% after a record $25 billion in sales on China’s Singles’ Day.</p>
<p>Elsewhere, pharmaceutical firm Teva Pharma Industries Ltd ADR (NYSE:) was down 2.80% while steel and mining firm ArcelorMittal SA ADR (NYSE:) fell 1.07%.</p>
<p>In other news, United States President Donald Trump is in the Philippines as part of his extended trip across Asia to discuss trade and put pressure on the region to sanction North Korea. The White House is expected to deliver a statement on North Korea and trade on Wednesday.</p>
<p>Stocks were down in Europe. Germany’s slumped 65 points or 0.50% while in France the slipped 22 points or 0.42% and in London, the rose four points or 0.06%. Meanwhile the pan-European was down 13 points or 0.38% while Spain’s decreased 23 points or 0.38%.</p>
<p>In commodities, rallied 0.41% to $1,279.29 a troy ounce while futures rose 0.21% to $56.68 a barrel. The , which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, inched forward 0.15% to 94.44.</p>
<p />
<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | Stocks- U.S. Futures Point to Low Open on Wall Street | false | https://newsline.com/stocks-u-s-futures-point-to-low-open-on-wall-street/ | 2017-11-13 | 1right-center
| Stocks- U.S. Futures Point to Low Open on Wall Street
<p>Investing.com – U.S. futures pointed to a flat Wall Street open on Monday as investors watch for news about American tax-cut proposals.</p>
<p>The were down four points or 0.16% as of 6:59 AM ET (11:59 AM GMT) while slumped 50 points or 0.21%. Meanwhile tech heavy fell just over six and a half points or 0.10%.</p>
<p>Uncertainty surrounding the highly anticipated tax reform has markets on edge. A corporate tax cut of 20% from 35%, which investors believe would spur the economy, could be delayed until 2019.</p>
<p>Among the top performers in pre-market trading were General Electric (NYSE:), which increased 0.93% amid expectations that the struggling conglomerate will cut costs and close some research centers in a bid to gain investor confidence. Chinese online consumer credit product firm Qudian Inc (NYSE:) rose 7.78% after it reported a strong third quarter while e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE:) rose 0.76% after a record $25 billion in sales on China’s Singles’ Day.</p>
<p>Elsewhere, pharmaceutical firm Teva Pharma Industries Ltd ADR (NYSE:) was down 2.80% while steel and mining firm ArcelorMittal SA ADR (NYSE:) fell 1.07%.</p>
<p>In other news, United States President Donald Trump is in the Philippines as part of his extended trip across Asia to discuss trade and put pressure on the region to sanction North Korea. The White House is expected to deliver a statement on North Korea and trade on Wednesday.</p>
<p>Stocks were down in Europe. Germany’s slumped 65 points or 0.50% while in France the slipped 22 points or 0.42% and in London, the rose four points or 0.06%. Meanwhile the pan-European was down 13 points or 0.38% while Spain’s decreased 23 points or 0.38%.</p>
<p>In commodities, rallied 0.41% to $1,279.29 a troy ounce while futures rose 0.21% to $56.68 a barrel. The , which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, inched forward 0.15% to 94.44.</p>
<p />
<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | 599,351 |
<p>Footage that Mika Yamamoto filmed during her final hours in Syria has been released by Japan Press.&#160;</p>
<p>The Japanese journalist was killed in Syria on Monday after getting caught in the crossfire of a gunfight between rebel and regime forces in Aleppo.&#160;</p>
<p>Yamamoto was reporting from the besieged Syrian city with her husband and colleague Kazutaka Sato, who survived the incident. Her colleague recorded a video from a hotel room in Turkey in which he discusses his wife's death, with <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9491546/Syria-last-footage-filmed-by-killed-Japanese-journalist-released.html" type="external">subtitles by the British Telegraph</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://japandailypress.com/journalist-yamamotos-husband-speaks-out-shares-final-footage-in-syria-2310003" type="external">The Japan Daily Press</a>also released another graphic video of Yamamoto's body after she was killed, in which Sato asks:&#160; "Why" You are wearing a flak jacket," and, while looking at her wound, "That must hurt. Did you suffer?"</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>"She wasn't a reckless type," Asia Press journalist Jiro Ishimaru <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120822a2.html" type="external">told the Japan Times</a>. "(Her death) could mean that the Syrian clash was so fierce that even she could not have avoided the accident."</p>
<p>Her father, a 77-year-old veteran reporter, said Yamamoto wanted to "come home alive to tell the real stories of women and children in battlefields," the Japan Times reported.&#160;</p>
<p>"She is not a war journalist, but rather a human journalist," Hiroshi said.&#160;</p>
<p>Yamamoto is the sixth foreign journalist to die while reporting in Syria, <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/08/gunshots-end-footage-of-japanese-reporter-slain-in-syria-video.html" type="external">the Los Angeles Times reported</a>.</p>
<p>French reporter Gilles Jacquier and New York Times journalist Anthony Shadid, who died of a severe asthma attack, are among those killed in the conflict, and <a href="http://cpj.org/" type="external">the Committee to Protect Journalists</a>has reported that at least 17 journalists from both Syria and abroad have died there since November 2011.&#160;</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>More from GlobalPost:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/syria/120821/mika-yamamoto-japanese-journalist-killed-syria" type="external">Mika Yamamoto: Japanese journalist killed in Syria</a></p> | Mika Yamamoto's final Syria footage released after her death (VIDEO) | false | https://pri.org/stories/2012-08-23/mika-yamamotos-final-syria-footage-released-after-her-death-video | 2012-08-23 | 3left-center
| Mika Yamamoto's final Syria footage released after her death (VIDEO)
<p>Footage that Mika Yamamoto filmed during her final hours in Syria has been released by Japan Press.&#160;</p>
<p>The Japanese journalist was killed in Syria on Monday after getting caught in the crossfire of a gunfight between rebel and regime forces in Aleppo.&#160;</p>
<p>Yamamoto was reporting from the besieged Syrian city with her husband and colleague Kazutaka Sato, who survived the incident. Her colleague recorded a video from a hotel room in Turkey in which he discusses his wife's death, with <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9491546/Syria-last-footage-filmed-by-killed-Japanese-journalist-released.html" type="external">subtitles by the British Telegraph</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://japandailypress.com/journalist-yamamotos-husband-speaks-out-shares-final-footage-in-syria-2310003" type="external">The Japan Daily Press</a>also released another graphic video of Yamamoto's body after she was killed, in which Sato asks:&#160; "Why" You are wearing a flak jacket," and, while looking at her wound, "That must hurt. Did you suffer?"</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>"She wasn't a reckless type," Asia Press journalist Jiro Ishimaru <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120822a2.html" type="external">told the Japan Times</a>. "(Her death) could mean that the Syrian clash was so fierce that even she could not have avoided the accident."</p>
<p>Her father, a 77-year-old veteran reporter, said Yamamoto wanted to "come home alive to tell the real stories of women and children in battlefields," the Japan Times reported.&#160;</p>
<p>"She is not a war journalist, but rather a human journalist," Hiroshi said.&#160;</p>
<p>Yamamoto is the sixth foreign journalist to die while reporting in Syria, <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/08/gunshots-end-footage-of-japanese-reporter-slain-in-syria-video.html" type="external">the Los Angeles Times reported</a>.</p>
<p>French reporter Gilles Jacquier and New York Times journalist Anthony Shadid, who died of a severe asthma attack, are among those killed in the conflict, and <a href="http://cpj.org/" type="external">the Committee to Protect Journalists</a>has reported that at least 17 journalists from both Syria and abroad have died there since November 2011.&#160;</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>More from GlobalPost:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/syria/120821/mika-yamamoto-japanese-journalist-killed-syria" type="external">Mika Yamamoto: Japanese journalist killed in Syria</a></p> | 599,352 |
<p>Investing.com – Belgium stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the , and sectors led shares higher.</p>
<p>At the close in Brussels, the added 0.81%.</p>
<p>The best performers of the session on the were UCB (BR:), which rose 1.80% or 1.15 points to trade at 65.20 at the close. Meanwhile, Ontex Group (BR:) added 1.65% or 0.45 points to end at 27.65 and Aperam SA (AS:) was up 1.61% or 0.68 points to 43.00 in late trade.</p>
<p>The worst performers of the session were Ageas (BR:), which fell 0.01% or 0.005 points to trade at 41.485 at the close. Etablissementen Fr Colruyt NV (BR:) added 0.09% or 0.04 points to end at 43.00 and KBC (BR:) was up 0.39% or 0.280 points to 71.210.</p>
<p>Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Brussels Stock Exchange by 83 to 36 and 10 ended unchanged.</p>
<p>Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.66% or 8.30 to $1265.80 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 0.42% or 0.24 to hit $57.09 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract fell 0.16% or 0.10 to trade at $63.13 a barrel.</p>
<p>EUR/USD was up 0.43% to 1.1799, while EUR/GBP fell 0.17% to 0.8808.</p>
<p>The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.37% at 93.12.</p>
<p />
<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | Belgium stocks higher at close of trade; BEL 20 up 0.81% | false | https://newsline.com/belgium-stocks-higher-at-close-of-trade-bel-20-up-0-81/ | 2017-12-18 | 1right-center
| Belgium stocks higher at close of trade; BEL 20 up 0.81%
<p>Investing.com – Belgium stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the , and sectors led shares higher.</p>
<p>At the close in Brussels, the added 0.81%.</p>
<p>The best performers of the session on the were UCB (BR:), which rose 1.80% or 1.15 points to trade at 65.20 at the close. Meanwhile, Ontex Group (BR:) added 1.65% or 0.45 points to end at 27.65 and Aperam SA (AS:) was up 1.61% or 0.68 points to 43.00 in late trade.</p>
<p>The worst performers of the session were Ageas (BR:), which fell 0.01% or 0.005 points to trade at 41.485 at the close. Etablissementen Fr Colruyt NV (BR:) added 0.09% or 0.04 points to end at 43.00 and KBC (BR:) was up 0.39% or 0.280 points to 71.210.</p>
<p>Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Brussels Stock Exchange by 83 to 36 and 10 ended unchanged.</p>
<p>Gold Futures for February delivery was up 0.66% or 8.30 to $1265.80 a troy ounce. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 0.42% or 0.24 to hit $57.09 a barrel, while the February Brent oil contract fell 0.16% or 0.10 to trade at $63.13 a barrel.</p>
<p>EUR/USD was up 0.43% to 1.1799, while EUR/GBP fell 0.17% to 0.8808.</p>
<p>The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.37% at 93.12.</p>
<p />
<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | 599,353 |
<p />
<p>Pipeline giant Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) could be positioning itself to offer retirees sustainable income by emerging much stronger from the problems that originally forced it to cut its dividend in late 2015. It might seem crazy to consider a company whose most recent dividend move was a 75% cut as being capable of offering sustainable income, but Kinder Morgan just might be able to pull it off.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The reason is simple: Unlike many companies forced by poor operating results to slash their dividends, Kinder Morgan was forced to make the cut by its balance sheet, rather than its operations. After Kinder Morgan acted as something of a white night to bail out the struggling Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America, Moody's threatened to downgrade its debt to junk status because of its increased leverage. That set off the chain of events that led to Kinder Morgan's dividend cut to protect its debt rating.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>By cutting its dividend, Kinder Morgan freed up billions in cash flow. It took those billions and put them toward shoring up its balance sheetand internally funding many of its expansionplans. With its shored-up balance sheet, Kinder Morgan is no longer considered at risk of a downgrade to junk status by Moody's.That's a huge win that maintains Kinder Morgan's access to investment-grade borrowing for future expansion plans or for refinancing existing debts.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Since Kinder Morgan was also able to fund a portion of its expansion plan from its existing cash flows, as those expansion plans come online, they will generate more cash for the company. That additional cash represents money that Kinder Morgan can either choose to reinvest in its business (to generate even more cash) or to pay out to its shareholders in the form of increasing dividends. And on that front, Kinder Morgan has already indicated that it hopes to be able to increase its dividend in 2018.</p>
<p>While there are no guarantees until a dividend is declared, Kinder Morgan's history of increasing dividends before that late 2015 cut adds a reason to believe it may be able to make it happen. In addition, the company's CEO, Stephen Kean, receives a $1 salary, continuing the tradition of company founder Rich Kinder. That salary better aligns the CEO's compensation with shareholders, as it makes dividend income a significant portion of his take-home and gives him an incentive to increase dividends.</p>
<p>Underlying all of that cash flow is a company that essentially operates as an energy tollbooth. 91% of its cash flows come from fee-based services -- such as energy transportation. An additional 6% comes from hedged businesses, leaving a mere 3% exposed to commodity price fluctuations. Virtually no matter what happens to energy prices, Kinder Morgan would still collect its fees for moving that energy around.</p>
<p>In theory, of course, the bankruptcy of enough energy producers could cause oil and natural gas to stop flowing through its pipelines, or force a renegotiation of transportation fees. Even then, as long as there's demand for energy in places far away from where it's produced, that energy has to move to get where it's needed. An already-existing pipeline is typically a relatively low-cost way to move that energy from supply to demand.</p>
<p>It's that energy tollbooth-style operation that should give investors confidence that the company's dividend should be sustainable at current levels. If Kinder Morgan does resume increasing its dividends, a significant level of increases would also be covered by its tollbooth-like operations.</p>
<p>Still, investors have reason to be nervous -- especially investors who rely on their stocks for a significant portion of their incomes. The last change to Kinder Morgan's dividend was a 75% cut back in late 2015, which sent its shares tumbling. Investors who held its shares for income then not only saw their incomes slashed, but they also saw their capital shrink, making it problematic to try to replace that income elsewhere.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, what matters to today's investors is the future, not the past. Kinder Morgan's stronger balance sheet, still strong tollbooth-style operations, and management team with an incentive to sustainably increase its dividend all point to a potential for sustainable income well into the future. Investors who can look past its late 2015 stumble have the opportunity to pay a reasonable price for today's dividend income and have a very real chance at seeing increases to that income in the future.</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. <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-social-security?aid=8727&amp;source=irreditxt0000002&amp;ftm_cam=ryr-ss-intro-report&amp;ftm_pit=3186&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFBigFrog/info.aspx" type="external">Chuck Saletta Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Kinder Morgan and has the following open options positions in it: Synthetic Long Jan 2018 @ $17.50, Short Strangle June 2017 @ $20/$24. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Kinder Morgan. 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> | This Pipeline Giant Could Offer Retirees Sustainable Income | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/04/24/this-pipeline-giant-could-offer-retirees-sustainable-income.html | 2017-04-24 | 0right
| This Pipeline Giant Could Offer Retirees Sustainable Income
<p />
<p>Pipeline giant Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) could be positioning itself to offer retirees sustainable income by emerging much stronger from the problems that originally forced it to cut its dividend in late 2015. It might seem crazy to consider a company whose most recent dividend move was a 75% cut as being capable of offering sustainable income, but Kinder Morgan just might be able to pull it off.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>The reason is simple: Unlike many companies forced by poor operating results to slash their dividends, Kinder Morgan was forced to make the cut by its balance sheet, rather than its operations. After Kinder Morgan acted as something of a white night to bail out the struggling Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America, Moody's threatened to downgrade its debt to junk status because of its increased leverage. That set off the chain of events that led to Kinder Morgan's dividend cut to protect its debt rating.</p>
<p>Image source: Getty Images.</p>
<p>By cutting its dividend, Kinder Morgan freed up billions in cash flow. It took those billions and put them toward shoring up its balance sheetand internally funding many of its expansionplans. With its shored-up balance sheet, Kinder Morgan is no longer considered at risk of a downgrade to junk status by Moody's.That's a huge win that maintains Kinder Morgan's access to investment-grade borrowing for future expansion plans or for refinancing existing debts.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Since Kinder Morgan was also able to fund a portion of its expansion plan from its existing cash flows, as those expansion plans come online, they will generate more cash for the company. That additional cash represents money that Kinder Morgan can either choose to reinvest in its business (to generate even more cash) or to pay out to its shareholders in the form of increasing dividends. And on that front, Kinder Morgan has already indicated that it hopes to be able to increase its dividend in 2018.</p>
<p>While there are no guarantees until a dividend is declared, Kinder Morgan's history of increasing dividends before that late 2015 cut adds a reason to believe it may be able to make it happen. In addition, the company's CEO, Stephen Kean, receives a $1 salary, continuing the tradition of company founder Rich Kinder. That salary better aligns the CEO's compensation with shareholders, as it makes dividend income a significant portion of his take-home and gives him an incentive to increase dividends.</p>
<p>Underlying all of that cash flow is a company that essentially operates as an energy tollbooth. 91% of its cash flows come from fee-based services -- such as energy transportation. An additional 6% comes from hedged businesses, leaving a mere 3% exposed to commodity price fluctuations. Virtually no matter what happens to energy prices, Kinder Morgan would still collect its fees for moving that energy around.</p>
<p>In theory, of course, the bankruptcy of enough energy producers could cause oil and natural gas to stop flowing through its pipelines, or force a renegotiation of transportation fees. Even then, as long as there's demand for energy in places far away from where it's produced, that energy has to move to get where it's needed. An already-existing pipeline is typically a relatively low-cost way to move that energy from supply to demand.</p>
<p>It's that energy tollbooth-style operation that should give investors confidence that the company's dividend should be sustainable at current levels. If Kinder Morgan does resume increasing its dividends, a significant level of increases would also be covered by its tollbooth-like operations.</p>
<p>Still, investors have reason to be nervous -- especially investors who rely on their stocks for a significant portion of their incomes. The last change to Kinder Morgan's dividend was a 75% cut back in late 2015, which sent its shares tumbling. Investors who held its shares for income then not only saw their incomes slashed, but they also saw their capital shrink, making it problematic to try to replace that income elsewhere.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, what matters to today's investors is the future, not the past. Kinder Morgan's stronger balance sheet, still strong tollbooth-style operations, and management team with an incentive to sustainably increase its dividend all point to a potential for sustainable income well into the future. Investors who can look past its late 2015 stumble have the opportunity to pay a reasonable price for today's dividend income and have a very real chance at seeing increases to that income in the future.</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. <a href="http://www.fool.com/mms/mark/ecap-foolcom-social-security?aid=8727&amp;source=irreditxt0000002&amp;ftm_cam=ryr-ss-intro-report&amp;ftm_pit=3186&amp;ftm_veh=article_pitch&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Simply click here to discover how to learn more about these strategies Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/TMFBigFrog/info.aspx" type="external">Chuck Saletta Opens a New Window.</a> owns shares of Kinder Morgan and has the following open options positions in it: Synthetic Long Jan 2018 @ $17.50, Short Strangle June 2017 @ $20/$24. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Kinder Morgan. 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> | 599,354 |
<p>Nancy Pelosi is to be congratulated for her backing of John Murtha for the position of House majority leader. To be sure, this was partly payback to a political ally of the speaker-designate. Far more important, however, it was the first installment on a huge debt owed to the voters who swept the Democratic Party into control of both houses of Congress, based primarily on their frustration over the dismal war in Iraq.</p>
<p>Because of his credentials as a highly decorated Marine veteran and stalwart Pentagon supporter, U.S. Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) was more effective than any other member of Congress in crystallizing the changing American position on Iraq when he dramatically wrote last year, “It is time to bring them home.” Not intimidated by the president’s “cut-and-run” smears, he said what most Americans have come to believe: The war is not “winnable” and it is time — now, not in 10 years — to let Iraqis make their own history and to get American troops out of the line of fire.</p>
<p>By contrast, his opponent for the House leadership position, U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), disagrees with 60 percent of the voters in continuing to support President Bush in this ever-deepening disaster. As recently as Monday, Hoyer continued to hold an allegedly moderate position that is as divorced from reality as the disgraced former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld: “You can transfer authority to the Iraqis … but we need to do so in a way, hopefully, that will not create greater carnage,” he told MSNBC-TV.</p>
<p>What gibberish. In fact, as realists from all sides of the political spectrum, including the president’s father, argued before the war started, taking Baghdad was inevitably going to stoke the always smoldering nationalist and religious fires of the Middle East that now engulf Iraq with apocalyptic fury. The toll on Tuesday alone: Scores of scholars were kidnapped from the Education Ministry in a plot reportedly aided by policemen, while 82 others were killed or found dead from clashes, murders and bombings around the country.</p>
<p />
<p>What an insult it would be to voters to place a continued cheerleader for the war in the No. 2 spot in the House. To reject the basically conservative Murtha also would be to reject the votes of independents and Republicans who broke with Bush on the war.</p>
<p>“Your courageous leadership … changed the national debate and helped make Iraq the central issue of this historic election,” Pelosi told Murtha in offering her endorsement. “It was surely a dark day for the Bush administration when you spoke truth to power.”</p>
<p>Yes, and he did so at a time when Hoyer, and all too many Democrats in Congress, still supinely were accepting or supporting the administration’s obsessive insistence that occupying Iraq is the best way to prevent terror attacks. The pro-war wing of the Democratic Party — which, sadly, still includes Sen. Joe Lieberman, who is threatening to blackmail Senate Democrats on the issue — is yet clinging to the neoconservative fantasy of a democratic, Israel-friendly Iraq that can serve indefinitely as a giant base for U.S. troops.</p>
<p>In service to that quixotic quest, they will continue to stubbornly back Bush in his efforts to prolong the war until the end of his term, while pretending to check out the alternatives. Unlike the gruff Murtha, they will quibble about “redeployment” inside Iraq, creating new “benchmarks,” “increased oversight,” and even that old Bush chestnut, “we will stand down as they stand up.”</p>
<p>All of which is just rearranging the proverbial deck chairs on the Titanic; the U.S. presence is helping nobody in Iraq. Clarity of purpose in getting out of Iraq is all important, which is why the war’s supporters are so desperate to smear forthright critics such as Murtha. Witness Dick Morris joining conservative commentator Sean Hannity in blasting Pelosi for backing Murtha: “He’s a leftist, he’s a cheerleader for MoveOn.org, and she could have chosen a centrist,” Morris said on Fox News. “Instead, she chose the most left guy she could find.”</p>
<p>Ridiculous. Murtha, a leftist? Maybe on Iraq, but his record on everything from abortion to gun control to Pentagon budgets makes him an old-school conservative Democrat in this country, as centrist as they come. Of course, pollster operative Morris knows this full well, because it was precisely why Murtha’s call for withdrawal was such a political earthquake.</p>
<p>Pelosi, in supporting Murtha, rejected the path of opportunism that has so hobbled the Democratic Party in recent decades. If the Democrats fail to keep faith with the voters on the war, they can forget gaining back the White House in 2008, and it would be a rebuke much deserved.</p> | Robert Scheer: Murtha's No Lefty, But He's Right | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/robert-scheer-murthas-no-lefty-but-hes-right/ | 2006-11-15 | 4left
| Robert Scheer: Murtha's No Lefty, But He's Right
<p>Nancy Pelosi is to be congratulated for her backing of John Murtha for the position of House majority leader. To be sure, this was partly payback to a political ally of the speaker-designate. Far more important, however, it was the first installment on a huge debt owed to the voters who swept the Democratic Party into control of both houses of Congress, based primarily on their frustration over the dismal war in Iraq.</p>
<p>Because of his credentials as a highly decorated Marine veteran and stalwart Pentagon supporter, U.S. Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) was more effective than any other member of Congress in crystallizing the changing American position on Iraq when he dramatically wrote last year, “It is time to bring them home.” Not intimidated by the president’s “cut-and-run” smears, he said what most Americans have come to believe: The war is not “winnable” and it is time — now, not in 10 years — to let Iraqis make their own history and to get American troops out of the line of fire.</p>
<p>By contrast, his opponent for the House leadership position, U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), disagrees with 60 percent of the voters in continuing to support President Bush in this ever-deepening disaster. As recently as Monday, Hoyer continued to hold an allegedly moderate position that is as divorced from reality as the disgraced former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld: “You can transfer authority to the Iraqis … but we need to do so in a way, hopefully, that will not create greater carnage,” he told MSNBC-TV.</p>
<p>What gibberish. In fact, as realists from all sides of the political spectrum, including the president’s father, argued before the war started, taking Baghdad was inevitably going to stoke the always smoldering nationalist and religious fires of the Middle East that now engulf Iraq with apocalyptic fury. The toll on Tuesday alone: Scores of scholars were kidnapped from the Education Ministry in a plot reportedly aided by policemen, while 82 others were killed or found dead from clashes, murders and bombings around the country.</p>
<p />
<p>What an insult it would be to voters to place a continued cheerleader for the war in the No. 2 spot in the House. To reject the basically conservative Murtha also would be to reject the votes of independents and Republicans who broke with Bush on the war.</p>
<p>“Your courageous leadership … changed the national debate and helped make Iraq the central issue of this historic election,” Pelosi told Murtha in offering her endorsement. “It was surely a dark day for the Bush administration when you spoke truth to power.”</p>
<p>Yes, and he did so at a time when Hoyer, and all too many Democrats in Congress, still supinely were accepting or supporting the administration’s obsessive insistence that occupying Iraq is the best way to prevent terror attacks. The pro-war wing of the Democratic Party — which, sadly, still includes Sen. Joe Lieberman, who is threatening to blackmail Senate Democrats on the issue — is yet clinging to the neoconservative fantasy of a democratic, Israel-friendly Iraq that can serve indefinitely as a giant base for U.S. troops.</p>
<p>In service to that quixotic quest, they will continue to stubbornly back Bush in his efforts to prolong the war until the end of his term, while pretending to check out the alternatives. Unlike the gruff Murtha, they will quibble about “redeployment” inside Iraq, creating new “benchmarks,” “increased oversight,” and even that old Bush chestnut, “we will stand down as they stand up.”</p>
<p>All of which is just rearranging the proverbial deck chairs on the Titanic; the U.S. presence is helping nobody in Iraq. Clarity of purpose in getting out of Iraq is all important, which is why the war’s supporters are so desperate to smear forthright critics such as Murtha. Witness Dick Morris joining conservative commentator Sean Hannity in blasting Pelosi for backing Murtha: “He’s a leftist, he’s a cheerleader for MoveOn.org, and she could have chosen a centrist,” Morris said on Fox News. “Instead, she chose the most left guy she could find.”</p>
<p>Ridiculous. Murtha, a leftist? Maybe on Iraq, but his record on everything from abortion to gun control to Pentagon budgets makes him an old-school conservative Democrat in this country, as centrist as they come. Of course, pollster operative Morris knows this full well, because it was precisely why Murtha’s call for withdrawal was such a political earthquake.</p>
<p>Pelosi, in supporting Murtha, rejected the path of opportunism that has so hobbled the Democratic Party in recent decades. If the Democrats fail to keep faith with the voters on the war, they can forget gaining back the White House in 2008, and it would be a rebuke much deserved.</p> | 599,355 |
<p>Donald Trump got schlonged in Iowa by Ted Cruz, but apparently it’s Ted Cruz who’s the “pussy,” according to Trump. At a rally in New Hampshire, Trump ripped into Cruz over his supposed unwillingness to endorse waterboarding against terrorists – even though Cruz said he would use such techniques if necessary. That wasn’t good enough for Trump, who said, “Honestly, I thought he’d say, ‘absolutely’ – and he didn’t.” A woman in the crowd called something out; nobody could hear her. Trump said, “She just said a terrible thing,” then beckoned to her to repeat it. “You know what she said? Shout it out, ‘cause I don’t want to,” Trump explained. “OK, you’re not allowed to say – and I never expect to hear that from you again – she said…he’s a pussy.” Then he joked that she had said a “terrible, terrible thing.”</p>
<p>Trump’s supporters immediately came out of the woodwork to explain that Trump hadn’t actually called Trump a “pussy,” he’d just repeated someone in the audience. Which is ridiculous, given that he deliberately picked her comment for amplification. And sure enough, Trump then undercut his wildly-spinning backers by telling MSNBC’s Morning Joe, “I was just repeating what she said so everyone could hear. I was doing everybody a favor. I got a standing ovation [and] the place went wild. You’re talking about close to 5,000 people. It was a great moment. The world is politically correct.”</p>
<p>The Trump campaign is a total excrement sandwich. He says some things that are valuable – opening up conversations about illegal immigration and the nature of foreign Islamic extremism, for example – but he says just as many things that are vile. Then he covers that sandwich with the sauce of anti-political correctness, and his supporters eagerly gobble it down.</p>
<p>Now, I hate political correctness as much as anyone alive. I’m the sort of fellow who goes on national television and refuses to acknowledge politically correct garbage about men being women; I’m the kind of guy who tweets the truth about the circumstances of Trayvon Martin’s death when leftists decide to deify him as a racial martyr; I cut videos about the actual percentage of Muslims on the planet who believe in extremism. I believe political correctness gets Americans killed.</p>
<p>But calling a fellow Republican a “pussy” for no reason -- and it is no reason -- isn’t politically incorrect. It’s just dumb and vulgar. And that’s Trump all over. Trump is the sort of fellow who wrote:</p>
<p>Oftentimes when I was sleeping with one of the top women in the world I would say to myself, thinking about me as a boy from Queens, ‘Can you believe what I am getting?’</p>
<p>And this:</p>
<p>If I told the real stories of my experiences with women, often seemingly very happily married and important women, this book would be a guaranteed best-seller (which it will be anyway!). I’d love to tell all, using names and places, but I just don’t think it’s right.</p>
<p>And this:</p>
<p>When a man leaves a woman, especially when it was perceived that he has left for a piece of ass—a good one!— there are 50 percent of the population who will love the woman who was left.</p>
<p>And this:</p>
<p>I’ve said if Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.</p>
<p>And this, about women: “You have to treat ‘em like shit.”</p>
<p>And this:</p>
<p>You know, it really doesn’t matter what they write as long as you’ve got a young and beautiful piece of ass.</p>
<p>This isn't politically incorrect. It's just called being a pig.</p>
<p>Trump can say whatever he wants, of course. And he will. But please, stop pretending that everything he says is for the purpose of breaking the stranglehold of political correctness. It isn't. Sometimes, he just says stuff to say stuff – and because he’s a vulgarian, some of that stuff is vulgar. It's one thing to throw the kitchen sink at PC. It's another to swathe your vulgarity in the blanket of anti-PC. Fighting PC on behalf of honor is worthwhile. Being gross while pretending that you're fighting PC merely drags the anti-PC through the mud.</p> | Trump Says He Called Cruz a ‘Pussy’ To Fight Political Correctness. That's a Lie. He’s Just Vulgar. | true | https://dailywire.com/news/3243/trump-explains-he-called-cruz-pussy-fight-ben-shapiro | 2016-02-09 | 0right
| Trump Says He Called Cruz a ‘Pussy’ To Fight Political Correctness. That's a Lie. He’s Just Vulgar.
<p>Donald Trump got schlonged in Iowa by Ted Cruz, but apparently it’s Ted Cruz who’s the “pussy,” according to Trump. At a rally in New Hampshire, Trump ripped into Cruz over his supposed unwillingness to endorse waterboarding against terrorists – even though Cruz said he would use such techniques if necessary. That wasn’t good enough for Trump, who said, “Honestly, I thought he’d say, ‘absolutely’ – and he didn’t.” A woman in the crowd called something out; nobody could hear her. Trump said, “She just said a terrible thing,” then beckoned to her to repeat it. “You know what she said? Shout it out, ‘cause I don’t want to,” Trump explained. “OK, you’re not allowed to say – and I never expect to hear that from you again – she said…he’s a pussy.” Then he joked that she had said a “terrible, terrible thing.”</p>
<p>Trump’s supporters immediately came out of the woodwork to explain that Trump hadn’t actually called Trump a “pussy,” he’d just repeated someone in the audience. Which is ridiculous, given that he deliberately picked her comment for amplification. And sure enough, Trump then undercut his wildly-spinning backers by telling MSNBC’s Morning Joe, “I was just repeating what she said so everyone could hear. I was doing everybody a favor. I got a standing ovation [and] the place went wild. You’re talking about close to 5,000 people. It was a great moment. The world is politically correct.”</p>
<p>The Trump campaign is a total excrement sandwich. He says some things that are valuable – opening up conversations about illegal immigration and the nature of foreign Islamic extremism, for example – but he says just as many things that are vile. Then he covers that sandwich with the sauce of anti-political correctness, and his supporters eagerly gobble it down.</p>
<p>Now, I hate political correctness as much as anyone alive. I’m the sort of fellow who goes on national television and refuses to acknowledge politically correct garbage about men being women; I’m the kind of guy who tweets the truth about the circumstances of Trayvon Martin’s death when leftists decide to deify him as a racial martyr; I cut videos about the actual percentage of Muslims on the planet who believe in extremism. I believe political correctness gets Americans killed.</p>
<p>But calling a fellow Republican a “pussy” for no reason -- and it is no reason -- isn’t politically incorrect. It’s just dumb and vulgar. And that’s Trump all over. Trump is the sort of fellow who wrote:</p>
<p>Oftentimes when I was sleeping with one of the top women in the world I would say to myself, thinking about me as a boy from Queens, ‘Can you believe what I am getting?’</p>
<p>And this:</p>
<p>If I told the real stories of my experiences with women, often seemingly very happily married and important women, this book would be a guaranteed best-seller (which it will be anyway!). I’d love to tell all, using names and places, but I just don’t think it’s right.</p>
<p>And this:</p>
<p>When a man leaves a woman, especially when it was perceived that he has left for a piece of ass—a good one!— there are 50 percent of the population who will love the woman who was left.</p>
<p>And this:</p>
<p>I’ve said if Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.</p>
<p>And this, about women: “You have to treat ‘em like shit.”</p>
<p>And this:</p>
<p>You know, it really doesn’t matter what they write as long as you’ve got a young and beautiful piece of ass.</p>
<p>This isn't politically incorrect. It's just called being a pig.</p>
<p>Trump can say whatever he wants, of course. And he will. But please, stop pretending that everything he says is for the purpose of breaking the stranglehold of political correctness. It isn't. Sometimes, he just says stuff to say stuff – and because he’s a vulgarian, some of that stuff is vulgar. It's one thing to throw the kitchen sink at PC. It's another to swathe your vulgarity in the blanket of anti-PC. Fighting PC on behalf of honor is worthwhile. Being gross while pretending that you're fighting PC merely drags the anti-PC through the mud.</p> | 599,356 |
<p>Photo Credit: Making Change at Walmart's Facebook page</p>
<p>Last year, when Walmart workers in Ohio released a photo (below) of food donation bins in their break room, the corporation was faced with fierce backlash. A sign on the bins read: “Please donate food items here so Associates in need can enjoy Thanksgiving dinner.” The hypocrisy of such a large and profitable corporation asking its low-wage workers to help feed its other low-wage workers rightfully sparked outrage.&#160;</p>
<p />
<p>Despite last year’s criticism, Walmart has brought the food bins back (pictured below), this time in Oklahoma. A press release from <a href="//makingchangeatwalmart.org/" type="external">Making Change at Walmart</a>’s public consultants stated that in addition: “A worker from Indiana reports that&#160;managers there are also organizing bake sales, encouraging workers to support their co-workers with food donations.”</p>
<p />
<p>The news comes on the heels of a new <a href="//www.eatdrinkpolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/Walmarts_Hunger_Games_Report.pdf" type="external">report</a> by Eat Drink Politics, a food industry watchdog consulting firm, which found that Walmart is a major contributor to the country’s hunger crisis. &#160;</p>
<p>“National organizations and experts working to reduce hunger consistently cite low wages and part-time work as the most common root causes of hunger – both major problems for workers at Walmart,” the report states. “Walmart and the Waltons can have a direct impact in fighting hunger for the 1.3 million Americans that it employs.”</p>
<p>Walmart’s food drives show that the corporation knows that many of its workers are in need. But instead of giving workers fair wages and hours, the corporation would rather other people take care of its workers. In the case of the food drive, Walmart is relying on some of its workers paid poverty wages to help its other workers paid poverty wages, which is bad enough. But it also makes taxpayers bear the brunt of their low pay. An Americans for Tax Fairness <a href="//www.americansfortaxfairness.org/files/Walmart-on-Tax-Day-Americans-for-Tax-Fairness-1.pdf" type="external">report</a> released in April, found that Americans are paying an estimated $6.2 billion annually for Walmart workers’ food-stamps, health care and other taxpayer-funded programs. Meanwhile, the corporation brings in $16 billion in profits each year.</p>
<p>Next Friday, Walmart workers have promised to stage the largest Black Friday strikes in history to demand $15 an hour and provide full-time work.&#160; It is estimated that workers will hold more than 1,600 protests nationwide.&#160;</p>
<p>Alyssa Figueroa is an associate editor at AlterNet.&#160; <a href="https://twitter.com/alyssa_fig" type="external">Follow @alyssa_fig</a></p> | Walmart Is Holding Food Drives Again to Urge Workers to Help Feed Their Co-Workers | true | http://alternet.org/labor/walmart-holding-food-drives-again-urge-workers-help-feed-their-co-workers | 2014-11-20 | 4left
| Walmart Is Holding Food Drives Again to Urge Workers to Help Feed Their Co-Workers
<p>Photo Credit: Making Change at Walmart's Facebook page</p>
<p>Last year, when Walmart workers in Ohio released a photo (below) of food donation bins in their break room, the corporation was faced with fierce backlash. A sign on the bins read: “Please donate food items here so Associates in need can enjoy Thanksgiving dinner.” The hypocrisy of such a large and profitable corporation asking its low-wage workers to help feed its other low-wage workers rightfully sparked outrage.&#160;</p>
<p />
<p>Despite last year’s criticism, Walmart has brought the food bins back (pictured below), this time in Oklahoma. A press release from <a href="//makingchangeatwalmart.org/" type="external">Making Change at Walmart</a>’s public consultants stated that in addition: “A worker from Indiana reports that&#160;managers there are also organizing bake sales, encouraging workers to support their co-workers with food donations.”</p>
<p />
<p>The news comes on the heels of a new <a href="//www.eatdrinkpolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/Walmarts_Hunger_Games_Report.pdf" type="external">report</a> by Eat Drink Politics, a food industry watchdog consulting firm, which found that Walmart is a major contributor to the country’s hunger crisis. &#160;</p>
<p>“National organizations and experts working to reduce hunger consistently cite low wages and part-time work as the most common root causes of hunger – both major problems for workers at Walmart,” the report states. “Walmart and the Waltons can have a direct impact in fighting hunger for the 1.3 million Americans that it employs.”</p>
<p>Walmart’s food drives show that the corporation knows that many of its workers are in need. But instead of giving workers fair wages and hours, the corporation would rather other people take care of its workers. In the case of the food drive, Walmart is relying on some of its workers paid poverty wages to help its other workers paid poverty wages, which is bad enough. But it also makes taxpayers bear the brunt of their low pay. An Americans for Tax Fairness <a href="//www.americansfortaxfairness.org/files/Walmart-on-Tax-Day-Americans-for-Tax-Fairness-1.pdf" type="external">report</a> released in April, found that Americans are paying an estimated $6.2 billion annually for Walmart workers’ food-stamps, health care and other taxpayer-funded programs. Meanwhile, the corporation brings in $16 billion in profits each year.</p>
<p>Next Friday, Walmart workers have promised to stage the largest Black Friday strikes in history to demand $15 an hour and provide full-time work.&#160; It is estimated that workers will hold more than 1,600 protests nationwide.&#160;</p>
<p>Alyssa Figueroa is an associate editor at AlterNet.&#160; <a href="https://twitter.com/alyssa_fig" type="external">Follow @alyssa_fig</a></p> | 599,357 |
<p>The runway's hottest window dressings.</p>
<p>A sleeping beauty spins threads of wool into thick balls of yarn and pins them to her head like stuffed sausages at</p>
<p>Sculpts legs and bends feet like Ikea bentwood.</p>
<p>A David Lynch film you can wear; makes for a great ice breaker at a party.</p>
<p>Stiff neck not from the hand of a madman, but of a genius.</p>
<p>Putting the punk in place with pink frosting.</p>
<p>A Gothic hat, with fava beans and a nice Chianti.</p>
<p>A woman you encounter in the dark alley of your psyche when those Botox injections start flowing up the bloodstream and to your brain.</p>
<p>Hopi potters were the original graphic designers.</p>
<p>Watch out for your kneecaps!</p>
<p>Fractured and shattered like a skeleton made of glass.</p> | Strange Fall Fashion | true | https://thedailybeast.com/strange-fall-fashion | 2018-10-05 | 4left
| Strange Fall Fashion
<p>The runway's hottest window dressings.</p>
<p>A sleeping beauty spins threads of wool into thick balls of yarn and pins them to her head like stuffed sausages at</p>
<p>Sculpts legs and bends feet like Ikea bentwood.</p>
<p>A David Lynch film you can wear; makes for a great ice breaker at a party.</p>
<p>Stiff neck not from the hand of a madman, but of a genius.</p>
<p>Putting the punk in place with pink frosting.</p>
<p>A Gothic hat, with fava beans and a nice Chianti.</p>
<p>A woman you encounter in the dark alley of your psyche when those Botox injections start flowing up the bloodstream and to your brain.</p>
<p>Hopi potters were the original graphic designers.</p>
<p>Watch out for your kneecaps!</p>
<p>Fractured and shattered like a skeleton made of glass.</p> | 599,358 |
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Xiaoning" type="external">Wang Xiaoning</a>, the Chinese dissident jailed for 10 years after he was convicted of state subversion on information provided by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahoo" type="external">US Internet giant Yahoo</a>, has been released, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-19432800" type="external">the BBC reported today.</a></p>
<p>The 62-year-old was freed from a Beijing prison in the early hours of today.</p>
<p>Activist group <a href="http://www.hrichina.org/content/6277" type="external">Human Right in China</a> confirmed Wang had been released.</p>
<p>His wife, Yu Ling, <a href="http://nz.sports.yahoo.com/news/china-frees-yahoo-dissident-10-032950756.html" type="external">told the Agence France-Presse</a>that Wang was "in a good mental and physical state."</p>
<p>Wang was detained in 2002 after distributing statements online via email and Yahoo forums calling for democratic reform in China and criticizing one-party rule.</p>
<p>He was later convicted after prosecutors presented information to the court that they had received from Yahoo identifying Wang as the author of the statements.</p>
<p>Yahoo, which drew international condemnation for cooperating with Chinese authorities in the investigation of Wang and other dissidents, released a statement today.</p>
<p>The statement did not mention Wang, but it called on democratic governments around the world to lobby for the release of individuals jailed for expressing political opinions.</p>
<p>"Yahoo! condemns political suppression wherever and however it occurs, and we are committed to efforts like the Global Network Initiative that bring together companies, human rights groups and other stakeholders to actively promote free expression and privacy on the Internet," the statement said, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/01/world/asia/wang-xiaoning-chinese-dissident-in-yahoo-case-freed.html?_r=0" type="external">according to the New York Times.</a></p>
<p>More from GlobalPost:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/china/120725/china-human-rights-beijing-obama-chinese-dissidents" type="external">US slams Beijing over "deteriorating" human rights conditions in China</a></p>
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| Wang Xiaoning, China dissident jailed on Yahoo information, freed
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Xiaoning" type="external">Wang Xiaoning</a>, the Chinese dissident jailed for 10 years after he was convicted of state subversion on information provided by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahoo" type="external">US Internet giant Yahoo</a>, has been released, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-19432800" type="external">the BBC reported today.</a></p>
<p>The 62-year-old was freed from a Beijing prison in the early hours of today.</p>
<p>Activist group <a href="http://www.hrichina.org/content/6277" type="external">Human Right in China</a> confirmed Wang had been released.</p>
<p>His wife, Yu Ling, <a href="http://nz.sports.yahoo.com/news/china-frees-yahoo-dissident-10-032950756.html" type="external">told the Agence France-Presse</a>that Wang was "in a good mental and physical state."</p>
<p>Wang was detained in 2002 after distributing statements online via email and Yahoo forums calling for democratic reform in China and criticizing one-party rule.</p>
<p>He was later convicted after prosecutors presented information to the court that they had received from Yahoo identifying Wang as the author of the statements.</p>
<p>Yahoo, which drew international condemnation for cooperating with Chinese authorities in the investigation of Wang and other dissidents, released a statement today.</p>
<p>The statement did not mention Wang, but it called on democratic governments around the world to lobby for the release of individuals jailed for expressing political opinions.</p>
<p>"Yahoo! condemns political suppression wherever and however it occurs, and we are committed to efforts like the Global Network Initiative that bring together companies, human rights groups and other stakeholders to actively promote free expression and privacy on the Internet," the statement said, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/01/world/asia/wang-xiaoning-chinese-dissident-in-yahoo-case-freed.html?_r=0" type="external">according to the New York Times.</a></p>
<p>More from GlobalPost:&#160; <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/china/120725/china-human-rights-beijing-obama-chinese-dissidents" type="external">US slams Beijing over "deteriorating" human rights conditions in China</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>#next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }</p>
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<p>WASHINGTON — Great president or greatest?</p>
<p>That appeared to be the question at President Donald Trump’s first meeting of his full Cabinet on Monday, as top aides took turns piling praise on the boss.</p>
<p>After Trump extolled the achievements of his young administration, asserting that he had accomplished more than any president in his first six months –with “few exceptions,” like President Franklin Delano Roosevelt — his Cabinet added on more accolades.</p>
<p>Vice President Mike Pence declared his job was “the greatest privilege of my life.”</p>
<p>Attorney General Jeff Sessions told Trump law enforcement officers “are so thrilled that we have a new idea that we’re going to support them.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Energy Secretary Rick Perry gave his “hats off” to Trump for taking a stand against the Paris climate accord. And Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross offered thanks “for the opportunity to help fix the trade deficit.”</p>
<p>Perhaps the strongest words came from chief of staff Reince Priebus: “On behalf of the entire senior staff around you, Mr. President, we thank you for the opportunity and the blessing that you’ve given us to serve your agenda.”</p>
<p>The meeting came as the White House struggles to advance its agenda amid the investigations into Russia’s election meddling and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. So far no major legislation has made its way through Congress. The White House has been dogged by reports of infighting and disarray. And the president has repeatedly sought out conflict on social media, distracting from the issues his advisers are trying to promote.</p>
<p>On Twitter, the Senate’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, trolled the president with video of a mock staff meeting in which aides praised Schumer’s hair and his performance on the Sunday talk shows.</p>
<p>Trump this week is highlighting efforts to bring more Americans into the economy by having them start working as apprentices. He also promised a news conference in two weeks to discuss the administration’s efforts to combat the Islamic State.</p> | Who loves him more? Trump’s cabinet members gush at meeting | false | https://abqjournal.com/1016633/trump-holds-cabinet-meeting-promises-change.html | 2017-06-12 | 2least
| Who loves him more? Trump’s cabinet members gush at meeting
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<p>WASHINGTON — Great president or greatest?</p>
<p>That appeared to be the question at President Donald Trump’s first meeting of his full Cabinet on Monday, as top aides took turns piling praise on the boss.</p>
<p>After Trump extolled the achievements of his young administration, asserting that he had accomplished more than any president in his first six months –with “few exceptions,” like President Franklin Delano Roosevelt — his Cabinet added on more accolades.</p>
<p>Vice President Mike Pence declared his job was “the greatest privilege of my life.”</p>
<p>Attorney General Jeff Sessions told Trump law enforcement officers “are so thrilled that we have a new idea that we’re going to support them.”</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Energy Secretary Rick Perry gave his “hats off” to Trump for taking a stand against the Paris climate accord. And Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross offered thanks “for the opportunity to help fix the trade deficit.”</p>
<p>Perhaps the strongest words came from chief of staff Reince Priebus: “On behalf of the entire senior staff around you, Mr. President, we thank you for the opportunity and the blessing that you’ve given us to serve your agenda.”</p>
<p>The meeting came as the White House struggles to advance its agenda amid the investigations into Russia’s election meddling and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. So far no major legislation has made its way through Congress. The White House has been dogged by reports of infighting and disarray. And the president has repeatedly sought out conflict on social media, distracting from the issues his advisers are trying to promote.</p>
<p>On Twitter, the Senate’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, trolled the president with video of a mock staff meeting in which aides praised Schumer’s hair and his performance on the Sunday talk shows.</p>
<p>Trump this week is highlighting efforts to bring more Americans into the economy by having them start working as apprentices. He also promised a news conference in two weeks to discuss the administration’s efforts to combat the Islamic State.</p> | 599,360 |
<p>I'm sure I don't have to tell you that Roy Moore -- soon to be the junior senator from Alabama -- <a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/alabama-senate-front-runner-roy-moore-child-abuse-murder-up-because-we-have-forgotten-god" type="external">really loves God:</a></p>
<p>Controversial former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore warned that America was falling apart because of things like transgender troops in the military.</p>
<p>“Our foundation has been shaken. Crime, corruption, immorality, abortion, sodomy, sexual perversion sweep our land. When we become one nation under God again, when liberty and justice for all reigns across our land, we will be truly good again,” he said in his first and only one-on-one debate against appointed Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL).</p>
<p>The comments came shortly after he said he wanted to free the country and military from “political correctness and social experimentation like transgender troops in our bathrooms.”</p>
<p>Last week on the campaign trail, there was <a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/alabamas-roy-moore-immorality-abortion-sodomy-sexual-perversion-sweep-our-land" type="external">this:</a></p>
<p>The man most likely to be Alabama’s next senator told his supporters late last week that rape, murder and child abuse are on the rise — and are so because of Americans’ lack of faith....</p>
<p>Moore later read one of his poems — about how America is falling apart.</p>
<p>Some choice lines:</p>
<p>“Babies piled in dumpsters, abortion on demand, Oh, sweet land of liberty, your house is on the sand.”</p>
<p>“We’ve voted in governments that are rotting to the core, Appointing Godless judges who throw reason out the door. Too soft to put a killer in a well deserved tomb, But brave enough to kill that child before he leaves the womb.</p>
<p>You think that God’s not angry, that our land’s a moral slum? How much longer will it be before His judgment comes?”</p>
<p>We've been told that the new right doesn't have much use for the Christian right, but at Breitbart, John Nolte is <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/09/21/nolte-super-trump-roy-moore-making-first-amendment-great-again/" type="external">lavishing praise on Moore:</a></p>
<p>Time and again, I heard people say of Trump, I don’t agree with everything he says, but I’m damn glad he is saying it.</p>
<p>That statement reveals a key part of Trump’s appeal. Even those who were not completely onboard with him policy-wise or with the Birther stuff, they still understood that Trump was freeing our society, breaking the despotic chains of political correctness, making it okay to not whisper....</p>
<p>Which brings me to outsider U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore, who is like a Super Trump in this respect, a place for all that energy to go if you want to continue Making the First Amendment Great Again.</p>
<p>While I may not agree with everything Moore has said or done ... Moore is a walking-talking iconoclast, a swaggering symbol of True Americanism (if you believe “True Americanism” means being allowed to be who you want to be). Moore is a Super Trump in the vanguard against this encroaching fascism that our wannabe oppressors veil as sensitivity and correctness.</p>
<p>How can you not love that this guy <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/roy-moore-disrupts-alabama-senate-race--and-prepares-for-new-level-of-defiance-in-washington/2017/09/21/2a88a4a2-9e38-11e7-9083-fbfddf6804c2_story.html?utm_term=.a61ee9e65696" type="external">said to</a> a left-wing Washington Post reporter, “Sodomy is against the laws of nature”?</p>
<p>Or that he expresses his religious beliefs so unapologetically, “You think that God’s not angry that this land is a moral slum. How much longer will it be before his judgment comes?”</p>
<p>Or that he is basically running <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/roy-moore-disrupts-alabama-senate-race--and-prepares-for-new-level-of-defiance-in-washington/2017/09/21/2a88a4a2-9e38-11e7-9083-fbfddf6804c2_story.html?utm_term=.a61ee9e65696" type="external">on this platform</a>: “We have forgotten the source of our rights” ... “We put ourselves above God. And in so doing, we forgot the basic source of our morality.”</p>
<p>If you want to be a U.S. senator, you are not supposed to say those things.</p>
<p>But he is saying what you are not supposed to say, and whether or not you agree, until Roy Moore attempts to encroach on your beliefs and freedoms, we should all celebrate his strident violation of these tyrannical things we call norms.</p>
<p>So it doesn't matter whether you agree with him on everything (or anything, I suppose) -- he's politically incorrect and that induces liberal tears, so go Roy!</p>
<p>Yes, I know: Steve Bannon has ordered wall-to-wall pro-Moore coverage at Breitbart, and Nolte is just giving the boss what he wants. But still: Nolte called Moore a "Super Trump"! Twice!</p>
<p>Couldn't the religious right's message make a comeback among Breitbart-style alt-rightists? The alt-right wants white Christians to rule America -- isn't that compatible with the Christian right's support for theocracy in America? Many alt-rightists believe in "men's rights," which means they believe most women are evil sluts who ill-advisedly refuse to sleep with them. Isn't the Christian conservative message compatible with at least some of that? Alt-rightists believe that non-whites and non-Christians are gaining power in America in part because of declining white Christian birthrates. Couldn't they find common ground on that with the Christian right? Couldn't they agree that tolerance of abortion, homosexuality, and nontraditional views of gender among white non-conservatives is a big part of that problem?</p>
<p>The religious right politicians with national reputations -- Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum -- don't have much swagger. I wonder whether a cocksure, self-important religious rightist -- a Christian conservative Trump, I guess -- could win over the alt-right.</p>
<p>I hope we never find out.</p>
<p>Crossposted at <a href="http://nomoremister.blogspot.com/2017/09/could-religious-right-win-over-alt-righ.html" type="external">No More Mr. Nice Blog</a></p> | Could The Religious Right Win Over The Alt-Right? | true | http://crooksandliars.com/2017/09/could-religious-right-win-over-alt-right | 2017-09-24 | 4left
| Could The Religious Right Win Over The Alt-Right?
<p>I'm sure I don't have to tell you that Roy Moore -- soon to be the junior senator from Alabama -- <a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/alabama-senate-front-runner-roy-moore-child-abuse-murder-up-because-we-have-forgotten-god" type="external">really loves God:</a></p>
<p>Controversial former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore warned that America was falling apart because of things like transgender troops in the military.</p>
<p>“Our foundation has been shaken. Crime, corruption, immorality, abortion, sodomy, sexual perversion sweep our land. When we become one nation under God again, when liberty and justice for all reigns across our land, we will be truly good again,” he said in his first and only one-on-one debate against appointed Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL).</p>
<p>The comments came shortly after he said he wanted to free the country and military from “political correctness and social experimentation like transgender troops in our bathrooms.”</p>
<p>Last week on the campaign trail, there was <a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/alabamas-roy-moore-immorality-abortion-sodomy-sexual-perversion-sweep-our-land" type="external">this:</a></p>
<p>The man most likely to be Alabama’s next senator told his supporters late last week that rape, murder and child abuse are on the rise — and are so because of Americans’ lack of faith....</p>
<p>Moore later read one of his poems — about how America is falling apart.</p>
<p>Some choice lines:</p>
<p>“Babies piled in dumpsters, abortion on demand, Oh, sweet land of liberty, your house is on the sand.”</p>
<p>“We’ve voted in governments that are rotting to the core, Appointing Godless judges who throw reason out the door. Too soft to put a killer in a well deserved tomb, But brave enough to kill that child before he leaves the womb.</p>
<p>You think that God’s not angry, that our land’s a moral slum? How much longer will it be before His judgment comes?”</p>
<p>We've been told that the new right doesn't have much use for the Christian right, but at Breitbart, John Nolte is <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/09/21/nolte-super-trump-roy-moore-making-first-amendment-great-again/" type="external">lavishing praise on Moore:</a></p>
<p>Time and again, I heard people say of Trump, I don’t agree with everything he says, but I’m damn glad he is saying it.</p>
<p>That statement reveals a key part of Trump’s appeal. Even those who were not completely onboard with him policy-wise or with the Birther stuff, they still understood that Trump was freeing our society, breaking the despotic chains of political correctness, making it okay to not whisper....</p>
<p>Which brings me to outsider U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore, who is like a Super Trump in this respect, a place for all that energy to go if you want to continue Making the First Amendment Great Again.</p>
<p>While I may not agree with everything Moore has said or done ... Moore is a walking-talking iconoclast, a swaggering symbol of True Americanism (if you believe “True Americanism” means being allowed to be who you want to be). Moore is a Super Trump in the vanguard against this encroaching fascism that our wannabe oppressors veil as sensitivity and correctness.</p>
<p>How can you not love that this guy <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/roy-moore-disrupts-alabama-senate-race--and-prepares-for-new-level-of-defiance-in-washington/2017/09/21/2a88a4a2-9e38-11e7-9083-fbfddf6804c2_story.html?utm_term=.a61ee9e65696" type="external">said to</a> a left-wing Washington Post reporter, “Sodomy is against the laws of nature”?</p>
<p>Or that he expresses his religious beliefs so unapologetically, “You think that God’s not angry that this land is a moral slum. How much longer will it be before his judgment comes?”</p>
<p>Or that he is basically running <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/roy-moore-disrupts-alabama-senate-race--and-prepares-for-new-level-of-defiance-in-washington/2017/09/21/2a88a4a2-9e38-11e7-9083-fbfddf6804c2_story.html?utm_term=.a61ee9e65696" type="external">on this platform</a>: “We have forgotten the source of our rights” ... “We put ourselves above God. And in so doing, we forgot the basic source of our morality.”</p>
<p>If you want to be a U.S. senator, you are not supposed to say those things.</p>
<p>But he is saying what you are not supposed to say, and whether or not you agree, until Roy Moore attempts to encroach on your beliefs and freedoms, we should all celebrate his strident violation of these tyrannical things we call norms.</p>
<p>So it doesn't matter whether you agree with him on everything (or anything, I suppose) -- he's politically incorrect and that induces liberal tears, so go Roy!</p>
<p>Yes, I know: Steve Bannon has ordered wall-to-wall pro-Moore coverage at Breitbart, and Nolte is just giving the boss what he wants. But still: Nolte called Moore a "Super Trump"! Twice!</p>
<p>Couldn't the religious right's message make a comeback among Breitbart-style alt-rightists? The alt-right wants white Christians to rule America -- isn't that compatible with the Christian right's support for theocracy in America? Many alt-rightists believe in "men's rights," which means they believe most women are evil sluts who ill-advisedly refuse to sleep with them. Isn't the Christian conservative message compatible with at least some of that? Alt-rightists believe that non-whites and non-Christians are gaining power in America in part because of declining white Christian birthrates. Couldn't they find common ground on that with the Christian right? Couldn't they agree that tolerance of abortion, homosexuality, and nontraditional views of gender among white non-conservatives is a big part of that problem?</p>
<p>The religious right politicians with national reputations -- Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum -- don't have much swagger. I wonder whether a cocksure, self-important religious rightist -- a Christian conservative Trump, I guess -- could win over the alt-right.</p>
<p>I hope we never find out.</p>
<p>Crossposted at <a href="http://nomoremister.blogspot.com/2017/09/could-religious-right-win-over-alt-righ.html" type="external">No More Mr. Nice Blog</a></p> | 599,361 |
<p />
<p>When teaching journalists, I have noticed that they often seem to prefer learning from the mistakes of others, rather than from shining examples of perfection. It's especially true when it comes to Web design and navigation. I run sessions called "wrecking balls" where we tear apart sites -- and the students love them. Until it's their turn to have their work hit by the wrecking ball, of course. Last year, I received a lot of good feedback when I wrote about problems with what is called "usability" in the business.&#160;Below are&#160;some updated&#160;thoughts. But first, let me borrow from my January 2004 column:</p>
<p />
<p>When it comes to Web site usability, the leading authority&#160;in the world is <a href="http://www.useit.com/jakob/" type="external">Jakob Nielsen</a>, whose Nielsen Norman Group in Fremont, Calif., has influenced tens of thousands of site designers. Nielsen's <a href="http://www.useit.com" type="external">useit.com</a>&#160;is a must-visit site for anyone in the Web business and I think more non-techie journalists should know about it.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>Another site that gets right to the point is&#160; <a href="http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/vincent-flanders-biography.html" type="external">Vincent Flanders'</a> <a href="http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/" type="external">WebPagesThatSuck.com</a>&#160;("showing sucky design since 1996") and his daily wrecking ball, <a href="http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/dailysucker/" type="external">Daily Sucker</a>. He has compiled the lessons of last year in <a href="http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/biggest-web-design-mistakes-in-2004.html" type="external">The Biggest Web Design Mistakes of 2004</a>, written with his&#160;unique&#160;style.&#160;An excerpt: "Some mistakes aren't actually design mistakes in the classical sense -- ugly graphics, bad navigation, etc. -- but serious big picture problems like our Number One Mistake of the Year: Believing people care about you and your Web site."You can see the progress in Web design by checking out&#160;Nielsen's previous lists:</p>
<p>You can subscribe to Nielsen's bi-weekly column on usability, Alertbox,&#160;at no cost&#160; <a href="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/" type="external">here</a>.Your turn: send me sites you like at&#160; <a href="" type="external">[email protected]</a>.A WORKSHOP FOR YOU: <a href="http://www.sree.net/teaching/sites.html" type="external">Info about my Columbia weekend workshop on building a personal website (April 2 &amp; 3, 2005)</a>Sree's Links: <a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p /> | Web Design Tips | false | https://poynter.org/news/web-design-tips-0 | 2005-01-24 | 2least
| Web Design Tips
<p />
<p>When teaching journalists, I have noticed that they often seem to prefer learning from the mistakes of others, rather than from shining examples of perfection. It's especially true when it comes to Web design and navigation. I run sessions called "wrecking balls" where we tear apart sites -- and the students love them. Until it's their turn to have their work hit by the wrecking ball, of course. Last year, I received a lot of good feedback when I wrote about problems with what is called "usability" in the business.&#160;Below are&#160;some updated&#160;thoughts. But first, let me borrow from my January 2004 column:</p>
<p />
<p>When it comes to Web site usability, the leading authority&#160;in the world is <a href="http://www.useit.com/jakob/" type="external">Jakob Nielsen</a>, whose Nielsen Norman Group in Fremont, Calif., has influenced tens of thousands of site designers. Nielsen's <a href="http://www.useit.com" type="external">useit.com</a>&#160;is a must-visit site for anyone in the Web business and I think more non-techie journalists should know about it.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>Another site that gets right to the point is&#160; <a href="http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/vincent-flanders-biography.html" type="external">Vincent Flanders'</a> <a href="http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/" type="external">WebPagesThatSuck.com</a>&#160;("showing sucky design since 1996") and his daily wrecking ball, <a href="http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/dailysucker/" type="external">Daily Sucker</a>. He has compiled the lessons of last year in <a href="http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/biggest-web-design-mistakes-in-2004.html" type="external">The Biggest Web Design Mistakes of 2004</a>, written with his&#160;unique&#160;style.&#160;An excerpt: "Some mistakes aren't actually design mistakes in the classical sense -- ugly graphics, bad navigation, etc. -- but serious big picture problems like our Number One Mistake of the Year: Believing people care about you and your Web site."You can see the progress in Web design by checking out&#160;Nielsen's previous lists:</p>
<p>You can subscribe to Nielsen's bi-weekly column on usability, Alertbox,&#160;at no cost&#160; <a href="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/" type="external">here</a>.Your turn: send me sites you like at&#160; <a href="" type="external">[email protected]</a>.A WORKSHOP FOR YOU: <a href="http://www.sree.net/teaching/sites.html" type="external">Info about my Columbia weekend workshop on building a personal website (April 2 &amp; 3, 2005)</a>Sree's Links: <a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p /> | 599,362 |
<p>Oh the irony. This morning, the Des Moines Register <a href="" type="internal">is reporting on the death</a> of a piece of legislation known as SF 2359. The bill would have required that all gasoline sold in Iowa contain at least 10% ethanol. But Iowa legislators couldn’t garner enough political support for the bill.</p>
<p>You read it right. Iowa, the biggest ethanol-producing state in the US, doesn’t have a requirement that forces consumers to buy ethanol-blended gasoline. The result: only <a href="" type="internal">about 73% of the gasoline sold in the state contains ethanol.</a> And according to a story written by Dan Piller, a reporter at the Des Moines Register, the Iowa legislature couldn’t pass SF 2359 because it was <a href="" type="internal">“opposed by a coalition that included fuel retailers and marketers and truckers.”</a></p>
<p>Iowa <a href="http://www.neo.ne.gov/statshtml/121.htm" type="external">has about 3.3 billion gallons of ethanol production capacity</a>, that’s more than twice the capacity of the next-biggest producer, Nebraska. Iowa’s ethanol industry and farm lobby plays an outsized role in US politics. Every four years, presidential candidates must make the haj to Iowa and bow down before the ethanol industry while&#160; proclaiming their loving support for corn ethanol. The 2008 election provided hard proof of the importance of the Iowa ethanol industry. Both <a href="http://www.robertbryce.com/node/191" type="external">Hillary Clinton</a> and John McCain – avid critics of ethanol before they began their campaigns for the White House – <a href="http://www.robertbryce.com/node/143" type="external">became ethanol evangelists</a> when they started visiting Iowa.</p>
<p>For decades, US taxpayers and consumers have been paying for the subsidies and mandates that are designed solely for the benefit of the corn ethanol scammers, but Iowans have not shared equally in the pain. About 28 states and the District of Columbia have mandates on ethanol-blended gasoline. And earlier this year, top Iowa legislators believed they would be able to add Iowa’s name to that list. Jack Kibbie, a Democrat from Emmetsburg, who serves as the president of the Iowa Senate <a href="" type="internal">had a wonderful quote in Wallaces Farmer</a>:</p>
<p>We hear from critics here in Iowa that a mandatory blend of E10 won’t work, that it will mess up engines on motorboats and lawnmowers…Baloney. With all the lakes and boats they have in Minnesota, many more than in Iowa, they’re doing just fine with their E10 mandate. Remember, this bill we want to pass, Senate File 2359, calls for a 10% blend of ethanol in gasoline for highway use for motor vehicles. It has provisions to provide non-ethanol gasoline for antique vehicles, motorboats, lawnmowers and other small engines.</p>
<p>But earlier this week, Kibbie was forced to admit that his bill was dead. And his explanation was revealing: “People don’t like mandates,” he said, “and of course the petroleum marketers didn’t like it.” So Kibbie and his fellow Democrats decided not to subject the bill to a full debate before the Iowa legislature.</p>
<p>At the very same time that the ethanol lobby is pushing the Obama administration to break the “blend wall,” which prohibits gasoline retailers from selling fuel containing more than 10% ethanol, the Iowa legislature can’t even pass a measure that would require Iowans to buy gasoline containing 10% ethanol. Indeed, the ethanol industry wants federal regulators to allow fuel retailers to sell gasoline that has been adulterated with up to 15% ethanol. And they need that regulatory relief because fat federal subsidies led to too much investment in ethanol production capacity. According to <a href="http://www.ethanolproducer.com/plant-list.jsp?country=USA&amp;view=idle" type="external">Ethanol Producer Magazine</a>, 19 ethanol plants with a capacity of 884 million gallons per year are now sitting idle. And <a href="http://www.ethanolproducer.com/plant-list.jsp?country=USA&amp;view=construction" type="external">another 7 plants with 484 million gallons</a> of production capacity are under construction. Meanwhile about 192 plants are operating with total capacity of 12.7 billion gallons per year.</p>
<p>The punchline here is obvious: Iowa, a state that has about 25% of all the ethanol production capacity in the US, doesn’t require its citizens to buy ethanol-blended gasoline. And the Iowa legislature can’t pass a bill to change that because, as Kibbie said, “people don’t like mandates.”</p>
<p>Oh the irony.</p>
<p>ROBERT BRYCE’s fourth book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1586487892/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Power Hungry: The Myths of “Green” Energy and the Real Fuels of the Future</a>, will be published in April.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | The Irony of Iowa’s Ethanol Exemption | true | https://counterpunch.org/2010/03/05/the-irony-of-iowa-s-ethanol-exemption/ | 2010-03-05 | 4left
| The Irony of Iowa’s Ethanol Exemption
<p>Oh the irony. This morning, the Des Moines Register <a href="" type="internal">is reporting on the death</a> of a piece of legislation known as SF 2359. The bill would have required that all gasoline sold in Iowa contain at least 10% ethanol. But Iowa legislators couldn’t garner enough political support for the bill.</p>
<p>You read it right. Iowa, the biggest ethanol-producing state in the US, doesn’t have a requirement that forces consumers to buy ethanol-blended gasoline. The result: only <a href="" type="internal">about 73% of the gasoline sold in the state contains ethanol.</a> And according to a story written by Dan Piller, a reporter at the Des Moines Register, the Iowa legislature couldn’t pass SF 2359 because it was <a href="" type="internal">“opposed by a coalition that included fuel retailers and marketers and truckers.”</a></p>
<p>Iowa <a href="http://www.neo.ne.gov/statshtml/121.htm" type="external">has about 3.3 billion gallons of ethanol production capacity</a>, that’s more than twice the capacity of the next-biggest producer, Nebraska. Iowa’s ethanol industry and farm lobby plays an outsized role in US politics. Every four years, presidential candidates must make the haj to Iowa and bow down before the ethanol industry while&#160; proclaiming their loving support for corn ethanol. The 2008 election provided hard proof of the importance of the Iowa ethanol industry. Both <a href="http://www.robertbryce.com/node/191" type="external">Hillary Clinton</a> and John McCain – avid critics of ethanol before they began their campaigns for the White House – <a href="http://www.robertbryce.com/node/143" type="external">became ethanol evangelists</a> when they started visiting Iowa.</p>
<p>For decades, US taxpayers and consumers have been paying for the subsidies and mandates that are designed solely for the benefit of the corn ethanol scammers, but Iowans have not shared equally in the pain. About 28 states and the District of Columbia have mandates on ethanol-blended gasoline. And earlier this year, top Iowa legislators believed they would be able to add Iowa’s name to that list. Jack Kibbie, a Democrat from Emmetsburg, who serves as the president of the Iowa Senate <a href="" type="internal">had a wonderful quote in Wallaces Farmer</a>:</p>
<p>We hear from critics here in Iowa that a mandatory blend of E10 won’t work, that it will mess up engines on motorboats and lawnmowers…Baloney. With all the lakes and boats they have in Minnesota, many more than in Iowa, they’re doing just fine with their E10 mandate. Remember, this bill we want to pass, Senate File 2359, calls for a 10% blend of ethanol in gasoline for highway use for motor vehicles. It has provisions to provide non-ethanol gasoline for antique vehicles, motorboats, lawnmowers and other small engines.</p>
<p>But earlier this week, Kibbie was forced to admit that his bill was dead. And his explanation was revealing: “People don’t like mandates,” he said, “and of course the petroleum marketers didn’t like it.” So Kibbie and his fellow Democrats decided not to subject the bill to a full debate before the Iowa legislature.</p>
<p>At the very same time that the ethanol lobby is pushing the Obama administration to break the “blend wall,” which prohibits gasoline retailers from selling fuel containing more than 10% ethanol, the Iowa legislature can’t even pass a measure that would require Iowans to buy gasoline containing 10% ethanol. Indeed, the ethanol industry wants federal regulators to allow fuel retailers to sell gasoline that has been adulterated with up to 15% ethanol. And they need that regulatory relief because fat federal subsidies led to too much investment in ethanol production capacity. According to <a href="http://www.ethanolproducer.com/plant-list.jsp?country=USA&amp;view=idle" type="external">Ethanol Producer Magazine</a>, 19 ethanol plants with a capacity of 884 million gallons per year are now sitting idle. And <a href="http://www.ethanolproducer.com/plant-list.jsp?country=USA&amp;view=construction" type="external">another 7 plants with 484 million gallons</a> of production capacity are under construction. Meanwhile about 192 plants are operating with total capacity of 12.7 billion gallons per year.</p>
<p>The punchline here is obvious: Iowa, a state that has about 25% of all the ethanol production capacity in the US, doesn’t require its citizens to buy ethanol-blended gasoline. And the Iowa legislature can’t pass a bill to change that because, as Kibbie said, “people don’t like mandates.”</p>
<p>Oh the irony.</p>
<p>ROBERT BRYCE’s fourth book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1586487892/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Power Hungry: The Myths of “Green” Energy and the Real Fuels of the Future</a>, will be published in April.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | 599,363 |
<p>A visitor to the memorial display in front of the Ghost Ship warehouse in OaklandPaul Kuroda/ZUMA</p>
<p />
<p>In the aftermath of the Ghost Ship warehouse fire in Oakland, California, that claimed 36 lives earlier this month, the inhabitants of live-work artist warehouses all over America have been receiving eviction threats and notices. In Oakland and San Francisco, residents of at least five such spaces&#160;are now facing eviction. Warehouses in Baltimore and Denver <a href="https://www.thefader.com/2016/12/13/ghost-ship-rhinoceropolis-bell-foundry-fire" type="external">have been shuttered</a> since the fire, and others are facing increased scrutiny in Nashville, Philadelphia, and Dallas, as well&#160;as Indianapolis, Indiana, and New Haven, Connecticut.&#160;Many worry that&#160;this activity is related less&#160;to safety concerns than to property owners’ desire&#160;to expel&#160;low-wage&#160;artists in favor of wealthier tenants.</p>
<p>Bay Area artists, at least, have a high-profile defender—the civil rights lawyer John Burris, who has stepped up to act as a liaison between tenants and local government code enforcers. Burris, whose name pops up in many a lawsuit regarding abusive practices by local police, is best known for representing Rodney King, Tupac Shakur, and the family of Oscar Grant—who was killed by a BART police officer, inspiring the movie Fruitvale Station. Standing up for low-rent artists seemed a little off the beaten track for Burris, so I reached out to him and his&#160;housing guru, James Cook, to see what was afoot.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Mother Jones: What&#160;inspired you to help artists facing&#160;eviction&#160;after the fire?</p>
<p>John Burris:&#160;My daughter lost two friends.&#160;I knew she has spent&#160;time in the Bay Area’s&#160;artist&#160;warehouses, so I called her immediately when I heard the news. She had two friends who were missing, later confirmed dead.&#160;I feel her pain, but I’m pained just as a community person as well. The loss of 36 lives is just outrageous. So we thought, how can we help?</p>
<p>MJ: How are you helping?&#160;Are you filing a lawsuit?</p>
<p>JB: No. It’s not clear that the city can be held liable for the fire. But the eviction issue came up very quickly. We invited people in the affected community&#160;to sit around our table and tell us their stories.&#160;That’s what we do in civil rights law—we hear&#160;stories, and the stories move us to action. We said we don’t think we can&#160;do what we would traditionally do, which is file a lawsuit, but maybe there’s something else. Now we’re facilitating communication&#160;between the city and the&#160;artistic&#160;community. Ultimately we’ll have to bring in&#160;real estate people as well, because they hold the aces.&#160;Our goal is to make sure people know their rights, and make policy adjustments if needed to protect&#160;people&#160;from eviction.</p>
<p>MJ: Why is it important to you that these&#160;artists stay put?</p>
<p>JB:&#160;We’re concerned that this may turn into a boondoggle for landowners and real estate interests, who will use this tragedy to&#160;evict&#160;artists and members of&#160;alternative communities—including LGBT people. We fear they will legally be able to put people out by saying they need&#160;to get a building&#160;up to code for safety reasons, and then turn around and rent it for a lot of money to someone else. This practice&#160;is not uncommon. Take&#160;African American communities—often developers will&#160;come in and renovate a neighborhood, driving up rents, and the city fails to take&#160;action on behalf&#160;of&#160;the&#160;community, which eventually&#160;has to move out. The African American population is declining in Oakland, as it&#160;has already&#160;declined in San Francisco. So the question is,&#160;will this particular event cause that process to occur with respect to the artistic community, here and elsewhere?</p>
<p>MJ:&#160;Doesn’t the city have a&#160;responsibility to enforce housing codes?</p>
<p>JB: The city has a responsibility to&#160;make sure a living space is not harmful. But that doesn’t mean it has to be up to every code, in which case landlords would have&#160;reason to put people out left and right.&#160;Basic requirements of safety have to be maintained, but we have to preserve the affordable housing stock, too, and respect people’s right&#160;to&#160;stay in&#160;their homes.</p>
<p>MJ: Why would cities want to stop gentrification?</p>
<p>James Cook: We use the term “legacy community” to talk about&#160;a community that’s part of a city’s cultural, historical, and economic fabric.&#160;For good reason, we&#160;have housing laws in many cities designed&#160;to keep&#160;legacy communities&#160;in place, and to create some sort of economic structure to help&#160;those communities&#160;survive.&#160;If you can maintain legacy communities, the theory is that cities will thrive economically, thrive politically, thrive intellectually, thrive culturally. In the Bay Area, artists and LGBT people are legacy communities that we want to sustain.</p>
<p>MJ: Do you think a city has a special responsibility to its current residents, as opposed to potential future ones?</p>
<p>JB: Yes, a community is defined by those who are already here, not those whom you want to attract.</p>
<p>JC: Housing&#160;is the&#160;next dimension of civil rights law. There’s actually a constitutional&#160;case to be made for this. The Constitution&#160;says you have the right to a notice and a hearing before your property can be taken away.&#160;Some people may say that&#160;if&#160;you’re a tenant and you don’t own your house, this shouldn’t necessarily apply to you. But&#160;housing rights advocates&#160;argue that the law applies because&#160;you own a stake in the property&#160;as a leaseholder.&#160;Across the country, we increasingly have laws that&#160;mimic&#160;the 14th&#160;Amendment for tenants.</p>
<p>MJ: Does protecting these artists have implications for other legacy communities?</p>
<p>JB: Yes. Decreasing one type of diversity usually leads to decreasing other types.&#160;So if rents go up because the artistic community is expelled, African Americans will suffer too.&#160;Forward-thinking leaders of&#160;cities&#160;value&#160;diversity&#160;for many reasons, including&#160;economic ones. So if&#160;something&#160;comes along that threatens that diversity, the city has a responsibility to do what it can to make sure that doesn’t happen.</p>
<p />
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | After Ghost Ship Fire, Tupac’s Old Lawyer Is Helping Artists Fight Eviction | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2016/12/ghost-ship-fire-artists-evictions-john-burris/ | 2016-12-20 | 4left
| After Ghost Ship Fire, Tupac’s Old Lawyer Is Helping Artists Fight Eviction
<p>A visitor to the memorial display in front of the Ghost Ship warehouse in OaklandPaul Kuroda/ZUMA</p>
<p />
<p>In the aftermath of the Ghost Ship warehouse fire in Oakland, California, that claimed 36 lives earlier this month, the inhabitants of live-work artist warehouses all over America have been receiving eviction threats and notices. In Oakland and San Francisco, residents of at least five such spaces&#160;are now facing eviction. Warehouses in Baltimore and Denver <a href="https://www.thefader.com/2016/12/13/ghost-ship-rhinoceropolis-bell-foundry-fire" type="external">have been shuttered</a> since the fire, and others are facing increased scrutiny in Nashville, Philadelphia, and Dallas, as well&#160;as Indianapolis, Indiana, and New Haven, Connecticut.&#160;Many worry that&#160;this activity is related less&#160;to safety concerns than to property owners’ desire&#160;to expel&#160;low-wage&#160;artists in favor of wealthier tenants.</p>
<p>Bay Area artists, at least, have a high-profile defender—the civil rights lawyer John Burris, who has stepped up to act as a liaison between tenants and local government code enforcers. Burris, whose name pops up in many a lawsuit regarding abusive practices by local police, is best known for representing Rodney King, Tupac Shakur, and the family of Oscar Grant—who was killed by a BART police officer, inspiring the movie Fruitvale Station. Standing up for low-rent artists seemed a little off the beaten track for Burris, so I reached out to him and his&#160;housing guru, James Cook, to see what was afoot.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Mother Jones: What&#160;inspired you to help artists facing&#160;eviction&#160;after the fire?</p>
<p>John Burris:&#160;My daughter lost two friends.&#160;I knew she has spent&#160;time in the Bay Area’s&#160;artist&#160;warehouses, so I called her immediately when I heard the news. She had two friends who were missing, later confirmed dead.&#160;I feel her pain, but I’m pained just as a community person as well. The loss of 36 lives is just outrageous. So we thought, how can we help?</p>
<p>MJ: How are you helping?&#160;Are you filing a lawsuit?</p>
<p>JB: No. It’s not clear that the city can be held liable for the fire. But the eviction issue came up very quickly. We invited people in the affected community&#160;to sit around our table and tell us their stories.&#160;That’s what we do in civil rights law—we hear&#160;stories, and the stories move us to action. We said we don’t think we can&#160;do what we would traditionally do, which is file a lawsuit, but maybe there’s something else. Now we’re facilitating communication&#160;between the city and the&#160;artistic&#160;community. Ultimately we’ll have to bring in&#160;real estate people as well, because they hold the aces.&#160;Our goal is to make sure people know their rights, and make policy adjustments if needed to protect&#160;people&#160;from eviction.</p>
<p>MJ: Why is it important to you that these&#160;artists stay put?</p>
<p>JB:&#160;We’re concerned that this may turn into a boondoggle for landowners and real estate interests, who will use this tragedy to&#160;evict&#160;artists and members of&#160;alternative communities—including LGBT people. We fear they will legally be able to put people out by saying they need&#160;to get a building&#160;up to code for safety reasons, and then turn around and rent it for a lot of money to someone else. This practice&#160;is not uncommon. Take&#160;African American communities—often developers will&#160;come in and renovate a neighborhood, driving up rents, and the city fails to take&#160;action on behalf&#160;of&#160;the&#160;community, which eventually&#160;has to move out. The African American population is declining in Oakland, as it&#160;has already&#160;declined in San Francisco. So the question is,&#160;will this particular event cause that process to occur with respect to the artistic community, here and elsewhere?</p>
<p>MJ:&#160;Doesn’t the city have a&#160;responsibility to enforce housing codes?</p>
<p>JB: The city has a responsibility to&#160;make sure a living space is not harmful. But that doesn’t mean it has to be up to every code, in which case landlords would have&#160;reason to put people out left and right.&#160;Basic requirements of safety have to be maintained, but we have to preserve the affordable housing stock, too, and respect people’s right&#160;to&#160;stay in&#160;their homes.</p>
<p>MJ: Why would cities want to stop gentrification?</p>
<p>James Cook: We use the term “legacy community” to talk about&#160;a community that’s part of a city’s cultural, historical, and economic fabric.&#160;For good reason, we&#160;have housing laws in many cities designed&#160;to keep&#160;legacy communities&#160;in place, and to create some sort of economic structure to help&#160;those communities&#160;survive.&#160;If you can maintain legacy communities, the theory is that cities will thrive economically, thrive politically, thrive intellectually, thrive culturally. In the Bay Area, artists and LGBT people are legacy communities that we want to sustain.</p>
<p>MJ: Do you think a city has a special responsibility to its current residents, as opposed to potential future ones?</p>
<p>JB: Yes, a community is defined by those who are already here, not those whom you want to attract.</p>
<p>JC: Housing&#160;is the&#160;next dimension of civil rights law. There’s actually a constitutional&#160;case to be made for this. The Constitution&#160;says you have the right to a notice and a hearing before your property can be taken away.&#160;Some people may say that&#160;if&#160;you’re a tenant and you don’t own your house, this shouldn’t necessarily apply to you. But&#160;housing rights advocates&#160;argue that the law applies because&#160;you own a stake in the property&#160;as a leaseholder.&#160;Across the country, we increasingly have laws that&#160;mimic&#160;the 14th&#160;Amendment for tenants.</p>
<p>MJ: Does protecting these artists have implications for other legacy communities?</p>
<p>JB: Yes. Decreasing one type of diversity usually leads to decreasing other types.&#160;So if rents go up because the artistic community is expelled, African Americans will suffer too.&#160;Forward-thinking leaders of&#160;cities&#160;value&#160;diversity&#160;for many reasons, including&#160;economic ones. So if&#160;something&#160;comes along that threatens that diversity, the city has a responsibility to do what it can to make sure that doesn’t happen.</p>
<p />
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | 599,364 |
<p>Investing.com Asian shares were narrowly mixed on Tuesday with markets in China shut for the week making for thin regional trade.</p>
<p>The rose 0.92%, while Australia’s dipped 0.43%.</p>
<p>The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) on Tuesday held its cash rate steady at a record low 1.50% as expected and signaled to markets that the economy continues to improve.</p>
<p>Earlier, Australia reported that building approvals rose 0.4% on month in August, below the 1.1% gain expected, while private house approvals fell 0.6%, compared to a 1.0% gain in July.</p>
<p>Major Australian banking stocks were mixed, with ANZ shares up 0.37%, Commonwealth Bank down 0.63% and the National Australia Bank off 0.46%.</p>
<p>Overnight, US stocks closed markedly higher on Tuesday, led by a surge in financials and health care stocks as investors continued to pile in equities amid bullish expectations of fourth-quarter economic growth.</p>
<p>The closed higher at 22,557.60. The closed 0.39% higher while the closed at 6516.72, up 0.32%.</p>
<p>U.S. stocks started the final quarter of the year in impressive fashion as the rally in financials and health care continued amid signs that the U.S. economy is on track for a solid quarter of growth.</p>
<p>Goldman sachs, Citigroup (NYSE:NYSE:) and JPMorgan Chase &amp; Co (NYSE:NYSE:) ended the session more than 1% higher.</p>
<p>The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its index of national factory activity surged to a reading of 60.8 last month, the highest reading since May 2004, from 58.8 in August.</p>
<p>That beat economists’ expectations of a reading of 58.</p>
<p>“l think what’s driving the market is just optimism about the fourth quarter, along with expectations that results from the third quarter will be similar to the second quarter,” said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Boston Private Wealth.</p>
<p>A dip in energy, however, proved a slight drag on sentiment after prices fell 2% as fears over an uptick in global output resurfaced following data showing Opec increased production in September.</p>
<p>On the corporate front General Motors (NYSE:NYSE:) hit a record high after brokerage Deutsche Bank (DE:DE:) said the carmaker could launch driverless cars on a large scale in 2020.</p>
<p />
<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | Asian Shares Mixed With Nikkei 225 Posting Fresh Gains, ASX Down After RBA | false | https://newsline.com/asian-shares-mixed-with-nikkei-225-posting-fresh-gains-asx-down-after-rba/ | 2017-10-03 | 1right-center
| Asian Shares Mixed With Nikkei 225 Posting Fresh Gains, ASX Down After RBA
<p>Investing.com Asian shares were narrowly mixed on Tuesday with markets in China shut for the week making for thin regional trade.</p>
<p>The rose 0.92%, while Australia’s dipped 0.43%.</p>
<p>The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) on Tuesday held its cash rate steady at a record low 1.50% as expected and signaled to markets that the economy continues to improve.</p>
<p>Earlier, Australia reported that building approvals rose 0.4% on month in August, below the 1.1% gain expected, while private house approvals fell 0.6%, compared to a 1.0% gain in July.</p>
<p>Major Australian banking stocks were mixed, with ANZ shares up 0.37%, Commonwealth Bank down 0.63% and the National Australia Bank off 0.46%.</p>
<p>Overnight, US stocks closed markedly higher on Tuesday, led by a surge in financials and health care stocks as investors continued to pile in equities amid bullish expectations of fourth-quarter economic growth.</p>
<p>The closed higher at 22,557.60. The closed 0.39% higher while the closed at 6516.72, up 0.32%.</p>
<p>U.S. stocks started the final quarter of the year in impressive fashion as the rally in financials and health care continued amid signs that the U.S. economy is on track for a solid quarter of growth.</p>
<p>Goldman sachs, Citigroup (NYSE:NYSE:) and JPMorgan Chase &amp; Co (NYSE:NYSE:) ended the session more than 1% higher.</p>
<p>The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its index of national factory activity surged to a reading of 60.8 last month, the highest reading since May 2004, from 58.8 in August.</p>
<p>That beat economists’ expectations of a reading of 58.</p>
<p>“l think what’s driving the market is just optimism about the fourth quarter, along with expectations that results from the third quarter will be similar to the second quarter,” said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Boston Private Wealth.</p>
<p>A dip in energy, however, proved a slight drag on sentiment after prices fell 2% as fears over an uptick in global output resurfaced following data showing Opec increased production in September.</p>
<p>On the corporate front General Motors (NYSE:NYSE:) hit a record high after brokerage Deutsche Bank (DE:DE:) said the carmaker could launch driverless cars on a large scale in 2020.</p>
<p />
<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | 599,365 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>The article states that the neighborhoods around that intersection have been concerned about its safety for at least seven years. But our neighborhoods have been concerned about high speeds, red light running and accidents at the intersection for all the years we have lived here. What has been going on the past seven years is an intensive effort working with the city of Albuquerque to identify the safety problems at that intersection and address them.</p>
<p>Three engineering studies have been done by the city. The first one, by Parsons Brinkerhoff in 2008, identified a roundabout as the most effective solution if the money could be found to pay for it. The second study, by Wilson and Associates in 2009, collected further data on accidents and the character of the intersection and determined that a roundabout would be workable there.</p>
<p>In 2010 the city was awarded $1,125,000 in Federal Highway Safety Administration funds specifically to build a roundabout at the Candelaria and Rio Grande intersection. Based on that funding, a third engineering study, by Bohannan Huston, has completed construction drawings and the project is ready to go to bid.</p>
<p>The article presents a picture of a simple set of opinion differences regarding this intersection. I am quoted as saying our Neighborhood Association “believes” the roundabout is the best solution.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Our neighborhoods are way past the opinion stage. We have worked closely with the city for the past seven years to document, analyze, gain funding for, create the engineering drawings and purchase the necessary right of way for this important safety improvement to the intersection.</p>
<p>I would appreciate a fuller and fairer representation of the facts in this matter.</p>
<p>SUSAN STRAND JOHNSON</p>
<p>Vice-president, Rio Grande Boulevard Neighborhood Association</p> | Roundabout position not ‘opinion’ | false | https://abqjournal.com/171471/roundabout-position-not-opinion.html | 2013-02-22 | 2least
| Roundabout position not ‘opinion’
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>The article states that the neighborhoods around that intersection have been concerned about its safety for at least seven years. But our neighborhoods have been concerned about high speeds, red light running and accidents at the intersection for all the years we have lived here. What has been going on the past seven years is an intensive effort working with the city of Albuquerque to identify the safety problems at that intersection and address them.</p>
<p>Three engineering studies have been done by the city. The first one, by Parsons Brinkerhoff in 2008, identified a roundabout as the most effective solution if the money could be found to pay for it. The second study, by Wilson and Associates in 2009, collected further data on accidents and the character of the intersection and determined that a roundabout would be workable there.</p>
<p>In 2010 the city was awarded $1,125,000 in Federal Highway Safety Administration funds specifically to build a roundabout at the Candelaria and Rio Grande intersection. Based on that funding, a third engineering study, by Bohannan Huston, has completed construction drawings and the project is ready to go to bid.</p>
<p>The article presents a picture of a simple set of opinion differences regarding this intersection. I am quoted as saying our Neighborhood Association “believes” the roundabout is the best solution.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Our neighborhoods are way past the opinion stage. We have worked closely with the city for the past seven years to document, analyze, gain funding for, create the engineering drawings and purchase the necessary right of way for this important safety improvement to the intersection.</p>
<p>I would appreciate a fuller and fairer representation of the facts in this matter.</p>
<p>SUSAN STRAND JOHNSON</p>
<p>Vice-president, Rio Grande Boulevard Neighborhood Association</p> | 599,366 |
<p>The National Hockey League is going carbon neutral.</p>
<p>On Thursday, the professional ice hockey league <a href="http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=744674" type="external">said</a> it would buy enough renewable energy credits to completely offset its carbon footprint during the 2014–2015 season — an estimated total of 550,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, or the emissions equivalent of 115,000 cars. The move is meant to raise awareness about the impacts of climate change, not only on the environment, but on the future of ice hockey itself.</p>
<p>“Our sport was born on frozen ponds and relies on winter weather,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “Everyone who loves our game will benefit by taking an active role in preserving the environment and the roots of the game.”</p>
<p>The NHL’s announcement came the same day as a <a href="http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v5/n1/full/nclimate2465.html?WT.ec_id=NCLIMATE-201501" type="external">new study</a> was published in the journal Nature Climate Change, documenting a steady decline in the length and availability of the outdoor ice skating season in Ottawa, Canada. Though the study is new, the sentiment isn’t — it’s been speculated <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/climate-changes-latest-victim-canadas-outdoor-ice-rinks-18654314/#xdUzQteA8DStMyk4.99" type="external">for years</a> that the length of skating season was rapidly contracting, threatening the viability of the sport in the future.</p>
<p>The new data coincides with the overwhelming consensus among climate scientists that the planet’s overall temperature is <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/2014-to-be-hottest-year-ever-measured/" type="external">gradually increasing</a> due to human-caused carbon emissions. The phenomenon manifests itself more visibly in colder, Northern climates like northern Canada and Alaska, where warming <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/23/science/warming-temperatures-threaten-fragile-balance-in-canadian-arctic.html" type="external">happens faster</a> than the rest of the planet.</p>
<p>Ice melt driven by climate change has long been a concern for the NHL. In July, the league released a <a href="" type="internal">comprehensive report</a> noting that it has a unique responsibility and incentive to take on environmental issues. As ThinkProgress’ Travis Waldron explained at the time, the NHL depends on cold weather and clean water more than any other league — not because its arenas and outdoor events are ice-based but also because many youth hockey players learn to play the game on frozen outdoor ponds. Those youth players are essential for making sure the league has future talent.</p>
<p>“Perhaps more than any other sport, hockey is impacted by environmental issues, particularly climate change and freshwater scarcity,” the NHL’s <a href="" type="internal">report</a> stated. “The ability to skate and play hockey outdoors is a critical component of the League’s history and culture. Many of the NHL’s players, both past and present, learned to skate outside on frozen lakes, ponds and backyard rinks. The game of hockey is adversely affected if this opportunity becomes unavailable to future generations.”</p>
<p>The NHL also launched a “ <a href="http://www.nhl.com/ice/eventhome.htm?location=/nhlgreen" type="external">Green initiative</a>” back in in 2010, partnering with environmental groups like the National Resources Defense Council to promote environmental causes. One of those is the league’s “Gallons for Goals” program, which restores 1,000 gallons of water to critically dewatered rivers every time a goal is scored during the regular season.</p>
<p>Hockey fans will likely rejoice at the latest news. According to <a href="http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=744674" type="external">the NHL</a>, they are 11 times more likely to recycle than the average American adult, 19 times more likely to donate to environmentally-friendly causes, and 20 times more likely to pay for environmentally-friendly products and services.</p> | Faced With Melting Ice, The NHL Is Going Carbon Neutral | true | http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/12/22/3606380/nhl-goes-carbon-neutral/ | 2014-12-22 | 4left
| Faced With Melting Ice, The NHL Is Going Carbon Neutral
<p>The National Hockey League is going carbon neutral.</p>
<p>On Thursday, the professional ice hockey league <a href="http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=744674" type="external">said</a> it would buy enough renewable energy credits to completely offset its carbon footprint during the 2014–2015 season — an estimated total of 550,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, or the emissions equivalent of 115,000 cars. The move is meant to raise awareness about the impacts of climate change, not only on the environment, but on the future of ice hockey itself.</p>
<p>“Our sport was born on frozen ponds and relies on winter weather,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “Everyone who loves our game will benefit by taking an active role in preserving the environment and the roots of the game.”</p>
<p>The NHL’s announcement came the same day as a <a href="http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v5/n1/full/nclimate2465.html?WT.ec_id=NCLIMATE-201501" type="external">new study</a> was published in the journal Nature Climate Change, documenting a steady decline in the length and availability of the outdoor ice skating season in Ottawa, Canada. Though the study is new, the sentiment isn’t — it’s been speculated <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/climate-changes-latest-victim-canadas-outdoor-ice-rinks-18654314/#xdUzQteA8DStMyk4.99" type="external">for years</a> that the length of skating season was rapidly contracting, threatening the viability of the sport in the future.</p>
<p>The new data coincides with the overwhelming consensus among climate scientists that the planet’s overall temperature is <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/2014-to-be-hottest-year-ever-measured/" type="external">gradually increasing</a> due to human-caused carbon emissions. The phenomenon manifests itself more visibly in colder, Northern climates like northern Canada and Alaska, where warming <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/23/science/warming-temperatures-threaten-fragile-balance-in-canadian-arctic.html" type="external">happens faster</a> than the rest of the planet.</p>
<p>Ice melt driven by climate change has long been a concern for the NHL. In July, the league released a <a href="" type="internal">comprehensive report</a> noting that it has a unique responsibility and incentive to take on environmental issues. As ThinkProgress’ Travis Waldron explained at the time, the NHL depends on cold weather and clean water more than any other league — not because its arenas and outdoor events are ice-based but also because many youth hockey players learn to play the game on frozen outdoor ponds. Those youth players are essential for making sure the league has future talent.</p>
<p>“Perhaps more than any other sport, hockey is impacted by environmental issues, particularly climate change and freshwater scarcity,” the NHL’s <a href="" type="internal">report</a> stated. “The ability to skate and play hockey outdoors is a critical component of the League’s history and culture. Many of the NHL’s players, both past and present, learned to skate outside on frozen lakes, ponds and backyard rinks. The game of hockey is adversely affected if this opportunity becomes unavailable to future generations.”</p>
<p>The NHL also launched a “ <a href="http://www.nhl.com/ice/eventhome.htm?location=/nhlgreen" type="external">Green initiative</a>” back in in 2010, partnering with environmental groups like the National Resources Defense Council to promote environmental causes. One of those is the league’s “Gallons for Goals” program, which restores 1,000 gallons of water to critically dewatered rivers every time a goal is scored during the regular season.</p>
<p>Hockey fans will likely rejoice at the latest news. According to <a href="http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=744674" type="external">the NHL</a>, they are 11 times more likely to recycle than the average American adult, 19 times more likely to donate to environmentally-friendly causes, and 20 times more likely to pay for environmentally-friendly products and services.</p> | 599,367 |
<p />
<p />
<p>Remember when the tea partiers were flush with the fresh face they had managed to put on their regurgitated conservatism, shouting out their battle cry at town hall meetings on health-care reform, angrily denouncing the evil socialist Obama administration's attempts to impose a dictatorial state on the unsuspecting public? It was all under the banner of one word. Say it with me! Freeeeeeeeeedom!</p>
<p>It was almost enough to make you wanna paint your face blue and don a kilt. Almost.</p>
<p>Now look <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/why-the-tea-party-is-responsible-for-newt-gingrich/2012/01/24/gIQARxWyNQ_blog.html" type="external">who has become the tea partiers' standard-bearer:</a> The most openly right-wing authoritarian Republican in the field, Newt Gingrich.</p>
<p>Just how authoritarian is Gingrich? Well, here he is on Bill O'Reilly's show in 2009, arguing that <a href="" type="internal">what we really need are Singapore-style drug laws</a>:</p>
<p>O'REILLY: I don't know whether you know this, but I did one of my papers at Harvard on this -- on how to reduce demand for drugs. But the United States has never figured it out. You can't lock up drug users, I mean, that doesn't work. And you can't force them into rehab, you have to want rehab, and even if you want it, it's very hard to get off hard drugs and alcohol. Very hard.</p>
<p>What you can do, though, is sanction people along the way. And this is what they do in Singapore. If you're caught possessing drugs -- and that means drugs in your bloodstream, they have a little hair thing, and they put it in there -- then you have to go to mandatory rehab. And they have centers where you go.</p>
<p>Now, they have no drug problem in Singapore at all, number one, because they hang drug dealers -- they execute them. And number two, the market is very thin, because when they catch you using, you go away with a mandatory rehab. You go to some rehab center, which they have, which the government has built.</p>
<p>The United States does not have the stomach for that. We don't have the stomach for that, Mr. Speaker.</p>
<p>GINGRICH: Well, I think it's time we get the stomach for that, Bill. And I think we need a program -- I would dramatically expand testing. I think we have -- and I agree with you. I would try to use rehabilitation, I'd make it mandatory. And I think we have every right as a country to demand of our citizens that they quit doing illegal things which are funding, both in Afghanistan and in Mexico and in Colombia, people who are destroying civilization.</p>
<p>In case you wondering, <a href="http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1017.html" type="external">here's a rundown on the wonderful drug laws in Singapore</a>:</p>
<p>Mandatory Death Penalty for Many Narcotics Offenses: Singapore police have the authority to compel both residents and non-residents to submit to random drug analysis. They do not distinguish between drugs consumed before or after entering Singapore in applying local laws. In Singapore, detained U.S. citizens have been surprised that they had been arrested for violations that would not have resulted in arrest in the United States.</p>
<p>There are no jury trials in Singapore. Judges hear cases and decide sentencing. The Government of Singapore does not provide legal assistance except in capital cases; legal assistance may be available in some other cases through the Law Society.</p>
<p>This wasn't just a fluke from three yearss ago. Here's <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/newt-gingrich-drug-laws-entitlements-campaigning-yahoo-news-152936251.html" type="external">Gingrich less than two months ago</a> saying exactly the same thing:</p>
<p>GINGRICH: I don't have a comprehensive view. My general belief is that we ought to be much more aggressive about drug policy. And that we should recognize that the Mexican cartels are funded by Americans.</p>
<p>Q: Expand on what you mean by "aggressive."</p>
<p>GINGRICH: In my mind it means having steeper economic penalties and it means having a willingness to do more drug testing.</p>
<p>Q: In 1996, you introduced a bill that would have given the death penalty to drug smugglers. Do you still stand by that?</p>
<p>GINGRICH: I think if you are, for example, the leader of a cartel, sure. Look at the level of violence they've done to society. You can either be in the Ron Paul tradition and say there's nothing wrong with heroin and cocaine or you can be in the tradition that says, 'These kind of addictive drugs are terrible, they deprive you of full citizenship and they lead you to a dependency which is antithetical to being an American.' If you're serious about the latter view, then we need to think through a strategy that makes it radically less likely that we're going to have drugs in this country.</p>
<p>Places like Singapore have been the most successful at doing that. They've been very draconian. And they have communicated with great intention that they intend to stop drugs from coming into their country.</p>
<p>Well, there's a reason <a href="http://reason.com/archives/2011/12/14/not-newt" type="external">the libertarians hate Gingrich</a>. For good reason.</p>
<p>And that's not even the most insidious of Gingrich's authortiarian proposals. We all remember how he <a href="" type="external">gave a speech proposing a presidency that would ignore court rulings</a>, and how he <a href="" type="internal">threatened to have Capitol police arrest judges who issued rulings he didn't like.</a> This was, of course, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nestor-fantini/gingrich-proposes-an-auth_b_1161492.html" type="external">a profoundly authoritarian proposal,</a> one that immediately invited his fellow conservatives to <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/12/16/389931/huckabee-stars-in-film-endorsing-gingrichs-authoritarian-court-defiance-plan/" type="external">concoct other uses for such a policy,</a> such as overturning abortion rights and gay marriage laws.</p>
<p>Just goes to show: These tea partiers were never about freedom -- except maybe the freedom to screw over everyone else.</p> | So Much For 'Freedom': Tea Partiers' Embrace Of Gingrich Reveals Their Inner Authoritarian | true | http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/so-much-freedom-tea-partiers-embrace | 2012-01-25 | 4left
| So Much For 'Freedom': Tea Partiers' Embrace Of Gingrich Reveals Their Inner Authoritarian
<p />
<p />
<p>Remember when the tea partiers were flush with the fresh face they had managed to put on their regurgitated conservatism, shouting out their battle cry at town hall meetings on health-care reform, angrily denouncing the evil socialist Obama administration's attempts to impose a dictatorial state on the unsuspecting public? It was all under the banner of one word. Say it with me! Freeeeeeeeeedom!</p>
<p>It was almost enough to make you wanna paint your face blue and don a kilt. Almost.</p>
<p>Now look <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/why-the-tea-party-is-responsible-for-newt-gingrich/2012/01/24/gIQARxWyNQ_blog.html" type="external">who has become the tea partiers' standard-bearer:</a> The most openly right-wing authoritarian Republican in the field, Newt Gingrich.</p>
<p>Just how authoritarian is Gingrich? Well, here he is on Bill O'Reilly's show in 2009, arguing that <a href="" type="internal">what we really need are Singapore-style drug laws</a>:</p>
<p>O'REILLY: I don't know whether you know this, but I did one of my papers at Harvard on this -- on how to reduce demand for drugs. But the United States has never figured it out. You can't lock up drug users, I mean, that doesn't work. And you can't force them into rehab, you have to want rehab, and even if you want it, it's very hard to get off hard drugs and alcohol. Very hard.</p>
<p>What you can do, though, is sanction people along the way. And this is what they do in Singapore. If you're caught possessing drugs -- and that means drugs in your bloodstream, they have a little hair thing, and they put it in there -- then you have to go to mandatory rehab. And they have centers where you go.</p>
<p>Now, they have no drug problem in Singapore at all, number one, because they hang drug dealers -- they execute them. And number two, the market is very thin, because when they catch you using, you go away with a mandatory rehab. You go to some rehab center, which they have, which the government has built.</p>
<p>The United States does not have the stomach for that. We don't have the stomach for that, Mr. Speaker.</p>
<p>GINGRICH: Well, I think it's time we get the stomach for that, Bill. And I think we need a program -- I would dramatically expand testing. I think we have -- and I agree with you. I would try to use rehabilitation, I'd make it mandatory. And I think we have every right as a country to demand of our citizens that they quit doing illegal things which are funding, both in Afghanistan and in Mexico and in Colombia, people who are destroying civilization.</p>
<p>In case you wondering, <a href="http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1017.html" type="external">here's a rundown on the wonderful drug laws in Singapore</a>:</p>
<p>Mandatory Death Penalty for Many Narcotics Offenses: Singapore police have the authority to compel both residents and non-residents to submit to random drug analysis. They do not distinguish between drugs consumed before or after entering Singapore in applying local laws. In Singapore, detained U.S. citizens have been surprised that they had been arrested for violations that would not have resulted in arrest in the United States.</p>
<p>There are no jury trials in Singapore. Judges hear cases and decide sentencing. The Government of Singapore does not provide legal assistance except in capital cases; legal assistance may be available in some other cases through the Law Society.</p>
<p>This wasn't just a fluke from three yearss ago. Here's <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/newt-gingrich-drug-laws-entitlements-campaigning-yahoo-news-152936251.html" type="external">Gingrich less than two months ago</a> saying exactly the same thing:</p>
<p>GINGRICH: I don't have a comprehensive view. My general belief is that we ought to be much more aggressive about drug policy. And that we should recognize that the Mexican cartels are funded by Americans.</p>
<p>Q: Expand on what you mean by "aggressive."</p>
<p>GINGRICH: In my mind it means having steeper economic penalties and it means having a willingness to do more drug testing.</p>
<p>Q: In 1996, you introduced a bill that would have given the death penalty to drug smugglers. Do you still stand by that?</p>
<p>GINGRICH: I think if you are, for example, the leader of a cartel, sure. Look at the level of violence they've done to society. You can either be in the Ron Paul tradition and say there's nothing wrong with heroin and cocaine or you can be in the tradition that says, 'These kind of addictive drugs are terrible, they deprive you of full citizenship and they lead you to a dependency which is antithetical to being an American.' If you're serious about the latter view, then we need to think through a strategy that makes it radically less likely that we're going to have drugs in this country.</p>
<p>Places like Singapore have been the most successful at doing that. They've been very draconian. And they have communicated with great intention that they intend to stop drugs from coming into their country.</p>
<p>Well, there's a reason <a href="http://reason.com/archives/2011/12/14/not-newt" type="external">the libertarians hate Gingrich</a>. For good reason.</p>
<p>And that's not even the most insidious of Gingrich's authortiarian proposals. We all remember how he <a href="" type="external">gave a speech proposing a presidency that would ignore court rulings</a>, and how he <a href="" type="internal">threatened to have Capitol police arrest judges who issued rulings he didn't like.</a> This was, of course, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nestor-fantini/gingrich-proposes-an-auth_b_1161492.html" type="external">a profoundly authoritarian proposal,</a> one that immediately invited his fellow conservatives to <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/12/16/389931/huckabee-stars-in-film-endorsing-gingrichs-authoritarian-court-defiance-plan/" type="external">concoct other uses for such a policy,</a> such as overturning abortion rights and gay marriage laws.</p>
<p>Just goes to show: These tea partiers were never about freedom -- except maybe the freedom to screw over everyone else.</p> | 599,368 |
<p>The usual suspects are at it again — doing their damnedest to escalate a war they have no intention of either fighting in or paying for themselves, and to involve you in it.</p>
<p>US Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Joe Lieberman (of the “Connecticut for Lieberman” Party, in which the ordering of names conveys his boundless sense of personal entitlement) visited Turkey this week for a photo opp with officers of the “Free Syrian Army” and to grandstand for further US intervention in Syria’s year-long “civil” war.</p>
<p>I put the “civil” in scare quotes, because normally civil wars are mostly internal affairs. The Syrian “uprising” appears to have been both instigated and funded by Washington from the git-go, through front “non-governmental organizations” funded by the American neoconservative (and very governmental) “National Endowment for Democracy.”</p>
<p>While Bashar al-Assad’s “National Popular Front” regime — centered around the fascist Ba’ath Party, with some lapdog “opposition” parties permitted to participate as long as they don’t actually, um, oppose — is certainly a poster child for bad government (but I repeat myself!), there’s little reason to believe that the “uprising” enjoys strong popular support or that, if successful, it will eventuate in anything significantly better for the Syrian people.</p>
<p>McCain/Lieberman’s busking for US intervention isn’t about freedom, democracy or human rights. It’s about the external turf and internal stature spats over which the overgrown street gangs we call “governments” perpetually obsess.</p>
<p>Quoth Lieberman: “How many world leaders have to be deceived by Assad for us to realize that we cannot rely on his word, that he will only respond to power — the same kind of power that he is brutally using against his own people.”</p>
<p>In what significant respect is Assad different from Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak, Bahrain’s Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the Abdullahs of Saudi Arabia and Jordan, Yemen’s Saleh, the Shah of Iran, or any other regional ruler whom the US supports (or supported until they fell)? Is power not the language they also speak?</p>
<p>For that matter, one might ask, how many people have to be deceived by Lieberman and his ilk to arrive the same realization? Lieberman and McCain never met a war they didn’t like, at least so long as it was fought with other people’s money, with other people’s blood, and for the benefit of themselves and their cronies in government and among the corporati.</p>
<p>And don’t get me started on “the brutal use of power” against one’s own people. The United States imprisons a higher percentage of its populace than any country on earth. Its cities are occupied by sizable, growing and increasingly militarized police forces. Its airports are living caricatures of the old Soviet bloc’s security bureaucracy as portrayed in Cold War era American cinema.</p>
<p>McCain and Lieberman have been both prominent architects of the existing US police state and staunch advocates of its endless extension. Who the hell are they to criticize Assad’s Syria?</p>
<p>But this, of course, is what governments and politicians do. Their primary function is to loot the productive for the benefit of their own class — the political class — and the creation of, and escalation to conflict with, external enemies is indispensable to that project.</p>
<p>This week it’s Syria and Iran. Next week? Uganda or Cuba or the Korean Peninsula or Djibouti. Don’t worry, they’ll find someone, somewhere for you to fight. They always do. Of course, they’d rather not talk about how last week went in Somalia and Afghanistan and Pakistan and Iraq (quite well for them, not so well for you), thank you very much.</p>
<p>Does Bashar al-Assad deserve to be overthrown? Certainly. But let’s let the Syrians worry about that for themselves instead of getting ourselves roped into doing it for them. Our job here in America is figuring out how to rid ourselves of his spiritual siblings, including McCain and Lieberman.</p>
<p>Thomas L. Knapp is Senior News Analyst at the Center for a Stateless Society.</p> | Syria and the Usual Suspects | true | https://counterpunch.org/2012/04/12/syria-and-the-usual-suspects/ | 2012-04-12 | 4left
| Syria and the Usual Suspects
<p>The usual suspects are at it again — doing their damnedest to escalate a war they have no intention of either fighting in or paying for themselves, and to involve you in it.</p>
<p>US Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Joe Lieberman (of the “Connecticut for Lieberman” Party, in which the ordering of names conveys his boundless sense of personal entitlement) visited Turkey this week for a photo opp with officers of the “Free Syrian Army” and to grandstand for further US intervention in Syria’s year-long “civil” war.</p>
<p>I put the “civil” in scare quotes, because normally civil wars are mostly internal affairs. The Syrian “uprising” appears to have been both instigated and funded by Washington from the git-go, through front “non-governmental organizations” funded by the American neoconservative (and very governmental) “National Endowment for Democracy.”</p>
<p>While Bashar al-Assad’s “National Popular Front” regime — centered around the fascist Ba’ath Party, with some lapdog “opposition” parties permitted to participate as long as they don’t actually, um, oppose — is certainly a poster child for bad government (but I repeat myself!), there’s little reason to believe that the “uprising” enjoys strong popular support or that, if successful, it will eventuate in anything significantly better for the Syrian people.</p>
<p>McCain/Lieberman’s busking for US intervention isn’t about freedom, democracy or human rights. It’s about the external turf and internal stature spats over which the overgrown street gangs we call “governments” perpetually obsess.</p>
<p>Quoth Lieberman: “How many world leaders have to be deceived by Assad for us to realize that we cannot rely on his word, that he will only respond to power — the same kind of power that he is brutally using against his own people.”</p>
<p>In what significant respect is Assad different from Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak, Bahrain’s Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the Abdullahs of Saudi Arabia and Jordan, Yemen’s Saleh, the Shah of Iran, or any other regional ruler whom the US supports (or supported until they fell)? Is power not the language they also speak?</p>
<p>For that matter, one might ask, how many people have to be deceived by Lieberman and his ilk to arrive the same realization? Lieberman and McCain never met a war they didn’t like, at least so long as it was fought with other people’s money, with other people’s blood, and for the benefit of themselves and their cronies in government and among the corporati.</p>
<p>And don’t get me started on “the brutal use of power” against one’s own people. The United States imprisons a higher percentage of its populace than any country on earth. Its cities are occupied by sizable, growing and increasingly militarized police forces. Its airports are living caricatures of the old Soviet bloc’s security bureaucracy as portrayed in Cold War era American cinema.</p>
<p>McCain and Lieberman have been both prominent architects of the existing US police state and staunch advocates of its endless extension. Who the hell are they to criticize Assad’s Syria?</p>
<p>But this, of course, is what governments and politicians do. Their primary function is to loot the productive for the benefit of their own class — the political class — and the creation of, and escalation to conflict with, external enemies is indispensable to that project.</p>
<p>This week it’s Syria and Iran. Next week? Uganda or Cuba or the Korean Peninsula or Djibouti. Don’t worry, they’ll find someone, somewhere for you to fight. They always do. Of course, they’d rather not talk about how last week went in Somalia and Afghanistan and Pakistan and Iraq (quite well for them, not so well for you), thank you very much.</p>
<p>Does Bashar al-Assad deserve to be overthrown? Certainly. But let’s let the Syrians worry about that for themselves instead of getting ourselves roped into doing it for them. Our job here in America is figuring out how to rid ourselves of his spiritual siblings, including McCain and Lieberman.</p>
<p>Thomas L. Knapp is Senior News Analyst at the Center for a Stateless Society.</p> | 599,369 |
<p>Nine years ago today Legal Insurrection published its first post,&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Obama is Door No. 2</a>.</p>
<p>For background on how we got started and have grown over the years, see our <a href="" type="internal">7th Anniversary post</a>, or scroll through our&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Blog Anniversary</a>&#160;tag.</p>
<p>Last year I noted that while it was a difficult year personally, <a href="" type="internal">I was optimistic</a>. That’s been one of my roles over the years, keeping hope alive. But there’s no pep talk this year. Just dread.</p>
<p />
<p>The attempts to unwind the 2016 presidential election have changed everything.</p>
<p>I’ve written before how the attempts to intimidate the Electoral College electors into changing their votes was a game changer for me. That went beyond politics into attempted coup territory. It wasn’t just a matter of opposing Trump or Trump policies, which is legitimate, but an attempt to nullify an election.&#160;Criticize Trump all you want, I certainly did during the primaries, but respect the vote. If you don’t respect the vote, then you are not just political opposition, you are a danger to our system.</p>
<p>If the assault on the Electoral College was the game changer for me, a runner up was waking up to implications of the concentration of power in a small number of social media and internet companies who have been weaponized to shut down speech and expression. Google, Facebook, Twitter and two handfuls of other companies now completely control our ability to communicate with each other, while internet backbone companies are poised to block internet access altogether.</p>
<p>Imagine living in a repressive country in which the government blocked access to and suppressed internet content. You don’t need to move. It’s coming here but from private industry. This is, in many ways, more dangerous than government suppression of free speech because at least in the U.S. the government is subject to the First Amendment, and can be voted out of office.</p>
<p>I don’t know if there are any uncorrupted institutions left that matter. The education system, from public grade school through public and private higher ed, is gone. The frontal assault on free speech on campuses is the result.&#160;If you think this is just a Humanities and Social Sciences problem, stay tuned. In 3-5 years, if we’re still here, we’ll be writing about how the social justice warriors have corrupted the STEM fields. It’s happening now, it’s just not in the headlines yet.</p>
<p>There is a rising tide of absolutism in ideas and enforcement of ideological uniformity that is palpable. I feel it in the air, even at Cornell which is far from the worst. Incredibly, the new Cornell President has charged a newly-formed task force <a href="http://president.cornell.edu/task-force/presidential-task-force-on-campus-climate/" type="external">to explore</a>, among other things, “legal mechanisms [which] are available to the university to prevent, address and counter situations in which protected expression on campus is harmful to those vulnerable to its effects.”</p>
<p>Even language as a means of communication is corrupted, with terminology manipulated and coerced to achieve political ends. It started on campuses, and it’s moved into the AP stylebook and the mainstream.</p>
<p>The press could stand as a bulwark against this slide, but it too is corrupted. The greatest threat to freedom of the press is not Donald Trump’s bloviating about FCC licenses (which has been a favorite threat traditionally of Democrats), but the mainstream press itself which has abdicated even the pretense of neutrality and joined #TheResistance.</p>
<p>The lack of respect for the vote is also what has alienated me from the so-called conservative movement. There now is a cottage industry of self-appointed guardians of conservatism whose main job is to delegitimize the vote, and to encourage a soft coup because they didn’t get their way in the primaries.</p>
<p>The Republican Party? Hah. Don’t get me started.</p>
<p>So I’m thinking through what it will mean to live without institutions.</p>
<p>Sorry to be a downer on our blog birthday. I’ve always tried to be honest with you, and honestly, this blog birthday I’m filled with dread, not good cheer.</p>
<p>I’d like to extend my thanks to the editors and authors, who have helped cover for me as I continue to grapple with unresolved&#160; <a href="" type="internal">personal issues</a>. And to the readers, who keep coming back for more, and whose messages of support help keep me going.</p>
<p>[Featured image: Me standing during Cornell <a href="" type="internal">‘Take a Knee’</a>&#160;protest]</p> | Legal Insurrection is 9 years old, and filled with dread | true | https://legalinsurrection.com/2017/10/legal-insurrection-is-9-years-old-and-filled-with-dread/ | 2017-10-12 | 0right
| Legal Insurrection is 9 years old, and filled with dread
<p>Nine years ago today Legal Insurrection published its first post,&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Obama is Door No. 2</a>.</p>
<p>For background on how we got started and have grown over the years, see our <a href="" type="internal">7th Anniversary post</a>, or scroll through our&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Blog Anniversary</a>&#160;tag.</p>
<p>Last year I noted that while it was a difficult year personally, <a href="" type="internal">I was optimistic</a>. That’s been one of my roles over the years, keeping hope alive. But there’s no pep talk this year. Just dread.</p>
<p />
<p>The attempts to unwind the 2016 presidential election have changed everything.</p>
<p>I’ve written before how the attempts to intimidate the Electoral College electors into changing their votes was a game changer for me. That went beyond politics into attempted coup territory. It wasn’t just a matter of opposing Trump or Trump policies, which is legitimate, but an attempt to nullify an election.&#160;Criticize Trump all you want, I certainly did during the primaries, but respect the vote. If you don’t respect the vote, then you are not just political opposition, you are a danger to our system.</p>
<p>If the assault on the Electoral College was the game changer for me, a runner up was waking up to implications of the concentration of power in a small number of social media and internet companies who have been weaponized to shut down speech and expression. Google, Facebook, Twitter and two handfuls of other companies now completely control our ability to communicate with each other, while internet backbone companies are poised to block internet access altogether.</p>
<p>Imagine living in a repressive country in which the government blocked access to and suppressed internet content. You don’t need to move. It’s coming here but from private industry. This is, in many ways, more dangerous than government suppression of free speech because at least in the U.S. the government is subject to the First Amendment, and can be voted out of office.</p>
<p>I don’t know if there are any uncorrupted institutions left that matter. The education system, from public grade school through public and private higher ed, is gone. The frontal assault on free speech on campuses is the result.&#160;If you think this is just a Humanities and Social Sciences problem, stay tuned. In 3-5 years, if we’re still here, we’ll be writing about how the social justice warriors have corrupted the STEM fields. It’s happening now, it’s just not in the headlines yet.</p>
<p>There is a rising tide of absolutism in ideas and enforcement of ideological uniformity that is palpable. I feel it in the air, even at Cornell which is far from the worst. Incredibly, the new Cornell President has charged a newly-formed task force <a href="http://president.cornell.edu/task-force/presidential-task-force-on-campus-climate/" type="external">to explore</a>, among other things, “legal mechanisms [which] are available to the university to prevent, address and counter situations in which protected expression on campus is harmful to those vulnerable to its effects.”</p>
<p>Even language as a means of communication is corrupted, with terminology manipulated and coerced to achieve political ends. It started on campuses, and it’s moved into the AP stylebook and the mainstream.</p>
<p>The press could stand as a bulwark against this slide, but it too is corrupted. The greatest threat to freedom of the press is not Donald Trump’s bloviating about FCC licenses (which has been a favorite threat traditionally of Democrats), but the mainstream press itself which has abdicated even the pretense of neutrality and joined #TheResistance.</p>
<p>The lack of respect for the vote is also what has alienated me from the so-called conservative movement. There now is a cottage industry of self-appointed guardians of conservatism whose main job is to delegitimize the vote, and to encourage a soft coup because they didn’t get their way in the primaries.</p>
<p>The Republican Party? Hah. Don’t get me started.</p>
<p>So I’m thinking through what it will mean to live without institutions.</p>
<p>Sorry to be a downer on our blog birthday. I’ve always tried to be honest with you, and honestly, this blog birthday I’m filled with dread, not good cheer.</p>
<p>I’d like to extend my thanks to the editors and authors, who have helped cover for me as I continue to grapple with unresolved&#160; <a href="" type="internal">personal issues</a>. And to the readers, who keep coming back for more, and whose messages of support help keep me going.</p>
<p>[Featured image: Me standing during Cornell <a href="" type="internal">‘Take a Knee’</a>&#160;protest]</p> | 599,370 |
<p />
<p>On Thursday, Dec. 15, Terraform PowerInc(NASDAQ: TERP)held an investor conference call for the first time in over 13 months. The call provided analysts and shareholders with a chance to get caught up with the company's 2016 results, as well as get updated on what to expect in 2017 and beyond. Not surprisingly, multiple questions were asked about the potential reinstatement of the company's dividend, which was last paid in December 2015.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Management wouldn't provide any definitiveguidance, but based on the 2016 and 2017 financial guidance, it seems very likely that the dividend, when reinstated, will be materially lower than it was previously. On the plus side, the market was probably already pricing this in.</p>
<p>SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.</p>
<p>The stated purpose of the call was to update shareholders on Terraform Power's officially filed Q4 2015 and Q1 2016 financials, along with updated guidance for the full year 2016 and 2017 financials.Management provided confirmation that the company will soon return to normal operations, a great sign for investors. Unfortunately, the company's 2016 and 2017 CAFD (cash available for distribution) projections were much lower than had been projected before the SunEdison bankruptcy.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>IMAGE SOURCE: TERRAFORM POWER 12/15/2016 <a href="http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?t=1&amp;item=VHlwZT0yfFBhcmVudElEPTUyMTk0NDN8Q2hpbGRJRD02NTU1Mzg=" type="external">INVESTOR CALL PRESENTATION Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>While many of the questions raised during the call were well answered by interim CEO Peter Blackmore and CFO Rebecca Cranna, they were unwilling to provide responses to most questions related to the dividend, at least for now. This is because Terraform Power is extremely focused on delivering the following over the next one to three months:</p>
<p>As part of the strategic review, Terraform Power is currently soliciting bids from third parties such asBrookfield Renewable Partners LP(NYSE: BEP),with final bids due in January. Given the strong potential for the company to be fully sold or receive a new sponsor, management felt that discussing a dividend reinstatement was premature.However, they did confirm that, pending the bidding process results, the goal is to reinstate a dividend as soon as possible.</p>
<p>While it remains entirely possible that Terraform Power will receive a strong enough bid to buy out the entire company, many investors would prefer that the company remain publicly traded, reinstate the dividend, and begin growing the portfolio again via new acquisitions. If this occurred, the company would likely drop the initial quarterly dividend to around $0.24 per share, down from the last quarterly dividend payment made, of $0.35 per share.</p>
<p>This can be calculated by using the midpoint of the Terraform Power's 2016 and 2017 cash available for distribution (CAFD) projections: $175 million and $140 million. The company's previous policy was to pay out 85% of annual CAFD while reinvesting the rest. The company also has about 139.5 million shares outstanding when combining the class A shares and class B (currently owned by SunEdison) shares.</p>
<p>While the likely 30% drop in the dividend is not great news for long-suffering Terraform Power shareholders, it's important to note that, according to the terms of their current agreement with SunEdison, they would also be set to capture previously unpaid minimum quarterly dividends of $0.225 per share for each quarter since March 2016. This would have to occur before SunEdison, or any new sponsor (who would be the new owner of the class B shares), could collect any dividend whatsoever.</p>
<p>Under an optimistic scenario, it's possible that shareholders could receive $0.90/share in catch-up dividends, plus a $0.24 per share newly reinstated quarterly dividend, in March 2017. Of course, at this point, nothing is guaranteed, but it's interesting to compare the company's future potential yield of 7% ($0.96/$13.50) to the current yields of other similar Yieldcos, as seen in the chart below.</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/companies/ABY/dividend_yield" type="external">ABY Dividend Yield (TTM)</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Even at its new, lower yield, Terraform Power would still be a good deal in comparison to it's peers in the Yieldco space. There are certainly additional risks, which have been discussed in <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/12/03/could-terraform-power-be-getting-closer-to-reinsta.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">previous articles Opens a New Window.</a>, but this Fool expects to see the stock price move up over the next few months as the company regains financial compliance and completes its strategic bidding process.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than TerraForm Power When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=ec92774c-a449-43ea-abd0-0d98d0f8ed6d&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and TerraForm Power wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=ec92774c-a449-43ea-abd0-0d98d0f8ed6d&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of Nov. 7, 2016</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/awindenberger/info.aspx" type="external">Aurelien Windenberger Opens a New Window.</a> is long shares of Terraform Power. 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&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | Terraform Power Is Likely to Lower Its Dividend When It's Reinstated | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/12/19/terraform-power-is-likely-to-lower-its-dividend-when-it-reinstated.html | 2016-12-19 | 0right
| Terraform Power Is Likely to Lower Its Dividend When It's Reinstated
<p />
<p>On Thursday, Dec. 15, Terraform PowerInc(NASDAQ: TERP)held an investor conference call for the first time in over 13 months. The call provided analysts and shareholders with a chance to get caught up with the company's 2016 results, as well as get updated on what to expect in 2017 and beyond. Not surprisingly, multiple questions were asked about the potential reinstatement of the company's dividend, which was last paid in December 2015.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Management wouldn't provide any definitiveguidance, but based on the 2016 and 2017 financial guidance, it seems very likely that the dividend, when reinstated, will be materially lower than it was previously. On the plus side, the market was probably already pricing this in.</p>
<p>SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.</p>
<p>The stated purpose of the call was to update shareholders on Terraform Power's officially filed Q4 2015 and Q1 2016 financials, along with updated guidance for the full year 2016 and 2017 financials.Management provided confirmation that the company will soon return to normal operations, a great sign for investors. Unfortunately, the company's 2016 and 2017 CAFD (cash available for distribution) projections were much lower than had been projected before the SunEdison bankruptcy.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>IMAGE SOURCE: TERRAFORM POWER 12/15/2016 <a href="http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?t=1&amp;item=VHlwZT0yfFBhcmVudElEPTUyMTk0NDN8Q2hpbGRJRD02NTU1Mzg=" type="external">INVESTOR CALL PRESENTATION Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>While many of the questions raised during the call were well answered by interim CEO Peter Blackmore and CFO Rebecca Cranna, they were unwilling to provide responses to most questions related to the dividend, at least for now. This is because Terraform Power is extremely focused on delivering the following over the next one to three months:</p>
<p>As part of the strategic review, Terraform Power is currently soliciting bids from third parties such asBrookfield Renewable Partners LP(NYSE: BEP),with final bids due in January. Given the strong potential for the company to be fully sold or receive a new sponsor, management felt that discussing a dividend reinstatement was premature.However, they did confirm that, pending the bidding process results, the goal is to reinstate a dividend as soon as possible.</p>
<p>While it remains entirely possible that Terraform Power will receive a strong enough bid to buy out the entire company, many investors would prefer that the company remain publicly traded, reinstate the dividend, and begin growing the portfolio again via new acquisitions. If this occurred, the company would likely drop the initial quarterly dividend to around $0.24 per share, down from the last quarterly dividend payment made, of $0.35 per share.</p>
<p>This can be calculated by using the midpoint of the Terraform Power's 2016 and 2017 cash available for distribution (CAFD) projections: $175 million and $140 million. The company's previous policy was to pay out 85% of annual CAFD while reinvesting the rest. The company also has about 139.5 million shares outstanding when combining the class A shares and class B (currently owned by SunEdison) shares.</p>
<p>While the likely 30% drop in the dividend is not great news for long-suffering Terraform Power shareholders, it's important to note that, according to the terms of their current agreement with SunEdison, they would also be set to capture previously unpaid minimum quarterly dividends of $0.225 per share for each quarter since March 2016. This would have to occur before SunEdison, or any new sponsor (who would be the new owner of the class B shares), could collect any dividend whatsoever.</p>
<p>Under an optimistic scenario, it's possible that shareholders could receive $0.90/share in catch-up dividends, plus a $0.24 per share newly reinstated quarterly dividend, in March 2017. Of course, at this point, nothing is guaranteed, but it's interesting to compare the company's future potential yield of 7% ($0.96/$13.50) to the current yields of other similar Yieldcos, as seen in the chart below.</p>
<p><a href="http://ycharts.com/companies/ABY/dividend_yield" type="external">ABY Dividend Yield (TTM)</a> data by <a href="http://ycharts.com" type="external">YCharts Opens a New Window.</a>.</p>
<p>Even at its new, lower yield, Terraform Power would still be a good deal in comparison to it's peers in the Yieldco space. There are certainly additional risks, which have been discussed in <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/12/03/could-terraform-power-be-getting-closer-to-reinsta.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">previous articles Opens a New Window.</a>, but this Fool expects to see the stock price move up over the next few months as the company regains financial compliance and completes its strategic bidding process.</p>
<p>10 stocks we like better than TerraForm Power When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*</p>
<p>David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the <a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=ec92774c-a449-43ea-abd0-0d98d0f8ed6d&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">10 best stocks Opens a New Window.</a> for investors to buy right now... and TerraForm Power wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.</p>
<p><a href="http://infotron.fool.com/infotrack/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fool.com%2Fmms%2Fmark%2Fe-foolcom-sa-bbn-dyn%3Faid%3D8867%26source%3Disaeditxt0010449%26ftm_cam%3Dsa-bbn-evergreen%26ftm_pit%3D6312%26ftm_veh%3Dbbn_article_pitch&amp;impression=ec92774c-a449-43ea-abd0-0d98d0f8ed6d&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">Click here Opens a New Window.</a> to learn about these picks!</p>
<p>*Stock Advisor returns as of Nov. 7, 2016</p>
<p><a href="http://my.fool.com/profile/awindenberger/info.aspx" type="external">Aurelien Windenberger Opens a New Window.</a> is long shares of Terraform Power. 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&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">free for 30 days Opens a New Window.</a>. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that <a href="http://www.fool.com/knowledge-center/motley.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">considering a diverse range of insights Opens a New Window.</a> makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a <a href="http://www.fool.com/Legal/fool-disclosure-policy.aspx?&amp;utm_campaign=article&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_source=foxbusiness" type="external">disclosure policy Opens a New Window.</a>.</p> | 599,371 |
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>SANTA FE, N.M. — Santa Fe’s Public Works Committee was unable to reach a consensus Monday on how best to move forward with a pedestrian and bicycle crossing linking St. Francis Drive to the Santa Fe Railyard.</p>
<p>Committee members voted to move the matter forward to the City Council with no recommendation.</p>
<p>A lengthy public hearing drew 20 speakers, with opinion about evenly split on options to build an underpass/tunnel or bridge.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>However, nearly half the speakers said they don’t want anything built at the intersection, or said the city needs to do more planning before choosing a design.</p>
<p>“I’d rather see us investing money into making 30 intersections better rather than that one intersection that will always be a mess,” Dan Baker said.</p>
<p>The safety of an underpass or tunnel was a concern for many of those who favored the bridge option. Several people said a tunnel might attract a dangerous element.</p>
<p>Ron Ortiz Dinkel of the nearby New Mexico School for the Deaf said school officials strongly prefer the bridge option. Renette Finley, who described herself as an “elderly” bicyclist, said she wouldn’t “dream of riding through a long tunnel at that intersection.”</p>
<p>“It’s a very wide intersection and it would have to be a real tunnel, not just an underpass. I think there would be a real problem with vagrants and people just looking to cause trouble,” she said.</p>
<p>Other speakers said an underpass could be designed to minimize crime and other potential problems. Architect Suby Bowden questioned if people would actually avoid a bridge, noting the extra work it takes to walk up to an overpass.</p>
<p>The crossing would connect the Acequia Trail on the west side of St. Francis with the Railyard. The city has done preliminary work on the project for almost a decade and previously gathered public input on the project in 2009.</p>
<p>An environmental assessment signed off on by both the state Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration has found no significant problem with either a bridge or underpass.</p>
<p>Public Works members on Monday offered varying opinions on what they’d like to see at the intersection, though neither option seemed to generate overt enthusiasm. Councilor Rebecca Wurzburger said several issues, like safety, haven’t been as thoroughly vetted as the primary project focus of trail connectivity.</p>
<p>Many in the community, especially bicyclists, say they want some sort of safe crossing at the St. Francis/Cerrillos intersection. The city’s Bicycle and Trail Advisory Committee recently voted to recommend Santa Fe pursue an underpass or tunnel at the crossing. Former Councilor Miguel Chavez, who left the council when his term expired in March, said at a meeting on the issue in May that an underpass would be “an investment we can make in the future.”</p>
<p>It’s unclear when the City Council will review the matter.</p>
<p>However, there may be no real urgency on the city’s part. Santa Fe currently only has about $553,000 in project’s pot, about enough to finish design work. Federal or state funding will probably be necessary to start construction. Both the underpass and bridge have estimated costs of about $3 million to $3.5 million.</p>
<p>And while the city must chose either the bridge or underpass option to formally complete the environmental assessment process, project consultants said city officials do have about three years before that decision must be made.</p> | Views On St. Francis Project Mixed | false | https://abqjournal.com/119899/views-on-st-francis-project-mixed.html | 2012-07-24 | 2least
| Views On St. Francis Project Mixed
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>SANTA FE, N.M. — Santa Fe’s Public Works Committee was unable to reach a consensus Monday on how best to move forward with a pedestrian and bicycle crossing linking St. Francis Drive to the Santa Fe Railyard.</p>
<p>Committee members voted to move the matter forward to the City Council with no recommendation.</p>
<p>A lengthy public hearing drew 20 speakers, with opinion about evenly split on options to build an underpass/tunnel or bridge.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>However, nearly half the speakers said they don’t want anything built at the intersection, or said the city needs to do more planning before choosing a design.</p>
<p>“I’d rather see us investing money into making 30 intersections better rather than that one intersection that will always be a mess,” Dan Baker said.</p>
<p>The safety of an underpass or tunnel was a concern for many of those who favored the bridge option. Several people said a tunnel might attract a dangerous element.</p>
<p>Ron Ortiz Dinkel of the nearby New Mexico School for the Deaf said school officials strongly prefer the bridge option. Renette Finley, who described herself as an “elderly” bicyclist, said she wouldn’t “dream of riding through a long tunnel at that intersection.”</p>
<p>“It’s a very wide intersection and it would have to be a real tunnel, not just an underpass. I think there would be a real problem with vagrants and people just looking to cause trouble,” she said.</p>
<p>Other speakers said an underpass could be designed to minimize crime and other potential problems. Architect Suby Bowden questioned if people would actually avoid a bridge, noting the extra work it takes to walk up to an overpass.</p>
<p>The crossing would connect the Acequia Trail on the west side of St. Francis with the Railyard. The city has done preliminary work on the project for almost a decade and previously gathered public input on the project in 2009.</p>
<p>An environmental assessment signed off on by both the state Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration has found no significant problem with either a bridge or underpass.</p>
<p>Public Works members on Monday offered varying opinions on what they’d like to see at the intersection, though neither option seemed to generate overt enthusiasm. Councilor Rebecca Wurzburger said several issues, like safety, haven’t been as thoroughly vetted as the primary project focus of trail connectivity.</p>
<p>Many in the community, especially bicyclists, say they want some sort of safe crossing at the St. Francis/Cerrillos intersection. The city’s Bicycle and Trail Advisory Committee recently voted to recommend Santa Fe pursue an underpass or tunnel at the crossing. Former Councilor Miguel Chavez, who left the council when his term expired in March, said at a meeting on the issue in May that an underpass would be “an investment we can make in the future.”</p>
<p>It’s unclear when the City Council will review the matter.</p>
<p>However, there may be no real urgency on the city’s part. Santa Fe currently only has about $553,000 in project’s pot, about enough to finish design work. Federal or state funding will probably be necessary to start construction. Both the underpass and bridge have estimated costs of about $3 million to $3.5 million.</p>
<p>And while the city must chose either the bridge or underpass option to formally complete the environmental assessment process, project consultants said city officials do have about three years before that decision must be made.</p> | 599,372 |
<p>In a recent interview, Oakland Unified School District Superintendent Tony Smith shared with me one of the most mind-numbing statistics I have ever heard: According to the Alameda County Health Department, a black child born in West Oakland will, on average, die 15 years before a white child born in the hills of Oakland.</p>
<p>“Surely this must be enhanced or inflated for shock value,” I said to Smith. “This can’t be real.”</p>
<p>“That is a real statistic that exposes serious inequity along racial lines in Oakland,” said Smith. We sat for a minute talking about our hopes for our children and our hopes for Oakland schools, but the statistic stung me with a viscous dose of reality, which quickly transformed into deep concern and doubt about Oakland’s education system.</p>
<p>I imagined being a young, black student in 2011 and hearing that statistic — not only hearing it, but feeling the piercing reality of it every day I go to school. The dilapidated flatlands classrooms, the out-of-date texts and lack of technology — the message would be clear: They (whoever “they” are) don’t care about me or anyone who looks like me.</p>
<p />
<p>The question is will I live no one in the world loves me I’m headed for danger don’t trust strangers Put one in the chamber whenever I’m feelin this anger Don’t want to make excuses but this is how it is, what’s the use Unless we’re shootin, no one notices the youth. It’s just me against the world. — Tupac Shakur, “Me Against the World,” 1995</p>
<p>This statistic shows that two realities exist in Oakland, one for children and families with resources, and a daunting, painful second one for those children and families without resources. It would be myopic to suggest that the education problem in Oakland is all about race, because it’s not. That black children are dying at an alarming rate and underperforming in schools compared with their classmates of different races is a problem so complex it troubles me to write about it. But black children are not the only victims. What is happening in the predominantly black public schools in Oakland is indicative of what is happening in poor public schools around the nation. The unfortunate fact is that in Oakland, black and Latino people represent the large majority of the poor underclass.</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong. Oakland education is not all bad. It is only bad where families do not have time, money and resources to dedicate to their schools. I have seen public schools in the worst neighborhoods thrive. Think College Now has managed to build a haven for children to learn their curriculum and about themselves. Before I visited that school, at 29th and International — one of Oakland’s high-crime and high-poverty areas — I doubted it was possible. But when I went there I saw principal David Silver and his teachers breathing life and love into children and beating the odds. I saw parents attending the morning assembly to send their kids off to class. I saw magic. Through community, all things are possible. This was my proof.</p>
<p>At Crocker, Montclair, Redwood Heights and the handful of other schools in Oakland that have continued to succeed despite the economic downturn or lack of funding to public schools, the story is the same: Involved parents and solid communication between the teachers and students make for a combination that gets the job done. Success is indeed possible in both the richest and poorest communities.</p>
<p>However, of the 14 predominantly black public elementary schools in Oakland — most of them in poor communities where the black student population is 60 percent or more — only two are performing with API scores above 800 (a state proficiency requirement), the Carl Munck and Burkhalter schools.</p>
<p>If we see examples of success in all types of communities around Oakland, then why isn’t it happening across the board? Why are the predominantly black schools underperforming? My family has lived in Oakland since 1950. All of my family went to public schools and — let them tell it — received an excellent education. My father says his Oakland Technical High School education prepared him for life.</p>
<p>But it’s clear to me after talking to graduates of today’s Oakland high schools that the quality of education in the system has dramatically declined. I spoke to one graduate of Oakland High’s Class of 2003 recently at Luka’s Taproom who said of her education: “It was all right — it was the best Oakland could do.” Have we come to settle for mediocrity? The trends show that people are giving up on Oakland public education. Over the last decade Oakland public schools have lost nearly 30 percent of their students, with enrollment declining from 54,024 in 2000 to 38,446 in 2010, and an increasing number of families are choosing either charter, private, or parochial schools.</p>
<p>The population loss and divergence make sense when you consider how much money has been cut from the Oakland Unified School District budget in the last 20 years. Budget cut after budget cut has left the school district today funded at the level of the 2005-06 school year, according to OUSD statistics. And such cuts always have a more devastating effect on poor and under-resourced students and families.After a state takeover of the OUSD in 2003, which produced some good results and helped make Oakland the most improved district in California in the last six years, Oakland is left wondering what it will be forced to cut next. Now the state is asking the OUSD to cut its per-pupil expense by $850, and the district is trying to figure out ways to make those cuts less severe.</p>
<p>Superintendent Smith explained to me that there has been an erosion of school finance and education finance in California since 1975. “Before 1975, California was the most well-funded and high-quality public school system in the United States,” says Smith.</p>
<p>California’s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_13_(1978)" type="external">Proposition 13</a>, he says, changed everything, severely altering the fundamentals of school finance and school funding across the state. According to the California Budget Project, “immediately prior to the passage of Proposition 13, local revenues provided nearly half (47.1 percent) of the funding for California’s public schools. Today, with Prop 13 in place, our schools are forced to rely on Sacramento for most of their funding and our revenue-starved state has not kept up with its obligations.”</p>
<p>“We’ve seen a steady degradation of core systems,” says Smith. “I also think we’ve seen an expansion and broadening of the needs. So you have two things happening simultaneously, less and less funding and an increase of need.”</p>
<p>And here we go again. Spring has come to Oakland, but it will be another long and cold winter in the school district: Gov. Jerry Brown on March 30 <a href="http://www.berkeleyside.com/2011/03/30/end-of-state-budget-negotiations-imperils-city-school-budgets/comment-page-1/%20" type="external">announced</a> the end of talks with Republican legislators because he could not garner the necessary support to put about $12 billion in temporary tax increases on a June ballot.</p>
<p>The result of this failed negotiation is that California public school students get screwed again and the state Legislature gets more time to decide just how it wants state money to be spent. Shortfalls are happening in cities all over the country. Camden, N.J., Detroit, St. Louis and New York all face challenges similar to Oakland’s as state budget cuts mean larger classes, fewer schools and less money to pay deserving teachers. When is enough going to be enough?</p>
<p>Oakland is used to budget cuts. The city itself is currently working to close a $46 million deficit, trying everything to increase tax revenue, from legalizing industrial marijuana growth to generating new partnerships with green builders and developers. But it’s not happening fast enough. Despite the recent re-hiring of 10 of the 80 police officers it had to fire in 2010, Oakland continues to struggle with rampant crime problems and still sits atop the list of the most deadly cities in the United States.</p>
<p>Governors and other leaders around the country are singing the same tune: We have no choice but to make these cuts. If there was another way, we would take that route. No one wants to shortchange the students. Oh, how familiar the sound. Our leaders say these things as though they have no ramifications — as though a student isn’t getting a raw deal. Today is the day we must stand up and say enough is enough.</p>
<p>“It’s not just what’s happening to our young people, but what’s going to happen to our country as a consequence of what’s happening to our young people,” says Dr. Harry Edwards, professor emeritus at UC Berkeley.</p>
<p>“Young black kids typically pave the road that other members of the youth culture eventually travel. Whether it’s drugs, illegitimacy, crime, whether it’s their disposition and perspective on education and school, young black kids typically pave the road. This isn’t just a black problem, this is an American problem,” he adds.</p>
<p>As I drive up the hill to pay tuition so that my son and daughter don’t have to suffer the public education crisis, I know that I have left under-resourced children and families with one less advocate, one fewer resource to fight for public school students’ rights, one less person to stop the spread of death in our community.</p>
<p>“They are dealing with the world that we have created for them. And one of the reasons that you cannot get an honest discussion about it is that no one wants to step up to the plate and say that the money was more important than the child. And now we are reaping the harvest of what we’ve sown,” says Edwards.</p>
<p>Today, 80 percent of the children in the Alameda County juvenile justice system are from Oakland, and 80 percent of those children are black. It seems black children are learning how to go to jail and die. When will Oakland stand up and teach them how to live?</p>
<p>And whom do you tell about this problem? What do you say to fix it? The truth is that we must undo the damage done by Prop. 13. In slashing property taxes, we’ve slashed our commitment to our children. We are saving and they are dying. It’s not right. And if we are not willing to stand up right now — yes, in this recession in which so many have lost so much — and say “we will lose money, and we will be a little bit more in debt, but our children will have a better future,” then we deserve what we’ve got.</p>
<p>Superintendent Smith and his staff are not discouraged. Through their five-year plan dubbed “Community Schools, Thriving Students” (which must be approved by the school board this summer), the school district is working to lift expectations of Oakland youths. District officials want to turn the OUSD and its schools into “hubs” of activity, which will help them address (among other things) the health, medical and housing needs that are all too common for students and families in under-resourced neighborhoods. Much of the problem in these areas isn’t actual teaching and learning, but rather lack of necessities like healthy food options, sufficient medical care and acceptable living conditions.</p>
<p>Oakland is not alone in this. There must be a national conversation on the state of black and Latino children in the United States’ most prominent urban centers. In case you didn’t know, more people — most of them black and Latino youths — were killed in Oakland than in Afghanistan between 2000 and 2010. What are our children learning?</p> | Second-Class Students | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/second-class-students/ | 2011-05-03 | 4left
| Second-Class Students
<p>In a recent interview, Oakland Unified School District Superintendent Tony Smith shared with me one of the most mind-numbing statistics I have ever heard: According to the Alameda County Health Department, a black child born in West Oakland will, on average, die 15 years before a white child born in the hills of Oakland.</p>
<p>“Surely this must be enhanced or inflated for shock value,” I said to Smith. “This can’t be real.”</p>
<p>“That is a real statistic that exposes serious inequity along racial lines in Oakland,” said Smith. We sat for a minute talking about our hopes for our children and our hopes for Oakland schools, but the statistic stung me with a viscous dose of reality, which quickly transformed into deep concern and doubt about Oakland’s education system.</p>
<p>I imagined being a young, black student in 2011 and hearing that statistic — not only hearing it, but feeling the piercing reality of it every day I go to school. The dilapidated flatlands classrooms, the out-of-date texts and lack of technology — the message would be clear: They (whoever “they” are) don’t care about me or anyone who looks like me.</p>
<p />
<p>The question is will I live no one in the world loves me I’m headed for danger don’t trust strangers Put one in the chamber whenever I’m feelin this anger Don’t want to make excuses but this is how it is, what’s the use Unless we’re shootin, no one notices the youth. It’s just me against the world. — Tupac Shakur, “Me Against the World,” 1995</p>
<p>This statistic shows that two realities exist in Oakland, one for children and families with resources, and a daunting, painful second one for those children and families without resources. It would be myopic to suggest that the education problem in Oakland is all about race, because it’s not. That black children are dying at an alarming rate and underperforming in schools compared with their classmates of different races is a problem so complex it troubles me to write about it. But black children are not the only victims. What is happening in the predominantly black public schools in Oakland is indicative of what is happening in poor public schools around the nation. The unfortunate fact is that in Oakland, black and Latino people represent the large majority of the poor underclass.</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong. Oakland education is not all bad. It is only bad where families do not have time, money and resources to dedicate to their schools. I have seen public schools in the worst neighborhoods thrive. Think College Now has managed to build a haven for children to learn their curriculum and about themselves. Before I visited that school, at 29th and International — one of Oakland’s high-crime and high-poverty areas — I doubted it was possible. But when I went there I saw principal David Silver and his teachers breathing life and love into children and beating the odds. I saw parents attending the morning assembly to send their kids off to class. I saw magic. Through community, all things are possible. This was my proof.</p>
<p>At Crocker, Montclair, Redwood Heights and the handful of other schools in Oakland that have continued to succeed despite the economic downturn or lack of funding to public schools, the story is the same: Involved parents and solid communication between the teachers and students make for a combination that gets the job done. Success is indeed possible in both the richest and poorest communities.</p>
<p>However, of the 14 predominantly black public elementary schools in Oakland — most of them in poor communities where the black student population is 60 percent or more — only two are performing with API scores above 800 (a state proficiency requirement), the Carl Munck and Burkhalter schools.</p>
<p>If we see examples of success in all types of communities around Oakland, then why isn’t it happening across the board? Why are the predominantly black schools underperforming? My family has lived in Oakland since 1950. All of my family went to public schools and — let them tell it — received an excellent education. My father says his Oakland Technical High School education prepared him for life.</p>
<p>But it’s clear to me after talking to graduates of today’s Oakland high schools that the quality of education in the system has dramatically declined. I spoke to one graduate of Oakland High’s Class of 2003 recently at Luka’s Taproom who said of her education: “It was all right — it was the best Oakland could do.” Have we come to settle for mediocrity? The trends show that people are giving up on Oakland public education. Over the last decade Oakland public schools have lost nearly 30 percent of their students, with enrollment declining from 54,024 in 2000 to 38,446 in 2010, and an increasing number of families are choosing either charter, private, or parochial schools.</p>
<p>The population loss and divergence make sense when you consider how much money has been cut from the Oakland Unified School District budget in the last 20 years. Budget cut after budget cut has left the school district today funded at the level of the 2005-06 school year, according to OUSD statistics. And such cuts always have a more devastating effect on poor and under-resourced students and families.After a state takeover of the OUSD in 2003, which produced some good results and helped make Oakland the most improved district in California in the last six years, Oakland is left wondering what it will be forced to cut next. Now the state is asking the OUSD to cut its per-pupil expense by $850, and the district is trying to figure out ways to make those cuts less severe.</p>
<p>Superintendent Smith explained to me that there has been an erosion of school finance and education finance in California since 1975. “Before 1975, California was the most well-funded and high-quality public school system in the United States,” says Smith.</p>
<p>California’s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_13_(1978)" type="external">Proposition 13</a>, he says, changed everything, severely altering the fundamentals of school finance and school funding across the state. According to the California Budget Project, “immediately prior to the passage of Proposition 13, local revenues provided nearly half (47.1 percent) of the funding for California’s public schools. Today, with Prop 13 in place, our schools are forced to rely on Sacramento for most of their funding and our revenue-starved state has not kept up with its obligations.”</p>
<p>“We’ve seen a steady degradation of core systems,” says Smith. “I also think we’ve seen an expansion and broadening of the needs. So you have two things happening simultaneously, less and less funding and an increase of need.”</p>
<p>And here we go again. Spring has come to Oakland, but it will be another long and cold winter in the school district: Gov. Jerry Brown on March 30 <a href="http://www.berkeleyside.com/2011/03/30/end-of-state-budget-negotiations-imperils-city-school-budgets/comment-page-1/%20" type="external">announced</a> the end of talks with Republican legislators because he could not garner the necessary support to put about $12 billion in temporary tax increases on a June ballot.</p>
<p>The result of this failed negotiation is that California public school students get screwed again and the state Legislature gets more time to decide just how it wants state money to be spent. Shortfalls are happening in cities all over the country. Camden, N.J., Detroit, St. Louis and New York all face challenges similar to Oakland’s as state budget cuts mean larger classes, fewer schools and less money to pay deserving teachers. When is enough going to be enough?</p>
<p>Oakland is used to budget cuts. The city itself is currently working to close a $46 million deficit, trying everything to increase tax revenue, from legalizing industrial marijuana growth to generating new partnerships with green builders and developers. But it’s not happening fast enough. Despite the recent re-hiring of 10 of the 80 police officers it had to fire in 2010, Oakland continues to struggle with rampant crime problems and still sits atop the list of the most deadly cities in the United States.</p>
<p>Governors and other leaders around the country are singing the same tune: We have no choice but to make these cuts. If there was another way, we would take that route. No one wants to shortchange the students. Oh, how familiar the sound. Our leaders say these things as though they have no ramifications — as though a student isn’t getting a raw deal. Today is the day we must stand up and say enough is enough.</p>
<p>“It’s not just what’s happening to our young people, but what’s going to happen to our country as a consequence of what’s happening to our young people,” says Dr. Harry Edwards, professor emeritus at UC Berkeley.</p>
<p>“Young black kids typically pave the road that other members of the youth culture eventually travel. Whether it’s drugs, illegitimacy, crime, whether it’s their disposition and perspective on education and school, young black kids typically pave the road. This isn’t just a black problem, this is an American problem,” he adds.</p>
<p>As I drive up the hill to pay tuition so that my son and daughter don’t have to suffer the public education crisis, I know that I have left under-resourced children and families with one less advocate, one fewer resource to fight for public school students’ rights, one less person to stop the spread of death in our community.</p>
<p>“They are dealing with the world that we have created for them. And one of the reasons that you cannot get an honest discussion about it is that no one wants to step up to the plate and say that the money was more important than the child. And now we are reaping the harvest of what we’ve sown,” says Edwards.</p>
<p>Today, 80 percent of the children in the Alameda County juvenile justice system are from Oakland, and 80 percent of those children are black. It seems black children are learning how to go to jail and die. When will Oakland stand up and teach them how to live?</p>
<p>And whom do you tell about this problem? What do you say to fix it? The truth is that we must undo the damage done by Prop. 13. In slashing property taxes, we’ve slashed our commitment to our children. We are saving and they are dying. It’s not right. And if we are not willing to stand up right now — yes, in this recession in which so many have lost so much — and say “we will lose money, and we will be a little bit more in debt, but our children will have a better future,” then we deserve what we’ve got.</p>
<p>Superintendent Smith and his staff are not discouraged. Through their five-year plan dubbed “Community Schools, Thriving Students” (which must be approved by the school board this summer), the school district is working to lift expectations of Oakland youths. District officials want to turn the OUSD and its schools into “hubs” of activity, which will help them address (among other things) the health, medical and housing needs that are all too common for students and families in under-resourced neighborhoods. Much of the problem in these areas isn’t actual teaching and learning, but rather lack of necessities like healthy food options, sufficient medical care and acceptable living conditions.</p>
<p>Oakland is not alone in this. There must be a national conversation on the state of black and Latino children in the United States’ most prominent urban centers. In case you didn’t know, more people — most of them black and Latino youths — were killed in Oakland than in Afghanistan between 2000 and 2010. What are our children learning?</p> | 599,373 |
<p>Over the last several years, new developments in personal health tracking products have multiplied exponentially. But human interest in measuring and tracking elements of our bodily needs stretches back hundreds of years. Professor Natasha Schüll discusses these current trends and their history, based on research she's done for a forthcoming book called "Keeping Track."</p> | From Bites to Bytes - Quantifying the Everyday | false | https://pri.org/stories/2016-02-26/bites-bytes-quantifying-everyday | 2016-02-26 | 3left-center
| From Bites to Bytes - Quantifying the Everyday
<p>Over the last several years, new developments in personal health tracking products have multiplied exponentially. But human interest in measuring and tracking elements of our bodily needs stretches back hundreds of years. Professor Natasha Schüll discusses these current trends and their history, based on research she's done for a forthcoming book called "Keeping Track."</p> | 599,374 |
<p />
<p>Initiatives to make marijuana the “ <a href="http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/459/marijuana_lowest_enforcement_priority_initiatives" type="external">lowest law enforcement priority</a>” are on ballots in five cities this year – California’s Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and Santa Monica, as well as Missoula, Montana and Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It’s not quite as goofy an idea as it sounds – similar measures have already passed in Seattle and Oakland. No big surprise that three coastal California towns are thinking of following suit – but it sure does make me curious about <a href="http://www.eurekasprings.com/about/" type="external">Eureka Springs</a>.</p>
<p /> | Lay Off the Pot, Cops | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2006/11/lay-pot-cops/ | 2006-11-02 | 4left
| Lay Off the Pot, Cops
<p />
<p>Initiatives to make marijuana the “ <a href="http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/459/marijuana_lowest_enforcement_priority_initiatives" type="external">lowest law enforcement priority</a>” are on ballots in five cities this year – California’s Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and Santa Monica, as well as Missoula, Montana and Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It’s not quite as goofy an idea as it sounds – similar measures have already passed in Seattle and Oakland. No big surprise that three coastal California towns are thinking of following suit – but it sure does make me curious about <a href="http://www.eurekasprings.com/about/" type="external">Eureka Springs</a>.</p>
<p /> | 599,375 |
<p />
<p>This isn't how things were supposed to go for Hillary Clinton. When she launched her campaign last April, she was the overwhelming and prohibitive Democratic frontrunner, widely expected to coast to her party's nomination.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Instead, the past six months have been dominated by endless questions about her honesty and ethics, and have seen her poll numbers fall precipitously. Clinton's candidacy is so weakened that the political world was on pins and needles all week, breathlessly waiting for Joe Biden to make up his mind about a potential run.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the Vice President decided to take a pass on the race, but the fact that a 72-year old career politician who wears the failed Obama Agenda as a badge of honor was seen as a credible challenger for the Democratic nomination speaks volumes about Hillary Clinton's damaged position in this race.</p>
<p>Her erosion in the polls has been so significant that she now trails a proud and self-avowed socialist in multiple polls, including many surveys in my home state of New Hampshire. &#160;"Liar" and "dishonest" are the two words voters most frequently associate with Clinton, and many questions still remain about her use of a private email server while she was Secretary of State.</p>
<p>These issues of character are huge problem for Clinton. More than any other office, electing a president is a very personal choice for voters - they are choosing someone to not only make consequential decisions about war and peace as the Commander-in-Chief of our Armed Forces, but they are also choosing someone to come into our living rooms and be the comforter-in-chief during times of tragedy and disaster. Both responsibilities require a certain level of trust from the man or woman in the Oval Office.</p>
<p>Furthermore, as the tragedy of Benghazi comes back in the news with Clinton's hearing today, voters are once again reminded of Clinton's disastrous record at the State Department. She has never answered questions about the requests from our diplomats serving in Benghazi for more security in the lead-up to the attack as al-Qaeda stepped up its activity in the region. She also has not answered questions about why our embassy lacked proper resources, such as fire escape masks, which is extremely relevant given that two of the victims died of smoke inhalation.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Clinton was also a strong advocate for the Libyan War in the first place, convincing President Obama of the need for American intervention, despite having no plan to deal with the power vacuum once Gaddafi was overthrown. The ensuing instability created a ripe environment for terrorists, who were responsible for the attack on our embassy and killed four of our own.</p>
<p>By any measurable statistic or figure, America and the world are all worse off and less safe as a result of her time at serving in the Obama Administration. &#160;Her record as Secretary of State hasn't even been fully explored yet, largely because the headlines have been dominated by questions about her emails and FBI investigations.</p>
<p>With Vice President Biden now officially out of the mix, Clinton's path to the nomination becomes easier, but her fundamental problems evident now more than ever. Already, voters cannot trust her and do not believe she is ethical, and that's before a thorough examination of her state department record has commenced.</p>
<p>There's a reason Joe Biden took a long, hard look at this race, and that's because he correctly recognized that Hillary Clinton is an eminently flawed and beatable candidate. As more and more voters tune into the presidential race over the next year, they too will reach the same conclusion, and that's bad news for Hillary Clinton.</p> | A Bad Day for Democrats: Sen. Scott Brown | true | http://foxbusiness.com/features/2015/10/22/bad-day-for-democrats.html | 2016-03-09 | 0right
| A Bad Day for Democrats: Sen. Scott Brown
<p />
<p>This isn't how things were supposed to go for Hillary Clinton. When she launched her campaign last April, she was the overwhelming and prohibitive Democratic frontrunner, widely expected to coast to her party's nomination.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Instead, the past six months have been dominated by endless questions about her honesty and ethics, and have seen her poll numbers fall precipitously. Clinton's candidacy is so weakened that the political world was on pins and needles all week, breathlessly waiting for Joe Biden to make up his mind about a potential run.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the Vice President decided to take a pass on the race, but the fact that a 72-year old career politician who wears the failed Obama Agenda as a badge of honor was seen as a credible challenger for the Democratic nomination speaks volumes about Hillary Clinton's damaged position in this race.</p>
<p>Her erosion in the polls has been so significant that she now trails a proud and self-avowed socialist in multiple polls, including many surveys in my home state of New Hampshire. &#160;"Liar" and "dishonest" are the two words voters most frequently associate with Clinton, and many questions still remain about her use of a private email server while she was Secretary of State.</p>
<p>These issues of character are huge problem for Clinton. More than any other office, electing a president is a very personal choice for voters - they are choosing someone to not only make consequential decisions about war and peace as the Commander-in-Chief of our Armed Forces, but they are also choosing someone to come into our living rooms and be the comforter-in-chief during times of tragedy and disaster. Both responsibilities require a certain level of trust from the man or woman in the Oval Office.</p>
<p>Furthermore, as the tragedy of Benghazi comes back in the news with Clinton's hearing today, voters are once again reminded of Clinton's disastrous record at the State Department. She has never answered questions about the requests from our diplomats serving in Benghazi for more security in the lead-up to the attack as al-Qaeda stepped up its activity in the region. She also has not answered questions about why our embassy lacked proper resources, such as fire escape masks, which is extremely relevant given that two of the victims died of smoke inhalation.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>Clinton was also a strong advocate for the Libyan War in the first place, convincing President Obama of the need for American intervention, despite having no plan to deal with the power vacuum once Gaddafi was overthrown. The ensuing instability created a ripe environment for terrorists, who were responsible for the attack on our embassy and killed four of our own.</p>
<p>By any measurable statistic or figure, America and the world are all worse off and less safe as a result of her time at serving in the Obama Administration. &#160;Her record as Secretary of State hasn't even been fully explored yet, largely because the headlines have been dominated by questions about her emails and FBI investigations.</p>
<p>With Vice President Biden now officially out of the mix, Clinton's path to the nomination becomes easier, but her fundamental problems evident now more than ever. Already, voters cannot trust her and do not believe she is ethical, and that's before a thorough examination of her state department record has commenced.</p>
<p>There's a reason Joe Biden took a long, hard look at this race, and that's because he correctly recognized that Hillary Clinton is an eminently flawed and beatable candidate. As more and more voters tune into the presidential race over the next year, they too will reach the same conclusion, and that's bad news for Hillary Clinton.</p> | 599,376 |
<p />
<p>Natalie Portman stuns in Dior, Allison Williams rocks a vibrant tangerie jacket, and Ke$ha channels the 70s... in a very bad way. Plus, more of this week's best and worst dressed.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>For the Berlin premiere of Thor on October 27, Natalie Portman looked classic and elegant in a white, strapless silk gown styled with a black silk belt, clutch, and simple diamond earrings.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Diane Kruger looked fitting at Chanel's Little Black Dress event in Sao Paolo wearing... a LBD by Chanel. The actress wore a strapless dress with embroidered flowers from the brand's Spring 2013 collection and a pair of Stuart Weitzman heels.&#160;</p>
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<p>Girls star Allison Williams sported a clean-cut, all-white ensemble to Marie Claire's Power Women Lunch on October 30. The actress paired her sleeveless top and trousers from Calvin Klein's Spring/Summer 2014 collection with a vibrant orange wool coat.</p>
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<p>Kisses all around! In typical Hailee Steinfeld fashion, the young Hollywood actress killed the red carpet on October 28 for the premiere of Ender's Game in a one-sleeved white top featuring sequined red lips and simple black trousers and pumps, all by Saint Laurent.&#160;</p>
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<p>Kate Bosworth attends the Big Sur premiere on October 28 in NYC wearing a black floor-length Christopher Kane gown with subtle yet feminine floral&#160;appliqu's at the neck and waist.</p>
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<p>Is Gaga turning heads in a good or bad way? The singer wore a sleek, high-low black dress coat from Alexander McQueen's Pre-Fall 2013 collection. The knee-high leather boots and large handbag coordinate perfectly -- but is the eye-covering Philip Treacy hat a bit too Halloween for every day?</p>
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<p>Singer Mariah Carey took the stage at BET Networks' Black Girls Rock! on October 26 in an ill-fitting ensemble. The low-cut crop top and hip-hugging skirt showed way too much for comfort. Put it away, Mariah!</p>
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<p>Is Ke$ha trying to convince us she's Penny Lane from Almost Famous? Good try -- but the neon-pink paisley suit, rocket tee, and John Lennon-inspired glasses look like a seventies Halloween costume gone bad.</p>
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<p>Ciara arrived at The Hotel Derek in Houston, TX on October 28 wearing a cut-out, in too many places, dress. The exposed leg, middriff, and undercleavage -- put some clothes on, girl!</p>
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<p>Yes, we know it's Halloween, but Miley Cyrus as rapper Lil Kim just gives us the creeps. The exposed boob, the nipple pasties, the fuschia-overload! Miley looks more like Hannah Montana gone raving.</p>
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<p /> | From Lady Gaga to Ciara, Best and Worst Dressed of the Week | true | https://thedailybeast.com/from-lady-gaga-to-ciara-best-and-worst-dressed-of-the-week | 2018-10-06 | 4left
| From Lady Gaga to Ciara, Best and Worst Dressed of the Week
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<p>Natalie Portman stuns in Dior, Allison Williams rocks a vibrant tangerie jacket, and Ke$ha channels the 70s... in a very bad way. Plus, more of this week's best and worst dressed.</p>
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<p>For the Berlin premiere of Thor on October 27, Natalie Portman looked classic and elegant in a white, strapless silk gown styled with a black silk belt, clutch, and simple diamond earrings.</p>
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<p>Diane Kruger looked fitting at Chanel's Little Black Dress event in Sao Paolo wearing... a LBD by Chanel. The actress wore a strapless dress with embroidered flowers from the brand's Spring 2013 collection and a pair of Stuart Weitzman heels.&#160;</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Girls star Allison Williams sported a clean-cut, all-white ensemble to Marie Claire's Power Women Lunch on October 30. The actress paired her sleeveless top and trousers from Calvin Klein's Spring/Summer 2014 collection with a vibrant orange wool coat.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Kisses all around! In typical Hailee Steinfeld fashion, the young Hollywood actress killed the red carpet on October 28 for the premiere of Ender's Game in a one-sleeved white top featuring sequined red lips and simple black trousers and pumps, all by Saint Laurent.&#160;</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Kate Bosworth attends the Big Sur premiere on October 28 in NYC wearing a black floor-length Christopher Kane gown with subtle yet feminine floral&#160;appliqu's at the neck and waist.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Is Gaga turning heads in a good or bad way? The singer wore a sleek, high-low black dress coat from Alexander McQueen's Pre-Fall 2013 collection. The knee-high leather boots and large handbag coordinate perfectly -- but is the eye-covering Philip Treacy hat a bit too Halloween for every day?</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Singer Mariah Carey took the stage at BET Networks' Black Girls Rock! on October 26 in an ill-fitting ensemble. The low-cut crop top and hip-hugging skirt showed way too much for comfort. Put it away, Mariah!</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Is Ke$ha trying to convince us she's Penny Lane from Almost Famous? Good try -- but the neon-pink paisley suit, rocket tee, and John Lennon-inspired glasses look like a seventies Halloween costume gone bad.</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Ciara arrived at The Hotel Derek in Houston, TX on October 28 wearing a cut-out, in too many places, dress. The exposed leg, middriff, and undercleavage -- put some clothes on, girl!</p>
<p />
<p />
<p>Yes, we know it's Halloween, but Miley Cyrus as rapper Lil Kim just gives us the creeps. The exposed boob, the nipple pasties, the fuschia-overload! Miley looks more like Hannah Montana gone raving.</p>
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<p /> | 599,377 |
<p>PressThinkJay Rosen believes the Washington Post is our great national newspaper now. "The Times is number two, with the Wall Street Journal close behind." RE JUDITH MILLER: "Most journalists seem baffled by her explanations, and dubious about the waiver that wasn’t, then was. They do not see her cause as necessarily just."</p> | "NYT is not any longer the greatest newspaper in the land" | false | https://poynter.org/news/nyt-not-any-longer-greatest-newspaper-land | 2005-10-04 | 2least
| "NYT is not any longer the greatest newspaper in the land"
<p>PressThinkJay Rosen believes the Washington Post is our great national newspaper now. "The Times is number two, with the Wall Street Journal close behind." RE JUDITH MILLER: "Most journalists seem baffled by her explanations, and dubious about the waiver that wasn’t, then was. They do not see her cause as necessarily just."</p> | 599,378 |
<p>By Pepe Escobar, TomDispatchThis piece first appeared at TomDispatch. Read Tom Engelhardt’s introduction <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175845/tomgram%3A_pepe_escobar%2C_who%27s_pivoting_where_in_eurasia/" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p>HONG KONG — A specter is haunting Washington, an unnerving vision of a Sino-Russian alliance wedded to an expansive symbiosis of trade and commerce across much of the Eurasian land mass — at the expense of the United States.</p>
<p>And no wonder Washington is anxious.&#160; That alliance is already a done deal in a variety of ways: through the BRICS group of emerging powers (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa); at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Asian counterweight to NATO; inside <a href="http://voiceofrussia.com/2014_02_26/BRICS-is-priority-for-Russian-foreign-policy-and-way-to-shape-multipolar-world-Russias-diplomat-5870/" type="external">the G20</a>; and via the 120-member-nation <a href="http://www.nam.gov.za" type="external">Non-Aligned Movement</a> (NAM). Trade and commerce are just part of the future bargain.&#160; Synergies in the development of new military technologies beckon as well. After Russia’s Star Wars-style, ultra-sophisticated <a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/russia-fight-space-invaders-other-threats-advanced-star-wars-s-500-missile-defense-system-1401975" type="external">S-500</a> air defense anti-missile system comes online in 2018, Beijing is sure to want a version of it. Meanwhile, Russia is about to <a href="http://thediplomat.com/2013/11/how-china-plans-to-use-the-su-35/" type="external">sell</a> dozens of state-of-the-art Sukhoi Su-35 jet fighters to the Chinese as Beijing and Moscow move to seal an aviation-industrial partnership.</p>
<p>This week should provide the first real fireworks in the celebration of a new Eurasian century-in-the-making when Russian President Vladimir Putin drops in on Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.&#160; You remember “ <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175050/pepe_escobar_welcome_to_pipelineistan" type="external">Pipelineistan</a>,” all those crucial oil and gas pipelines crisscrossing Eurasia that make up the true circulatory system for the life of the region.&#160; Now, it looks like the ultimate Pipelineistan deal, worth $1 trillion and 10 years in the making, will be inked as well.&#160; In it, the giant, state-controlled Russian energy giant Gazprom <a href="http://en.ria.ru/russia/20140512/189761463/Moscow-Beijing-Close-to-Gas-Deal--Russian-Official.html" type="external">will agree</a> to supply the giant state-controlled China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) with 3.75 billion cubic feet of liquefied natural gas a day for no less than 30 years, starting in 2018. That’s the equivalent of a quarter of Russia’s massive gas exports to all of Europe. China’s current daily gas demand is around 16 billion cubic feet a day, and imports account for 31.6% of total consumption.</p>
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<p>Gazprom may still collect the bulk of its profits from Europe, but Asia could turn out to be its Everest. The company will use this mega-deal to <a href="http://www.stratfor.com/video/russias-east-asian-pivot" type="external">boost investment</a> in Eastern Siberia and the whole region will be reconfigured as a privileged gas hub for Japan and South Korea as well. If you want to know why no key country in Asia has been willing to “ <a href="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/CEN-01-250314.html" type="external">isolate</a>” Russia in the midst of the Ukrainian crisis — and in defiance of the Obama administration — look no further than Pipelineistan.</p>
<p>Exit the Petrodollar, Enter the Gas-o-Yuan</p>
<p>And then, talking about anxiety in Washington, there’s the fate of the petrodollar to consider, or rather the “thermonuclear” possibility that Moscow and Beijing will agree on payment for the Gazprom-CNPC deal not in petrodollars but in Chinese yuan. One can hardly imagine a more tectonic shift, with Pipelineistan intersecting with a growing Sino-Russian political-economic-energy partnership. Along with it goes the future possibility of a push, led again by China and Russia, toward a new international reserve currency — actually a basket of currencies — that would supersede the dollar (at least in the optimistic dreams of BRICS members).</p>
<p>Right after the potentially game-changing Sino-Russian summit comes a BRICS summit in Brazil in July. That’s when a $100 billion <a href="http://thebricspost.com/brics-finance-ministers-meet-in-washington-2/#.U2x77l5fFcU" type="external">BRICS development bank</a>, announced in 2012, will officially be born as a potential alternative to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank as a source of project financing for the developing world.</p>
<p>More BRICS cooperation meant to bypass the dollar is reflected in the “ <a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-04-10/gazprom-prepares-symbolic-bond-issue-chinese-yuan" type="external">Gas-o-yuan</a>,” as in natural gas bought and paid for in Chinese currency. Gazprom is even considering marketing bonds in yuan as part of the financial planning for its expansion. Yuan-backed bonds are already trading in Hong Kong, Singapore, London, and most recently <a href="http://www.dw.de/frankfurt-issues-first-bond-backed-by-chinese-currency/a-17605819" type="external">Frankfurt</a>.</p>
<p>Nothing could be more sensible for the new Pipelineistan deal than to have it settled in yuan. Beijing would pay Gazprom in that currency (convertible into rubles); Gazprom would accumulate the yuan; and Russia would then buy myriad made-in-China goods and services in yuan convertible into rubles.</p>
<p>It’s common knowledge that banks in Hong Kong, from Standard Chartered to HSBC — as well as others closely linked to China via trade deals — have been diversifying into the yuan, which implies that it could become one of the de facto global reserve currencies even before it’s fully convertible. (Beijing is unofficially working for a fully convertible yuan by 2018.)</p>
<p>The Russia-China gas deal is inextricably tied up with the energy relationship between the European Union (EU) and Russia. After all, the bulk of Russia’s gross domestic product comes from oil and gas sales, as does much of its leverage in the Ukraine crisis. In turn, Germany depends on Russia for a hefty 30% of its natural gas supplies. Yet Washington’s geopolitical imperatives — spiced up with Polish hysteria — have meant pushing Brussels to find ways to “punish” Moscow in the future energy sphere (while not imperiling present day energy relationships).</p>
<p>There’s a consistent rumble in Brussels these days about the possible <a href="http://rt.com/op-edge/157308-ukrainian-crisis-imf-loans/" type="external">cancellation</a> of the projected 16 billion euro South Stream pipeline, whose construction is to start in June.&#160; On completion, it would pump yet more Russian natural gas to Europe — in this case, underneath the Black Sea (bypassing Ukraine) to Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia, Greece, Italy, and Austria.</p>
<p>Bulgaria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic have already made it clear that they are firmly opposed to any cancellation. &#160;And cancellation is probably not in the cards.&#160; After all, the only obvious alternative is Caspian Sea gas from Azerbaijan, and that isn’t likely to happen unless the EU can suddenly muster the will and funds for a crash schedule to construct the fabled Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline, conceived during the Clinton years expressly to bypass Russia and Iran.</p>
<p>In any case, Azerbaijan doesn’t have enough capacity to supply the levels of natural gas needed, and other actors like Kazakhstan, plagued with infrastructure problems, or unreliable Turkmenistan, which prefers to sell its gas to China, are already largely out of the picture. And don’t forget that South Stream, coupled with subsidiary energy projects, will create a lot of jobs and investment in many of the most economically devastated EU nations.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, such EU threats, however unrealistic, only serve to accelerate Russia’s increasing symbiosis with Asian markets. For Beijing especially, it’s a win-win situation. After all, between energy supplied across seas policed and controlled by the U.S. Navy and steady, stable land routes out of Siberia, it’s no contest.</p>
<p>Pick Your Own Silk Road</p>
<p>Of course, the U.S. dollar remains the top global reserve currency, involving 33% of global foreign exchange holdings at the end of 2013, according to the IMF. It was, however, at 55% in 2000. Nobody knows the percentage in yuan (and Beijing isn’t talking), but the IMF notes that reserves in “other currencies” in emerging markets have been up 400% since 2003.</p>
<p>The Fed is <a href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/the-federal-reserve-is-monetizing-a-staggering-amount-of-u-s-government-debt" type="external">arguably monetizing</a> 70% of the U.S. government debt in an attempt to keep interest rates from heading skywards. Pentagon adviser Jim Rickards, as well as every Hong Kong-based banker, tends to believe that the Fed is bust (though they won’t say it on the record). No one can even imagine the extent of the possible future deluge the U.S. dollar might experience amid a $1.4 trillion Mount Ararat of financial derivatives.&#160; Don’t think that this is the death knell of Western capitalism, however, just the faltering of that reigning economic faith, neoliberalism, still the official ideology of the United States, the overwhelming majority of the European Union, and parts of Asia and South America.</p>
<p>As far as what might be called the “authoritarian neoliberalism” of the Middle Kingdom, what’s not to like at the moment? China has proven that there is a result-oriented alternative to the Western “democratic” capitalist model for nations aiming to be successful. It’s building not one, but myriad <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABsojbvC18g" type="external">new Silk Roads</a>, massive webs of high-speed railways, highways, pipelines, ports, and fiber optic networks across huge parts of Eurasia. These include a Southeast Asian road, a Central Asian road, an Indian Ocean “maritime highway” and even a high-speed rail line through Iran and Turkey reaching all the way to Germany.</p>
<p>In April, when President Xi Jinping visited the city of Duisburg on the Rhine River, with the largest inland harbor in the world and right in the heartland of Germany’s Ruhr steel industry, he made an audacious proposal: a new “economic Silk Road” should be built between China and Europe, on the basis of the Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe railway, which already runs from China to Kazakhstan, then through Russia, Belarus, Poland, and finally Germany. That’s 15 days by train, 20 less than for cargo ships sailing from China’s eastern seaboard. Now that would represent the ultimate geopolitical earthquake in terms of integrating economic growth across Eurasia.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that, if no bubbles burst, China is about to become — and remain — the number one global economic power, a position it enjoyed for 18 of the past 20 centuries. But don’t tell London <a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/c355e0e6-d1d1-11e3-8ff4-00144feabdc0.html#axzz30brl0nA8" type="external">hagiographers</a>; they still believe that U.S. hegemony will last, well, forever.</p>
<p>Take Me to Cold War 2.0</p>
<p>Despite recent serious financial struggles, the BRICS countries have been consciously working to become a counterforce to the original and — having <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/24/politics/obama-europe-trip/" type="external">tossed Russia out</a> in March — once again Group of 7, or G7. They are eager to create a new global architecture to replace the one first imposed in the wake of World War II, and they see themselves as a potential challenge to the exceptionalist and unipolar world that Washington imagines for our future (with itself as the global robocop and NATO as its robo-police force). Historian and imperialist cheerleader Ian Morris, in his book War! What is it Good For?, defines the U.S. as the ultimate “globocop” and “the last best hope of Earth.” If that globocop “wearies of its role,” he writes, “there is no plan B.”&#160; &#160;&#160;&#160;</p>
<p>Well, there is a plan BRICS — or so the BRICS nations would like to think, at least. And when the BRICS do act in this spirit on the global stage, they quickly conjure up a curious mix of fear, hysteria, and pugnaciousness in the Washington establishment. Take Christopher Hill as an example. The former assistant secretary of state for East Asia and U.S. ambassador to Iraq is now an advisor with the Albright Stonebridge Group, a consulting firm deeply connected to the White House and the State Department. When Russia was down and out, Hill used to dream of a hegemonic American “new world order.”&#160; Now that the ungrateful Russians have <a href="http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/christopher-r--hill-calls-on-the-west-to-prepare-for-a-long-struggle-with-a-revanchist-russia" type="external">spurned</a> what “the West has been offering” — that is, “special status with NATO, a privileged relationship with the European Union, and partnership in international diplomatic endeavors” — they are, in his view, busy trying to revive the Soviet empire. Translation: if you’re not our vassals, you’re against us.&#160; Welcome to Cold War 2.0.&#160; &#160;</p>
<p>The Pentagon has its own version of this directed not so much at Russia as at China, which, its think tank on future warfare claims, is <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/03/26/china-waging-three-warfares-against-united-states-in-asia-pentagon-says/" type="external">already at war</a> with Washington in a number of ways. So if it’s not apocalypse now, it’s Armageddon tomorrow. And it goes without saying that whatever’s going wrong, as the Obama administration very publicly “pivots” to Asia and the American media <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/20/world/europe/in-cold-war-echo-obama-strategy-writes-off-putin.html" type="external">fills with talk</a> about a revival of Cold War-era “containment policy” in the Pacific, it’s all China’s fault.</p>
<p>Embedded in the mad dash toward Cold War 2.0 are some ludicrous facts-on-the-ground: the U.S. government, with $17.5 trillion in national debt and counting, is contemplating a financial showdown with Russia, the largest global energy producer and a major nuclear power, just as it’s also promoting an economically unsustainable military encirclement of its largest creditor, China.</p>
<p>Russia runs a sizeable trade surplus. Humongous Chinese banks will have no trouble <a href="http://www.dibtimes.com/russian-companies-strengthen-financial-ties-china-western-sanctions-over-ukraine-crisis-1580210" type="external">helping Russian banks</a> out if Western funds dry up. In terms of inter-BRICS cooperation, few projects beat a $30 billion oil pipeline in the planning stages that <a href="http://rinf.com/alt-news/breaking-news/30-billion-oil-pipeline-built-russia-india-northwest-china/" type="external">will stretch</a> from Russia to India via Northwest China. Chinese companies are already eagerly discussing the possibility of taking part in the creation of a <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/china-to-help-russia-build-transport-corridor-to-crimea/5380484" type="external">transport corridor</a> from Russia into Crimea, as well as an airport, shipyard, and liquid natural gas terminal there. And there’s another “thermonuclear” gambit in the making: the birth of a natural gas equivalent to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries that would include Russia, Iran, and <a href="http://voiceofrussia.com/2014_05_07/Russian-led-gas-OPEC-may-emerge-soon-4451/" type="external">reportedly</a> disgruntled U.S. ally Qatar.</p>
<p>The (unstated) BRICS long-term plan involves the creation of an alternative economic system featuring a basket of gold-backed currencies that would bypass the present America-centric global financial system. (No wonder Russia and China are amassing as much gold as they can.) The euro — a sound currency backed by large liquid bond markets and huge gold reserves — would be welcomed in as well.</p>
<p>It’s no secret in Hong Kong that the Bank of China has been using a parallel SWIFT network to conduct every kind of trade with Tehran, which is under a heavy U.S. sanctions regime. With Washington wielding Visa and Mastercard as <a href="http://www.nasdaq.com/article/putin-calls-for-creation-of-banking-payment-system-20140327-00598#ixzz2xQIi0AgY" type="external">weapon</a>s in a growing Cold War-style economic campaign against Russia, Moscow is about to implement an alternative payment and credit card system not controlled by Western finance. An even easier route would be to adopt the Chinese <a href="http://rt.com/op-edge/russia-china-payment-systems-640/" type="external">Union Pay system</a>, whose operations have already overtaken American Express in global volume. &#160;&#160;</p>
<p>I’m Just Pivoting With Myself</p>
<p>No amount of Obama administration “pivoting” to Asia to contain China (and threaten it with <a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/178694/how-us-energy-boom-harming-foreign-policy" type="external">U.S. Navy control</a> of the energy sea lanes to that country) is likely to push Beijing far from its Deng Xiaoping-inspired, self-described “ <a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-09/06/c_131102329.htm" type="external">peaceful development</a>” strategy meant to turn it into a global powerhouse of trade.&#160; Nor are the forward deployment of U.S. or NATO troops in Eastern Europe or <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/20/world/europe/in-cold-war-echo-obama-strategy-writes-off-putin.html?_r=2" type="external">other</a> such <a href="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/CEN-01-290414.html" type="external">Cold-War-ish acts</a> likely to deter Moscow from a careful balancing act: ensuring that Russia’s sphere of influence in Ukraine remains strong without compromising trade and commercial, as well as political, ties with the European Union — above all, with strategic partner Germany. This is Moscow’s Holy Grail; a <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/from-lisbon-to-vladivostok-putin-envisions-a-russia-eu-free-trade-zone-a-731109.html" type="external">free-trade zone</a> from Lisbon to Vladivostok, which (not by accident) is mirrored in China’s dream of a new Silk Road to Germany.</p>
<p>Increasingly wary of Washington, Berlin for its part abhors the notion of Europe being caught in the grips of a Cold War 2.0. German leaders have more important fish to fry, including trying to stabilize a wobbly EU while warding off an economic collapse in southern and central Europe and the advance of ever more extreme rightwing parties.</p>
<p>On the other side of the Atlantic, President Obama and his top officials show every sign of becoming entangled in their own pivoting — to Iran, to China, to Russia’s eastern borderlands, and ( <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175714/nick_turse_blowback_central" type="external">under the radar</a>) to Africa. The irony of all these military-first maneuvers is that they are actually helping Moscow, Tehran, and Beijing build up their own strategic depth in Eurasia and elsewhere, as reflected in Syria, or crucially in ever more <a href="http://rt.com/business/155404-russia-iran-energy-deal/" type="external">energy deals</a>. They are also <a href="http://thediplomat.com/2014/05/china-calls-iran-a-strategic-partner/" type="external">helping cement</a> the growing strategic partnership between China and Iran. The unrelenting Ministry of Truth narrative out of Washington about all these developments now carefully ignores the fact that, without Moscow, the “West” would never have sat down to discuss a final nuclear deal with Iran or gotten a chemical disarmament agreement out of Damascus.</p>
<p>When the disputes between China and its neighbors in the South China Sea and between that country and Japan over the Senkaku/Diaoyou islands meet the Ukraine crisis, the inevitable conclusion will be that both Russia and China consider their borderlands and sea lanes private property and aren’t going to take challenges quietly — be it via NATO expansion, U.S. military encirclement, or missile shields. Neither Beijing nor Moscow is bent on the usual form of imperialist expansion, despite the version of events now being fed to Western publics.&#160; Their “red lines” remain essentially defensive in nature, no matter the bluster sometimes involved in securing them.</p>
<p>Whatever Washington may want or fear or try to prevent, the facts on the ground suggest that, in the years ahead, Beijing, Moscow, and Tehran will only grow closer, slowly but surely creating a new geopolitical axis in Eurasia. Meanwhile, a discombobulated America seems to be aiding and abetting the deconstruction of its own unipolar world order, while offering the BRICS a genuine window of opportunity to try to change the rules of the game.&#160;</p>
<p>Russia and China in Pivot Mode</p>
<p>In Washington’s think-tank land, the conviction that the Obama administration should be focused on replaying the Cold War via a new version of containment policy to “limit the development of Russia as a hegemonic power” has taken hold. The recipe: weaponize the neighbors from the Baltic states to Azerbaijan to “contain” Russia. Cold War 2.0 is on because, from the point of view of Washington’s elites, the first one never really left town.</p>
<p>Yet as much as the U.S. may fight the emergence of a multipolar, multi-powered world, economic facts on the ground regularly point to such developments.&#160; The question remains: Will the decline of the hegemon be slow and reasonably dignified, or will the whole world be dragged down with it in what has been called “the Samson option”?</p>
<p>While we watch the spectacle unfold, with no end game in sight, keep in mind that a new force is growing in Eurasia, with the Sino-Russian strategic alliance threatening to dominate its heartland along with great stretches of its inner rim. Now, that’s a nightmare of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Geographical_Pivot_of_History%20" type="external">Mackinderesque</a> proportions from Washington’s point of view.&#160; Think, for instance, of how Zbigniew Brzezinski, the former national security adviser who became a mentor on global politics to President Obama, would see it.</p>
<p>In his 1997 book The Grand Chessboard, Brzezinski argued that “the struggle for global primacy [would] continue to be played” on the Eurasian “chessboard,” of which “Ukraine was a geopolitical pivot.” “If Moscow regains control over Ukraine,” he wrote at the time, Russia would “automatically regain the wherewithal to become a powerful imperial state, spanning Europe and Asia.”</p>
<p>That remains most of the rationale behind the American imperial containment policy — from Russia’s European “near abroad” to the South China Sea. Still, with no endgame in sight, keep your eye on Russia pivoting to Asia, China pivoting across the world, and the BRICS hard at work trying to bring about the new Eurasian Century.</p>
<p>Pepe Escobar is the roving correspondent for Asia Times/Hong Kong, an analyst for RT, and a <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175715/tomgram%3A_pepe_escobar,_the_tao_of_containing_china/" type="external">TomDispatch regular</a>. With a chapter on Iran, he is a contributing editor to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1848726260/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">The Global Obama: Crossroads of Leadership in the 21st&#160;Century</a>. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pepe.escobar.77377?ref=tn_tnmn" type="external">Follow him</a> on Facebook.</p>
<p>Follow TomDispatch on Twitter and join us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/tomdispatch" type="external">Facebook</a> and <a href="http://tomdispatch.tumblr.com/" type="external">Tumblr</a>. Check out the newest Dispatch Book, Ann Jones’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608463710/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">They Were Soldiers: How the Wounded Return From America’s Wars — The Untold Story</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 2014 Pepe Escobar</p> | The Birth of a Eurasian Century | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/the-birth-of-a-eurasian-century/ | 2014-05-19 | 4left
| The Birth of a Eurasian Century
<p>By Pepe Escobar, TomDispatchThis piece first appeared at TomDispatch. Read Tom Engelhardt’s introduction <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175845/tomgram%3A_pepe_escobar%2C_who%27s_pivoting_where_in_eurasia/" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p>HONG KONG — A specter is haunting Washington, an unnerving vision of a Sino-Russian alliance wedded to an expansive symbiosis of trade and commerce across much of the Eurasian land mass — at the expense of the United States.</p>
<p>And no wonder Washington is anxious.&#160; That alliance is already a done deal in a variety of ways: through the BRICS group of emerging powers (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa); at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Asian counterweight to NATO; inside <a href="http://voiceofrussia.com/2014_02_26/BRICS-is-priority-for-Russian-foreign-policy-and-way-to-shape-multipolar-world-Russias-diplomat-5870/" type="external">the G20</a>; and via the 120-member-nation <a href="http://www.nam.gov.za" type="external">Non-Aligned Movement</a> (NAM). Trade and commerce are just part of the future bargain.&#160; Synergies in the development of new military technologies beckon as well. After Russia’s Star Wars-style, ultra-sophisticated <a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/russia-fight-space-invaders-other-threats-advanced-star-wars-s-500-missile-defense-system-1401975" type="external">S-500</a> air defense anti-missile system comes online in 2018, Beijing is sure to want a version of it. Meanwhile, Russia is about to <a href="http://thediplomat.com/2013/11/how-china-plans-to-use-the-su-35/" type="external">sell</a> dozens of state-of-the-art Sukhoi Su-35 jet fighters to the Chinese as Beijing and Moscow move to seal an aviation-industrial partnership.</p>
<p>This week should provide the first real fireworks in the celebration of a new Eurasian century-in-the-making when Russian President Vladimir Putin drops in on Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.&#160; You remember “ <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175050/pepe_escobar_welcome_to_pipelineistan" type="external">Pipelineistan</a>,” all those crucial oil and gas pipelines crisscrossing Eurasia that make up the true circulatory system for the life of the region.&#160; Now, it looks like the ultimate Pipelineistan deal, worth $1 trillion and 10 years in the making, will be inked as well.&#160; In it, the giant, state-controlled Russian energy giant Gazprom <a href="http://en.ria.ru/russia/20140512/189761463/Moscow-Beijing-Close-to-Gas-Deal--Russian-Official.html" type="external">will agree</a> to supply the giant state-controlled China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) with 3.75 billion cubic feet of liquefied natural gas a day for no less than 30 years, starting in 2018. That’s the equivalent of a quarter of Russia’s massive gas exports to all of Europe. China’s current daily gas demand is around 16 billion cubic feet a day, and imports account for 31.6% of total consumption.</p>
<p />
<p>Gazprom may still collect the bulk of its profits from Europe, but Asia could turn out to be its Everest. The company will use this mega-deal to <a href="http://www.stratfor.com/video/russias-east-asian-pivot" type="external">boost investment</a> in Eastern Siberia and the whole region will be reconfigured as a privileged gas hub for Japan and South Korea as well. If you want to know why no key country in Asia has been willing to “ <a href="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/CEN-01-250314.html" type="external">isolate</a>” Russia in the midst of the Ukrainian crisis — and in defiance of the Obama administration — look no further than Pipelineistan.</p>
<p>Exit the Petrodollar, Enter the Gas-o-Yuan</p>
<p>And then, talking about anxiety in Washington, there’s the fate of the petrodollar to consider, or rather the “thermonuclear” possibility that Moscow and Beijing will agree on payment for the Gazprom-CNPC deal not in petrodollars but in Chinese yuan. One can hardly imagine a more tectonic shift, with Pipelineistan intersecting with a growing Sino-Russian political-economic-energy partnership. Along with it goes the future possibility of a push, led again by China and Russia, toward a new international reserve currency — actually a basket of currencies — that would supersede the dollar (at least in the optimistic dreams of BRICS members).</p>
<p>Right after the potentially game-changing Sino-Russian summit comes a BRICS summit in Brazil in July. That’s when a $100 billion <a href="http://thebricspost.com/brics-finance-ministers-meet-in-washington-2/#.U2x77l5fFcU" type="external">BRICS development bank</a>, announced in 2012, will officially be born as a potential alternative to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank as a source of project financing for the developing world.</p>
<p>More BRICS cooperation meant to bypass the dollar is reflected in the “ <a href="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-04-10/gazprom-prepares-symbolic-bond-issue-chinese-yuan" type="external">Gas-o-yuan</a>,” as in natural gas bought and paid for in Chinese currency. Gazprom is even considering marketing bonds in yuan as part of the financial planning for its expansion. Yuan-backed bonds are already trading in Hong Kong, Singapore, London, and most recently <a href="http://www.dw.de/frankfurt-issues-first-bond-backed-by-chinese-currency/a-17605819" type="external">Frankfurt</a>.</p>
<p>Nothing could be more sensible for the new Pipelineistan deal than to have it settled in yuan. Beijing would pay Gazprom in that currency (convertible into rubles); Gazprom would accumulate the yuan; and Russia would then buy myriad made-in-China goods and services in yuan convertible into rubles.</p>
<p>It’s common knowledge that banks in Hong Kong, from Standard Chartered to HSBC — as well as others closely linked to China via trade deals — have been diversifying into the yuan, which implies that it could become one of the de facto global reserve currencies even before it’s fully convertible. (Beijing is unofficially working for a fully convertible yuan by 2018.)</p>
<p>The Russia-China gas deal is inextricably tied up with the energy relationship between the European Union (EU) and Russia. After all, the bulk of Russia’s gross domestic product comes from oil and gas sales, as does much of its leverage in the Ukraine crisis. In turn, Germany depends on Russia for a hefty 30% of its natural gas supplies. Yet Washington’s geopolitical imperatives — spiced up with Polish hysteria — have meant pushing Brussels to find ways to “punish” Moscow in the future energy sphere (while not imperiling present day energy relationships).</p>
<p>There’s a consistent rumble in Brussels these days about the possible <a href="http://rt.com/op-edge/157308-ukrainian-crisis-imf-loans/" type="external">cancellation</a> of the projected 16 billion euro South Stream pipeline, whose construction is to start in June.&#160; On completion, it would pump yet more Russian natural gas to Europe — in this case, underneath the Black Sea (bypassing Ukraine) to Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia, Greece, Italy, and Austria.</p>
<p>Bulgaria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic have already made it clear that they are firmly opposed to any cancellation. &#160;And cancellation is probably not in the cards.&#160; After all, the only obvious alternative is Caspian Sea gas from Azerbaijan, and that isn’t likely to happen unless the EU can suddenly muster the will and funds for a crash schedule to construct the fabled Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline, conceived during the Clinton years expressly to bypass Russia and Iran.</p>
<p>In any case, Azerbaijan doesn’t have enough capacity to supply the levels of natural gas needed, and other actors like Kazakhstan, plagued with infrastructure problems, or unreliable Turkmenistan, which prefers to sell its gas to China, are already largely out of the picture. And don’t forget that South Stream, coupled with subsidiary energy projects, will create a lot of jobs and investment in many of the most economically devastated EU nations.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, such EU threats, however unrealistic, only serve to accelerate Russia’s increasing symbiosis with Asian markets. For Beijing especially, it’s a win-win situation. After all, between energy supplied across seas policed and controlled by the U.S. Navy and steady, stable land routes out of Siberia, it’s no contest.</p>
<p>Pick Your Own Silk Road</p>
<p>Of course, the U.S. dollar remains the top global reserve currency, involving 33% of global foreign exchange holdings at the end of 2013, according to the IMF. It was, however, at 55% in 2000. Nobody knows the percentage in yuan (and Beijing isn’t talking), but the IMF notes that reserves in “other currencies” in emerging markets have been up 400% since 2003.</p>
<p>The Fed is <a href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/the-federal-reserve-is-monetizing-a-staggering-amount-of-u-s-government-debt" type="external">arguably monetizing</a> 70% of the U.S. government debt in an attempt to keep interest rates from heading skywards. Pentagon adviser Jim Rickards, as well as every Hong Kong-based banker, tends to believe that the Fed is bust (though they won’t say it on the record). No one can even imagine the extent of the possible future deluge the U.S. dollar might experience amid a $1.4 trillion Mount Ararat of financial derivatives.&#160; Don’t think that this is the death knell of Western capitalism, however, just the faltering of that reigning economic faith, neoliberalism, still the official ideology of the United States, the overwhelming majority of the European Union, and parts of Asia and South America.</p>
<p>As far as what might be called the “authoritarian neoliberalism” of the Middle Kingdom, what’s not to like at the moment? China has proven that there is a result-oriented alternative to the Western “democratic” capitalist model for nations aiming to be successful. It’s building not one, but myriad <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABsojbvC18g" type="external">new Silk Roads</a>, massive webs of high-speed railways, highways, pipelines, ports, and fiber optic networks across huge parts of Eurasia. These include a Southeast Asian road, a Central Asian road, an Indian Ocean “maritime highway” and even a high-speed rail line through Iran and Turkey reaching all the way to Germany.</p>
<p>In April, when President Xi Jinping visited the city of Duisburg on the Rhine River, with the largest inland harbor in the world and right in the heartland of Germany’s Ruhr steel industry, he made an audacious proposal: a new “economic Silk Road” should be built between China and Europe, on the basis of the Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe railway, which already runs from China to Kazakhstan, then through Russia, Belarus, Poland, and finally Germany. That’s 15 days by train, 20 less than for cargo ships sailing from China’s eastern seaboard. Now that would represent the ultimate geopolitical earthquake in terms of integrating economic growth across Eurasia.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that, if no bubbles burst, China is about to become — and remain — the number one global economic power, a position it enjoyed for 18 of the past 20 centuries. But don’t tell London <a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/c355e0e6-d1d1-11e3-8ff4-00144feabdc0.html#axzz30brl0nA8" type="external">hagiographers</a>; they still believe that U.S. hegemony will last, well, forever.</p>
<p>Take Me to Cold War 2.0</p>
<p>Despite recent serious financial struggles, the BRICS countries have been consciously working to become a counterforce to the original and — having <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/24/politics/obama-europe-trip/" type="external">tossed Russia out</a> in March — once again Group of 7, or G7. They are eager to create a new global architecture to replace the one first imposed in the wake of World War II, and they see themselves as a potential challenge to the exceptionalist and unipolar world that Washington imagines for our future (with itself as the global robocop and NATO as its robo-police force). Historian and imperialist cheerleader Ian Morris, in his book War! What is it Good For?, defines the U.S. as the ultimate “globocop” and “the last best hope of Earth.” If that globocop “wearies of its role,” he writes, “there is no plan B.”&#160; &#160;&#160;&#160;</p>
<p>Well, there is a plan BRICS — or so the BRICS nations would like to think, at least. And when the BRICS do act in this spirit on the global stage, they quickly conjure up a curious mix of fear, hysteria, and pugnaciousness in the Washington establishment. Take Christopher Hill as an example. The former assistant secretary of state for East Asia and U.S. ambassador to Iraq is now an advisor with the Albright Stonebridge Group, a consulting firm deeply connected to the White House and the State Department. When Russia was down and out, Hill used to dream of a hegemonic American “new world order.”&#160; Now that the ungrateful Russians have <a href="http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/christopher-r--hill-calls-on-the-west-to-prepare-for-a-long-struggle-with-a-revanchist-russia" type="external">spurned</a> what “the West has been offering” — that is, “special status with NATO, a privileged relationship with the European Union, and partnership in international diplomatic endeavors” — they are, in his view, busy trying to revive the Soviet empire. Translation: if you’re not our vassals, you’re against us.&#160; Welcome to Cold War 2.0.&#160; &#160;</p>
<p>The Pentagon has its own version of this directed not so much at Russia as at China, which, its think tank on future warfare claims, is <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/03/26/china-waging-three-warfares-against-united-states-in-asia-pentagon-says/" type="external">already at war</a> with Washington in a number of ways. So if it’s not apocalypse now, it’s Armageddon tomorrow. And it goes without saying that whatever’s going wrong, as the Obama administration very publicly “pivots” to Asia and the American media <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/20/world/europe/in-cold-war-echo-obama-strategy-writes-off-putin.html" type="external">fills with talk</a> about a revival of Cold War-era “containment policy” in the Pacific, it’s all China’s fault.</p>
<p>Embedded in the mad dash toward Cold War 2.0 are some ludicrous facts-on-the-ground: the U.S. government, with $17.5 trillion in national debt and counting, is contemplating a financial showdown with Russia, the largest global energy producer and a major nuclear power, just as it’s also promoting an economically unsustainable military encirclement of its largest creditor, China.</p>
<p>Russia runs a sizeable trade surplus. Humongous Chinese banks will have no trouble <a href="http://www.dibtimes.com/russian-companies-strengthen-financial-ties-china-western-sanctions-over-ukraine-crisis-1580210" type="external">helping Russian banks</a> out if Western funds dry up. In terms of inter-BRICS cooperation, few projects beat a $30 billion oil pipeline in the planning stages that <a href="http://rinf.com/alt-news/breaking-news/30-billion-oil-pipeline-built-russia-india-northwest-china/" type="external">will stretch</a> from Russia to India via Northwest China. Chinese companies are already eagerly discussing the possibility of taking part in the creation of a <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/china-to-help-russia-build-transport-corridor-to-crimea/5380484" type="external">transport corridor</a> from Russia into Crimea, as well as an airport, shipyard, and liquid natural gas terminal there. And there’s another “thermonuclear” gambit in the making: the birth of a natural gas equivalent to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries that would include Russia, Iran, and <a href="http://voiceofrussia.com/2014_05_07/Russian-led-gas-OPEC-may-emerge-soon-4451/" type="external">reportedly</a> disgruntled U.S. ally Qatar.</p>
<p>The (unstated) BRICS long-term plan involves the creation of an alternative economic system featuring a basket of gold-backed currencies that would bypass the present America-centric global financial system. (No wonder Russia and China are amassing as much gold as they can.) The euro — a sound currency backed by large liquid bond markets and huge gold reserves — would be welcomed in as well.</p>
<p>It’s no secret in Hong Kong that the Bank of China has been using a parallel SWIFT network to conduct every kind of trade with Tehran, which is under a heavy U.S. sanctions regime. With Washington wielding Visa and Mastercard as <a href="http://www.nasdaq.com/article/putin-calls-for-creation-of-banking-payment-system-20140327-00598#ixzz2xQIi0AgY" type="external">weapon</a>s in a growing Cold War-style economic campaign against Russia, Moscow is about to implement an alternative payment and credit card system not controlled by Western finance. An even easier route would be to adopt the Chinese <a href="http://rt.com/op-edge/russia-china-payment-systems-640/" type="external">Union Pay system</a>, whose operations have already overtaken American Express in global volume. &#160;&#160;</p>
<p>I’m Just Pivoting With Myself</p>
<p>No amount of Obama administration “pivoting” to Asia to contain China (and threaten it with <a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/178694/how-us-energy-boom-harming-foreign-policy" type="external">U.S. Navy control</a> of the energy sea lanes to that country) is likely to push Beijing far from its Deng Xiaoping-inspired, self-described “ <a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-09/06/c_131102329.htm" type="external">peaceful development</a>” strategy meant to turn it into a global powerhouse of trade.&#160; Nor are the forward deployment of U.S. or NATO troops in Eastern Europe or <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/20/world/europe/in-cold-war-echo-obama-strategy-writes-off-putin.html?_r=2" type="external">other</a> such <a href="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/CEN-01-290414.html" type="external">Cold-War-ish acts</a> likely to deter Moscow from a careful balancing act: ensuring that Russia’s sphere of influence in Ukraine remains strong without compromising trade and commercial, as well as political, ties with the European Union — above all, with strategic partner Germany. This is Moscow’s Holy Grail; a <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/from-lisbon-to-vladivostok-putin-envisions-a-russia-eu-free-trade-zone-a-731109.html" type="external">free-trade zone</a> from Lisbon to Vladivostok, which (not by accident) is mirrored in China’s dream of a new Silk Road to Germany.</p>
<p>Increasingly wary of Washington, Berlin for its part abhors the notion of Europe being caught in the grips of a Cold War 2.0. German leaders have more important fish to fry, including trying to stabilize a wobbly EU while warding off an economic collapse in southern and central Europe and the advance of ever more extreme rightwing parties.</p>
<p>On the other side of the Atlantic, President Obama and his top officials show every sign of becoming entangled in their own pivoting — to Iran, to China, to Russia’s eastern borderlands, and ( <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175714/nick_turse_blowback_central" type="external">under the radar</a>) to Africa. The irony of all these military-first maneuvers is that they are actually helping Moscow, Tehran, and Beijing build up their own strategic depth in Eurasia and elsewhere, as reflected in Syria, or crucially in ever more <a href="http://rt.com/business/155404-russia-iran-energy-deal/" type="external">energy deals</a>. They are also <a href="http://thediplomat.com/2014/05/china-calls-iran-a-strategic-partner/" type="external">helping cement</a> the growing strategic partnership between China and Iran. The unrelenting Ministry of Truth narrative out of Washington about all these developments now carefully ignores the fact that, without Moscow, the “West” would never have sat down to discuss a final nuclear deal with Iran or gotten a chemical disarmament agreement out of Damascus.</p>
<p>When the disputes between China and its neighbors in the South China Sea and between that country and Japan over the Senkaku/Diaoyou islands meet the Ukraine crisis, the inevitable conclusion will be that both Russia and China consider their borderlands and sea lanes private property and aren’t going to take challenges quietly — be it via NATO expansion, U.S. military encirclement, or missile shields. Neither Beijing nor Moscow is bent on the usual form of imperialist expansion, despite the version of events now being fed to Western publics.&#160; Their “red lines” remain essentially defensive in nature, no matter the bluster sometimes involved in securing them.</p>
<p>Whatever Washington may want or fear or try to prevent, the facts on the ground suggest that, in the years ahead, Beijing, Moscow, and Tehran will only grow closer, slowly but surely creating a new geopolitical axis in Eurasia. Meanwhile, a discombobulated America seems to be aiding and abetting the deconstruction of its own unipolar world order, while offering the BRICS a genuine window of opportunity to try to change the rules of the game.&#160;</p>
<p>Russia and China in Pivot Mode</p>
<p>In Washington’s think-tank land, the conviction that the Obama administration should be focused on replaying the Cold War via a new version of containment policy to “limit the development of Russia as a hegemonic power” has taken hold. The recipe: weaponize the neighbors from the Baltic states to Azerbaijan to “contain” Russia. Cold War 2.0 is on because, from the point of view of Washington’s elites, the first one never really left town.</p>
<p>Yet as much as the U.S. may fight the emergence of a multipolar, multi-powered world, economic facts on the ground regularly point to such developments.&#160; The question remains: Will the decline of the hegemon be slow and reasonably dignified, or will the whole world be dragged down with it in what has been called “the Samson option”?</p>
<p>While we watch the spectacle unfold, with no end game in sight, keep in mind that a new force is growing in Eurasia, with the Sino-Russian strategic alliance threatening to dominate its heartland along with great stretches of its inner rim. Now, that’s a nightmare of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Geographical_Pivot_of_History%20" type="external">Mackinderesque</a> proportions from Washington’s point of view.&#160; Think, for instance, of how Zbigniew Brzezinski, the former national security adviser who became a mentor on global politics to President Obama, would see it.</p>
<p>In his 1997 book The Grand Chessboard, Brzezinski argued that “the struggle for global primacy [would] continue to be played” on the Eurasian “chessboard,” of which “Ukraine was a geopolitical pivot.” “If Moscow regains control over Ukraine,” he wrote at the time, Russia would “automatically regain the wherewithal to become a powerful imperial state, spanning Europe and Asia.”</p>
<p>That remains most of the rationale behind the American imperial containment policy — from Russia’s European “near abroad” to the South China Sea. Still, with no endgame in sight, keep your eye on Russia pivoting to Asia, China pivoting across the world, and the BRICS hard at work trying to bring about the new Eurasian Century.</p>
<p>Pepe Escobar is the roving correspondent for Asia Times/Hong Kong, an analyst for RT, and a <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175715/tomgram%3A_pepe_escobar,_the_tao_of_containing_china/" type="external">TomDispatch regular</a>. With a chapter on Iran, he is a contributing editor to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1848726260/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">The Global Obama: Crossroads of Leadership in the 21st&#160;Century</a>. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pepe.escobar.77377?ref=tn_tnmn" type="external">Follow him</a> on Facebook.</p>
<p>Follow TomDispatch on Twitter and join us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/tomdispatch" type="external">Facebook</a> and <a href="http://tomdispatch.tumblr.com/" type="external">Tumblr</a>. Check out the newest Dispatch Book, Ann Jones’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608463710/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">They Were Soldiers: How the Wounded Return From America’s Wars — The Untold Story</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 2014 Pepe Escobar</p> | 599,379 |
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<p>Holiday spending rose 9 percent Thursday and Friday combined, compared with the same two-day period last year, according to First Data.</p>
<p>The bump was fueled by shoppers turning to online deals.</p>
<p>E-commerce sales rose 10.8 percent for the two-day period, while sales at physical stores grew 8.6 percent, according to First Data, which analyzed online and in-store payments across different forms of payment cards from nearly one million merchants Thanksgiving and Friday. The data captures about 40 percent of all card transactions in the U.S. but excludes cash.</p>
<p>The Thanksgiving weekend kicks of the holiday shopping season though stores have increasingly started their sales earlier in October. The Friday after Thanksgiving — known as Black Friday — used to unofficially mark the kickoff to door-buster sales, but now retailers are opening earlier on Thanksgiving. But while the holiday weekend has lost some of its punch, it still sets the tone for the season.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“It was strong shopping,” said Rishi Chhabra, vice president, information and analytics products, at First Data. “But people are shopping online more. And that trend keeps going up and up.”</p>
<p>According to First Data, almost 25 percent of the holiday dollars spent over the two-day period came from e-commerce, up from 18 percent last year and nearly 16 percent in 2014. Electronics and appliances were by far the big attractions, with the category enjoying a 26.5 percent increase in sales, fueled by shoppers’ interest in TVs and other new gadgets. That compared to just a 2.3 percent increase in the year-ago period.</p>
<p>Four of the seven categories — which also include furniture and personal-care items — that First Data tracks showed slower sales growth in stores compared with online. But when it came to electronics, shoppers preferred to buy the products in the stores for the holiday start. Electronics and appliance stores saw a nearly 28 percent sales growth, while for online, that growth was a little over 11 percent.</p>
<p>Overall, the average dollar amount spent per person for the two-day period rose to $75.06, up from $72.84 a year ago. That figure for electronics and appliances grew by 34 percent to $163.76. But clothing and accessories stores saw shoppers on average spend $80.55, down from $81.63 a year ago amid heavy discounting. And sporting goods, hobby, books and music took more of a hit, with the average ticket size falling to $78.74 from $90.15.</p> | First Data: Thanksgiving, Black Friday sales up 9 percent | false | https://abqjournal.com/897473/first-data-thanksgiving-black-friday-sales-up-9-percent.html | 2016-11-28 | 2least
| First Data: Thanksgiving, Black Friday sales up 9 percent
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<p />
<p>Holiday spending rose 9 percent Thursday and Friday combined, compared with the same two-day period last year, according to First Data.</p>
<p>The bump was fueled by shoppers turning to online deals.</p>
<p>E-commerce sales rose 10.8 percent for the two-day period, while sales at physical stores grew 8.6 percent, according to First Data, which analyzed online and in-store payments across different forms of payment cards from nearly one million merchants Thanksgiving and Friday. The data captures about 40 percent of all card transactions in the U.S. but excludes cash.</p>
<p>The Thanksgiving weekend kicks of the holiday shopping season though stores have increasingly started their sales earlier in October. The Friday after Thanksgiving — known as Black Friday — used to unofficially mark the kickoff to door-buster sales, but now retailers are opening earlier on Thanksgiving. But while the holiday weekend has lost some of its punch, it still sets the tone for the season.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>“It was strong shopping,” said Rishi Chhabra, vice president, information and analytics products, at First Data. “But people are shopping online more. And that trend keeps going up and up.”</p>
<p>According to First Data, almost 25 percent of the holiday dollars spent over the two-day period came from e-commerce, up from 18 percent last year and nearly 16 percent in 2014. Electronics and appliances were by far the big attractions, with the category enjoying a 26.5 percent increase in sales, fueled by shoppers’ interest in TVs and other new gadgets. That compared to just a 2.3 percent increase in the year-ago period.</p>
<p>Four of the seven categories — which also include furniture and personal-care items — that First Data tracks showed slower sales growth in stores compared with online. But when it came to electronics, shoppers preferred to buy the products in the stores for the holiday start. Electronics and appliance stores saw a nearly 28 percent sales growth, while for online, that growth was a little over 11 percent.</p>
<p>Overall, the average dollar amount spent per person for the two-day period rose to $75.06, up from $72.84 a year ago. That figure for electronics and appliances grew by 34 percent to $163.76. But clothing and accessories stores saw shoppers on average spend $80.55, down from $81.63 a year ago amid heavy discounting. And sporting goods, hobby, books and music took more of a hit, with the average ticket size falling to $78.74 from $90.15.</p> | 599,380 |
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<p>Iraqi army soldier, 2nd Company, 2nd Battalion, 40th Brigade, 10th Iraqi Army Division, receives assistance from his cadre to resolve a malfuction during the 10th IA Division media day at Bardia Training Range, Iraq, April 29, 2011. The 10th Iraqi Army Division media day is used to show the public that their Army is ready to protect Iraq without foreign assistance. ( <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/5703737043/in/photostream" type="external">Photo</a> by: Pfc. Ryan Hallgarth)</p>
<p /> | We’re Still at War: Photo of the Day for May 11, 2011 | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2011/05/were-still-war-photo-day-may-11-2011/ | 2011-05-11 | 4left
| We’re Still at War: Photo of the Day for May 11, 2011
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<p />
<p>Iraqi army soldier, 2nd Company, 2nd Battalion, 40th Brigade, 10th Iraqi Army Division, receives assistance from his cadre to resolve a malfuction during the 10th IA Division media day at Bardia Training Range, Iraq, April 29, 2011. The 10th Iraqi Army Division media day is used to show the public that their Army is ready to protect Iraq without foreign assistance. ( <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/5703737043/in/photostream" type="external">Photo</a> by: Pfc. Ryan Hallgarth)</p>
<p /> | 599,381 |
<p>Did CNN learn nothing from ghoulish Piers Morgan's exploitation of the murdered children of Newtown, CT? Apparently not.&#160;</p>
<p>Proclaiming Richard Martinez the " <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/26/us/california-killing-spree-martinez/" type="external">public face of gun control advocates in the aftermath of the six killings in Isla Vista</a>," CNN turned on their camera and prodded the grieving father into a fit of emotional fervor and outrage so they could have compelling, dramatic video that fits their anti-2nd amendment agenda:&#160;</p>
<p>“What has changed? Have we learned nothing? These things are going to continue until somebody does something, so where the hell is the leadership? Where the hell are these people we elect to Congress that we spend so much money on? These people are getting rich sitting in Congress, what do they do? They don’t take care of our kids.</p>
<p>My kid died because nobody responded to what happened at Sandy Hook. Those parents lost little kids. It’s bad enough that I lost my 20-year-old, but I had 20 years with my son, that’s all I’ll have. But those people lost their children at six and seven years old. How do you think they feel? And who’s talking to them now? Who is doing anything for them now? Who is standing up for those kids that died back then in an elementary school? Why wasn’t something done? It’s outrageous!”</p>
<p>No doubt Mr. Martinez is grieving, angry and emotional. And he is looking for answers to a horrific event that makes no sense to him. At no point is the fact that just as many innocent victims Friday evening were killed with a knife as with a gun raised by the CNN interviewer. It should be noted that those grieving parents were not given a TV forum to advocate for "knife control."&#160;</p>
<p>Meanwhile, CNN dramatically produced a video package showing photos of Martinez' dead son and the emotionally heart-wrenching fury of Mr. Martinez so that all CNN viewers can participate in the ghoulish exercise of watching a father go through the anger phase of the grieving process. &#160;</p> | CNN Exploits Father's Grief For Gun Control Push | true | http://truthrevolt.org/news/cnn-exploits-fathers-grief-gun-control-push | 2018-10-05 | 0right
| CNN Exploits Father's Grief For Gun Control Push
<p>Did CNN learn nothing from ghoulish Piers Morgan's exploitation of the murdered children of Newtown, CT? Apparently not.&#160;</p>
<p>Proclaiming Richard Martinez the " <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/26/us/california-killing-spree-martinez/" type="external">public face of gun control advocates in the aftermath of the six killings in Isla Vista</a>," CNN turned on their camera and prodded the grieving father into a fit of emotional fervor and outrage so they could have compelling, dramatic video that fits their anti-2nd amendment agenda:&#160;</p>
<p>“What has changed? Have we learned nothing? These things are going to continue until somebody does something, so where the hell is the leadership? Where the hell are these people we elect to Congress that we spend so much money on? These people are getting rich sitting in Congress, what do they do? They don’t take care of our kids.</p>
<p>My kid died because nobody responded to what happened at Sandy Hook. Those parents lost little kids. It’s bad enough that I lost my 20-year-old, but I had 20 years with my son, that’s all I’ll have. But those people lost their children at six and seven years old. How do you think they feel? And who’s talking to them now? Who is doing anything for them now? Who is standing up for those kids that died back then in an elementary school? Why wasn’t something done? It’s outrageous!”</p>
<p>No doubt Mr. Martinez is grieving, angry and emotional. And he is looking for answers to a horrific event that makes no sense to him. At no point is the fact that just as many innocent victims Friday evening were killed with a knife as with a gun raised by the CNN interviewer. It should be noted that those grieving parents were not given a TV forum to advocate for "knife control."&#160;</p>
<p>Meanwhile, CNN dramatically produced a video package showing photos of Martinez' dead son and the emotionally heart-wrenching fury of Mr. Martinez so that all CNN viewers can participate in the ghoulish exercise of watching a father go through the anger phase of the grieving process. &#160;</p> | 599,382 |
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<p>The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits fell last week to near a four-year low, a hopeful sign for a labor market that has shown signs of weakness.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 35,000 to a seasonally adjusted 353,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday.</p>
<p>That was a much sharper drop than economists expected. The prior week's figure was revised slightly higher.</p>
<p>The reading for jobless claims has been volatile this month because of the timing of the annual auto plant shutdowns for retooling. The reading had touched a four-year low in the July 7 week at 352,000. One measure that tries to smooth out this volatility, the four-week moving average for new claims, fell 8,750 to 367,250.</p>
<p>This year, automakers are carrying out fewer temporary plant shutdowns, throwing off the model the department uses to smooth the data for typical seasonal patterns.</p>
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<p>A Labor Department official said they were still experiencing volatility related to the auto layoffs that usually happen at this time of year. Otherwise, the data had few blips. Only figures for Utah were estimated.</p>
<p>The labor market has suffered three months of sub-100,000 job growth as the economy slowed amid a cloud of uncertainty spawned by fears of sharp contraction in fiscal policy and debt problems in Europe.</p>
<p>Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told lawmakers last week that the U.S. central bank, which last month expanded its efforts to spur the economy, would take additional action if officials concluded no progress was being made towards higher levels of employment.</p>
<p>The number of people still receiving benefits under regular state programs after an initial week of aid fell 30,000 to 3.287 million in the week ended July 14.</p> | Jobless Claims Fall More Than Expected | true | http://foxbusiness.com/politics/2012/07/26/jobless-claims-fall-more-than-expected.html | 2016-03-03 | 0right
| Jobless Claims Fall More Than Expected
<p />
<p>The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits fell last week to near a four-year low, a hopeful sign for a labor market that has shown signs of weakness.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 35,000 to a seasonally adjusted 353,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday.</p>
<p>That was a much sharper drop than economists expected. The prior week's figure was revised slightly higher.</p>
<p>The reading for jobless claims has been volatile this month because of the timing of the annual auto plant shutdowns for retooling. The reading had touched a four-year low in the July 7 week at 352,000. One measure that tries to smooth out this volatility, the four-week moving average for new claims, fell 8,750 to 367,250.</p>
<p>This year, automakers are carrying out fewer temporary plant shutdowns, throwing off the model the department uses to smooth the data for typical seasonal patterns.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>A Labor Department official said they were still experiencing volatility related to the auto layoffs that usually happen at this time of year. Otherwise, the data had few blips. Only figures for Utah were estimated.</p>
<p>The labor market has suffered three months of sub-100,000 job growth as the economy slowed amid a cloud of uncertainty spawned by fears of sharp contraction in fiscal policy and debt problems in Europe.</p>
<p>Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told lawmakers last week that the U.S. central bank, which last month expanded its efforts to spur the economy, would take additional action if officials concluded no progress was being made towards higher levels of employment.</p>
<p>The number of people still receiving benefits under regular state programs after an initial week of aid fell 30,000 to 3.287 million in the week ended July 14.</p> | 599,383 |
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/19/us/mike-pence-hamilton.html" type="external">theater critic</a> Patrick Healy with the Times, Mirada wrote the speech after hearing Pence would be attending Friday night’s show. Share on
<a href="" type="internal">Facebook</a>
<a href="" type="internal">Twitter</a>
<a href="mailto:?subject=" type="external">Email</a> | “Hamilton” Actor Calls Out Vice President-Elect After Broadway Show | false | http://thewhim.com/hamilton-actor-calls-vice-president-elect-broadway-show/ | 2016-11-19 | 2least
| “Hamilton” Actor Calls Out Vice President-Elect After Broadway Show
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/19/us/mike-pence-hamilton.html" type="external">theater critic</a> Patrick Healy with the Times, Mirada wrote the speech after hearing Pence would be attending Friday night’s show. Share on
<a href="" type="internal">Facebook</a>
<a href="" type="internal">Twitter</a>
<a href="mailto:?subject=" type="external">Email</a> | 599,384 |
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<p>The announcement came a day after an appeals court indefinitely stopped any additional same-sex marriages. It will likely take months for the court to make its own judgment about whether a Michigan constitutional amendment that says marriage only is between a man and a woman violates the U.S. Constitution.</p>
<p>U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman struck down the gay marriage ban Friday.</p>
<p>Four counties took the extraordinary step of granting licenses Saturday before the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a temporary halt. The stay was extended indefinitely on Tuesday.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Snyder acknowledged same-sex couples "had a legal marriage." But because of the court's stay, he added, the gay marriage ban has been restored.</p>
<p>The governor's move closes the door, at least for now, to certain benefits reserved solely for married couples. The American Civil Liberties Union said more than 1,000 Michigan laws are tied to marriage.</p>
<p>"We did our own homework and I believe this is a reasonable legal position to take based on the available literature and law," Snyder told reporters.</p>
<p>Other elected officials have urged the Obama administration to recognize the marriages for federal benefits. The U.S. Justice Department, which previously said it was monitoring the situation, did not immediately comment after Snyder's announcement.</p>
<p>Dana Nessel, an attorney for two Detroit-area nurses who successfully challenged the gay marriage ban, said Snyder's position is "really an outrage."</p>
<p>"I think each one of those couples should be furious right now, and I'm very hopeful that those couples will petition the court on their own behalf," Nessel said.</p>
<p>Art Ledin-Bristol of Grand Rapids said Snyder's stance was "heart-wrenching." He said his employer is recognizing his weekend marriage and extending spousal benefits to Corey Ledin-Bristol.</p>
<p>"There are so many small, everyday things that come with marriage that people take for granted. Corey can't make medical decisions for our kids. He can't access school records," Art Ledin-Bristol said.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Snyder, a Republican who keeps mostly silent on social issues, had said very little since Friedman made his historic decision last week. Snyder said in a 2010 debate that he supported marriage as "between a man and a woman."</p>
<p>Another Republican, Attorney General Bill Schuette, has aggressively defended the gay marriage ban, which was approved by 59 percent of voters in 2004. He said it's his job to oppose challenges to the state constitution.</p>
<p>Snyder said he hasn't had a role in Schuette's legal strategy.</p>
<p>"The attorney general is a separate constitutional officer in our state, and he has the prerogative to make his decisions on that particular issue on his own," the governor said.</p>
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<p /> | Michigan won't recognize over 300 same-sex marriages | false | https://abqjournal.com/374710/michigan-wont-recognize-300-samesex-marriages.html | 2least
| Michigan won't recognize over 300 same-sex marriages
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<p />
<p>The announcement came a day after an appeals court indefinitely stopped any additional same-sex marriages. It will likely take months for the court to make its own judgment about whether a Michigan constitutional amendment that says marriage only is between a man and a woman violates the U.S. Constitution.</p>
<p>U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman struck down the gay marriage ban Friday.</p>
<p>Four counties took the extraordinary step of granting licenses Saturday before the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a temporary halt. The stay was extended indefinitely on Tuesday.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Snyder acknowledged same-sex couples "had a legal marriage." But because of the court's stay, he added, the gay marriage ban has been restored.</p>
<p>The governor's move closes the door, at least for now, to certain benefits reserved solely for married couples. The American Civil Liberties Union said more than 1,000 Michigan laws are tied to marriage.</p>
<p>"We did our own homework and I believe this is a reasonable legal position to take based on the available literature and law," Snyder told reporters.</p>
<p>Other elected officials have urged the Obama administration to recognize the marriages for federal benefits. The U.S. Justice Department, which previously said it was monitoring the situation, did not immediately comment after Snyder's announcement.</p>
<p>Dana Nessel, an attorney for two Detroit-area nurses who successfully challenged the gay marriage ban, said Snyder's position is "really an outrage."</p>
<p>"I think each one of those couples should be furious right now, and I'm very hopeful that those couples will petition the court on their own behalf," Nessel said.</p>
<p>Art Ledin-Bristol of Grand Rapids said Snyder's stance was "heart-wrenching." He said his employer is recognizing his weekend marriage and extending spousal benefits to Corey Ledin-Bristol.</p>
<p>"There are so many small, everyday things that come with marriage that people take for granted. Corey can't make medical decisions for our kids. He can't access school records," Art Ledin-Bristol said.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Snyder, a Republican who keeps mostly silent on social issues, had said very little since Friedman made his historic decision last week. Snyder said in a 2010 debate that he supported marriage as "between a man and a woman."</p>
<p>Another Republican, Attorney General Bill Schuette, has aggressively defended the gay marriage ban, which was approved by 59 percent of voters in 2004. He said it's his job to oppose challenges to the state constitution.</p>
<p>Snyder said he hasn't had a role in Schuette's legal strategy.</p>
<p>"The attorney general is a separate constitutional officer in our state, and he has the prerogative to make his decisions on that particular issue on his own," the governor said.</p>
<p />
<p /> | 599,385 |
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<p>Mr Michael Philip Martin, 28 years old, is being brought to trial in Lismore, Australia today for allegedly killing his father with a samurai sword in order to cash in on the 2.5 million dollar life insurance. After his father had died, Mr Martin tried to make it look like a home invasion and inflicted wounds on himself.</p>
<p>It was not the first time, Crown Prosecutor Brendan Campbell claimed. already two months before the son had tried to kill his father but apparently couldn't go through with it.</p>
<p>But at the end of 2014, he did manage to get it right. A neighbor had heard noise and walked in to the Martin family residence, finding the son bound and gagged and suffering from minor injuries. The neighbor declared that the younger Mr Martin stated: "my dad is up there, they got my dad, I think he's dead."</p>
<p>The father had suffered wounds which police declare were caused by a samurai sword. It just so happened that the sun was a trained martial arts expert, handy with a sword.</p>
<p>As police grew more and more suspicious of the son, they found gaping holes in his declarations.</p>
<p>Mr Martin Jr later changed his story and claimed he was sound asleep before being struck in the head and dragged into the kitchen (how he would know that in an unconscious state is a mystery).</p>
<p>From the kitchen, he heard a noise which, according to him, clearly sounded "like a throat being cut".</p>
<p>In the two months before the murder of the father, Mr Martin Jr had allegedly taken "three different life insurance policies for the accidental death of his father - worth $2.5 million."</p>
<p>The Crown Prosecutor stated that it is their belief that the son acted in this manner because of suffering of yearlong abuse of the son at the hands of the father.</p>
<p>In the house, police found a handwritten letter by the son: "I was a very hurt man and the man who hurt me the most, was the very man who should have loved me the most. Money got tighter and we had another bright idea to free our lives up more. Our biggest problem is that we are too good at heart, our guilt has struck from the moment we cooked up the bright idea."</p>
<p>Mr Martin Jr pleaded not guilty.</p>
<p>Source:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.9news.com.au/national/2017/09/04/18/57/michael-phillip-martin-trial-accused-of-killing-father" type="external">9news.com.au/national/2017/09/04/18/57/michael-phillip-martin-trial-accused-of-killing-father</a></p> | Australian Man Kills Father With Samurai Sword To Get 2.5 Million Life Insurance | true | http://thegoldwater.com/news/7577-Australian-Man-Kills-Father-With-Samurai-Sword-To-Get-2-5-Million-Life-Insurance | 2017-09-04 | 0right
| Australian Man Kills Father With Samurai Sword To Get 2.5 Million Life Insurance
<p />
<p />
<p />
<p>Mr Michael Philip Martin, 28 years old, is being brought to trial in Lismore, Australia today for allegedly killing his father with a samurai sword in order to cash in on the 2.5 million dollar life insurance. After his father had died, Mr Martin tried to make it look like a home invasion and inflicted wounds on himself.</p>
<p>It was not the first time, Crown Prosecutor Brendan Campbell claimed. already two months before the son had tried to kill his father but apparently couldn't go through with it.</p>
<p>But at the end of 2014, he did manage to get it right. A neighbor had heard noise and walked in to the Martin family residence, finding the son bound and gagged and suffering from minor injuries. The neighbor declared that the younger Mr Martin stated: "my dad is up there, they got my dad, I think he's dead."</p>
<p>The father had suffered wounds which police declare were caused by a samurai sword. It just so happened that the sun was a trained martial arts expert, handy with a sword.</p>
<p>As police grew more and more suspicious of the son, they found gaping holes in his declarations.</p>
<p>Mr Martin Jr later changed his story and claimed he was sound asleep before being struck in the head and dragged into the kitchen (how he would know that in an unconscious state is a mystery).</p>
<p>From the kitchen, he heard a noise which, according to him, clearly sounded "like a throat being cut".</p>
<p>In the two months before the murder of the father, Mr Martin Jr had allegedly taken "three different life insurance policies for the accidental death of his father - worth $2.5 million."</p>
<p>The Crown Prosecutor stated that it is their belief that the son acted in this manner because of suffering of yearlong abuse of the son at the hands of the father.</p>
<p>In the house, police found a handwritten letter by the son: "I was a very hurt man and the man who hurt me the most, was the very man who should have loved me the most. Money got tighter and we had another bright idea to free our lives up more. Our biggest problem is that we are too good at heart, our guilt has struck from the moment we cooked up the bright idea."</p>
<p>Mr Martin Jr pleaded not guilty.</p>
<p>Source:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.9news.com.au/national/2017/09/04/18/57/michael-phillip-martin-trial-accused-of-killing-father" type="external">9news.com.au/national/2017/09/04/18/57/michael-phillip-martin-trial-accused-of-killing-father</a></p> | 599,386 |
<p>Investing.com – The price of the digital currency bitcoin was trading near the $4,550 level on Thursday, having clawed back all of the losses from Monday’s slump, which was triggered by China’s ruling that initial coin offerings are illegal.</p>
<p>On the U.S.-based Bitfinex exchange, touched a low of $4,465.30 and was at $4,569.9 by 06:42 AM ET (10:42 GMT) having opened at $4,594.60.</p>
<p>At current prices bitcoin has a market cap of about $75 billion.</p>
<p>Cryptocurrency prices, including bitcoin dropped on Monday after , in what is the strongest regulatory challenge so far to the burgeoning market for digital token sales.</p>
<p>The popularity of coin offerings has surged in China this year. ICOs have become a bonanza for digital currency entrepreneurs, allowing them to raise large sums quickly by creating and selling digital “tokens” with little or no regulatory oversight.</p>
<p>Prices then rebounded as bitcoin traders seemed to view the selloff as a buying opportunity.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the price of the new bitcoin offshoot, rose to its highest level in two-weeks. It touched a high of $697.00 and was last at $692.00, having opened at $646.00.</p>
<p>At current prices, bitcoin cash has a total market capitalization of around $11 billion, making it the third most valuable cryptocurrency.</p>
<p>Elsewhere in cryptocurrency trading, , the second biggest cryptocurrency by market cap after bitcoin, was down 3.07% to $327.00.</p>
<p>To stay on top of the latest moves in the crypto-space, be sure to check out: <a href="https://www.investing.com/crypto/" type="external">https://www.investing.com/crypto/</a></p>
<p />
<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | Bitcoin little changed, Bitcoin Cash gains ground | false | https://newsline.com/bitcoin-little-changed-bitcoin-cash-gains-ground/ | 2017-09-07 | 1right-center
| Bitcoin little changed, Bitcoin Cash gains ground
<p>Investing.com – The price of the digital currency bitcoin was trading near the $4,550 level on Thursday, having clawed back all of the losses from Monday’s slump, which was triggered by China’s ruling that initial coin offerings are illegal.</p>
<p>On the U.S.-based Bitfinex exchange, touched a low of $4,465.30 and was at $4,569.9 by 06:42 AM ET (10:42 GMT) having opened at $4,594.60.</p>
<p>At current prices bitcoin has a market cap of about $75 billion.</p>
<p>Cryptocurrency prices, including bitcoin dropped on Monday after , in what is the strongest regulatory challenge so far to the burgeoning market for digital token sales.</p>
<p>The popularity of coin offerings has surged in China this year. ICOs have become a bonanza for digital currency entrepreneurs, allowing them to raise large sums quickly by creating and selling digital “tokens” with little or no regulatory oversight.</p>
<p>Prices then rebounded as bitcoin traders seemed to view the selloff as a buying opportunity.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the price of the new bitcoin offshoot, rose to its highest level in two-weeks. It touched a high of $697.00 and was last at $692.00, having opened at $646.00.</p>
<p>At current prices, bitcoin cash has a total market capitalization of around $11 billion, making it the third most valuable cryptocurrency.</p>
<p>Elsewhere in cryptocurrency trading, , the second biggest cryptocurrency by market cap after bitcoin, was down 3.07% to $327.00.</p>
<p>To stay on top of the latest moves in the crypto-space, be sure to check out: <a href="https://www.investing.com/crypto/" type="external">https://www.investing.com/crypto/</a></p>
<p />
<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | 599,387 |
<p>My first impression of Abu-Mazen was of a serious, methodical, somewhat aloof introvert. He reminded me of a high-school principal, very different from Arafat, the impulsive extrovert, prone to personal gestures, exuding warmth to all around him.</p>
<p>I met Abu-Mazen for the first time some 28 years ago. We were secretly in Tunis to meet Yasser Arafat. There were three of us: Matti Peled, a general in the reserves, Ya’acov Arnon, a former Director General of the Treasury and I. We met Abu-Mazen first to prepare practical proposals for joint actions, to be put before the “Old Man”, as Arafat – then 54–was called.</p>
<p>I had first heard mention of the name Abu-Mazen nine years earlier, with my first secret contacts with senior PLO officials. They told me that the Fatah leadership had appointed a committee of three for contacts with Israelis. They were the “three Abus” (as I called them): Abu-Amar (Yasser Arafat), Abu-Iyad (Salah Halaf) and Abu-Mazen (Mahmud Abbas).</p>
<p>Abu-Mazen was directly responsible for the contacts that started in 1974. At the first stage, they were conducted with me personally, but, from the autumn of 1976 on, the Israeli partner was the “Israeli Council for Israeli-Palestinian Peace”. The Palestinians who met us were Sa’id Hamami and Issam Sartawi–who were both murdered by the Iraqi-supported Palestinian arch-terrorist, Abu-Nidal, a mortal enemy of Arafat.</p>
<p>When Arafat and Abu-Mazen were both present at meetings with us, I got a clear picture of their mutual standing. The detailed discussions were conducted by Abu-Mazen, who had a good knowledge of things Israeli, but it was Arafat who, in the end, made the decisions. More than once I had the impression that the senior PLO leaders were quite content to leave to Arafat the responsibility for the courageous, dangerous and unpopular decisions that led up to the agreement with Israel.</p>
<p>Now there is a new situation. Arafat has agreed to appoint Abu-Mazen Prime Minister. (The very fact that the whole world, and Israel too, have welcomed the Palestinian “government” and “Prime Minister” is a big step towards the establishment of the State of Palestine. In Oslo Israel still strenuously resisted terms like “President”, “government” and “parliament” for the Palestinians.)</p>
<p>Abu-Mazen has taken upon himself a great responsibility vis-a-vis his own people and the world. He has put himself in a well-nigh impossible position.</p>
<p>Sharon &amp; Co. demand that he first of all put an end to “terrorism” (“armed struggle” in Palestinian parlance), liquidate the “terrorist organizations” collect their arms and prevent “incitement”. Only after the successful completion of all this can real negotiations begin. Freezing the construction of settlements, of course, should not even be mentioned at this stage.</p>
<p>The Palestinian public, on the other hand, demands that first of all the Israeli army should leave the Palestinian towns, stopping “targeted assassinations”, settlement activity, the demolition of homes and all other acts of oppression, and start real negotiations for the establishment of the State of Palestine.</p>
<p>This threatens to become a deadlock.</p>
<p>If the US and Europe exert massive pressure on Sharon, the way they have put massive pressure on Arafat, the deadlock might be broken. The Israeli army would withdraw, the situation in the Palestinian territories would change completely, the Palestinians would be able to breathe again and Abu-Mazen would appear as a leader who had already attained a great achievement. The popularity of the extreme organizations would decline.</p>
<p>Even if this happened, Abu-Mazen could not dream of making mass arrests, destroying the organizations and confiscating their weapons. There is nothing the Palestinians fear more than fratricidal war. However, the pressure of Palestinian public opinion would lead, at least, to an effective armistice. Even the extreme organizations are sensitive to the attitudes of their public–if it wants quiet, there will be quiet. That has already happened in the first period after the Oslo agreement.</p>
<p>Let’s assume that this happens. The attacks stop almost completely (there will always be some individuals and local groups who feel they have to act on their own). The Abu-Mazen government functions well in the Palestinian towns and villages. Then what?</p>
<p>After the publication of the Road Map, Sharon will propose dozens of “corrections”. Even now the “map” is strongly tilted towards Sharon. While the Palestinians gave up 78% of the country in Oslo and accepted the remaining 22% for building their own state, and have declared that they want to live in peaceful co-existence with Israel, Sharon talks about “painful concessions” without spelling out what he really means.</p>
<p>If Sharon’s “corrections” are even partly accepted, the plan will lose most of what content it still has. Abu-Mazen will stand there with empty hands, the negotiations will stagnate as in previous rounds. Gradually, the Palestinians will be forced to the conclusion that they can achieve nothing without violence, the fighting organizations will regain the initiative and the armed struggle will resume.</p>
<p>Sharon and Bush will blame the Palestinians, of course. They will say that Abu-Mazen “has not delivered the goods”. The Palestinians, for their part, will say that Abu-Mazen is naive, that he has fallen into an American-Israeli trap. He will resign, Arafat’s prestige will rise to new heights.</p>
<p>The next chapter can be foreseen. The Christian fundamentalists and Zionist neo-cons, who control Washington at this time, will demand that Sharon be given a free hand. The Palestinians will embark on the third intifada, more extreme than the two before. Blood and fire and columns of smoke.</p>
<p>It could be different. For example: the US stops treating the Quartet with contempt, pressure is put on Sharon, Bush is not reelected, the negotiations bear fruit, the peace camp wins in Israel, the Palestinian state is founded in peace.</p>
<p>In the Holy Land, miracles have happened before.</p>
<p>But in the meantime, don’t envy Abu-Mazen.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | Don’t Envy Abu-Mazen | true | https://counterpunch.org/2003/04/26/don-t-envy-abu-mazen/ | 2003-04-26 | 4left
| Don’t Envy Abu-Mazen
<p>My first impression of Abu-Mazen was of a serious, methodical, somewhat aloof introvert. He reminded me of a high-school principal, very different from Arafat, the impulsive extrovert, prone to personal gestures, exuding warmth to all around him.</p>
<p>I met Abu-Mazen for the first time some 28 years ago. We were secretly in Tunis to meet Yasser Arafat. There were three of us: Matti Peled, a general in the reserves, Ya’acov Arnon, a former Director General of the Treasury and I. We met Abu-Mazen first to prepare practical proposals for joint actions, to be put before the “Old Man”, as Arafat – then 54–was called.</p>
<p>I had first heard mention of the name Abu-Mazen nine years earlier, with my first secret contacts with senior PLO officials. They told me that the Fatah leadership had appointed a committee of three for contacts with Israelis. They were the “three Abus” (as I called them): Abu-Amar (Yasser Arafat), Abu-Iyad (Salah Halaf) and Abu-Mazen (Mahmud Abbas).</p>
<p>Abu-Mazen was directly responsible for the contacts that started in 1974. At the first stage, they were conducted with me personally, but, from the autumn of 1976 on, the Israeli partner was the “Israeli Council for Israeli-Palestinian Peace”. The Palestinians who met us were Sa’id Hamami and Issam Sartawi–who were both murdered by the Iraqi-supported Palestinian arch-terrorist, Abu-Nidal, a mortal enemy of Arafat.</p>
<p>When Arafat and Abu-Mazen were both present at meetings with us, I got a clear picture of their mutual standing. The detailed discussions were conducted by Abu-Mazen, who had a good knowledge of things Israeli, but it was Arafat who, in the end, made the decisions. More than once I had the impression that the senior PLO leaders were quite content to leave to Arafat the responsibility for the courageous, dangerous and unpopular decisions that led up to the agreement with Israel.</p>
<p>Now there is a new situation. Arafat has agreed to appoint Abu-Mazen Prime Minister. (The very fact that the whole world, and Israel too, have welcomed the Palestinian “government” and “Prime Minister” is a big step towards the establishment of the State of Palestine. In Oslo Israel still strenuously resisted terms like “President”, “government” and “parliament” for the Palestinians.)</p>
<p>Abu-Mazen has taken upon himself a great responsibility vis-a-vis his own people and the world. He has put himself in a well-nigh impossible position.</p>
<p>Sharon &amp; Co. demand that he first of all put an end to “terrorism” (“armed struggle” in Palestinian parlance), liquidate the “terrorist organizations” collect their arms and prevent “incitement”. Only after the successful completion of all this can real negotiations begin. Freezing the construction of settlements, of course, should not even be mentioned at this stage.</p>
<p>The Palestinian public, on the other hand, demands that first of all the Israeli army should leave the Palestinian towns, stopping “targeted assassinations”, settlement activity, the demolition of homes and all other acts of oppression, and start real negotiations for the establishment of the State of Palestine.</p>
<p>This threatens to become a deadlock.</p>
<p>If the US and Europe exert massive pressure on Sharon, the way they have put massive pressure on Arafat, the deadlock might be broken. The Israeli army would withdraw, the situation in the Palestinian territories would change completely, the Palestinians would be able to breathe again and Abu-Mazen would appear as a leader who had already attained a great achievement. The popularity of the extreme organizations would decline.</p>
<p>Even if this happened, Abu-Mazen could not dream of making mass arrests, destroying the organizations and confiscating their weapons. There is nothing the Palestinians fear more than fratricidal war. However, the pressure of Palestinian public opinion would lead, at least, to an effective armistice. Even the extreme organizations are sensitive to the attitudes of their public–if it wants quiet, there will be quiet. That has already happened in the first period after the Oslo agreement.</p>
<p>Let’s assume that this happens. The attacks stop almost completely (there will always be some individuals and local groups who feel they have to act on their own). The Abu-Mazen government functions well in the Palestinian towns and villages. Then what?</p>
<p>After the publication of the Road Map, Sharon will propose dozens of “corrections”. Even now the “map” is strongly tilted towards Sharon. While the Palestinians gave up 78% of the country in Oslo and accepted the remaining 22% for building their own state, and have declared that they want to live in peaceful co-existence with Israel, Sharon talks about “painful concessions” without spelling out what he really means.</p>
<p>If Sharon’s “corrections” are even partly accepted, the plan will lose most of what content it still has. Abu-Mazen will stand there with empty hands, the negotiations will stagnate as in previous rounds. Gradually, the Palestinians will be forced to the conclusion that they can achieve nothing without violence, the fighting organizations will regain the initiative and the armed struggle will resume.</p>
<p>Sharon and Bush will blame the Palestinians, of course. They will say that Abu-Mazen “has not delivered the goods”. The Palestinians, for their part, will say that Abu-Mazen is naive, that he has fallen into an American-Israeli trap. He will resign, Arafat’s prestige will rise to new heights.</p>
<p>The next chapter can be foreseen. The Christian fundamentalists and Zionist neo-cons, who control Washington at this time, will demand that Sharon be given a free hand. The Palestinians will embark on the third intifada, more extreme than the two before. Blood and fire and columns of smoke.</p>
<p>It could be different. For example: the US stops treating the Quartet with contempt, pressure is put on Sharon, Bush is not reelected, the negotiations bear fruit, the peace camp wins in Israel, the Palestinian state is founded in peace.</p>
<p>In the Holy Land, miracles have happened before.</p>
<p>But in the meantime, don’t envy Abu-Mazen.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | 599,388 |
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<p>SANTA FE, N.M. - Someone stole a utility trailer and car dolly in Santa Fe on Monday and the trailer contained construction equipment valued at $31,595.00.</p>
<p>The trailer was taken some time between 7:45 a.m. and 5:20 p.m. from a home on Case Road, the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office reported. There are no suspects at this time.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
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<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p> | Tools valued at over $30,000 stolen in Santa Fe | false | https://abqjournal.com/380702/tools-valued-at-over-30000-stolen-in-santa-fe.html | 2least
| Tools valued at over $30,000 stolen in Santa Fe
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p>SANTA FE, N.M. - Someone stole a utility trailer and car dolly in Santa Fe on Monday and the trailer contained construction equipment valued at $31,595.00.</p>
<p>The trailer was taken some time between 7:45 a.m. and 5:20 p.m. from a home on Case Road, the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office reported. There are no suspects at this time.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
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<p>RadomanDurkovic/Thinkstock; irayoflight/Thinkstock</p>
<p />
<p>“It’s eerie how much 2014 is like four years ago,” says <a href="http://www.hilltoppublicsolutions.com/about/team_craig.html" type="external">Craig Hughes</a>, a Denver-based political consultant who ran Democrat Michael Bennet’s successful 2010 Senate campaign. It’s just after 10 a.m., and we’re sitting in a coffee shop called Paris on the Platte. Hughes recounts how, back in 2010, all but one of the final 18 public polls conducted before Election Day <a href="http://kdvr.com/2014/10/16/udall-needs-democratic-ground-game-to-come-up-big-again/" type="external">showed</a> Bennet losing. In recent weeks, Democratic Sen. Mark Udall has trailed Republican Rep. Cory Gardner in <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2014/senate/co/colorado_senate_gardner_vs_udall-3845.html#polls" type="external">11 of 12 polls</a>. In 2010, pundits said that Bennet’s campaign ran too many pro-choice advertisements; political commentators these days deride Udall as <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/10/13/mark-udall-has-been-dubbed-mark-uterus-on-the-campaign-trail-thats-a-problem/" type="external">“Mark Uterus”</a> because his campaign has relentlessly focused on reproductive rights and women’s health. And Udall’s campaign is betting, like Bennet’s 2010 effort did, on the changing composition of the Colorado electorate. Also, just like four years ago, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who is seeking a second term, is facing a <a href="" type="internal">strongly conservative challenger</a>, and in the state Legislature, Colorado Democrats are fighting to protect their majorities in both chambers.</p>
<p>So if there are so many parallels, do Democrats in Colorado have reason to believe they can again buck the political tide?</p>
<p>In 2010, the last nonpresidential election year, Republicans across the country <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/03/AR2010110303997.html" type="external">shellacked</a> the Democrats. They won the US House of Representatives, elected <a href="http://elections.nytimes.com/2010/results/governor" type="external">12 new Republican governors</a>, and achieved majorities in <a href="http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_tim_storey/gop_makes_historic_state_legislative_gains_in_2010" type="external">22 state legislative chambers</a>. When all the results were in, the GOP <a href="http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_tim_storey/gop_makes_historic_state_legislative_gains_in_2010" type="external">held</a> 3,941 state legislative seats nationwide, the most since after the 1928 elections. But that Republican wave did not hit Colorado. In the Centennial State, voters elected a Democratic US senator and a Democratic governor. The party easily retained its majority in the state Senate. The Democrats did lose control of the state House, but by just one seat in a race <a href="http://data.denverpost.com/election/results/state-house/2010/district-29/" type="external">decided</a> by a few hundred votes. (The Democrats <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/ci_21941887/all-65-seats-up-state-house-key-ones" type="external">took back</a> the House two years later, when Obama’s reelection campaign turned out more Democratic-leaning voters.)</p>
<p>From afar, it looked like a political miracle. Not exactly. Starting in the early 2000s, progressives and Democrats in Colorado built what was arguably the most sophisticated political machine in the country, which included assorted groups operating year-round that were financed (anonymously, in part) by labor unions, environmental organizations, pro-choice groups, trial lawyers, and wealthy individuals. For years, the Colorado Machine flew under the radar, just as its leaders preferred, and capitalized on the state’s changing demographics. It helped Democrats go from perennial losers to establishing one-party control. And in 2010, the Colorado Machine minimized losses and ensured that Democrats weren’t swept out of power.</p>
<p>As difficult as the machine’s task was in 2010, this year presents its toughest test yet. Udall is locked in one of the country’s closest Senate races. Hickenlooper has looked <a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/is-john-hickenlooper-s-brand-self-destructing-20141003" type="external">surprisingly vulnerable</a> against Republican Bob Beauprez. Democratic candidates <a href="http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2014/07/colorado-elections-remain-close.html" type="external">have lagged</a> in the <a href="http://www.9news.com/story/news/politics/elections/2014/09/17/colorado-races-poll/15778333/" type="external">races</a> for attorney general and secretary of state, and the party currently clings to a <a href="http://ballotpedia.org/Colorado_State_Senate" type="external">one-seat majority</a> in the state Senate that Republicans believe they can erase.</p>
<p>And this time, Republicans know all too well what they’re up against. (It helps that a former GOP state legislator <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Blueprint-Democrats-Republicans-Everywhere/dp/1936218003" type="external">cowrote the definitive book</a> on the Colorado Machine.) Colorado Republicans say they are catching up to the Democrats—by mimicking the other side’s work and building <a href="http://coloradocore.org/" type="external">their own independent-spending operation</a>. They know that if they cannot make gains in this GOP-friendly year they may well be doomed to the minority for a long time. As Dick Wadhams, a former chair of the Colorado Republican Party, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/16/us/politics/turning-tables-democrats-use-cultural-issues-as-a-cudgel.html" type="external">told</a> the New York Times, “This election, in many ways, is going to determine whether Colorado has really shifted blue.” &#160;</p>
<p>THE STORY OF THE RISE of the Colorado Machine starts in the late 1990s. Republicans controlled the <a href="http://www.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2014A/cslFrontPages.nsf/HomeSplash?OpenForm" type="external">Colorado General Assembly</a>, the governor’s office, both US Senate seats, and four of the state’s six congressional districts. Conservatives led the charge to amend the state constitution to include a <a href="https://bellpolicy.org/node/1196" type="external">Taxpayer Bill of Rights</a> that made it nearly impossible to raise taxes, and called for displaying the Ten Commandments in public schools. None of this was surprising, given that Colorado was the home of anti-immigrant crusader Rep. Tom Tancredo and James Dobson’s Focus on the Family, a social-conservative powerhouse at the time.</p>
<p>Colorado Democrats, meanwhile, had been stuck in the state Legislature’s minority almost nonstop since Watergate. Each year, like clockwork, progressive measures were introduced in the Legislature and then spiked. The Democrats and their allies were left to spend the rest of the legislature’s <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/research/about-state-legislatures/legislative-session-length.aspx" type="external">four-month session</a> diluting, deflecting, and killing harmful bills. Finally, the Democrats and progressives realized that a strategic shift was necessary—and that they had to engineer it. “We wanted to be sitting at the table, not eaten at the table,” says Lynne Mason, the former political director of the Colorado Education Association (CEA), the state teachers’ union.</p>
<p>Over several years, the leaders of Colorado’s biggest left-leaning organizations, a handful of superwealthy donors, and several savvy political operatives joined forces to craft a plan. The organizations included the CEA, the state trial lawyers association, the AFL-CIO, the SEIU, and the pro-choice group NARAL. The big donors—medical-device heiress Pat Stryker, software guru Tim Gill, tech entrepreneur (and future congressman) Jared Polis, and businessman Rutt Bridges—came to be known as the Gang of Four or the Four Horsemen. Together, these players did what liberals in many other states could not: They sat around the same table, checked their respective agendas at the door, and pooled their resources to fund a plan to win elections and change the direction of their state.</p>
<p>This effort, they agreed, would take place outside of the Democratic Party and the traditional campaign finance restrictions. No new group would have “Democratic” in its name. At the time, registered Republicans, registered Democrats, and unaffiliated voters each comprised roughly a third of the electorate. Winning over those independents would be easier without a clear tie to a political party.</p>
<p>These operatives and funders set an initial goal: Win back the state Senate in 2004. They poured millions of dollars into radio ads, cable spots, and canvassing. They deployed innocuously named groups with no direct connection to the Democratic Party, such as Alliance for Colorado’s Families, Forward Colorado, and Coalition for a Better Colorado. In the fall of 2004, they realized they could also make a play for the state House for an additional modest investment. The gamble paid off. Democrats <a href="http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/state/2004-12-14-dems-hidden-election_x.htm?POE=click-refer" type="external">seized both chambers</a> for the first time since 1974.</p>
<p>Riding high after the 2004 victory, the donors and institutional players met to figure out how to sustain their operation. They had cobbled together a political operation to flip control of the Legislature, but could they now figure out how to not only keep the machine running but grow it? The Gang of Four didn’t last much longer. Polis turned his attention to his own political career, and Bridges later moved on to other pursuits. But Gill and Stryker were on board and soon were joined by new donors, and these funders formed the Colorado Democracy Alliance, an exclusive state-level donor club for investing in the Colorado Machine. The donors and their advisers auditioned various groups, hand-picked those to support, and demanded tangible results (read: electoral victories). “It’s the donor table as political venture-capital fund,” says Rob Witwer, the Republican former state legislator who cowrote The Blueprint: How the Democrats Won Colorado—and Why Republicans Everywhere Should Care.</p>
<p>What began as a small collaborative effort grew into an innovative, highly organized, data-driven operation. The Colorado Machine produced state-level versions of national groups—Colorado Media Matters, for instance, or <a href="http://www.coloradoforethics.org/co" type="external">Colorado Ethics Watch</a> (modeled after Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, DC). It also gave birth to new entities like ProgressNow, a lefty communications shop that has since <a href="http://www.progressnow.org/" type="external">gone national</a> with chapters in 21 states. (It created the <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/what-the-brosurance-and-creepy-uncle-sam-ads-dont-get-about-millennials/281667/" type="external">“Brosurance” keg stand ad</a> to promote Obamacare.) The Colorado Machine grew larger and more sophisticated in the mid-2000s. The names of the individual groups within the machine changed every cycle—a tactic intended to throw off anyone trying to connect the dots.</p>
<p>And it all worked. In 2006, the Democrats elected Bill Ritter as the new governor and defended their majorities in the Legislature, making Colorado an all-blue state for the first time in generations. Two years later, then-Sen. Barack Obama triumphantly accepted the Democratic nomination in Denver and went on to trounce Republican Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) by <a href="http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/states/colorado.html" type="external">9 points</a> in the state.</p>
<p>The success wasn’t just due to wealthy folks throwing money at politics, Witwer says. What made the project work was its laserlike focus on collaboration aimed at one thing: winning races. “The brilliance of the Colorado Democracy Alliance model wasn’t just recruiting rich people,” he says. “It was coordinating that money…On the Republican side, donors tended to work independently and sometimes even at odds with one another.”</p>
<p>Come 2010, the Colorado Machine helped Democrats staunch their losses in a historically bad year for the party. But the machine also quietly played a role in knocking off the GOP’s top pick for governor, ex-Rep. Scott McInnis, using sophisticated plagiarism software to comb through McInnis’ personal papers, according to a source with direct knowledge of the project. And the machine’s researchers hit pay dirt: McInnis <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/14/scott-mcinnis-plagiarism-_n_645716.html" type="external">had copied passages</a> about water rights from the work of a sitting Supreme Court justice. “It was like Christmas in July and Santa wore shorts,” the source says. The plagiarism allegations, which <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/election2010/ci_15502025" type="external">first appeared</a> in the Denver Post, torpedoed McInnis’ candidacy. Dan Maes, a more hardline Republican, <a href="http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2010/08/tea_party_favorite_dan_maes_wi.html" type="external">won</a> the nomination and went on to lose to Hickenlooper.</p>
<p>Colorado Machine operatives boast that their work has reshaped the politics in a swing state, where registered Republican voters outnumber Democratic voters by nearly 145,000. But changing demographics and national trends also paved the way for the Democrats’ triumphs. Rick Ridder, a political consultant who works for Polis, notes that a Democratic wave year in 2006 and massive campaigns organized by Obama in 2008 and 2012 were crucial to the Democrats’ successes in those years. All the while, the influx of Latino and young voters, he adds, has turned a once-red state purple and given the Democrats a fighting chance. “The Colorado model,” Ridder says, “is the surfboard on top of the demographic wave.” &#160;</p>
<p>LAST WEDNESDAY NIGHT, the Centennial Ballroom at the Denver Hyatt echoed with chatter and laughter. Then the room went dark and the exposure of the Colorado Machine’s deep secrets began. Or sort of.</p>
<p>What had drawn the crowd of Republican activists, operatives, and state lawmakers was an exclusive screening of <a href="http://www.rockymountainheist.com/" type="external">Rocky Mountain Heist</a>, the latest documentary by Citizens United, the conservative outfit perhaps best known for bringing the suit that led to the Supreme Court decision expanding the role of outside money in elections. Rocky Mountain Heist purportedly reveals the grand liberal conspiracy to hijack the great state of Colorado. Narrated by conservative blogger Michelle Malkin, the film depicts a shadowy cabal of plutocrats—that would be Gill, Stryker, Polis, and Bridges—who plotted in secret and used their wealth to buy state elections and turn Colorado into a left-wing laboratory overrun with gun-grabbers and stoners. “It started with a plan to control the state Legislature,” Malkin says over dramatic music, “and helped pave the way to White House.” The movie ends with a dire warning about the “Colorado Model” coming to a state near you. Onscreen, a blue blob spreads outward from Colorado to cover the entire country.</p>
<p>Despite the hyperbolic warning, the filmmakers left an obvious question unexplored: Why doesn’t the right imitate the Colorado Machine? After all, the movie tells the story of how a party went from nearly obsolete to dominant in just 10 years.</p>
<p>But a small group of Colorado Republicans claims to be embracing the Colorado model for its own ends—building a political machine that can compete with the left. Late August saw the launch of <a href="http://coloradocore.org/news/release-colorado-republican-partys-official-independent-expenditure-committee-core-begins-operations-targets-races-releases-opposition-research/" type="external">CORE</a>, the Colorado Republican Party’s own independent spending operation. Like the progressives in the beginning, CORE is starting out with a modest initial goal of ousting seven Democratic state senators in order to flip the upper chamber. This new outfit plans to marshal $10-12 million in the 2014 elections. “CORE will help counteract the influence of radical special interest groups and labor unions by helping support more cohesive statewide campaign efforts and will persuasively contact voters in key legislative districts,” <a href="http://coloradocore.org/news/release-colorado-republican-partys-official-independent-expenditure-committee-core-begins-operations-targets-races-releases-opposition-research/" type="external">says</a> state GOP chairman Ryan Call.</p>
<p>Conservatives in Colorado have also created their own echo chambers with a political gossip site, <a href="http://coloradopeakpolitics.com/" type="external">Colorado Peak Politics</a>, a localized version of the Drudge Report called <a href="http://completecolorado.com/" type="external">Complete Colorado</a>, and a site devoted to tracking and attacking Democratic candidates called <a href="http://revealingpolitics.com/" type="external">Revealing Politics</a>. All of these outlets live to trash Democrats, to dig up unflattering audio and video of Dems, and to get their messages picked up by the lone major newspaper in the state, the Denver Post.</p>
<p>No one can say for certain if the Colorado GOP’s efforts to play catchup are just talk or real at this point. Witwer, the legislator-turned-author, says he believes his party has finally seen the light. “There is a sense within the party that the GOP is closing the gap,” he insists. Various leaders on the left scoffed at this, pointing out that they have seen and heard little on the ground from their opponents. “I’ve heard Rob saying for the last five years that the Republicans here are getting their act together,” says Pete Maysmith, the executive director of Conservation Colorado, the state’s biggest environmental group, which will spend nearly $1 million on state races this year.</p>
<p>Even if Republicans don’t get their act together in 2014, the Democrats on the ballot—especially Mark Udall—face a daunting challenge. Despite recent election results, Colorado’s voter rolls are still more Republican than Democratic. “A lot of people in DC or wherever think that Colorado is now blue,” says Lynne Mason of the CEA. “It’s not; it’s still a big swing state.”</p>
<p>To have a chance next week, Udall’s campaign must mobilize voters at an unprecedented level and, as Bennet did in 2010, win big among unaffiliated women, Latinos, and young people. The early voting numbers have, not unexpectedly, been bleak for Udall. Republicans have out-voted Democrats <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/29/upshot/mark-udall-faces-a-turnout-challenge-in-colorado.html?partner=rss&amp;emc=rss&amp;smid=tw-nytimes&amp;_r=1&amp;abt=0002&amp;abg=0" type="external">by a 10 percent margin</a> as of Sunday. Still, Craig Hughes, the Denver-based consultant, told me he remains confident in the grassroots operation built by Udall and the Democrats—the 25 field offices, 100-plus field organizers, and more than 4,000 active volunteers. Yet he was far from cheery. For all the parallels to the 2010 race, Udall’s opponent, Cory Gardner, is a far stronger candidate than Bennet’s foe was, and an increasingly polarized electorate means Udall’s turnout operation must exceed Bennet’s 2010 effort. “There’s a hill to climb,” Hughes says, “and if the Democrats don’t climb it, they’ll lose.”</p>
<p /> | This Machine Turned Colorado Blue. Now It May Be Dems’ Best Hope to Save the Senate. | true | https://motherjones.com/politics/2014/10/colorado-udall-hickenlooper-senate-democracy-alliance/ | 2014-10-29 | 4left
| This Machine Turned Colorado Blue. Now It May Be Dems’ Best Hope to Save the Senate.
<p>RadomanDurkovic/Thinkstock; irayoflight/Thinkstock</p>
<p />
<p>“It’s eerie how much 2014 is like four years ago,” says <a href="http://www.hilltoppublicsolutions.com/about/team_craig.html" type="external">Craig Hughes</a>, a Denver-based political consultant who ran Democrat Michael Bennet’s successful 2010 Senate campaign. It’s just after 10 a.m., and we’re sitting in a coffee shop called Paris on the Platte. Hughes recounts how, back in 2010, all but one of the final 18 public polls conducted before Election Day <a href="http://kdvr.com/2014/10/16/udall-needs-democratic-ground-game-to-come-up-big-again/" type="external">showed</a> Bennet losing. In recent weeks, Democratic Sen. Mark Udall has trailed Republican Rep. Cory Gardner in <a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2014/senate/co/colorado_senate_gardner_vs_udall-3845.html#polls" type="external">11 of 12 polls</a>. In 2010, pundits said that Bennet’s campaign ran too many pro-choice advertisements; political commentators these days deride Udall as <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/10/13/mark-udall-has-been-dubbed-mark-uterus-on-the-campaign-trail-thats-a-problem/" type="external">“Mark Uterus”</a> because his campaign has relentlessly focused on reproductive rights and women’s health. And Udall’s campaign is betting, like Bennet’s 2010 effort did, on the changing composition of the Colorado electorate. Also, just like four years ago, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who is seeking a second term, is facing a <a href="" type="internal">strongly conservative challenger</a>, and in the state Legislature, Colorado Democrats are fighting to protect their majorities in both chambers.</p>
<p>So if there are so many parallels, do Democrats in Colorado have reason to believe they can again buck the political tide?</p>
<p>In 2010, the last nonpresidential election year, Republicans across the country <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/03/AR2010110303997.html" type="external">shellacked</a> the Democrats. They won the US House of Representatives, elected <a href="http://elections.nytimes.com/2010/results/governor" type="external">12 new Republican governors</a>, and achieved majorities in <a href="http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_tim_storey/gop_makes_historic_state_legislative_gains_in_2010" type="external">22 state legislative chambers</a>. When all the results were in, the GOP <a href="http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_tim_storey/gop_makes_historic_state_legislative_gains_in_2010" type="external">held</a> 3,941 state legislative seats nationwide, the most since after the 1928 elections. But that Republican wave did not hit Colorado. In the Centennial State, voters elected a Democratic US senator and a Democratic governor. The party easily retained its majority in the state Senate. The Democrats did lose control of the state House, but by just one seat in a race <a href="http://data.denverpost.com/election/results/state-house/2010/district-29/" type="external">decided</a> by a few hundred votes. (The Democrats <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/ci_21941887/all-65-seats-up-state-house-key-ones" type="external">took back</a> the House two years later, when Obama’s reelection campaign turned out more Democratic-leaning voters.)</p>
<p>From afar, it looked like a political miracle. Not exactly. Starting in the early 2000s, progressives and Democrats in Colorado built what was arguably the most sophisticated political machine in the country, which included assorted groups operating year-round that were financed (anonymously, in part) by labor unions, environmental organizations, pro-choice groups, trial lawyers, and wealthy individuals. For years, the Colorado Machine flew under the radar, just as its leaders preferred, and capitalized on the state’s changing demographics. It helped Democrats go from perennial losers to establishing one-party control. And in 2010, the Colorado Machine minimized losses and ensured that Democrats weren’t swept out of power.</p>
<p>As difficult as the machine’s task was in 2010, this year presents its toughest test yet. Udall is locked in one of the country’s closest Senate races. Hickenlooper has looked <a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/is-john-hickenlooper-s-brand-self-destructing-20141003" type="external">surprisingly vulnerable</a> against Republican Bob Beauprez. Democratic candidates <a href="http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2014/07/colorado-elections-remain-close.html" type="external">have lagged</a> in the <a href="http://www.9news.com/story/news/politics/elections/2014/09/17/colorado-races-poll/15778333/" type="external">races</a> for attorney general and secretary of state, and the party currently clings to a <a href="http://ballotpedia.org/Colorado_State_Senate" type="external">one-seat majority</a> in the state Senate that Republicans believe they can erase.</p>
<p>And this time, Republicans know all too well what they’re up against. (It helps that a former GOP state legislator <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Blueprint-Democrats-Republicans-Everywhere/dp/1936218003" type="external">cowrote the definitive book</a> on the Colorado Machine.) Colorado Republicans say they are catching up to the Democrats—by mimicking the other side’s work and building <a href="http://coloradocore.org/" type="external">their own independent-spending operation</a>. They know that if they cannot make gains in this GOP-friendly year they may well be doomed to the minority for a long time. As Dick Wadhams, a former chair of the Colorado Republican Party, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/16/us/politics/turning-tables-democrats-use-cultural-issues-as-a-cudgel.html" type="external">told</a> the New York Times, “This election, in many ways, is going to determine whether Colorado has really shifted blue.” &#160;</p>
<p>THE STORY OF THE RISE of the Colorado Machine starts in the late 1990s. Republicans controlled the <a href="http://www.leg.state.co.us/clics/clics2014A/cslFrontPages.nsf/HomeSplash?OpenForm" type="external">Colorado General Assembly</a>, the governor’s office, both US Senate seats, and four of the state’s six congressional districts. Conservatives led the charge to amend the state constitution to include a <a href="https://bellpolicy.org/node/1196" type="external">Taxpayer Bill of Rights</a> that made it nearly impossible to raise taxes, and called for displaying the Ten Commandments in public schools. None of this was surprising, given that Colorado was the home of anti-immigrant crusader Rep. Tom Tancredo and James Dobson’s Focus on the Family, a social-conservative powerhouse at the time.</p>
<p>Colorado Democrats, meanwhile, had been stuck in the state Legislature’s minority almost nonstop since Watergate. Each year, like clockwork, progressive measures were introduced in the Legislature and then spiked. The Democrats and their allies were left to spend the rest of the legislature’s <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/research/about-state-legislatures/legislative-session-length.aspx" type="external">four-month session</a> diluting, deflecting, and killing harmful bills. Finally, the Democrats and progressives realized that a strategic shift was necessary—and that they had to engineer it. “We wanted to be sitting at the table, not eaten at the table,” says Lynne Mason, the former political director of the Colorado Education Association (CEA), the state teachers’ union.</p>
<p>Over several years, the leaders of Colorado’s biggest left-leaning organizations, a handful of superwealthy donors, and several savvy political operatives joined forces to craft a plan. The organizations included the CEA, the state trial lawyers association, the AFL-CIO, the SEIU, and the pro-choice group NARAL. The big donors—medical-device heiress Pat Stryker, software guru Tim Gill, tech entrepreneur (and future congressman) Jared Polis, and businessman Rutt Bridges—came to be known as the Gang of Four or the Four Horsemen. Together, these players did what liberals in many other states could not: They sat around the same table, checked their respective agendas at the door, and pooled their resources to fund a plan to win elections and change the direction of their state.</p>
<p>This effort, they agreed, would take place outside of the Democratic Party and the traditional campaign finance restrictions. No new group would have “Democratic” in its name. At the time, registered Republicans, registered Democrats, and unaffiliated voters each comprised roughly a third of the electorate. Winning over those independents would be easier without a clear tie to a political party.</p>
<p>These operatives and funders set an initial goal: Win back the state Senate in 2004. They poured millions of dollars into radio ads, cable spots, and canvassing. They deployed innocuously named groups with no direct connection to the Democratic Party, such as Alliance for Colorado’s Families, Forward Colorado, and Coalition for a Better Colorado. In the fall of 2004, they realized they could also make a play for the state House for an additional modest investment. The gamble paid off. Democrats <a href="http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/state/2004-12-14-dems-hidden-election_x.htm?POE=click-refer" type="external">seized both chambers</a> for the first time since 1974.</p>
<p>Riding high after the 2004 victory, the donors and institutional players met to figure out how to sustain their operation. They had cobbled together a political operation to flip control of the Legislature, but could they now figure out how to not only keep the machine running but grow it? The Gang of Four didn’t last much longer. Polis turned his attention to his own political career, and Bridges later moved on to other pursuits. But Gill and Stryker were on board and soon were joined by new donors, and these funders formed the Colorado Democracy Alliance, an exclusive state-level donor club for investing in the Colorado Machine. The donors and their advisers auditioned various groups, hand-picked those to support, and demanded tangible results (read: electoral victories). “It’s the donor table as political venture-capital fund,” says Rob Witwer, the Republican former state legislator who cowrote The Blueprint: How the Democrats Won Colorado—and Why Republicans Everywhere Should Care.</p>
<p>What began as a small collaborative effort grew into an innovative, highly organized, data-driven operation. The Colorado Machine produced state-level versions of national groups—Colorado Media Matters, for instance, or <a href="http://www.coloradoforethics.org/co" type="external">Colorado Ethics Watch</a> (modeled after Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, DC). It also gave birth to new entities like ProgressNow, a lefty communications shop that has since <a href="http://www.progressnow.org/" type="external">gone national</a> with chapters in 21 states. (It created the <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/what-the-brosurance-and-creepy-uncle-sam-ads-dont-get-about-millennials/281667/" type="external">“Brosurance” keg stand ad</a> to promote Obamacare.) The Colorado Machine grew larger and more sophisticated in the mid-2000s. The names of the individual groups within the machine changed every cycle—a tactic intended to throw off anyone trying to connect the dots.</p>
<p>And it all worked. In 2006, the Democrats elected Bill Ritter as the new governor and defended their majorities in the Legislature, making Colorado an all-blue state for the first time in generations. Two years later, then-Sen. Barack Obama triumphantly accepted the Democratic nomination in Denver and went on to trounce Republican Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) by <a href="http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/states/colorado.html" type="external">9 points</a> in the state.</p>
<p>The success wasn’t just due to wealthy folks throwing money at politics, Witwer says. What made the project work was its laserlike focus on collaboration aimed at one thing: winning races. “The brilliance of the Colorado Democracy Alliance model wasn’t just recruiting rich people,” he says. “It was coordinating that money…On the Republican side, donors tended to work independently and sometimes even at odds with one another.”</p>
<p>Come 2010, the Colorado Machine helped Democrats staunch their losses in a historically bad year for the party. But the machine also quietly played a role in knocking off the GOP’s top pick for governor, ex-Rep. Scott McInnis, using sophisticated plagiarism software to comb through McInnis’ personal papers, according to a source with direct knowledge of the project. And the machine’s researchers hit pay dirt: McInnis <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/14/scott-mcinnis-plagiarism-_n_645716.html" type="external">had copied passages</a> about water rights from the work of a sitting Supreme Court justice. “It was like Christmas in July and Santa wore shorts,” the source says. The plagiarism allegations, which <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/election2010/ci_15502025" type="external">first appeared</a> in the Denver Post, torpedoed McInnis’ candidacy. Dan Maes, a more hardline Republican, <a href="http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2010/08/tea_party_favorite_dan_maes_wi.html" type="external">won</a> the nomination and went on to lose to Hickenlooper.</p>
<p>Colorado Machine operatives boast that their work has reshaped the politics in a swing state, where registered Republican voters outnumber Democratic voters by nearly 145,000. But changing demographics and national trends also paved the way for the Democrats’ triumphs. Rick Ridder, a political consultant who works for Polis, notes that a Democratic wave year in 2006 and massive campaigns organized by Obama in 2008 and 2012 were crucial to the Democrats’ successes in those years. All the while, the influx of Latino and young voters, he adds, has turned a once-red state purple and given the Democrats a fighting chance. “The Colorado model,” Ridder says, “is the surfboard on top of the demographic wave.” &#160;</p>
<p>LAST WEDNESDAY NIGHT, the Centennial Ballroom at the Denver Hyatt echoed with chatter and laughter. Then the room went dark and the exposure of the Colorado Machine’s deep secrets began. Or sort of.</p>
<p>What had drawn the crowd of Republican activists, operatives, and state lawmakers was an exclusive screening of <a href="http://www.rockymountainheist.com/" type="external">Rocky Mountain Heist</a>, the latest documentary by Citizens United, the conservative outfit perhaps best known for bringing the suit that led to the Supreme Court decision expanding the role of outside money in elections. Rocky Mountain Heist purportedly reveals the grand liberal conspiracy to hijack the great state of Colorado. Narrated by conservative blogger Michelle Malkin, the film depicts a shadowy cabal of plutocrats—that would be Gill, Stryker, Polis, and Bridges—who plotted in secret and used their wealth to buy state elections and turn Colorado into a left-wing laboratory overrun with gun-grabbers and stoners. “It started with a plan to control the state Legislature,” Malkin says over dramatic music, “and helped pave the way to White House.” The movie ends with a dire warning about the “Colorado Model” coming to a state near you. Onscreen, a blue blob spreads outward from Colorado to cover the entire country.</p>
<p>Despite the hyperbolic warning, the filmmakers left an obvious question unexplored: Why doesn’t the right imitate the Colorado Machine? After all, the movie tells the story of how a party went from nearly obsolete to dominant in just 10 years.</p>
<p>But a small group of Colorado Republicans claims to be embracing the Colorado model for its own ends—building a political machine that can compete with the left. Late August saw the launch of <a href="http://coloradocore.org/news/release-colorado-republican-partys-official-independent-expenditure-committee-core-begins-operations-targets-races-releases-opposition-research/" type="external">CORE</a>, the Colorado Republican Party’s own independent spending operation. Like the progressives in the beginning, CORE is starting out with a modest initial goal of ousting seven Democratic state senators in order to flip the upper chamber. This new outfit plans to marshal $10-12 million in the 2014 elections. “CORE will help counteract the influence of radical special interest groups and labor unions by helping support more cohesive statewide campaign efforts and will persuasively contact voters in key legislative districts,” <a href="http://coloradocore.org/news/release-colorado-republican-partys-official-independent-expenditure-committee-core-begins-operations-targets-races-releases-opposition-research/" type="external">says</a> state GOP chairman Ryan Call.</p>
<p>Conservatives in Colorado have also created their own echo chambers with a political gossip site, <a href="http://coloradopeakpolitics.com/" type="external">Colorado Peak Politics</a>, a localized version of the Drudge Report called <a href="http://completecolorado.com/" type="external">Complete Colorado</a>, and a site devoted to tracking and attacking Democratic candidates called <a href="http://revealingpolitics.com/" type="external">Revealing Politics</a>. All of these outlets live to trash Democrats, to dig up unflattering audio and video of Dems, and to get their messages picked up by the lone major newspaper in the state, the Denver Post.</p>
<p>No one can say for certain if the Colorado GOP’s efforts to play catchup are just talk or real at this point. Witwer, the legislator-turned-author, says he believes his party has finally seen the light. “There is a sense within the party that the GOP is closing the gap,” he insists. Various leaders on the left scoffed at this, pointing out that they have seen and heard little on the ground from their opponents. “I’ve heard Rob saying for the last five years that the Republicans here are getting their act together,” says Pete Maysmith, the executive director of Conservation Colorado, the state’s biggest environmental group, which will spend nearly $1 million on state races this year.</p>
<p>Even if Republicans don’t get their act together in 2014, the Democrats on the ballot—especially Mark Udall—face a daunting challenge. Despite recent election results, Colorado’s voter rolls are still more Republican than Democratic. “A lot of people in DC or wherever think that Colorado is now blue,” says Lynne Mason of the CEA. “It’s not; it’s still a big swing state.”</p>
<p>To have a chance next week, Udall’s campaign must mobilize voters at an unprecedented level and, as Bennet did in 2010, win big among unaffiliated women, Latinos, and young people. The early voting numbers have, not unexpectedly, been bleak for Udall. Republicans have out-voted Democrats <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/29/upshot/mark-udall-faces-a-turnout-challenge-in-colorado.html?partner=rss&amp;emc=rss&amp;smid=tw-nytimes&amp;_r=1&amp;abt=0002&amp;abg=0" type="external">by a 10 percent margin</a> as of Sunday. Still, Craig Hughes, the Denver-based consultant, told me he remains confident in the grassroots operation built by Udall and the Democrats—the 25 field offices, 100-plus field organizers, and more than 4,000 active volunteers. Yet he was far from cheery. For all the parallels to the 2010 race, Udall’s opponent, Cory Gardner, is a far stronger candidate than Bennet’s foe was, and an increasingly polarized electorate means Udall’s turnout operation must exceed Bennet’s 2010 effort. “There’s a hill to climb,” Hughes says, “and if the Democrats don’t climb it, they’ll lose.”</p>
<p /> | 599,390 |
<p>AIN ISSA, Syria (AP) - The 17-year-old Indonesian girl made a persuasive case to her family: Lured by what she had read online, she told her parents, sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins they should all move to Syria to join the Islamic State group.</p>
<p>Each of her two dozen relatives found something in it for them. Free education and health care for the girls. Paying outstanding debts for her father and uncle. Finding work for the youngest men.</p>
<p>And the biggest bonus: a chance to live in what was depicted as an ideal Islamic society on the ascendant.</p>
<p>It didn't take long before their dreams were crushed and their hopes for a better life destroyed as each of those promised benefits failed to materialize. Instead, the family was faced with a society where single women were expected to be married off to IS fighters, injustice and brutality prevailed, and a battle raged in which all able-bodied men were compelled to report to the frontline.</p>
<p>In an interview with The Associated Press, Nurshardrina Khairadhania, now 19, recalled her family's fateful decision to immigrate to the IS stronghold of Raqqa two years ago - and how, only months later, their bid to escape began.</p>
<p>During that time the family endured separation, her grandmother died and an uncle was killed in an airstrike.</p>
<p>"IS shared only the good things on the internet," said the young woman, who goes by her nickname, Nur.</p>
<p>She now lives with her mother, two sisters, three aunts, two female cousins and their three young sons in Ain Issa, a camp for the displaced run by the Kurdish forces fighting to expel IS from Raqqa. Her father and four surviving male cousins are in detention north of there. While the men are being interrogated by the Kurdish forces for possible links to IS, the women wait in a tent in the searing heat, hoping for the family to be reunited and return to their home in Jakarta.</p>
<p>Nur's family is among thousands from Asia, Europe, Africa, North America and the Middle East who chased the dream of a new Islamic society advertised by IS in slickly produced propaganda videos, online blogs and other social media. By the time they got there, the group's brutal campaign of beheadings, kidnappings and enslaving women was well underway.</p>
<p>For Nur and her sister, such images were part of a hate campaign against the nascent Islamic caliphate or simply justified punishment for crimes committed there.</p>
<p>"I was afraid to see that. I first thought it was another group ... who hates IS," Nur said.</p>
<p>Nur recalled calling her family together just months after the extremists' declared their "caliphate" on territory seized in Syria and Iraq in the summer of 2014.</p>
<p>Making her pitch, she recounted the benefits laid out on the IS blogs: her 21-year-old sister could continue her computer education for free. Her 32-year-old divorced cousin, Difansa Rachmani, could get free health care for herself and her three children, one of whom was autistic. Her uncle could get out from under the debt he incurred trying to save a struggling auto mechanic business in Jakarta - and could even open a new one in Raqqa, where mechanics were in high demand to build car bombs, the extremists' signature weapon.</p>
<p>For Nur, the Islamic State seemed to be the perfect place to pursue her desire to study Islam and train to be a health practitioner.</p>
<p>"It is a good place to live in peace and justice and, God willing, after hijrah, we will go to paradise," she recalled thinking, using the Islamic term for migration from the land of persecution to the land of Islam. "I wanted to invite all my family. ... We went to be together forever, in life and afterlife."</p>
<p>The family sold their house, cars and gold jewelry, collecting $38,000 for the journey to Turkey and then on to Syria.</p>
<p>But once in Turkey, the first quarrels began, over how or even whether to sneak into Syria. Seven relatives decided to head out on their own and were detained by the Turkish authorities while trying to cross the border illegally. They were deported back to Indonesia where, the family says, they remain under surveillance because the rest of their relatives had lived in IS territories.</p>
<p>The saga of family separation had only just begun, however.</p>
<p>After arriving in Islamic State group territory in August 2015, the family was divided again: the men were ordered to take Islamic education classes, and ended up jailed for months because they refused military training and service. After their release, they lived in hiding to avoid forced recruitment or new jail sentences. The women and girls were sent to an all-female dormitory.</p>
<p>Nur was shocked by life in the IS-run dormitory. The women bickered, gossiped, stole from each other and sometimes even fought with knives, she said. Her name and those of her 21-year-sister and divorced cousin were put on a list of available brides circulated to IS fighters, who would propose marriage without even meeting them.</p>
<p>"It is crazy! We don't know who they are. We don't know their background. They want to marry and marry," she said.</p>
<p>"IS wants only three things: women, power and money," she and her cousin, Rachmani, said in unison.</p>
<p>"They act like God," Nur added. "They make their own laws. ... They are very far from Islam."</p>
<p>In a separate, monitored, interview with the AP at a security center run by Kurdish forces in Kobani, north of Raqqa, where he and the other male family members were being questioned for possible IS ties, her 18-year-old cousin said that living under the extremists was like living in "prison."</p>
<p>"We (didn't) want to go to Syria to fight," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution from IS or trouble with the Kurdish authorities or those back home in Indonesia. "We just wanted to live in an Islamic state. But it is not an Islamic state. It is unjust, and Muslims are fighting Muslims."</p>
<p>IS officials ignored Nur's persistent queries about continuing her education in Raqqa. And because they refused to enroll in military service, the men never got the jobs they had been promised. When the battle for Raqqa intensified in June, IS militants set up checkpoints around the city, searching for fighters and came looking for the men.</p>
<p>Rachmani did get free surgery for a chronic neck ailment and her son got attention for his autism and was finally able to walk. Soon after the family's arrival, she was sent to the then-IS stronghold of Mosul in Iraq for the surgery.</p>
<p>"I left my country for my stupid selfish reason. I wanted the free facilities," Rachmani said. "Thank God I got my free (surgery) but after that all lies."</p>
<p>The family searched for months for a way to escape, a risky endeavor in the tightly controlled IS territory.</p>
<p>When the Kurdish-led campaign to retake Raqqa from IS intensified in June, the family finally saw their opportunity. At great personal risk, Nur used a computer in a public internet cafe to search for "enemies of IS," despite the danger posed by frequent raids carried out by IS there. She contacted activists and eventually found smugglers, who, for $4,000, got the family across the front line and into Kurdish-controlled territory. They turned themselves in to Kurdish forces on June 10.</p>
<p>An Indonesian Foreign Ministry official said authorities have known for several months about the presence of Indonesian nationals, including Nur's family, in the Ain Issa camp and were investigating their condition.</p>
<p>"However, they have been two years living in the IS area, so the risk assessment of them is required and we have been facing obstacles to reach them as they are in an area not controlled by any official government, either Iraq or Syria," said Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, the ministry's director of Indonesian citizen protection.</p>
<p>"I am very regretful. I was very stupid and very naive. I blame myself," Nur said of the family's plight. "May God accept my repentance because you know ... it is not like a holiday to go to Turkey. It is a dangerous, dangerous trip."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.</p>
<p>AIN ISSA, Syria (AP) - The 17-year-old Indonesian girl made a persuasive case to her family: Lured by what she had read online, she told her parents, sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins they should all move to Syria to join the Islamic State group.</p>
<p>Each of her two dozen relatives found something in it for them. Free education and health care for the girls. Paying outstanding debts for her father and uncle. Finding work for the youngest men.</p>
<p>And the biggest bonus: a chance to live in what was depicted as an ideal Islamic society on the ascendant.</p>
<p>It didn't take long before their dreams were crushed and their hopes for a better life destroyed as each of those promised benefits failed to materialize. Instead, the family was faced with a society where single women were expected to be married off to IS fighters, injustice and brutality prevailed, and a battle raged in which all able-bodied men were compelled to report to the frontline.</p>
<p>In an interview with The Associated Press, Nurshardrina Khairadhania, now 19, recalled her family's fateful decision to immigrate to the IS stronghold of Raqqa two years ago - and how, only months later, their bid to escape began.</p>
<p>During that time the family endured separation, her grandmother died and an uncle was killed in an airstrike.</p>
<p>"IS shared only the good things on the internet," said the young woman, who goes by her nickname, Nur.</p>
<p>She now lives with her mother, two sisters, three aunts, two female cousins and their three young sons in Ain Issa, a camp for the displaced run by the Kurdish forces fighting to expel IS from Raqqa. Her father and four surviving male cousins are in detention north of there. While the men are being interrogated by the Kurdish forces for possible links to IS, the women wait in a tent in the searing heat, hoping for the family to be reunited and return to their home in Jakarta.</p>
<p>Nur's family is among thousands from Asia, Europe, Africa, North America and the Middle East who chased the dream of a new Islamic society advertised by IS in slickly produced propaganda videos, online blogs and other social media. By the time they got there, the group's brutal campaign of beheadings, kidnappings and enslaving women was well underway.</p>
<p>For Nur and her sister, such images were part of a hate campaign against the nascent Islamic caliphate or simply justified punishment for crimes committed there.</p>
<p>"I was afraid to see that. I first thought it was another group ... who hates IS," Nur said.</p>
<p>Nur recalled calling her family together just months after the extremists' declared their "caliphate" on territory seized in Syria and Iraq in the summer of 2014.</p>
<p>Making her pitch, she recounted the benefits laid out on the IS blogs: her 21-year-old sister could continue her computer education for free. Her 32-year-old divorced cousin, Difansa Rachmani, could get free health care for herself and her three children, one of whom was autistic. Her uncle could get out from under the debt he incurred trying to save a struggling auto mechanic business in Jakarta - and could even open a new one in Raqqa, where mechanics were in high demand to build car bombs, the extremists' signature weapon.</p>
<p>For Nur, the Islamic State seemed to be the perfect place to pursue her desire to study Islam and train to be a health practitioner.</p>
<p>"It is a good place to live in peace and justice and, God willing, after hijrah, we will go to paradise," she recalled thinking, using the Islamic term for migration from the land of persecution to the land of Islam. "I wanted to invite all my family. ... We went to be together forever, in life and afterlife."</p>
<p>The family sold their house, cars and gold jewelry, collecting $38,000 for the journey to Turkey and then on to Syria.</p>
<p>But once in Turkey, the first quarrels began, over how or even whether to sneak into Syria. Seven relatives decided to head out on their own and were detained by the Turkish authorities while trying to cross the border illegally. They were deported back to Indonesia where, the family says, they remain under surveillance because the rest of their relatives had lived in IS territories.</p>
<p>The saga of family separation had only just begun, however.</p>
<p>After arriving in Islamic State group territory in August 2015, the family was divided again: the men were ordered to take Islamic education classes, and ended up jailed for months because they refused military training and service. After their release, they lived in hiding to avoid forced recruitment or new jail sentences. The women and girls were sent to an all-female dormitory.</p>
<p>Nur was shocked by life in the IS-run dormitory. The women bickered, gossiped, stole from each other and sometimes even fought with knives, she said. Her name and those of her 21-year-sister and divorced cousin were put on a list of available brides circulated to IS fighters, who would propose marriage without even meeting them.</p>
<p>"It is crazy! We don't know who they are. We don't know their background. They want to marry and marry," she said.</p>
<p>"IS wants only three things: women, power and money," she and her cousin, Rachmani, said in unison.</p>
<p>"They act like God," Nur added. "They make their own laws. ... They are very far from Islam."</p>
<p>In a separate, monitored, interview with the AP at a security center run by Kurdish forces in Kobani, north of Raqqa, where he and the other male family members were being questioned for possible IS ties, her 18-year-old cousin said that living under the extremists was like living in "prison."</p>
<p>"We (didn't) want to go to Syria to fight," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution from IS or trouble with the Kurdish authorities or those back home in Indonesia. "We just wanted to live in an Islamic state. But it is not an Islamic state. It is unjust, and Muslims are fighting Muslims."</p>
<p>IS officials ignored Nur's persistent queries about continuing her education in Raqqa. And because they refused to enroll in military service, the men never got the jobs they had been promised. When the battle for Raqqa intensified in June, IS militants set up checkpoints around the city, searching for fighters and came looking for the men.</p>
<p>Rachmani did get free surgery for a chronic neck ailment and her son got attention for his autism and was finally able to walk. Soon after the family's arrival, she was sent to the then-IS stronghold of Mosul in Iraq for the surgery.</p>
<p>"I left my country for my stupid selfish reason. I wanted the free facilities," Rachmani said. "Thank God I got my free (surgery) but after that all lies."</p>
<p>The family searched for months for a way to escape, a risky endeavor in the tightly controlled IS territory.</p>
<p>When the Kurdish-led campaign to retake Raqqa from IS intensified in June, the family finally saw their opportunity. At great personal risk, Nur used a computer in a public internet cafe to search for "enemies of IS," despite the danger posed by frequent raids carried out by IS there. She contacted activists and eventually found smugglers, who, for $4,000, got the family across the front line and into Kurdish-controlled territory. They turned themselves in to Kurdish forces on June 10.</p>
<p>An Indonesian Foreign Ministry official said authorities have known for several months about the presence of Indonesian nationals, including Nur's family, in the Ain Issa camp and were investigating their condition.</p>
<p>"However, they have been two years living in the IS area, so the risk assessment of them is required and we have been facing obstacles to reach them as they are in an area not controlled by any official government, either Iraq or Syria," said Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, the ministry's director of Indonesian citizen protection.</p>
<p>"I am very regretful. I was very stupid and very naive. I blame myself," Nur said of the family's plight. "May God accept my repentance because you know ... it is not like a holiday to go to Turkey. It is a dangerous, dangerous trip."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.</p> | Seeking a dream, Indonesian family finds nightmare in Raqqa | false | https://apnews.com/5549403d5f974067a8b345d8b71dafc0 | 2017-08-04 | 2least
| Seeking a dream, Indonesian family finds nightmare in Raqqa
<p>AIN ISSA, Syria (AP) - The 17-year-old Indonesian girl made a persuasive case to her family: Lured by what she had read online, she told her parents, sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins they should all move to Syria to join the Islamic State group.</p>
<p>Each of her two dozen relatives found something in it for them. Free education and health care for the girls. Paying outstanding debts for her father and uncle. Finding work for the youngest men.</p>
<p>And the biggest bonus: a chance to live in what was depicted as an ideal Islamic society on the ascendant.</p>
<p>It didn't take long before their dreams were crushed and their hopes for a better life destroyed as each of those promised benefits failed to materialize. Instead, the family was faced with a society where single women were expected to be married off to IS fighters, injustice and brutality prevailed, and a battle raged in which all able-bodied men were compelled to report to the frontline.</p>
<p>In an interview with The Associated Press, Nurshardrina Khairadhania, now 19, recalled her family's fateful decision to immigrate to the IS stronghold of Raqqa two years ago - and how, only months later, their bid to escape began.</p>
<p>During that time the family endured separation, her grandmother died and an uncle was killed in an airstrike.</p>
<p>"IS shared only the good things on the internet," said the young woman, who goes by her nickname, Nur.</p>
<p>She now lives with her mother, two sisters, three aunts, two female cousins and their three young sons in Ain Issa, a camp for the displaced run by the Kurdish forces fighting to expel IS from Raqqa. Her father and four surviving male cousins are in detention north of there. While the men are being interrogated by the Kurdish forces for possible links to IS, the women wait in a tent in the searing heat, hoping for the family to be reunited and return to their home in Jakarta.</p>
<p>Nur's family is among thousands from Asia, Europe, Africa, North America and the Middle East who chased the dream of a new Islamic society advertised by IS in slickly produced propaganda videos, online blogs and other social media. By the time they got there, the group's brutal campaign of beheadings, kidnappings and enslaving women was well underway.</p>
<p>For Nur and her sister, such images were part of a hate campaign against the nascent Islamic caliphate or simply justified punishment for crimes committed there.</p>
<p>"I was afraid to see that. I first thought it was another group ... who hates IS," Nur said.</p>
<p>Nur recalled calling her family together just months after the extremists' declared their "caliphate" on territory seized in Syria and Iraq in the summer of 2014.</p>
<p>Making her pitch, she recounted the benefits laid out on the IS blogs: her 21-year-old sister could continue her computer education for free. Her 32-year-old divorced cousin, Difansa Rachmani, could get free health care for herself and her three children, one of whom was autistic. Her uncle could get out from under the debt he incurred trying to save a struggling auto mechanic business in Jakarta - and could even open a new one in Raqqa, where mechanics were in high demand to build car bombs, the extremists' signature weapon.</p>
<p>For Nur, the Islamic State seemed to be the perfect place to pursue her desire to study Islam and train to be a health practitioner.</p>
<p>"It is a good place to live in peace and justice and, God willing, after hijrah, we will go to paradise," she recalled thinking, using the Islamic term for migration from the land of persecution to the land of Islam. "I wanted to invite all my family. ... We went to be together forever, in life and afterlife."</p>
<p>The family sold their house, cars and gold jewelry, collecting $38,000 for the journey to Turkey and then on to Syria.</p>
<p>But once in Turkey, the first quarrels began, over how or even whether to sneak into Syria. Seven relatives decided to head out on their own and were detained by the Turkish authorities while trying to cross the border illegally. They were deported back to Indonesia where, the family says, they remain under surveillance because the rest of their relatives had lived in IS territories.</p>
<p>The saga of family separation had only just begun, however.</p>
<p>After arriving in Islamic State group territory in August 2015, the family was divided again: the men were ordered to take Islamic education classes, and ended up jailed for months because they refused military training and service. After their release, they lived in hiding to avoid forced recruitment or new jail sentences. The women and girls were sent to an all-female dormitory.</p>
<p>Nur was shocked by life in the IS-run dormitory. The women bickered, gossiped, stole from each other and sometimes even fought with knives, she said. Her name and those of her 21-year-sister and divorced cousin were put on a list of available brides circulated to IS fighters, who would propose marriage without even meeting them.</p>
<p>"It is crazy! We don't know who they are. We don't know their background. They want to marry and marry," she said.</p>
<p>"IS wants only three things: women, power and money," she and her cousin, Rachmani, said in unison.</p>
<p>"They act like God," Nur added. "They make their own laws. ... They are very far from Islam."</p>
<p>In a separate, monitored, interview with the AP at a security center run by Kurdish forces in Kobani, north of Raqqa, where he and the other male family members were being questioned for possible IS ties, her 18-year-old cousin said that living under the extremists was like living in "prison."</p>
<p>"We (didn't) want to go to Syria to fight," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution from IS or trouble with the Kurdish authorities or those back home in Indonesia. "We just wanted to live in an Islamic state. But it is not an Islamic state. It is unjust, and Muslims are fighting Muslims."</p>
<p>IS officials ignored Nur's persistent queries about continuing her education in Raqqa. And because they refused to enroll in military service, the men never got the jobs they had been promised. When the battle for Raqqa intensified in June, IS militants set up checkpoints around the city, searching for fighters and came looking for the men.</p>
<p>Rachmani did get free surgery for a chronic neck ailment and her son got attention for his autism and was finally able to walk. Soon after the family's arrival, she was sent to the then-IS stronghold of Mosul in Iraq for the surgery.</p>
<p>"I left my country for my stupid selfish reason. I wanted the free facilities," Rachmani said. "Thank God I got my free (surgery) but after that all lies."</p>
<p>The family searched for months for a way to escape, a risky endeavor in the tightly controlled IS territory.</p>
<p>When the Kurdish-led campaign to retake Raqqa from IS intensified in June, the family finally saw their opportunity. At great personal risk, Nur used a computer in a public internet cafe to search for "enemies of IS," despite the danger posed by frequent raids carried out by IS there. She contacted activists and eventually found smugglers, who, for $4,000, got the family across the front line and into Kurdish-controlled territory. They turned themselves in to Kurdish forces on June 10.</p>
<p>An Indonesian Foreign Ministry official said authorities have known for several months about the presence of Indonesian nationals, including Nur's family, in the Ain Issa camp and were investigating their condition.</p>
<p>"However, they have been two years living in the IS area, so the risk assessment of them is required and we have been facing obstacles to reach them as they are in an area not controlled by any official government, either Iraq or Syria," said Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, the ministry's director of Indonesian citizen protection.</p>
<p>"I am very regretful. I was very stupid and very naive. I blame myself," Nur said of the family's plight. "May God accept my repentance because you know ... it is not like a holiday to go to Turkey. It is a dangerous, dangerous trip."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.</p>
<p>AIN ISSA, Syria (AP) - The 17-year-old Indonesian girl made a persuasive case to her family: Lured by what she had read online, she told her parents, sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins they should all move to Syria to join the Islamic State group.</p>
<p>Each of her two dozen relatives found something in it for them. Free education and health care for the girls. Paying outstanding debts for her father and uncle. Finding work for the youngest men.</p>
<p>And the biggest bonus: a chance to live in what was depicted as an ideal Islamic society on the ascendant.</p>
<p>It didn't take long before their dreams were crushed and their hopes for a better life destroyed as each of those promised benefits failed to materialize. Instead, the family was faced with a society where single women were expected to be married off to IS fighters, injustice and brutality prevailed, and a battle raged in which all able-bodied men were compelled to report to the frontline.</p>
<p>In an interview with The Associated Press, Nurshardrina Khairadhania, now 19, recalled her family's fateful decision to immigrate to the IS stronghold of Raqqa two years ago - and how, only months later, their bid to escape began.</p>
<p>During that time the family endured separation, her grandmother died and an uncle was killed in an airstrike.</p>
<p>"IS shared only the good things on the internet," said the young woman, who goes by her nickname, Nur.</p>
<p>She now lives with her mother, two sisters, three aunts, two female cousins and their three young sons in Ain Issa, a camp for the displaced run by the Kurdish forces fighting to expel IS from Raqqa. Her father and four surviving male cousins are in detention north of there. While the men are being interrogated by the Kurdish forces for possible links to IS, the women wait in a tent in the searing heat, hoping for the family to be reunited and return to their home in Jakarta.</p>
<p>Nur's family is among thousands from Asia, Europe, Africa, North America and the Middle East who chased the dream of a new Islamic society advertised by IS in slickly produced propaganda videos, online blogs and other social media. By the time they got there, the group's brutal campaign of beheadings, kidnappings and enslaving women was well underway.</p>
<p>For Nur and her sister, such images were part of a hate campaign against the nascent Islamic caliphate or simply justified punishment for crimes committed there.</p>
<p>"I was afraid to see that. I first thought it was another group ... who hates IS," Nur said.</p>
<p>Nur recalled calling her family together just months after the extremists' declared their "caliphate" on territory seized in Syria and Iraq in the summer of 2014.</p>
<p>Making her pitch, she recounted the benefits laid out on the IS blogs: her 21-year-old sister could continue her computer education for free. Her 32-year-old divorced cousin, Difansa Rachmani, could get free health care for herself and her three children, one of whom was autistic. Her uncle could get out from under the debt he incurred trying to save a struggling auto mechanic business in Jakarta - and could even open a new one in Raqqa, where mechanics were in high demand to build car bombs, the extremists' signature weapon.</p>
<p>For Nur, the Islamic State seemed to be the perfect place to pursue her desire to study Islam and train to be a health practitioner.</p>
<p>"It is a good place to live in peace and justice and, God willing, after hijrah, we will go to paradise," she recalled thinking, using the Islamic term for migration from the land of persecution to the land of Islam. "I wanted to invite all my family. ... We went to be together forever, in life and afterlife."</p>
<p>The family sold their house, cars and gold jewelry, collecting $38,000 for the journey to Turkey and then on to Syria.</p>
<p>But once in Turkey, the first quarrels began, over how or even whether to sneak into Syria. Seven relatives decided to head out on their own and were detained by the Turkish authorities while trying to cross the border illegally. They were deported back to Indonesia where, the family says, they remain under surveillance because the rest of their relatives had lived in IS territories.</p>
<p>The saga of family separation had only just begun, however.</p>
<p>After arriving in Islamic State group territory in August 2015, the family was divided again: the men were ordered to take Islamic education classes, and ended up jailed for months because they refused military training and service. After their release, they lived in hiding to avoid forced recruitment or new jail sentences. The women and girls were sent to an all-female dormitory.</p>
<p>Nur was shocked by life in the IS-run dormitory. The women bickered, gossiped, stole from each other and sometimes even fought with knives, she said. Her name and those of her 21-year-sister and divorced cousin were put on a list of available brides circulated to IS fighters, who would propose marriage without even meeting them.</p>
<p>"It is crazy! We don't know who they are. We don't know their background. They want to marry and marry," she said.</p>
<p>"IS wants only three things: women, power and money," she and her cousin, Rachmani, said in unison.</p>
<p>"They act like God," Nur added. "They make their own laws. ... They are very far from Islam."</p>
<p>In a separate, monitored, interview with the AP at a security center run by Kurdish forces in Kobani, north of Raqqa, where he and the other male family members were being questioned for possible IS ties, her 18-year-old cousin said that living under the extremists was like living in "prison."</p>
<p>"We (didn't) want to go to Syria to fight," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution from IS or trouble with the Kurdish authorities or those back home in Indonesia. "We just wanted to live in an Islamic state. But it is not an Islamic state. It is unjust, and Muslims are fighting Muslims."</p>
<p>IS officials ignored Nur's persistent queries about continuing her education in Raqqa. And because they refused to enroll in military service, the men never got the jobs they had been promised. When the battle for Raqqa intensified in June, IS militants set up checkpoints around the city, searching for fighters and came looking for the men.</p>
<p>Rachmani did get free surgery for a chronic neck ailment and her son got attention for his autism and was finally able to walk. Soon after the family's arrival, she was sent to the then-IS stronghold of Mosul in Iraq for the surgery.</p>
<p>"I left my country for my stupid selfish reason. I wanted the free facilities," Rachmani said. "Thank God I got my free (surgery) but after that all lies."</p>
<p>The family searched for months for a way to escape, a risky endeavor in the tightly controlled IS territory.</p>
<p>When the Kurdish-led campaign to retake Raqqa from IS intensified in June, the family finally saw their opportunity. At great personal risk, Nur used a computer in a public internet cafe to search for "enemies of IS," despite the danger posed by frequent raids carried out by IS there. She contacted activists and eventually found smugglers, who, for $4,000, got the family across the front line and into Kurdish-controlled territory. They turned themselves in to Kurdish forces on June 10.</p>
<p>An Indonesian Foreign Ministry official said authorities have known for several months about the presence of Indonesian nationals, including Nur's family, in the Ain Issa camp and were investigating their condition.</p>
<p>"However, they have been two years living in the IS area, so the risk assessment of them is required and we have been facing obstacles to reach them as they are in an area not controlled by any official government, either Iraq or Syria," said Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, the ministry's director of Indonesian citizen protection.</p>
<p>"I am very regretful. I was very stupid and very naive. I blame myself," Nur said of the family's plight. "May God accept my repentance because you know ... it is not like a holiday to go to Turkey. It is a dangerous, dangerous trip."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.</p> | 599,391 |
<p>WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — Shawn Occeus scored 15 points including four in overtime that put Northeastern in the lead for good in an 81-77 win over UNC Wilmington Saturday night.</p>
<p>The Huskies (11-7, 4-2 Colonial Athletic Association) trailed by two in the overtime period when Occeus made a layup and two foul shots to put his team on top for good, 76-74, with 1:28 remaining.</p>
<p>Northeastern never trailed in regulation after the game’s first three minutes and led 68-65 with a second to play when Devon Begley fouled UNC Wilmington’s Ty Taylor who went to the line and made all three of his free throws to tie the game 68-68 and send it into overtime.</p>
<p>Tomas Murphy scored a career-best 17 points off the bench for the Huskies. Vasa Pusica had 12 points, six rebounds and five assists and Maxime Boursiquot had 11 points.</p>
<p>Jaylen Fornes scored 24 points with eight rebounds for the Seahawks (5-13, 2-4) who have lost three of the last five.</p>
<p>WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — Shawn Occeus scored 15 points including four in overtime that put Northeastern in the lead for good in an 81-77 win over UNC Wilmington Saturday night.</p>
<p>The Huskies (11-7, 4-2 Colonial Athletic Association) trailed by two in the overtime period when Occeus made a layup and two foul shots to put his team on top for good, 76-74, with 1:28 remaining.</p>
<p>Northeastern never trailed in regulation after the game’s first three minutes and led 68-65 with a second to play when Devon Begley fouled UNC Wilmington’s Ty Taylor who went to the line and made all three of his free throws to tie the game 68-68 and send it into overtime.</p>
<p>Tomas Murphy scored a career-best 17 points off the bench for the Huskies. Vasa Pusica had 12 points, six rebounds and five assists and Maxime Boursiquot had 11 points.</p>
<p>Jaylen Fornes scored 24 points with eight rebounds for the Seahawks (5-13, 2-4) who have lost three of the last five.</p> | Northeastern beats UNC Wilmington in OT, 81-77 | false | https://apnews.com/56cb59c154144853b4a44e33804ccee8 | 2018-01-14 | 2least
| Northeastern beats UNC Wilmington in OT, 81-77
<p>WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — Shawn Occeus scored 15 points including four in overtime that put Northeastern in the lead for good in an 81-77 win over UNC Wilmington Saturday night.</p>
<p>The Huskies (11-7, 4-2 Colonial Athletic Association) trailed by two in the overtime period when Occeus made a layup and two foul shots to put his team on top for good, 76-74, with 1:28 remaining.</p>
<p>Northeastern never trailed in regulation after the game’s first three minutes and led 68-65 with a second to play when Devon Begley fouled UNC Wilmington’s Ty Taylor who went to the line and made all three of his free throws to tie the game 68-68 and send it into overtime.</p>
<p>Tomas Murphy scored a career-best 17 points off the bench for the Huskies. Vasa Pusica had 12 points, six rebounds and five assists and Maxime Boursiquot had 11 points.</p>
<p>Jaylen Fornes scored 24 points with eight rebounds for the Seahawks (5-13, 2-4) who have lost three of the last five.</p>
<p>WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — Shawn Occeus scored 15 points including four in overtime that put Northeastern in the lead for good in an 81-77 win over UNC Wilmington Saturday night.</p>
<p>The Huskies (11-7, 4-2 Colonial Athletic Association) trailed by two in the overtime period when Occeus made a layup and two foul shots to put his team on top for good, 76-74, with 1:28 remaining.</p>
<p>Northeastern never trailed in regulation after the game’s first three minutes and led 68-65 with a second to play when Devon Begley fouled UNC Wilmington’s Ty Taylor who went to the line and made all three of his free throws to tie the game 68-68 and send it into overtime.</p>
<p>Tomas Murphy scored a career-best 17 points off the bench for the Huskies. Vasa Pusica had 12 points, six rebounds and five assists and Maxime Boursiquot had 11 points.</p>
<p>Jaylen Fornes scored 24 points with eight rebounds for the Seahawks (5-13, 2-4) who have lost three of the last five.</p> | 599,392 |
<p>The U.S. government has joined a food fight between New York City and a national group opposing new food labeling regulations for chain grocery and convenience stores.</p>
<p>The Department of Justice filed legal papers this week on behalf of the Food and Drug Administration, asking a judge to block the city from enforcing a law requiring some stores serving prepared foods to post calorie information where the foods are sold.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>"FDA intends to utilize the authority given to it by Congress to craft uniform national standards for food labeling," said agency spokeswoman Jennifer Corbett Dooren.</p>
<p>The National Association of Convenience Stores is challenging the rules in court, arguing that provisions of President Barack Obama's health care bill called for national standards and that enforcement by local municipalities violates that law.</p>
<p>The FDA and New York City have similar calorie labeling requirements, but the FDA said earlier this year it would delay implementation until May 2018.</p>
<p>The New York City Health Department has said it plans to begin enforcement of its requirements on the chain grocery and convenience stores beginning next Monday.</p>
<p>"We are disappointed that the Food and Drug Administration has filed (court documents) opposing the city's enforcement of its calorie labeling requirements," Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett said in a statement.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>New York City has required chain restaurants to provide information about calories on menus for nearly a decade, but decided earlier this year to expand the policy.</p>
<p>"Poor nutrition is fueling an epidemic of chronic diseases, and this basic information should be accessible and transparent to all," Bassett said.</p>
<p>Despite the legal challenge from the convenience store trade group, many pizza chains, convenience stores and grocers have already taken steps to comply with the FDA rules that go into effect next year.</p>
<p>It applies to chains with 20 or more locations.</p>
<p>The National Association of Convenience Stores says many convenience stores, which are selling more prepared foods than ever, don't want to roll out the information until they're certain the rule is final.</p> | Government joins food fight over menu labeling requirements | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2017/08/15/government-joins-food-fight-over-menu-labeling-requirements.html | 2017-08-15 | 0right
| Government joins food fight over menu labeling requirements
<p>The U.S. government has joined a food fight between New York City and a national group opposing new food labeling regulations for chain grocery and convenience stores.</p>
<p>The Department of Justice filed legal papers this week on behalf of the Food and Drug Administration, asking a judge to block the city from enforcing a law requiring some stores serving prepared foods to post calorie information where the foods are sold.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p>
<p>"FDA intends to utilize the authority given to it by Congress to craft uniform national standards for food labeling," said agency spokeswoman Jennifer Corbett Dooren.</p>
<p>The National Association of Convenience Stores is challenging the rules in court, arguing that provisions of President Barack Obama's health care bill called for national standards and that enforcement by local municipalities violates that law.</p>
<p>The FDA and New York City have similar calorie labeling requirements, but the FDA said earlier this year it would delay implementation until May 2018.</p>
<p>The New York City Health Department has said it plans to begin enforcement of its requirements on the chain grocery and convenience stores beginning next Monday.</p>
<p>"We are disappointed that the Food and Drug Administration has filed (court documents) opposing the city's enforcement of its calorie labeling requirements," Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett said in a statement.</p>
<p>Advertisement</p>
<p>New York City has required chain restaurants to provide information about calories on menus for nearly a decade, but decided earlier this year to expand the policy.</p>
<p>"Poor nutrition is fueling an epidemic of chronic diseases, and this basic information should be accessible and transparent to all," Bassett said.</p>
<p>Despite the legal challenge from the convenience store trade group, many pizza chains, convenience stores and grocers have already taken steps to comply with the FDA rules that go into effect next year.</p>
<p>It applies to chains with 20 or more locations.</p>
<p>The National Association of Convenience Stores says many convenience stores, which are selling more prepared foods than ever, don't want to roll out the information until they're certain the rule is final.</p> | 599,393 |
<p>Apple Inc. will unveil a smaller-screen iPhone, a new iPad Air and new Apple Watch bands at a product event on March 15, according to a <a href="http://9to5mac.com/2016/02/02/march-15-event-4-inch-phone-new-ipad-apple-watch/" type="external">report in 9to5Mac Opens a New Window.</a>. While Apple has historically kept new iPhone introductions to its flagship hardware event in September, the iPhone 5se would be a low-budget phone, possibly selling for $450, according to the report. Its four-inch screen would essentially replace the similarly-sized iPhone 5s, but with more up-to-date innards, such as an A9 chip. The company will also unveil the iPad Air 3 and provide updates to Apple Watch, according to 9to5Mac. Shares of Apple fell 1.2% to $95.28 amid a broad market selloff. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2016 MarketWatch, Inc.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | Apple To Unveil New IPhone At March 15 Event: Report | true | http://foxbusiness.com/markets/2016/02/02/apple-to-unveil-new-iphone-at-march-15-event-report.html | 2016-02-02 | 0right
| Apple To Unveil New IPhone At March 15 Event: Report
<p>Apple Inc. will unveil a smaller-screen iPhone, a new iPad Air and new Apple Watch bands at a product event on March 15, according to a <a href="http://9to5mac.com/2016/02/02/march-15-event-4-inch-phone-new-ipad-apple-watch/" type="external">report in 9to5Mac Opens a New Window.</a>. While Apple has historically kept new iPhone introductions to its flagship hardware event in September, the iPhone 5se would be a low-budget phone, possibly selling for $450, according to the report. Its four-inch screen would essentially replace the similarly-sized iPhone 5s, but with more up-to-date innards, such as an A9 chip. The company will also unveil the iPad Air 3 and provide updates to Apple Watch, according to 9to5Mac. Shares of Apple fell 1.2% to $95.28 amid a broad market selloff. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p>
<p>Copyright © 2016 MarketWatch, Inc.</p>
<p>Continue Reading Below</p> | 599,394 |
<p>Investing.com – Crude oil prices moved lower on Thursday, after data late Wednesday showed that inventories rose unexpectedly last week, eclipsing recent signs that the market is tigthtening, while markets awaited the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s weekly report due later in the day.</p>
<p>The U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude November contract was down 27 cents or about 0.53% at $51.03 a barrel by 03:45 a.m. ET (07:45 GMT), off Wednesday’s more than one-week highs of $51.41.</p>
<p>Elsewhere, for December delivery on the ICE Futures Exchange in London was down 22 cents or about 0.39% at $56.72 a barrel.</p>
<p>Prices dropped after the American Petroleum Institute reported on Wednesday that U.S. crude stocks rose by to 468.5 million barrels last week, disappointing expectations for a drop of 400,000 barrels.</p>
<p>Analysts and traders were expecting the from the U.S. Energy Information Administration due later Thursday to show a decline in crude stockpiles for the week ended October 6.</p>
<p>The commodity had strengthened after Saudi Arabia in November.</p>
<p>The move is part of ongoing efforts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries with other producers, including Russia, to curb oversupply and stabilize prices by cutting output in a deal which is due to expire in March 2018.</p>
<p>In its monthly report released on Wednesday, OPEC indicated that market rebalancing will continue amid forecasts that global oil demand will rise by around 30,000 barrels a day for this year and 2018.</p>
<p>Separately, U.S. President Donald Trump was expected Thursday to announce a de-certification of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, putting its future into question. The Persian nation is an OPEC member and key Middle Eastern oil producer.</p>
<p>Elsewhere, were up 0.18% at $1.610 a gallon, while advanced 0.73% to $2.910 per million British thermal units.</p>
<p />
<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | Crude Oil Prices Move Lower with U.S. Inventory Data in Focus | false | https://newsline.com/crude-oil-prices-move-lower-with-u-s-inventory-data-in-focus/ | 2017-10-12 | 1right-center
| Crude Oil Prices Move Lower with U.S. Inventory Data in Focus
<p>Investing.com – Crude oil prices moved lower on Thursday, after data late Wednesday showed that inventories rose unexpectedly last week, eclipsing recent signs that the market is tigthtening, while markets awaited the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s weekly report due later in the day.</p>
<p>The U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude November contract was down 27 cents or about 0.53% at $51.03 a barrel by 03:45 a.m. ET (07:45 GMT), off Wednesday’s more than one-week highs of $51.41.</p>
<p>Elsewhere, for December delivery on the ICE Futures Exchange in London was down 22 cents or about 0.39% at $56.72 a barrel.</p>
<p>Prices dropped after the American Petroleum Institute reported on Wednesday that U.S. crude stocks rose by to 468.5 million barrels last week, disappointing expectations for a drop of 400,000 barrels.</p>
<p>Analysts and traders were expecting the from the U.S. Energy Information Administration due later Thursday to show a decline in crude stockpiles for the week ended October 6.</p>
<p>The commodity had strengthened after Saudi Arabia in November.</p>
<p>The move is part of ongoing efforts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries with other producers, including Russia, to curb oversupply and stabilize prices by cutting output in a deal which is due to expire in March 2018.</p>
<p>In its monthly report released on Wednesday, OPEC indicated that market rebalancing will continue amid forecasts that global oil demand will rise by around 30,000 barrels a day for this year and 2018.</p>
<p>Separately, U.S. President Donald Trump was expected Thursday to announce a de-certification of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, putting its future into question. The Persian nation is an OPEC member and key Middle Eastern oil producer.</p>
<p>Elsewhere, were up 0.18% at $1.610 a gallon, while advanced 0.73% to $2.910 per million British thermal units.</p>
<p />
<p>Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.</p> | 599,395 |
<p>The late former baseball player Frank Pastore explained in <a href="https://www.prageru.com/courses/religionphilosophy/does-god-exist-4-new-arguments" type="external">a 2014 Prager University video</a> that he was once an atheist and attempted to disprove the existence of God–and found that he was unable to do so.</p>
<p>Pastore said that his Cincinnati Reds teammates had encouraged him to read religious literature and debunk it, and he came across four arguments that left him unable to disprove the existence of God.</p>
<p>One of the arguments involves the Big Bang theory, the notion "that there was nothing, it popped, and -- boom! -- there's something!" While the theory explains the existence "matter and energy" and "only a handful of fundamental elements," it doesn't explain the creation of all 118 periodic table elements–and life itself.</p>
<p>"Sure, we've learned a lot about how to manipulate life forms, how to add and subtract DNA material, even map the human genome, but we have no idea how to literally create life from dead stuff," Pastore said.</p>
<p>There's also the fact that differences in "life forms" haven't been fully explained either.</p>
<p>"We still don’t have a way to account for the great diversity of life forms, I mean, the huge differences between bacteria, plants and animals," Pastore said. "Nor do we have a way to account for the differences between man and animal. We still don't have an anthropology at this point."</p>
<p>Finally, the difference in intelligence between human beings and animals–and the notion of "free will"–has also not been fully explained.</p>
<p>"How do you account for free will and introspection, let alone man’s pressing existential drive to ask, 'why?'" Pastore asked. "Well we're going to need some kind of psychological 4th big bang to account for man’s moral and aesthetic sense -- his search for meaning, significance, and purpose, and of course his appreciation for the true, the good, and the beautiful."</p>
<p>Pastore concluded that all four of these "big bangs" would have all had to been created from nothing–which only makes sense if a higher power exists.</p>
<p>"Next time someone asks you 'Hey, what about the big bang?' make sure you ask them: 'Which one? The cosmological, biological, anthropological, or psychological?'" Pastore said.</p> | Pastore: Does God Exist? 4 New Arguments. | true | https://dailywire.com/news/11901/pastore-does-god-exist-4-new-arguments-aaron-bandler | 2016-12-26 | 0right
| Pastore: Does God Exist? 4 New Arguments.
<p>The late former baseball player Frank Pastore explained in <a href="https://www.prageru.com/courses/religionphilosophy/does-god-exist-4-new-arguments" type="external">a 2014 Prager University video</a> that he was once an atheist and attempted to disprove the existence of God–and found that he was unable to do so.</p>
<p>Pastore said that his Cincinnati Reds teammates had encouraged him to read religious literature and debunk it, and he came across four arguments that left him unable to disprove the existence of God.</p>
<p>One of the arguments involves the Big Bang theory, the notion "that there was nothing, it popped, and -- boom! -- there's something!" While the theory explains the existence "matter and energy" and "only a handful of fundamental elements," it doesn't explain the creation of all 118 periodic table elements–and life itself.</p>
<p>"Sure, we've learned a lot about how to manipulate life forms, how to add and subtract DNA material, even map the human genome, but we have no idea how to literally create life from dead stuff," Pastore said.</p>
<p>There's also the fact that differences in "life forms" haven't been fully explained either.</p>
<p>"We still don’t have a way to account for the great diversity of life forms, I mean, the huge differences between bacteria, plants and animals," Pastore said. "Nor do we have a way to account for the differences between man and animal. We still don't have an anthropology at this point."</p>
<p>Finally, the difference in intelligence between human beings and animals–and the notion of "free will"–has also not been fully explained.</p>
<p>"How do you account for free will and introspection, let alone man’s pressing existential drive to ask, 'why?'" Pastore asked. "Well we're going to need some kind of psychological 4th big bang to account for man’s moral and aesthetic sense -- his search for meaning, significance, and purpose, and of course his appreciation for the true, the good, and the beautiful."</p>
<p>Pastore concluded that all four of these "big bangs" would have all had to been created from nothing–which only makes sense if a higher power exists.</p>
<p>"Next time someone asks you 'Hey, what about the big bang?' make sure you ask them: 'Which one? The cosmological, biological, anthropological, or psychological?'" Pastore said.</p> | 599,396 |
<p>“Saturday Night Live” deviated from its traditional comedic cold open to pay tribute to the children and adults who lost their lives in Friday’s mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.</p>
<p>The program began with members of the New York City Children’s Chorus angelically singing “Silent Night.” It was the show’s lone reference to the tragic events that had transpired the day before.</p>
<p>— Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Tracy Bloom</a>.</p>
<p /> | Watch: 'SNL' Honors Connecticut School Shooting Victims | true | https://truthdig.com/articles/watch-snl-honors-connecticut-school-shooting-victims/ | 2012-12-17 | 4left
| Watch: 'SNL' Honors Connecticut School Shooting Victims
<p>“Saturday Night Live” deviated from its traditional comedic cold open to pay tribute to the children and adults who lost their lives in Friday’s mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.</p>
<p>The program began with members of the New York City Children’s Chorus angelically singing “Silent Night.” It was the show’s lone reference to the tragic events that had transpired the day before.</p>
<p>— Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Tracy Bloom</a>.</p>
<p /> | 599,397 |
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<p />
<p>According to FactSet data, the Internet company's market capitalization surpassed that of oil company Exxon Mobil Corp. last week. As of Friday's market close, it sat at $395.42 billion compared with the oil company's $392.66 billion.</p>
<p>Shares of Google Inc. have been on a steady climb since the beginning of 2013, gaining 66 percent.</p>
<p>Market capitalization is the number of outstanding shares multiplied by their value.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Exxon's have risen just 5 percent. Since the beginning of this year, they've lost about 10 percent of their value.</p>
<p>Both companies trail Apple Inc.?s market capitalization of $463.55 billion.</p> | Google passes Exxon to be No. 2 U.S. company | false | https://abqjournal.com/350769/google-passes-exxon-to-be-no-2-us-company.html | 2least
| Google passes Exxon to be No. 2 U.S. company
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>According to FactSet data, the Internet company's market capitalization surpassed that of oil company Exxon Mobil Corp. last week. As of Friday's market close, it sat at $395.42 billion compared with the oil company's $392.66 billion.</p>
<p>Shares of Google Inc. have been on a steady climb since the beginning of 2013, gaining 66 percent.</p>
<p>Market capitalization is the number of outstanding shares multiplied by their value.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Exxon's have risen just 5 percent. Since the beginning of this year, they've lost about 10 percent of their value.</p>
<p>Both companies trail Apple Inc.?s market capitalization of $463.55 billion.</p> | 599,398 |
|
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<p />
<p>That was — as far as anyone could tell — the answer to the following: “When is the last time West Mesa beat Eldorado in a girls basketball game?”</p>
<p>As of today, that answer changed. Now, the appropriate response is “Yesterday.”</p>
<p>On Saturday, the Mustangs spotted Eldorado a 12-point lead midway through the first quarter and trailed by 11 late in the third quarter before coming back to beat the Eagles 67-62 in the semifinals of the Albuquerque Metro Championships at Del Norte.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>West Mesa (9-1) faces Hope Christian (10-1) in Monday’s title game at 7 p.m. at Sandia. Hope, the only team to beat West Mesa this season, also took a come-from-behind win Saturday, beating La Cueva 46-39.</p>
<p>(3) WEST MESA 67, (2) ELDORADO 62: Both West Mesa athletic director Shonn Schroer and third-year girls coach Manny Otero said they had recently searched record books, and could never find a game in which the Mustangs beat the Eagles. Eldorado, which opened in the early 1970s, has long been one of the state’s powerhouse programs.</p>
<p>“The last time West Mesa won district was back-to-back in 1977 and 1978, and we didn’t see that they (beat EHS) those years,” said Otero, the former Albuquerque High star guard who also played college ball at Marist. “That was the last time West Mesa was really competitive. So, it’s very possible this is the first time it’s happened.”</p>
<p>Schroer, also the boys basketball coach at West Mesa, has been athletic director at the school for 15 years, “and I couldn’t find a time we’ve ever beaten Eldorado in girls basketball.”</p>
<p>It didn’t look like it would happen on Saturday, when the Eagles scored the game’s first nine points on 3-pointers, two by Joely DePoy.</p>
<p>Eldorado upped the count to 16-4 when Shelby Bloom scored inside with 3:54 left in the quarter before the scrappy and young Mustangs went on a 15-4 run — capped by Jazmin Cordova’s 3 — to pull within 20-19 two minutes into the second quarter.</p>
<p>“I play a lot of young girls, but they have a lot of experience from playing in national tournaments,” Otero said. “They have great composure. The girls don’t worry if they’re down 5, down 10. They just never give up. We teach in practice that we have to be more scrappy, more aggressive.”</p>
<p>The Eagles, however, didn’t surrender the lead throughout the first three quarters. They built the margin to 47-36 midway through the third quarter before West Mesa rallied again.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The Mustangs got back-to-back jumpers from Jennifer Martinez to pull within 49-47 at the end of the third quarter. The second one of those Martinez field goals came at the horn.</p>
<p>The Mustangs finally took their first lead on Maiah Rivas’ 3-pointer in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. After two more lead changes, the Mustangs pulled away by scoring their final 12 points from the foul line.</p>
<p>Sophomore Esperanza Varoz led the Mustangs with 21 points while Rivas, also a sophomore, had 17.</p>
<p>Sydney Candelaria had a team-high 17 points for EHS (9-2) while DePoy scored 12 on four 3s.</p>
<p>(1) HOPE CHRISTIAN 46, (4) LA CUEVA 39: The Bears (7-5) led 10-5 after the first quarter, 23-20 at the half and 36-33 in the final minute of the fourth quarter. But Alivia Lewis led the Huskies on a 10-2 run to take control. She had eight straight for her team in one stretch.</p>
<p>With the game still in doubt, Hope coach Terry Heisey called a timeout with 1:30 remaining and his team in possession of the ball with a 43-39 lead. Seconds after the timeout, Hope’s Brielle Milford drained a 3 to put it away.</p>
<p>“No,” Heisey said with a laugh when asked if that was the play he called. “We were doing layups and free throws only, so we’ll have a discussion about that shot. She’s lucky she made it — but it was a dagger, that’s for sure.”</p>
<p>Milford said: “I was open, and just felt it. I was debating whether I should shoot it. I’m just happy it went in.”</p>
<p>Lewis led the defending Class 4A state champion Huskies with 18 points. La Cueva is 0-3 this season against Hope.</p>
<p>SUNDEVIL INVITATIONAL: In Saturday’s semifinals, St. Pius downed Moriarty 48-34 and Albuquerque Academy routed host Sandia Prep 75-27. As the Sartans and Chargers were already scheduled to play Thursday at Academy (7 p.m.), the private school rivals decided that they will make that the Sundevil tournament championship game.</p> | Girls basketball: West Mesa gets rare, maybe first, win vs. Eldorado | false | https://abqjournal.com/923077/girls-basketball-west-mesa-gets-rare-maybe-first-win-vs-eldorado.html | 2least
| Girls basketball: West Mesa gets rare, maybe first, win vs. Eldorado
<p>.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........</p>
<p />
<p>That was — as far as anyone could tell — the answer to the following: “When is the last time West Mesa beat Eldorado in a girls basketball game?”</p>
<p>As of today, that answer changed. Now, the appropriate response is “Yesterday.”</p>
<p>On Saturday, the Mustangs spotted Eldorado a 12-point lead midway through the first quarter and trailed by 11 late in the third quarter before coming back to beat the Eagles 67-62 in the semifinals of the Albuquerque Metro Championships at Del Norte.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>West Mesa (9-1) faces Hope Christian (10-1) in Monday’s title game at 7 p.m. at Sandia. Hope, the only team to beat West Mesa this season, also took a come-from-behind win Saturday, beating La Cueva 46-39.</p>
<p>(3) WEST MESA 67, (2) ELDORADO 62: Both West Mesa athletic director Shonn Schroer and third-year girls coach Manny Otero said they had recently searched record books, and could never find a game in which the Mustangs beat the Eagles. Eldorado, which opened in the early 1970s, has long been one of the state’s powerhouse programs.</p>
<p>“The last time West Mesa won district was back-to-back in 1977 and 1978, and we didn’t see that they (beat EHS) those years,” said Otero, the former Albuquerque High star guard who also played college ball at Marist. “That was the last time West Mesa was really competitive. So, it’s very possible this is the first time it’s happened.”</p>
<p>Schroer, also the boys basketball coach at West Mesa, has been athletic director at the school for 15 years, “and I couldn’t find a time we’ve ever beaten Eldorado in girls basketball.”</p>
<p>It didn’t look like it would happen on Saturday, when the Eagles scored the game’s first nine points on 3-pointers, two by Joely DePoy.</p>
<p>Eldorado upped the count to 16-4 when Shelby Bloom scored inside with 3:54 left in the quarter before the scrappy and young Mustangs went on a 15-4 run — capped by Jazmin Cordova’s 3 — to pull within 20-19 two minutes into the second quarter.</p>
<p>“I play a lot of young girls, but they have a lot of experience from playing in national tournaments,” Otero said. “They have great composure. The girls don’t worry if they’re down 5, down 10. They just never give up. We teach in practice that we have to be more scrappy, more aggressive.”</p>
<p>The Eagles, however, didn’t surrender the lead throughout the first three quarters. They built the margin to 47-36 midway through the third quarter before West Mesa rallied again.</p>
<p>ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>The Mustangs got back-to-back jumpers from Jennifer Martinez to pull within 49-47 at the end of the third quarter. The second one of those Martinez field goals came at the horn.</p>
<p>The Mustangs finally took their first lead on Maiah Rivas’ 3-pointer in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. After two more lead changes, the Mustangs pulled away by scoring their final 12 points from the foul line.</p>
<p>Sophomore Esperanza Varoz led the Mustangs with 21 points while Rivas, also a sophomore, had 17.</p>
<p>Sydney Candelaria had a team-high 17 points for EHS (9-2) while DePoy scored 12 on four 3s.</p>
<p>(1) HOPE CHRISTIAN 46, (4) LA CUEVA 39: The Bears (7-5) led 10-5 after the first quarter, 23-20 at the half and 36-33 in the final minute of the fourth quarter. But Alivia Lewis led the Huskies on a 10-2 run to take control. She had eight straight for her team in one stretch.</p>
<p>With the game still in doubt, Hope coach Terry Heisey called a timeout with 1:30 remaining and his team in possession of the ball with a 43-39 lead. Seconds after the timeout, Hope’s Brielle Milford drained a 3 to put it away.</p>
<p>“No,” Heisey said with a laugh when asked if that was the play he called. “We were doing layups and free throws only, so we’ll have a discussion about that shot. She’s lucky she made it — but it was a dagger, that’s for sure.”</p>
<p>Milford said: “I was open, and just felt it. I was debating whether I should shoot it. I’m just happy it went in.”</p>
<p>Lewis led the defending Class 4A state champion Huskies with 18 points. La Cueva is 0-3 this season against Hope.</p>
<p>SUNDEVIL INVITATIONAL: In Saturday’s semifinals, St. Pius downed Moriarty 48-34 and Albuquerque Academy routed host Sandia Prep 75-27. As the Sartans and Chargers were already scheduled to play Thursday at Academy (7 p.m.), the private school rivals decided that they will make that the Sundevil tournament championship game.</p> | 599,399 |
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