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2016-22/0601/en_head.json.gz/6140

ADVERTISEMENT Police secure the scene near Sparks Middle School after a shooting in Sparks, Nev., on Monday, Oct. 21, 2013. Authorities are reporting that two people were killed and two wounded at the Nevada middle school. Kevin Clifford, Associated Press - Ap Friend: Nevada shooter typical kid, not loner Article by: MARTIN GRIFFITH SPARKS, Nev. — The Nevada middle school student who killed a teacher and wounded two classmates before turning the gun on himself appeared to be a typical 12-year-old who liked soccer, was good at video games and didn't have a lot of friends but "didn't seem to be a loner," a friend said Friday.Jose Reyes was always smiling and never complained to his friend Diego Munoz, 11, that he was bullied, Munoz told The Associated Press outside Sparks Middle School where Reyes fatally shot Michael Landsberry before committing suicide Monday on the school's asphalt basketball court."I was really surprised he would do something like this," said Munoz, a sixth-grader at neighboring Agnes Risley Elementary."When I heard it was him who was the shooter, I went into a stupor and asked, 'Why did he do it?'" he said, adding he lost touch with Reyes after Munoz's family moved to a new home in June.Reyes played soccer and often rode his bicycle in the working class neighborhood around the school, about 5 miles northeast of downtown Reno, Munoz said. He said the two played video games together, including Zombie games and the online building game Minecraft, and both were fans of MTV's comedy clip show, "Ridiculousness.""He was more like your typical 12-year-old," Munoz said. "Right now, we all want to be popular. He wasn't one of those kids. He didn't have a lot of friends, but he had a couple of friends. He didn't seem to be a loner.""He never told me he was bullied," he said. "Whenever we would go outside he was always smiling. He seemed happy ... He seemed intelligent. He won video games more often than not.'"Munoz' remarks echoed those of others who described Reyes as a shy boy, who nonetheless had friends and usually a smile on his face. He played the violin and was a big fan of the video game, "Call of Duty," other classmates said.Police have released little information about the shooting. They say he got the semi-automatic handgun from his residence, but they have no motive and don't know if Reyes was targeting victims or firing randomly. They didn't release his name until Thursday under pressure from the public and local media.Tyler Waldman, 13, said he didn't see Reyes — and doesn't know who he is — but noticed Landsberry standing near the school about 7:15 a.m. Monday when everyone started running away and a friend told him "a student has a gun.""I heard a pop and saw him fall down," said Waldman, who was in Landsberry's seventh-grade math class last year.More than a dozen students interviewed near the school Friday said Reyes' name didn't ring a bell."Until we see a picture of him, we won't know whether we know him," said Micah Crooks, 13.School officials confirmed the investigation includes a review of an anti-bullying video that some students saw earlier this month that includes a dramatization of a child taking a gun on a school bus to scare aggressors. Washoe County School District spokeswoman Victoria Campbell said school officials can't comment because of the active investigation.Reno's KRNV-TV has broadcast excerpts of the 1.5 hour documentary — "Bully" by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Lee Hirsch — chronicling the impact of bullying on five different youths and their families.Katherine Loudon, the school district's director of counseling, equity and diversity, said anything that would have been presented to children would have been part of a district-wide bullying prevention and intervention initiative that includes all schools in the county."We've been told by Sparks Police Department to not discuss that particular curriculum," Loudon said.Landsberry, 45, was a master sergeant in the Nevada Air National Guard, which announced plans Friday for a public memorial service with full military honors Nov. 3 at a Sparks church.About 700 people, including Gov. Brian Sandoval, attended a private ceremony Thursday in the school's gymnasium, which students decorated with posters, tributes, balloons and stuffed animals in recognition of their hero.The ex-Marine coached basketball and soccer, and was known by all as a big fan of Batman. In addition to memorial drawings and references to the cartoon super hero, one unidentified veteran left the U.S. Navy Medal for Meritorious Service he earned in Iraq, with a note that read, "You deserve the medal of honor in my book."A former student who played last year on Landsberry's eighth-grade girls' soccer team said he was so dedicated to the squad he told them he would sacrifice his life for them."He told us once that he would take a bullet for us. He died doing just that," said Lilian Martin, a freshman at Reno's Wooster High School who remembers his lighter side. "He was always funny and made us laugh."

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2016-22/0601/en_head.json.gz/6154

by Christopher A.H. Vollmer, John Frelinghuysen, and Randall Rothenberg Illustration by Seymour ChwastIt was May 2002, just before a breakfast seminar for media and marketing leaders at the Museum of Television & Radio in New York, the preeminent institution devoted to the history of broadcasting. And this history was weighing heavily on attendees’ minds, or so it seemed as we chatted with other arriving guests. The major U.S. television broadcast networks were about to open their “upfront market,” the concentrated period when they negotiate prices and sell the bulk of their advertising inventory for the fall season. Although the networks had experienced two decades of steady erosion in viewership, prices for advertising had risen almost unabated. Trade publications that week were predicting yet another increase. Talking in a little cluster of executives and consultants, we wondered how this could be. “Ask him,” said one member of our group, pointing to the chief executive of a major television company, who had just sidled up and was listening, with some amusement, to our conversation. “It’s the simple law of supply and demand,” the CEO said with a confident shrug. “Major marketers need to reach mass audiences, and we are the only game in town. They have the demand. We have the supply. And as with any product, as that supply gets harder to find, you can charge more for it.” His complacency was understandable. Every year, pundits predicted dramatic change: the convergence of digital and broadcast media, the erosion of mass audiences, and the restructuring of the media and advertising industries. Every year, leading industry practices remained static, even stagnant, and the overall pattern of marketing spend barely changed. But the long-predicted future has finally arrived. After a decade of denial, both mainstream media companies and major marketers are now accepting the facts: The methods by which consumers absorb information and entertainment — and the ways they perceive, retain, and engage with brands and brand messages — have changed irrevocably. As marketers take notice, their decisions are reshaping the media environment. Magazines are losing advertising to the Web (with total ad revenues declining about 2 percent per year since 1998); radio broadcasters are losing listeners, talent, and revenues to satellite upstarts and iPod playlists. Television networks also see the writing on the wall, as the penetration of digital television heralds the rise of video-on-demand, video downloads, interactive game networks, Internet TV, and other broadcast- and cable-busting enterprises. Broadcast advertising revenues declined in the upfront markets of both 2004 and 2005, according to the Jack Myers Media Business Report — the first-ever decrease in two consecutive years. In spring 2006, pundits predicted a third straight year of upfront price reductions. And the broadcasting CEO who seemed so confident about being the “only game in town”? He no longer has that job. Does that mean gloom and doom for the rest of us? Hardly. These can be glorious times for media companies and marketers that are capable of change. And they know it. Interviews with more than 50 senior marketers and media executives, ongoing research conducted by Booz Allen Hamilton and the Association of National Advertisers (ANA); and analysis of data from a score of research services — all gathered from 2005 through early 2006 — support the observation that the prevailing attitudes among marketers have shifted. Most have come to accept the signal lesson of what is coming to be called the “nonlinear and engagement-focused” media environment: Marketing communications must be reborn as a consumer-centered craft. The renaissance is already taking place at leading companies. Some of them, in industries that had previously premised their growth on relationships, regulatory protection, or engineering excellence, are now adopting a marketing mind-set and rethinking the assets they need to establish brand differentiation. The central catalyst in this transformation is an emerging class of highly capable chief marketing officers — “super-CMOs” — who are building new integrated marketing models that are more focused on return on investment (ROI), more multiplatform, and more targeted than ever before. Super-CMOs like Mary Minnick at Coca-Cola and Jim Stengel of Procter & Gamble have become architects of their companies’ growth agendas, taking into their portfolios such functions as innovation. Major media companies, in turn, recognize the need to pump up the volume on advertising innovation or be left behind by the consumer. They are scaling up once-tentative experiments in consumer-created content, social networking, and interactive media for their clients. They are developing new types of advertising formats, sometimes in partnerships, as NBC and Yahoo did for Unilever’s Dove soap brand early in 2005 with a tie-in to the reality TV show The Apprentice. The promotion was unexpectedly successful: It drove a 1,500 percent increase in traffic to the Dove brand Web site. Other new formats being developed enable advertisers to segment markets in ways once unthinkable. For example, both the Fox Network and Comcast are using New York startup Visible World to customize television commercials locally, so that neighborhoods as small as a few blocks in size can receive custom-tailored commercials on cable-TV channels. With the fragmentation of choices available to consumers and the consolidation of retail channels, the long-delayed emergence of marketers from the television-centered advertising ethos of the mid-20th century is now reshaping every link in the marketing–media value chain. “The opportunity to use different media to create more meaning, more connection, with the consumer is something we’ll be looking to do more and more,” says Katie Lacey, until recently the vice president of marketing for carbonated soft drinks at PepsiCo. Long a standard setter in television advertising, Pepsi last year relaunched its PepsiOne product without television. It is one of the leading major marketers (carmaker BMW is another) learning to thrive in the post-TV environment. But, as ever when value chains are reconfigured, there is evidence of a widening gap between well-positioned firms and those for which disruption means dislocation. The winners, among brand marketers and media companies alike, are those learning to reconfigure their efforts in several key ways. They: Shift spending and management attention to digital media, and use those media to more effectively influence consumer purchase behavior. Develop formats to promote interaction with audiences, especially their most likely consumers. Create new research approaches and metrics that measure outcomes, not inputs. Combine “above-the-line” advertising (TV, radio, and print) and “below-the-line” marketing (promotions, sponsorships, events, public relations) in new two-way, integrated campaigns. Create their own branded entertainment assets and appeal to customers directly through them. “In-source” new skills and capabilities to achieve greater sales impact and other measurable results. Embracing Digital Media The years 2005 and 2006 will probably be known in advertising history as the period when marketing practices caught up with reality. After a decade of continual increases in advertising budgets but relative stability in their media mix, many leading marketers — Anheuser-Busch, Procter & Gamble, and DaimlerChrysler, to name a few — are rebalancing the assortment of communications channels they use. Specifically, they are directing more money and more attention to digital media. “Two years ago, 10 percent of my advertising budget had an online component,” says the CMO of a U.S. auto company. “Today it’s 30 percent. Two years from now, it will be 50 percent. And overall budgets are not growing. It’s coming at the expense of television and print.” In part, this shift represents a natural culmination of advertisers’ growing displeasure with those traditional media, especially broadcast television, that raised prices while efficacy declined. But it also reflects the increasingly strong financial returns, often in unanticipated areas, that marketers see from their digital endeavors. Enough consumers spend enough time accessing information and entertainment via digital media platforms — cable TV, mobile phones, video games, and, of course, the Internet — that they have shifted the overall pattern of media use. This shift will increase substantially in 2006 as greater broadband penetration — roughly two-thirds of all U.S. households with Internet access currently use broadband — makes the Internet more viable as an entertainment platform. Changes in media technology and format have also gradually but fundamentally changed individuals’ expectations of advertising, along with their behavior as consumers. In studies by Yankelovich Marketing and Forrester Research, 70 percent of consumers say they like products that block advertising, especially TiVo and other digital video recorders (DVRs). Owners of these devices say they fast-forward through 92 percent of the commercials they receive. But relevance renders advertising worthy: Fifty-five percent of the respondents in one Yankelovich study said they would pay extra to receive more personalized marketing. In a Washington Post survey of working women conducted by Nielsen Media Research, 44 percent of the respondents (all of whom conduct at least part of their work online) rated the Internet a “very important” medium for prepurchase research on health-care products. That was more than twice the percentage saying they considered magazines, the next most significant research medium, “very important.” These results paint a bleak picture for companies whose marketing models depend on one-way “push” delivery of advertising impressions. Meanwhile, the most successful media companies are building a presence in digital media (including Web sites, mobile platforms, social networking sites, and interactive gaming sites) and explicitly using that presence to develop deeper, more direct relationships with consumers. Broadcast and cable networks, for example, are making more of their high-quality content available to consumers online. Within just a few months of Apple Computer’s October 2005 introduction of its video iPod, ABC, NBC, ESPN, MTV, the SciFi Channel, and USA Network were among the television networks that were making shows available for download. In April 2006, ABC announced it would make four of its most popular prime-time shows available free on the Web. Dedicated online channels, such as ESPN Motion and MTV Overdrive, are selling out their ad inventory, at costs per thousand impressions (CPMs) that equal or exceed what they get on TV. Some mainstream programmers, including ABC News and CBS Sports, are putting content online or converting their programming into Web-only video formats, as Trio, the arts network, did at the end of 2005. These experiments are only a harbinger. Because broadband delivery accommodates previously unwieldy video files, it will increasingly acclimate consumers to use of the Internet as an integrated information and entertainment medium. There will be vast new media inventories and new opportunities for advertisers to reach consumers who are no longer tethered to their living rooms or the network programmer’s schedule. As Apprentice and Survivor producer Mark Burnett remarked in February 2006: “To me, the new prime time is 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., because more people have access to a computer then.” Mobile devices will create additional opportunities to reach consumers outside their homes. With these developments accelerating each day, big-brand advertisers are poised to significantly increase their online advertising budgets, clustering around outstanding online communities and high-quality digital venues. In March 2006, for example, Heineken announced that it would launch its $50 million “Premium Light” beer campaign with ads on Yahoo, MSN, and ESPN.com, among other Web sites. Conventional wisdom in the television industry has not yet fully grasped this change. Even with the tremendous publicity accorded Apple’s video iPod, the prevailing view is that digital video will create a new direct-to-consumer retail model — a pay-per-download revenue stream that will replace fragmenting advertising revenues. But it’s much more likely that digital video will embrace a variety of business models, including a great deal of free, ad-supported entertainment, offered to specified audiences who watch it when it is convenient for them and whose responses are tracked in detail. Although user attention is fragmenting, successful video deployment over multiple platforms will allow advertisers to deliver a much more targeted, productive, and measurable advertisement, and enable media networks and programmers to halt the advertising-revenue outflow and even capture new revenue. And what of the laggards? To be sure, there are still plenty of them. Today, most major marketers allocate only between 4 and 10 percent of their measured media spending to online advertising. But the reasons for this are generally institutional, not strategic. Many companies’ media budgets remain bogged down in a TV-centric model. These companies’ marketing departments are hampered by organizational inertia, uneven levels of consumer insight, spotty effectiveness metrics, and the continued dominance of television in their strategies, incentives, processes, and promotional calendars. Consumer behavior has leaped ahead of the technological tortoises. Consider the automotive category. Some automakers can now correlate consumer usage of configuration sites — Web pages that allow buyers to experiment with color and trim packages — with subsequent orders. This allows automakers to guide shipments more accurately and reduce their own and their dealers’ inventory costs. (See “Building a Better Matchmaker,” by Maarten Jager and Steven Wheeler, s+b, Winter 2005.) Yet online spending barely registers as part of many automotive advertisers’ total budgets. (See Exhibit 1.) This is not because automakers prefer the status quo; it’s simply that the change requires alliances between dealers and manufacturers, and among their respective marketing, sales, and IT organizations — departments that are not used to moving quickly or working closely together. Also holding back the laggards: They have difficulty seeing beyond the compelling environment that television had made available for marketers. Marketing metrics and agency economics are built around TV; TV gets marketers’ retail and trade partners excited; and creative people have gotten used to the format of the 30-second spot as a vehicle for communicating brand value and emotional appeal. But as broadband penetration increases, so do the opportunities to exploit video entertainment and advertising, in new interactive contexts. Online advertising already appeals to marketers simply because the gap between an advertising message and a consumer action (e.g., a registration, a request for information, or even a sale) is so much narrower online than in other media. Combine that benefit with “higher quality” advertising inventory (that is, it allows users to click through for more information or direct sales) and it’s easy to see why blue-chip, brand-oriented advertisers are flocking online. (See Exhibit 2.) Storefronts in Toontown It is striking to see how consistently conventional marketing wisdom has denigrated the idea that consumers want more control over, and interaction with, their information and entertainment environment, and that they will pay more for that. In particular, after several high-profile interactive television experiments failed during the 1990s, chastened revolutionaries returned to the view of television vaguely derived from Marshall McLuhan’s assessment of it: a “cold” medium for “passive viewers” who preferred “least objectionable programming” (a phrase coined by NBC programmer Paul Klein more than three decades ago). Television, many believed, would remain forever distinct, in design, use, and location, from the computer. But passivity has proven to be a myth, and convergence, despite the taint the word gained after the dot-com collapse, has proven a reality. Devices that combine digital distribution, content management, and playback have already transformed music consumption. At 1.25 million downloads a day from Apple’s iTunes service alone, the digital download music market is steadily growing, while annual sales of compact discs fell more than 7 percent in 2005 (according to Neilsen SoundScan). With Apple, Google, and a burgeoning number of Web sites offering video downloads — both repurposed inventory and original material — the TV industry is close to the day when each portable video player is the front end of a network tailored for one individual. Although many longtime television executives are watching the erosion of traditional channel-centricity with trepidation, others relish the opportunities. Comcast, the largest cable television company in the U.S., says 65 percent of its customers with access to video-on-demand use it, with new users accessing it on average 23 times a month. Opportunities are also arising outside the television sector. Apple has sold more than 8 million video downloads since it began offering them in October 2005. Time Warner’s Time Inc. publishing division recently introduced a multimedia Web site aimed at young men, replete with original on-demand video. Further eroding the boundaries between the networks of old and networks of now are online multiplayer games. In the fantasy game World of Warcraft, founded in 1994, players join one of two battling hordes in a world of humans and semihumans, with highly realistic visuals and (as in most role-playing games) rigorously defined rules that govern each character’s ability to communicate, gain skills, fight, purchase supplies, and learn. The game had 5.5 million paying subscribers as of January 2006, and annual revenues of about $700 million. Globally, about 10 million people held a subscription to multiplayer online games last year, according to the New York Times. Another counter to the myth of passivity has been the growth of media environments created by consumers. As the cost of crafting and distributing creative content trends toward zero, adults and children alike are fashioning podcasts, playlists, online periodicals, and even original music recordings and films. Eight million Americans maintain their own blogs. The social networking Web site MySpace, on which men, women, and children post about themselves and their interests, has more than 50 million registered users and was adding 4 million new members a month at the end of last year. The shopping site eBay — a venue of consumer-created content with an almost unimaginable variety of sales information — has 79 million registered users; eBay’s automotive section alone attracts 10 million unique visitors per month, with each visitor spending an average of 45 minutes on the site. And YouTube, a site launched in February 2005 for member-uploaded video clips, already streams more video than either Google or Yahoo; it is becoming the premier video site for those in younger demographics. Consumer time spent with such “engagement media” will increase along with the growing popularity of new delivery methods and devices. (See Exhibit 3.) The online gaming market will almost certainly expand as sales of large-screen high-definition television monitors, interactive game consoles such as Xbox and PlayStation, and digital home media centers increase. The ubiquity of mobile telephones is already prompting the evolution of a mobile social networking marketplace, with applications that include “shadow environments” (in which online participants can attach publicly accessible “sticky note” addenda to Web sites and other virtual spaces) and multiplayer mobile gaming. Advertising has already begun to follow interaction. Our own interviews, in addition to confirming research from Veronis Suhler Stevenson, Piper Jaffray, and the Yankee Group, lead us to estimate that the video game advertising market will grow from $30 million in 2004 to $750 million in 2008, and perhaps much more. So far, companies like RuneScape and Electronic Arts have barely begun to develop their competence as advertising platforms; a few startups like the Massive video game network are experimenting with interactive placements within the games themselves. Consumers report that they like the authenticity that real-world advertising lends to a fictional game environment. On a 50-inch plasma screen with high-definition sound, spending time online will be akin to wandering in “Toontown,” the madcap cartoon environment from the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Walk down the street, and a streetlamp may spring to life, address you by name, and invite you to a sale at the animated storefront next door. Consumers and the advertiser marketplace also confer increasing value on online communications vehicles because they make it easy for people to make connections and take action. Interactive appeals that invite audiences to vote via mobile phone, register an e-mail address at a company Web site, or test-drive automobiles at a promotional event can create opportunities to forge one-to-one relationships, thus creating value that can be monetized well beyond the initial impression. That’s meaningful currency to marketers. The insights gained from these “two-way” solutions inform innovation priorities, offer real-time feedback on marketing programs, and, in some cases, even provide predictive input on product and service demand. Marketing can increasingly send data upstream to inform design and supply chain decisions for new products. This saves consumer goods companies significant expense; it also changes the nature of marketing at these companies and raises the profile of the marketing professionals who understand the change. Accountable Revolutionaries The growth of marketing communications during the 20th century was fertilized by a paradox. Beyond local experiments in retail price communications, for most of the period it was difficult to know how, if at all, advertising moved markets. “Does advertising increase demand for a given firm’s products?” asked Harvard Business School Professor Neil Borden in his classic 1942 text, The Economic Effects of Advertising. “Indeterminate,” he concluded. Does it preclude price competition? “In no case,” he wrote. Advertising thus grew as a faith-based initiative, with ad agencies and clients alike believing it worked best when it raised awareness of brands and goods across a large swath of a target population, with success calculated using various survey-based input measures, such as page impressions; cost-per-thousand viewers or readers; and gross ratings points (GRPs), an indicator of audience size. Volume was the highest value. Rosser Reeves, head of the Ted Bates ad agency, voice the prevailing view this way in 1960: “If 90 percent [of the audience] do not remember it, the story is not worn out.” With slowing economic growth during the 1970s, marketers started to reassess their laissez-faire attitude about measuring marketing performance. But it wasn’t until the 1990s and the rise of the Internet that the accountability revolution commenced. It was still in its infancy eight years ago, when Randall Rothenberg, one of the authors of this article, wrote in Wired magazine: The new media technologies, by drastically reducing production and distribution costs and making possible almost continual and instantaneous refinements in message, promise to increase the efficiency of accountable advertising.… The spurious distinction between image advertising and retail advertising will erode, then disappear, as each advertisement, every product placement, all editorial can be tied to transactions. Today, the accountability revolution is approaching its second stage. Marketers are more explicitly moving their strategy and spending decisions down the “purchase funnel” of consumer behavior. (See Exhibit 4.) They are no longer satisfied with media placements that merely build “top-of-the-funnel” responses from consumers (awareness and consideration). They favor media that can substantiate an ad’s influence on customer preference, purchase, and retention. This means a growing penchant for online media, especially those that can deliver a reliable indication of customer response. Media companies are increasingly asked to go beyond reach and frequency metrics like GRPs to more tangible and quantifiable evidence of return on marketing investment. No longer do marketers ask, “What is the cost of the GRPs I am buying?” Instead, they ask, “How many toll-free calls or online registrations did that ad generate, and how many were converted into sales?” Then, as they become more sophisticated at tracking the relationship between advertising and sales, they allocate their media buys on the basis of how well their offerings drive consumers through the purchase funnel. To gain the requisite statistics, marketers don’t simply go online; they enter their customers’ worlds. P&G’s Tremor, an in-house unit that fosters brand trial and consideration via a network of some 280,000 trend-setting teens, has proven so successful that P&G now offers its services to noncompeting marketers, including Coca-Cola and Toyota. These interactive communities of “alpha consumers” offer marketers multiple benefits. They generate buzz for new products by reaching key influencers; they bypass traditional media to connect with hard-to-engage segments (such as multitasking youth); they communicate brand messages in ways that consumers interpret as more authentic; and they deliver deep customer insights. In our interviews with chief marketing officers and our research with the Association of National Advertisers, we were struck by the expressed need to develop more robust analytics focused on ROI and consumer insights. There was a nearly uniform desire among respondents to concentrate advertising resources on those consumers who were, as one CMO told us, “specifically in the market for my category, product, or brand.” That desire not only is prompting marketers to shift funds from traditional measured media to the Internet; it also underlies the unabated, two-decade-long transfer of marketing budgets from mainstream media advertising to promotions. Media companies and ad agencies used to dismiss the rise in below-the-line spending as a phenomenon driven largely by retailer demand for trade promotions. But the spending shift from major broadcast and print media to below-the-line marketing expenditures owes more to the fact that marketers can more easily measure and prove the value of most below-the-line spend. Online media technology reinforces the trend toward integration. Although the dichotomy between “brand building” (advertising) and “moving the goods” (promotions) that characterized spending decisions in the old days was always relatively false (L.L. Bean is one of scores of companies that have built enduring brands on the back of promotions efforts without traditional advertising), any distinction disappears in interactive environments, where all communications can be designed to prompt an action. Whether in heavy consideration categories (automotive, travel, personal finance) or impulse-buy categories (specialty foods, packaged goods), marketers can now deliver contextually relevant messages and product information to only those consumers who are interested in choosing a Lexus, planning a trip to France, or searching for organic cotton diapers, and they can measure the actual results, instead of survey-extrapolated estimates. New outcome-focused metrics are emerging on both the buy-side and sell-side of the marketing gulch. They include: Session quality (for example, brand retention, number of ads viewed per session, and type of advertising content viewed) Degree of consumer cross-platform activity (TV to online and print to online) “Opt-in” activity (online registrations, toll-free calls, and requests for information) Sales impact (leads generated, store traffic, and volume lift at retail stores) Such is the proliferation of new measurements, new measurement techniques, and new measurement suppliers that the industry may be on the verge of a near-term glut in metrics that transfers precious capacity away from productive activities and creates a cult of accountability. That overindulgence will probably be short-lived, and most companies will settle on the set of metrics that are right for them. At the front end of marketing planning, these new metrics mean greater accuracy in judging impact, more finely tuned objectives, and less waste in budgeting. At the back end, the new metrics allow marketers to better estimate the degree to which objectives have been met. They can develop improvement measures, scale up R&D endeavors, and work with consumers more effectively than they have in the past. For their part, media companies can more effectively price their offerings on the basis of a range of objectives and results. Postbroadcast Identities Much as in the early days of television, when Procter & Gamble produced its own soap operas to showcase its products in situ, marketers today are appealing to consumers directly by creating their own programming venues and assets. Although we’re not likely to see many marketers and media companies converge (the ill-fated merger of Columbia Pictures and Coca-Cola in the 1980s remains a cautionary tale), there is no question that more marketers will inform and entertain their consumers directly. Blue-chip brand marketers such as Coca-Cola and Mercedes-Benz are already major players in the digital music arena with mycokemusic.com and mercedes-benz.com/mixedtape. But the focus is not just on music. Marketers such as P&G have developed their own magazine-like capabilities. With 4 million opt-in e-mail newsletter subscribers, P&G’s HomeMadeSimple.com ranks in reach and influence with the leading women’s service periodicals — the magazines in which P&G has for decades been among the top advertisers. A destination environment focused on Procter & Gamble’s home-care portfolio, HomeMadeSimple.com is chock-full of contextually relevant product information, community stories, household ideas (recipes, tips for storing antiques, etc.), and related promotions — even music by Diana Krall and Harry Connick Jr. It generates a treasure trove of consumer insight for P&G that is entirely proprietary. Procter & Gamble is far from the sole incumbent marketer thriving in the postadvertising environment. Indeed, the amount of successful, scalable experimentation undertaken by mainstream companies is striking. Coca-Cola, Nike, Anheuser-Busch, McDonald’s, and AT&T have developed games and other engagement mechanisms on mobile devices. But marketers don’t have to go virtual to succeed in this realm: DaimlerChrysler’s Camp Jeep campaign, which promoted off-road test drives in real-world surroundings that included live music, gaming kiosks, and giveaways, generated 75,000 names, 85,000 test drives, and a sales conversion rate of 8 percent — eight times the rate achieved by the average automaker promotional event. While some marketers are disintermediating the media, many are working more closely with media companies to conceive and execute high-impact, integrated marketing solutions that combine above- and below-the-line elements. For example, Home Depot and Discovery Channel teamed up recently to drive more women into Home Depot stores, a top priority for the leading home improvement retailer in the U.S. The project involved integrating cable programming on TLC, in-store and on-air promotion, and unique live events around the concept of “Do-It-Herself” workshops, which attracted, in the initial wave, more than 27,000 “toolbelt divas.” Despite transitional pains as media companies encroach on the territory of their traditional customers, the ad agencies, we expect many more such direct marketer–media collaborations. Some of the more innovative media companies are beginning to leverage their channel assets and audience relationships by becoming “category managers” for their larger advertising clients in specific demographic segments, such as youth, young adults, and baby boomers. Inevitably, the more enterprising among them will package their own media with that of select suppliers. These category leaders and their partners will increase their share by showing that their solutions most effectively deliver a specific audience and support the marketer’s purchase funnel objectives. Other media companies will avoid the risk of antagonizing agencies by partnering with them to rebuild agency capabilities and strengthen the entire marketing-media value chain. Media companies are also taking their brands across platforms, and showing attractive gains for their efforts. E.W. Scripps, the owner of the four leading branded lifestyle cable networks (HGTV, the Food Network, DIY Network, and Fine Living), is delivering on-demand programming to 12 million households and branded digital newsletters to 17 million subscribers. Its HGTV Dream House promotion drew 39 million entries last year, with sponsorship support from GMC, Lumber Liquidators, and Lending Tree, among other advertisers. There is a similar upside for most players in the evolving advertising value chain, but responses need to be rapid. It has been 12 years since the launch of the Netscape Navigator browser, the Big Bang in the development of the postadvertising universe: There is no excuse for any incumbent media company or marketer that fails to take advantage of the opportunities that have been evolving ever since. All will have to find ways to navigate a cosmos vastly more complex than the TV dial, the newsstand, and the mailbox — all of which they once effectively controlled. In-House Renovation To accomplish all this, marketers are rapidly recognizing the need to in-source new skills and capabilities. Nearly 70 percent of all U.S. companies have reorganized their marketing departments during the past five years, according to research by the ANA and Booz Allen Hamilton. One major cause for the changes has been their need for new expertise in digital technology, relationship marketing, and media innovation to supplement their traditional brand management apparatus. (See “Beyond Brand Management,” by Richard Rawlinson, s+b, Summer 2006.) Until this shift, the functional-skill profile for brand management positions at most leading marketers had remained largely unchanged since the 1970s, when broadcast TV was at its zenith. Many brand managers are still primarily trained to assess TV-centric campaigns and pitches from agencies, and then relate them to data on consumers and the market from Nielsen and other research providers. Today’s brand marketers, however, need to think in new ways about connecting more effectively with the consumer, either through their media partners, through retailers, or through their company’s own database and assets. They need to integrate their marketing system more dynamically across a broader network of partners and media alternatives, reshaping it in real time as they operate. In the near term, this will require marketers to experiment with new advertising models and integrated media solutions and redefine critical skills and competencies. For media companies, the changes in the advertising sales function will be no less profound. Leaders are already investing in making their ad inventory more interactive, offering new forms of ad tailoring and targeting, organizing their sales forces around customers instead of platforms, and developing integrated solutions that incorporate more elements that were traditionally below the line. Underlying all these new practices is one fundamental skill: the ability to deal with unprecedented complexity and make choices accordingly. The “million-channel” universe isn’t here yet, but it’s no exaggeration to say that the average U.S. or European consumer has 10,000 entertainment channels to choose from. It was difficult enough for marketers to move from three broadcast networks to 20 cable networks, and then to 45. The fragmentation of audiences and the different ways that different audiences engage further complicate the picture. Each major marketer must learn to develop its own approach to reaching dozens, if not hundreds, of differentiated audiences. We anticipate that leading media companies will in-source much stronger relationship marketing and experiential marketing capabilities to enable the targeted consumer dialogue and lead generation that marketers crave. Media companies will also need new go-to-market structures with clearer points of contact and differentiated sales and marketing services functions. As the distinction between above-the-line and below-the-line marketing blurs, media companies and agencies have to rethink their planning frameworks and redefine what constitutes advertising effectiveness. In the words of one CMO we interviewed: “The media supplier or agency that knows us maybe even a bit better than we do and can deliver results…that’s the one we want to do business with.” As in any period of discontinuity, major opportunities for growth and market leadership are being created. At no other time has the potential been so great for smart players, whatever their size, to invent new rules for the game. At no other time have marketers and media companies possessed so many compelling platforms to entertain and engage the consumer. At no other time has marketing been so measurable, accountable, and interactive. Together, these factors are sure to ignite a new era of creativity and innovation in marketing, as well as in media and entertainment. The strategies pursued now by senior management at media and consumer goods companies will play a defining role in who wins and who loses relevance with today’s generation of consumers. Christopher Vollmer ([email protected]) is a vice president of Booz Allen Hamilton based in New York. He focuses on strategy development, consumer marketing, and advertising sales in media, entertainment, and consumer products. John Frelinghuysen ([email protected]) is a vice president of Booz Allen Hamilton based in New York. He specializes in strategy development and implementation for clients in media, entertainment, and consumer products. Randall Rothenberg ([email protected]) is the senior director of intellectual capital at Booz Allen Hamilton, a media and marketing columnist for Advertising Age magazine, and the author of Where the Suckers Moon: An Advertising Story (Alfred A. Knopf, 1994). Resources Des Dearlove, editor, Results-Driven Marketing: A Guide to Growth and Profits (strategy+business Books, 2005): On creating an ROI-savvy marketing department. Click here. Evan Hirsh and Mark Schweizer, “The Advertising Saturation Point,” s+b, Fall 2005: Discerning the overspend in conventional advertising budgets. Click here. Paul Hyde, Edward Landry, and Andrew Tipping, “Making the Perfect Marketer,” s+b, Winter 2004: Study from the Association of National Advertisers and Booz Allen Hamilton explores the challenges and opportunities that the media shift creates for marketing departments. Click here. Maarten Jager and Steven Wheeler, “Building a Better Matchmaker,” s+b, Winter 2005: The future of automotive advertising starts with the dealer’s interactive “customer-sensing capability.” Click here. Paul Keegan, “The Man Who Can Save Advertising,” Business 2.0, November 1, 2004: Profiles Seth Haberman, inventor of the Visible World technology for targeting TV neighborhood by neighborhood. Click here. Nielsen//Net Ratings, “Working Women Online: Media Usage and Purchasing Habits of Online Working Women,” Washington Post/ Newsweek Interactive, 2004: The Internet as the window to the world for busy working women. Click here. Yuki Noguchi, “TV When — and Where — You Want It: New Video Technologies Free Viewers from the Couch,” Washington Post, February 12, 2006: Mark Burnett and other pundits on the “new prime times” of video-on-demand. Click here. Randall Rothenberg, “Bye-Bye,” Wired, January 1998: Looks ahead to the death of “big media.” Click here. Veronis Suhler Stevenson, “Communications Industry Forecast 2005–2009,”: Predicts growth in home video, Internet media, wireless content, and interactive TV. Click here. Mark Wallace, “The Game Is Virtual. The Profit Is Real,” New York Times, May 29, 2005: Unveils the remarkable global growth of World of Warcraft and other role-playing games. Nick Wreden, ProfitBrand: How to Increase the Profitability, Accountability, and Sustainability of Brands (Kogan Page, 2005): Cogent guide to sustaining brands in the new-media-driven “demand economy,” where customers expect their desires to be satisfied instantly. Yankelovich Partners, “2005 Marketing Receptivity Survey,”: Finds that consumers hate advertising, except the personalized kind. Click here. The Apprentice Web site, Season 2, Episode 4: Recap of the Unilever tie-in episode, in which contestants created a Dove TV commercial, after which Dove Web site traffic increased 1,500 percent. Click here. Jack Myers Media Village, www.mediavillage.com/jmr: Former CBS-TV sales executive’s Web site reports on declining TV ad sales (in May 23, 2005, archive) and other new media harbingers. For more articles on marketing, sign up for s+b’s RSS feed. Click here. Topics: advertising, brand, communication, startups, stores Listen, Do You Want to Know a Secret?Why Leaders Who Listen Achieve BreakthroughsConsistency Drives Success at TelusVirtual Reality Is the Real Thing for MarketersA Strategist’s Guide to Industry 4.0Small Customer Today, Revenue Giant TomorrowWhen Consumers Are More Than Customers A Media Business Model That Makes the Most of PrintWe’re All in Advertising NowHas Your Strategy’s Shelf Life Expired?Why Distinctive Customer Targeting Is a Smart StrategyCreating a Strategy That Works The Future of Advertising Is Now

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Lessons for fellow smokers in Obama’s attempts to quit - Taipei Times Lessons for fellow smokers in Obama’s attempts to quit The US president-elect is not alone in ‘falling off the wagon’ in his efforts to give up smoking, as on average it takes eight to 10 attempts to succeed By Denise Grady and Lawrence K. Altman / NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE ILLUSTRATION: MOUNTAIN PEOPLE Will one of US president-elect Barack Obama’s New Year’s resolutions be to quit smoking once and for all?His good-humored waffling in various interviews about smoking made it plain that Obama, like many who have vowed to quit at this time of year, had not truly done so.He told Tom Brokaw of NBC several weeks ago, for example, that he “had stopped” but that “there are times where I’ve fallen off the wagon.”He promised to obey the no-smoking rules in the White House, but whether that meant he would be ducking out the back door for a smoke is not known. His transition team declined to answer any questions about his smoking, past or present, or his efforts to quit.Anti-smoking activists would love to see him use his bully pulpit to inspire others to join him in trying to kick the habit, but he has not yet taken up their cause.The last president to smoke more than occasionally was Gerald Ford, who was quite fond of his pipe. Jimmy Carter and both presidents George Bush were reportedly abstainers, but Bill Clinton liked cigars from time to time, though he may have chewed more than he smoked.Obama’s heaviest smoking was seven or eight cigarettes a day, but three was more typical, according to an interview published in last month’s issue of Men’s Health magazine. In a letter given to reporters before the election, Obama’s doctor described his smoking history as “intermittent,” and said he had quit several times and was using Nicorette gum, a form of nicotine replacement, “with success.” Obama was often seen chewing gum during the campaign.His pattern matches that of millions of other people who have resolved but stumbled in their efforts to give up cigarettes. Today, 21 percent of Americans smoke, down from 28 percent in 1988. Off-again, on-again smoking and serial quitting are common, as is the long-term use of nicotine gum and patches. “It takes the average smoker 8 to 10 times before he is able to quit successfully,” said Steven Schroeder, director of the Smoking Cessation Leadership Center at the University of California, San Francisco.Schroeder said that counseling was helpful, and that if Obama were his patient, he would urge him to try it, even if only by telephone (via 1-800-QUITNOW). With nicotine replacements and counseling, quit rates at one year are 15 percent to 30 percent, Schroeder said, about twice the rates of people who try to stop without help.But Obama has apparently been chewing nicotine gum for quite a while. Is it safe? Neal Benowitz, another expert on nicotine addiction from the University of California, San Francisco, said that long-term use of the gum or patches, “if it keeps you off cigarettes, is OK.”He said people had the best chances of quitting if they used more than one type of nicotine replacement at the same time — like wearing a patch every day, but also using the gum when cravings took hold.Studies have found that 5 percent to 10 percent of people who tried nicotine replacements were still using them a year later, and nicotine itself appears not to be harmful, except possibly during pregnancy and for people at risk for diabetes, Benowitz said. The risks of cancer, other lung disease and heart problems come from other chemicals in cigarette smoke.“If nicotine is harmful, it is a minuscule risk compared to cigarette smoking,” Benowitz said. “If people want to continue using gum or patches, and not cigarettes, their health will be enhanced.”

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Judge speaks about two sides of Casey Anthony Judge Belvin Perry Jr. listens during jury selection in the Casey Anthony trial in Clearwater in May 2011. ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By Rick Mayer | TBO.com Published: May 6, 2013 Updated: May 6, 2013 at 06:28 PM The judge in the Casey Anthony murder case said he was “surprised, shocked” and in “disbelief” when he read the jury's not-guilty verdict two years ago. Speaking to NBC's “Today on Monday, Judge Belvin Perry Jr. said there was enough evidence to convict Anthony, compared her lead defense attorney to a used-car salesman and said Anthony was a “manipulative” person who showed a different personality to jurors than to others. It was the first time Perry has spoken publicly about the high-profile case, which ended July 5, 2011, with Anthony's acquittal on murder charges in the death of her toddler. Perry said he had to study the jury form twice before asking it to be read aloud. “I just wanted to be sure I was reading what I was reading,” the judge said. Anthony was accused of killing her daughter, Caylee, in 2008, and lying to authorities to throw them off the track. The girl's skeletal remains were found several months later in a wooded area near the family's house in an Orlando suburb. Perry said the state “proved a great case.” “There was sufficient evidence to sustain a verdict of first-degree murder in this case,” he said. “But you got realize to understand this was a circumstantial evidence case. And all the defense had to do was create a reasonable doubt, and that's what they did.” A key, he said, was the likability of defense attorney Jose Baez. “The state had better lawyers,” Perry said, “but Mr. Baez was very personable, and he came across as someone you would like. It's like someone trying to sell a used car. Who you going to buy it from? The most likable salesperson.” Although Perry offered no opinion as to Anthony's guilt, he did notice the Orlando mother showed two personas during the trial: a grieving mother and a “very manipulative” defendant. “There were two sides to Casey,” he said. “There was the side that was before the jury, where she portrayed the role of a mother who had lost a child, someone who was wrongfully accused. And then you could notice the change and transformation in her when the jury went out. She was very commanding. She took charge of different things and you could see sometimes her scolding her attorneys.” To illustrate, Perry recalled a day during the trial “he will never forget.” “One Saturday morning, before we were about to begin our session, the lawyers wanted some time to discuss a possible plea to aggravated manslaughter with Casey,” he said. “They went back in the holding cell (with Anthony), and of course, the waiting area for me was by the holding cell. “All of a sudden you heard shouting coming from the holding cell, some four-letter words coming from the holding cell. And she was quite upset, so upset that one counsel suggested she was incompetent to proceed.” Cable news channels made daily testimony a fixture, going back to jury selection in Clearwater. Lines formed to be admitted to the few seats available in the courtroom. Perry became as much of a TV star as the attorneys and Anthony. "I had no earthly idea that it would command the attention it did worldwide,” said Perry.�Baez refused to say anything to The Associated Press about Perry's comments when reached by phone. He said he would comment after a request had gone through his Los Angeles-based spokesman.�A spokeswoman for the state Judicial Qualifications Commission, which oversees Florida judges, didn't immediately return a phone call to the AP.� The trial has spawned books and movies from the attorneys and several civil suits involving Anthony, who was found guilty on two counts of lying to authorities (two other lying convictions were thrown out on appeal). This year, Anthony filed for bankruptcy in Tampa. Anthony, who served probation in an unrelated fraud case, is living in hiding while her bankruptcy case proceeds in Tampa. She made a rare public appearance during a hearing in the case this year. Another hearing is slated for Wednesday. "Justice has been served in the sense that the jury has spoken,” Perry told NBC. “But justice will finally be served one day by the judge of judges. And she's going to have to live with and deal with this for the rest of her life.”

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BP ML PT SF USC Published: July 19, 2013 National Cemetery of the Alleghenies builds new plot By Aaron J. [email protected] Aaron Kendeall/Observer-Reporter Construction crews work to install a new vault installation at of the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies. About 1 acre, section 10 will hold 1,237 pre-placed crypts. The National Cemetery of the Alleghenies in Cecil Township has been the final resting place for more than 7,500 veterans of the U.S. armed forces and their family members since it first opened in 2005. “Any given day, we have up to 10 internments,” said director Ronald Hestdalen. “Most cemeteries do one to two a day, but we do several. We lay someone to rest every 30 minutes starting at 10 a.m. We have to do it that way.” Hestdalen said the influx of veterans utilizing the cemetery has made it necessary to expand – the first expansion since the 91-acre cemetery was built. Construction crews recently broke ground on a large vault beneath Section 10, a 1-acre expansion of the cemetery that would eventually entomb an additional 1,237 bodies. The new section would contain a large, flat, gravel-lined crypt underground that would contain hundreds of cement liners, each of which would hold two bodies separated by a metal divider. “We intern all branches of service,” Hestdalen said. “As long as you served, you’re eligible for internment – regardless if it was peacetime or wartime.” Spouses of service members and children up to a certain age are also entitled to a plot at a national cemetery. Within the next few months, workers will cover the large, leveled hole with gravel and place the five-feet-deep vaults into position before capping them with 60-pound cement lids and covering them with an additional 22 inches of earth. Walking through the perfectly aligned rows of all-marble tombstones, one gets the impression that each plot is perfectly uniform. But that could be an optical illusion, as Hestdalen said there are slight variations in the distances between stones from section to section. There are three options for final resting place at the cemetery. Families can choose between vaults like the ones being installed in the new section, a more traditional plot for which families provide their own liner or a plot specially designed for the burial of cremated remains. Each section is organized by internment option and the size of plots change accordingly. Vault spaces run 3-feet by 8-feet, while a traditional plot is 4-feet by 8-feet and spots for buried urns are 4-feet by 4-feet. There is also a marble and stone mausoleum for those who choose to have their ashes placed above ground. Hestdalen, a veteran himself, said the options were part of an effort to give service members as much choice as possible. Any veteran who had been honorably discharged is eligible for a burial at any national cemetery that has available plots. The cost of the burial is paid for by the Department of Defense, which also provides military honors and a burial flag to each family. Hestdalen said he thought there might be veterans who may not know of their eligibility for internment. He directed those interested to the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies website at www.CEM.VA.gov. “This is a benefit they’ve earned through their honorable and faithful service to our nation,” Hestdalen said. Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

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Renewed Norwich cathedral unveiled Msgr. Anthony Rosaforte of the Cathedral of St. Patrick leads clergy and seminarians in a rehearsal of an ordination ceremony for the Rev. Brian Maxwell at the cathedral Friday, May 24, 2013. The Rev. Maxwell will officially be ordained by Bishop Michael Cote on Saturday morning in a ceremony that will also mark the grand re-opening of the cathedral after an extensive restoration. Published May 24. 2013 6:00PM | Updated May 24. 2013 11:55PM Claire Bessette Norwich — An ordination Mass has been cause for a major celebration in the Catholic faith for centuries, but at the Cathedral of St. Patrick today, the 10:30 a.m. Mass to ordain Father Brian Maxwell will be especially colorful as the first major event since the scaffolding that filled the cathedral was removed.Beginning in late December, the cathedral interior was encased in scaffolding and plywood that hid from view a major restoration and renovation project, called SPIRIT, funded through the anonymous donation of a parishioner.SPIRIT — St. Patrick Cathedral is Restored in Tradition — is 98 percent complete, diocese spokesman Michael Strammiello said, with scaffolding now lining only the front sanctuary.A Mass of Thanksgiving is planned for 10:30 a.m. on July 27 to celebrate the restoration, along with the diocese's 60th anniversary, the 140th anniversary of the laying of the cathedral's foundation stone, and The Most Rev. Michael Cote's 10th anniversary as the bishop of Norwich.The cathedral is awash in color. Maroon columns bear gold stencils that match the border trim along the walls. The Stations of the Cross now bear wooden frames that match the pews and confessional booths.Above, a sky-blue ceiling brings out the artwork in the cream-colored decorative ribbing beams that crisscross to the ceiling's peak. At each intersection is a "boss," each with an iconic, deeply Catholic symbol. Colorful murals depicting scenes of Christ's life adorn the high walls."(Today) is the first really large celebratory Mass in a nearly completely restored cathedral," Strammiello said.Today's Mass is open to the public, but participants won't be the first to see the unveiled restoration. Father Tom Albrecht welcomed the new look at Friday's noon Mass."Because there is no more scaffolding and men tromping up and down, I can finally preach," Albrecht said to the several dozen Mass attendees.Rick LaPierre of Norwich, who attends Mass daily at St. Patrick, said the restoration puts St. Patrick on par with the great cathedrals in Europe."It's incredible. Absolutely spectacular," he said after Friday's Mass. "I think this place rivals anything in Europe. I've been to Europe. This is the prettiest cathedral I have ever been in."Sara O'Hearn, also a regular parishioner, called it a "Renaissance church come to Norwich."Father Gregory Galvin, vocational director for the diocese and spiritual administrator at St. Bridget of Kildare in Moodus, hopes today's ordination brings another renaissance for the diocese — an increase in the number of priests.Galvin said the diocese now has nine men attending seminary schools, including one studying in Rome, nearly twice the number attending seminary school five years ago, Galvin said.Maxwell, originally from Maine, knew Bishop Cote and contacted him six years ago about his calling, Galvin said. Bishop Cote has not yet announced where Maxwell will be assigned.The diocese hopes to hold two more ordination Masses next year, and in October, seminarian Jonathan Ficara, who is studying in Rome, is expected to be ordained as a transitional deacon, meaning he intends to become a priest in the near future.The dwindling number of priests in the Catholic Church has been publicized worldwide. Former Pope Benedict XVI more than two years ago asked for a year of prayer for more priests. In the Diocese of Norwich, Bishop Cote called for an hour of prayer per month for priests. The hour of prayer now rotates to different parishes each month, coming to the Cathedral of St. Patrick each May.The hour of prayer was held Friday night on the eve of Maxwell's ordination, Galvin said.He said he has traveled the diocese asking parishioners to become more aware of when a local man might be interested in the priesthood."It really takes everyone to identify and support and notice an individual who has a calling," he said. "Usually, a call is such a private call and humbling, and they often don't always speak about it themselves. When someone else sees it and talks about it, he might feel comfortable talking about it."[email protected] The Rev. Luis Henry Agudelo, left, and the Rev. George Richards, of St. Joseph's in Willimantic, discuss the architecture of the Cathedral of St. Patrick as they wait for a rehearsal of an ordination ceremony for the Rev. Brian Maxwell to conclude at the cathedral Friday, May 24, 2013. Priest candidate Brian Maxwell, seated, participates in a rehearsal of his ordination ceremony at the cathedral Friday, May 24, 2013. Norwich celebrates newly restored Cathedral of St. Patrick Symbolism at heart of St. Patrick's redo Climb to the ceiling of St. Patrick's in Norwich

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Foxwoods breaks ground for outlet mall A groundbreaking ceremony at Foxwoods Resort and Casino for the new Tanger Outlets at Foxwoods, was held Thursday. Published September 26. 2013 12:00PM | Updated September 26. 2013 11:54PM Brian Hallenbeck Mashantucket — The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe hosted a groundbreaking Thursday for the long-awaited outlet mall linking Foxwoods Resort Casino's Grand Pequot Tower to MGM Grand at Foxwoods, a $120 million project promising 400 temporary construction jobs and, when completed, more than 900 permanent full- and part-time jobs.The more than 300,000-square-foot mall will contain more than 80 stores, some of which were revealed for the first time.Steven B. Tanger, president and chief executive officer of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, one of the project's development partners, read a list of tenants, as models wearing the stores' merchandise strode before an audience of invitees. The list included American Eagle Outlets, Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Brooks Brothers, Calvin Klein, Coach, The Loft, Michael Kors, Nike and Tommy Hilfiger.Tanger said that, depending on the weather, the Tanger Outlets at Foxwoods would open in November 2014 or the spring of 2015."It'll be the eighth wonder of the world if we pull it off," he said.The project, first announced in February 2012, presented some design challenges, Tanger said, and may be unique."To the best of my knowledge, it's the first outlet center attached to a casino anywhere in the country — probably in the world," he said. "It's a test. If it works out here, we may try to do it in other locations."Tanger Outlets, based in Greensboro, N.C., operates an outlet center off Interstate 95 in Westbrook. It's partnering on the Foxwoods project with Gordon Group Holdings of Greenwich and hopes to take advantage of the millions of visitors Foxwoods attracts annually, particularly the non-gambling spouses of gamblers as well as locals eager for a new shopping experience. The mall's brand-name manufacturers will offer merchandise at a savings of 30 percent to 70 percent off retail prices.The stores will be accessible only from inside the casino, Tanger said.Foxwoods' nearby gaming competitor, Mohegan Sun, plans to break ground this year on a $50 million retail expansion of its own. It announced plans in June to add 200,000 square feet of space for a food pavilion, a 14-screen movie theater, an upscale bowling facility and shops.After a program that included the fashion show, which followed remarks by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Mashantucket tribal leaders joined casino officials and developers' representatives at the construction site. Confetti shot from a cannon as the lineup, wearing hard hats, tossed earth with golden shovels.Malloy, who touted the state's "partnership" with the Mashantuckets, congratulated tribal Chairman Rodney Butler "for all you have done in just the last year," apparently a reference to the tribe's completing a major restructuring of its long-term debt, ongoing improvements to Foxwoods' existing facilities and plans to extend the brand into other states.Butler noted that last Saturday was the 375th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Hartford, which marked the end of the Pequot War, a conflict that decimated the tribe."It said we no longer exist," Butler said. "… But we've persevered."Butler and Tanger exchanged gifts, and Tanger also presented Butler with a $2,500 donation to the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center. Sonia Baghdady, a Channel 8 anchorwoman, served as master of ceremonies.Scott Butera, Foxwoods' president and CEO, said his goal when he arrived nearly three years ago was to restore Foxwoods' claim to being the "premier destination resort in the western hemisphere.""We knew we had been that before and could be again if we could get ourselves out of financial trouble," he said.The "greatest financial restructuring in gaming history," he said, has provided the tribe with the capital to redo Foxwoods' hotel rooms, refurbish its gaming floors and add new restaurants and stores, and to pursue casino projects in Massachusetts, New York and other jurisdictions."The gaping hole in our business plan was a fresh shopping experience," Butera said. "When you consider women spend eight years of their lives shopping — most of it in malls …"He credited Sheldon Gordon of the Gordon Group for helping conceive the outlet mall project and for landing as a partner Tanger Retail Outlets, which Butera called "the premier operator in this space."[email protected] Tanger Outlets at Foxwoods groundbreaking

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Bloodthirsty Jihadists on the Verge of Taking Iraq Search form Policy + Politics Share Bloodthirsty Jihadists on the Verge of Taking Iraq REUTERS/Stringer Picture of the Day The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is a brutal jihadist group on par with the most ruthless branches of al-Qaeda. They are attempting to create a caliphate across the Middle East where sharia law would be callously imposed. The quick advance of ISIS through Iraq to the outskirts of Baghdad has left Western intelligence agencies playing catch-up on the group’s motivations. This knowledge gap has hampered the White House in forming a response to the group. Related: The Map That Shows How to Save Iraq “They do pose a threat,” Secretary of State John Kerry said in Baghdad last week, referring to the group. “They cannot be given safe haven anywhere.” However, Kerry hedged when asked what it would take to get the U.S. military involved in the fight. Instead, he called on Iraqi Sunnis (most ISIS members are part of this group), Shiites and Kurds to come together to fight ISIS and form a new government. “That’s why, again, I reiterate the president will not be hampered if he deems it necessary if the formation is not complete,” Kerry said. While there is much mystery around ISIS, a review of open-source intelligence assessment and the group’s propaganda and public statements allows a more complete picture of ISIS to be formed. ISIS appears to be less motivated by hatred for the west than Sunni tribalism. If the group is allowed to hold northwest Iraq and eastern Syria, it could create a new ISIS controlled country that would be a safe-haven for terrorists. Like Afghanistan prior to September 2001, terrorists from around the world would be free to train and plot there. Related: How the Collapse of Iraq Would Affect America “Several leading representatives of the U.S. intelligence community have stated that [ISIS] maintains training camps in Iraq and Syria, has the intent to attack the United States and is reportedly recruiting and training individuals to do so,” according to a June 24th Congressional Research Service assessment. “In July 2012, ISIL leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi warned U.S. leaders that ‘the mujahidin have set out to chase the affiliates of your armies that have fled.... You will see them in your own country, God willing. The war with you has just begun,’” CRS added. Al-Qaeda MisconceptionsOne common misconception is that the group is actually a formal affiliate of al-Qaeda. It’s not; only four groups - Al-Shabaab, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and the Al-Nusra Front - have been granted formal affiliations by al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri. Related: Iraq: We Broke It, But We Can’t Fix It Al-Qaeda elements and ideology influence the group, just as al-Qaeda influences groups like Boko Haram in Nigeria. There are likely ISIS members who have trained with al-Qaeda groups, but ISIS is not a formal part of the al-Qaeda command structure. ISIS is comprised of Islamic extremists; it’s just not formally recognized as part of al-Qaeda’s global jihad. Al Baghdadi, the group’s leader, tried to change this is April 2013. According to CRS, he attempted to merge the group with Al-Nusra. The al-Qaeda affiliate rejected the deal, and the two groups are now openly fighting in Syria (yesterday evening, unconfirmed reports indicate that some members of Al- Nusra have joined ISIS). Instead, ISIS appears to be more motivated by Sunni tribalism. As Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki - a Shiite - consolidated power under his office, alienating Sunnis, a majority in Iraq. This fueled the quick growth of ISIS in Iraq and the quick pace that it advanced toward Baghdad. “The group describes Iraqi Shiites derogatorily as ‘rejectionists’ and ‘polytheists and paints the Iraqi government of Nouri al Maliki as a puppet of Iran,” CRS found. Additionally, ISIS members “view themselves as a state and a sovereign political entity” trying to win back power in Iraq. The anti-Shiite message has resonated with many Iraqi Sunnis. This has allowed ISIS to grow its ranks to roughly 7,000 fighters, including foreign fighters from some 50 countries who “have travelled to Syria, including Al-Qaeda-linked veterans of previous conflicts and Western nationals,” CRS found. They also appeared to be well funded. According to reports, the group might have collected more than $400 million as the pushed across northern Iraq. Potent PropagandaISIS also has a potent propaganda component. They have a broad social media presence on which they circulate western-style memes like the two below, calling on Muslims to answer the call of jihad. According to reports, the group even has a Facebook page (I was unable to locate it). Perhaps their most impressive method of propaganda is sophisticated recruitment videos. Its latest, the Clanging of the Swords IV, is unsparing in its depictions of ISIS brutality. Typical al-Qaeda recruitment videos contain long monologues of clerics calling Muslims to arms, with intercuts of training techniques that appear comical and out of date. ISIS is different; the Clanging of the Swords appears to begin with a shot of Fallujah, a city captured by the group in January, shot from a drone. What follows that opening shot is shocking in its unapologetic ruthlessness. ISIS fighters spray a vehicle with a machine gun. A scene of an exploding IED hurling a man into the air is repeated. There are shots of snipers shooting their victims and watching them die. Others are shot in the back of the head (the video is easy to find online, but I’m not going to link to it. If you do decide to watch, beware - it’s obviously extremely graphic). The group even got in on the World Cup trend. To coincide with the start of the tournament, an ISIS fighter posted a picture of a severed head to Twitter with this message (this links to a page where the severed head is blurred out. The original is easy to find online). “This is our ball…it is made of skin #WorldCup #WorldCup2014,” the tweet read. Why Vietnam Will Be the Next Nuclear State Japan’s Pivot Away from the West Leads Back to China Obama’s Former Syria Ambassador Slams U.S. Policy The Pentagon ‘Slush Fund’ That Could Threaten National Security The Pentagon’s ongoing use of an emergency war fund is undermining U.S. national security, according to a new think-... Clinton or Trump: Which Candidate Would Israel Choose? To say that U.S.-Israeli relations have cooled under the Obama and Netanyahu administrations would be a massive... Trump Wants to Add to the War on Terror’s $4 Trillion Price Tag Billionaire Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, has boasted that, if elected, he would spend... David Francis An editor-at-large for The Fiscal Times, David Francis has reported from all over the world on issues that range from defense to border security to transatlantic relations. View the discussion thread. About UsContact UsMedia KitPrivacy PolicyTerms of Use Insightful. Informative. Indispensible.

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Photos sent by the organizer of Rifflandia, a music festival out in British Columbia. In addition to great bands they also have great food. (Handouts) Photos sent by the organizer of Rifflandia, a music festival out in British Columbia. In addition to great bands they also have great food.(Handouts) At this summer’s concerts, food is the headliner CHRIS NUTTALL-SMITH Tuesday, Jun. 05, 2012 4:25PM EDT If there’s any lingering doubt that chefs are the new rock stars, a sampling of major outdoor concerts and live music festivals being held across Canada this summer should finally put the question to rest. Event promoters are pouring the sort of effort once reserved for signing top-selling bands into booking chefs, charcutiers, food trucks, even wineries to turn up with gourmet nosh for the music-loving masses. In the last few months, Live Nation Entertainment, the international concert promotion and venue management behemoth, has contracted four food trucks to work its concerts in the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre near downtown Toronto, as well as at major festivals in Downsview and Algonquin Parks. On the bill: grilled cheese sandwiches made with aged cheddar, bacon, apple and maple syrup, plus tacos made with braised short ribs, and sweet potato chips served with cilantro lime dressing, fresh chilies and pineapple.In Victoria this September, the Rifflandia Festival, which is ostensibly built around top bands like The Flaming Lips and Sloan, will also feature a mobile brick pizza oven, a southern barbecue “Pigmobile,” a charcuterie vendor, a Polish delicatessen truck that sells grilled cheese sandwiches stuffed with pierogies and a company that does Central American paletas – frozen, crazy-flavoured fruit pops. The festival is going so far as to announce its food lineup one month ahead of time in a live radio event. “Not only do you know in advance what bands you’re going to see at what time, but you know what food you’re going to be eating,” said Nick Blasko, the festival’s director.And a 20,000-capacity Tragically Hip show in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., later this month has partnered with Jackson-Triggs, the wine company, to pour white and red wine by the glass for fans – a far cry from the usual warm beer. The show is also expected to be the largest gathering of food trucks in Canada so far, with 20-odd trucks booked, some of them from upstate New York, as well as another 10 chefs and restaurants serving food from tents. (Carl Heinrich, who was declared the winner of Top Chef Canada this week, will be among them.)“In the past, people were given a choice of a hot dog or a piece of pizza and if they were lucky they didn’t have to stand in a line too long,” said Elliott Lefko, a Toronto native and industry veteran who’s promoting the Tragically Hip show.Fans have music industry economics to thank at least in part for better concert food. With the collapse of music sales, touring has become much more important to the business, Mr. Lefko said. More bands on the road means more competition. What’s worse, ticket prices have risen steeply.“The experience is everything now,” Mr. Lefko said, noting that concert-goers have come to expect such niceties as clean grounds, easy access to washrooms, shade and free water, convenient transportation to and from the venue and a choice of what they eat.Demographics are also a big part of the story. “The Tragically Hip have been around for 25 years, and there is no doubt that for the older fans who are coming to this event, yeah, they’re interested in a higher level of food and booze experience,” said Patrick Sambrook, the band’s manager.Even younger music fans expect better. Daniel Glick, a promoter behind Montreal’s three-day Osheaga festival, which is headlined by Snoop Dogg, The Black Keys, Metric and Sigur Rós, noted one of the most welcome new food trends of the last decade: its democratic appeal. “People are liking better food now, and they’re more excited about food than ever before,” Mr. Glick said. Or as another Osheaga organizer put it, “You expect people to come here for three days and eat only Pizza Pizza? Not a chance.”Even the bands will eat well at Osheaga: The festival has hired Chuck Hughes, the Montreal celebrity chef, to cater backstage.Concert food has evolved so far, in fact, that in some cases the chefs are upstaging the bands. At the Great GoogaMooga Festival held in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park last month, the 75 food and drink vendors, including star chefs Tom Colicchio, April Bloomfield and Marcus Samuelsson, were the main event. Yacht rock legends Hall and Oates, as well as The Roots and a tribute band called Lez Zeppelin, barely rated a mention meantime. (The event was a disaster, marred by long lineups for food.)The logistics of bringing independent chefs and vendors into an outdoor event with tens of thousands of people isn’t exactly simple: Aside from providing such basics as parking, plumbing, electricity, hand-washing facilities and waste disposal, organizers must also attend to mountains of health department paperwork. And unlike with indoor and stadium concerts, where costs are typically fixed, there’s no limit to the potential cost of staging an event at a non-traditional venue, as Mr. Lefko will do with the Tragically Hip show in Niagara-on-the-Lake on June 30 at Butler’s Barracks in the Fort George National Historic Site.Hence the popularity of food trucks: They’re self-contained, pull in and pull out and have typically been checked over by health inspectors dozens of times. Mr. Lefko has hired Suresh Doss, the Toronto food writer and web entrepreneur who has been central to the development of the region’s food truck scene, to assemble a roster of trucks and vendors for the show, as well as for another near Barrie the following day – and to handle the paperwork. Mr. Doss has had offers from other festivals, but has so far declined to commit – it’s all come too suddenly, he said.And for most in the concert business, good food is still an experiment, with plenty of variables to consider.Alyssa Tangerine, who has arranged with Live Nation to bring her food truck, called The Toasted Tangerine, to the company’s concerts this summer, learned that the hard way last week.Last Tuesday, Ms. Tangerine rolled up to The Molson Amphitheatre for a sold-out concert by One Direction, the Brit-Irish boy band. She brought pulled barbecue chicken sandwiches with green apple slaw, plus ravioli with ricotta and marinara sauce, she said. Though there were 16,000 music fans at the event, Ms. Tangerine sold almost nothing. “The entire audience was teeny boppers and the only thing they had money for was $40 One Direction t-shirts,” she said.Even worse, Ms. Tangerine wasn’t able to move her truck mid-show, as she usually does, from inside the venue to outside in the parking lot, where sales are often brisk. She’d been hoping she could at least sell to the kids’ parents.“The place was so filled with screaming girls passing out everywhere that we couldn’t get out in time,” she said. “We were trapped.”The next night, One Direction played another sold-out show, but instead of The Toasted Tangerine, a Hamilton-based gourmet grilled cheese truck called Gorilla Cheese came out, said Live Nation’s Alexis Pomrey.One Direction fans like their cheese, evidently.“They could barely keep up,” Ms. Pomrey said. LYV-NLive Nation Entertainment IncLatest Price$23.37-0.07(-0.30%)Updated May 25 11:37 AM EDT. Delayed by at least 15 minutes. Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. Victoria, British Columbia Tragically Hip

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Holiday Survival Guide No matter what you watch on TV this holiday season, enjoy the warmth Monday, Dec. 24, 2012 12:01AM EST If It’s a Wonderful Life (NBC, CTV, 8 p.m.) is airing tonight, then it must be Christmas.The best thing about the actual arrival of the holiday season is that the build-up is over. Contrived jollity gives way to calm. People stop making lists. Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer won’t be heard again for another 11 months. TV: Five shows worth watching tonight: December 24 Previously at this time of the year, this column has often compiled a list of Most Irritating Canadians (TV-related), but this year it was abandoned. There was enough harshness at the end of the year. Joy to the world does not ensue from such a list.Sure, it was fun. A few years ago, after the list appeared, someone wrote to me in a fury. He (I’m assuming it was a man, from the tone) began by calling me “a Dork,” and proceeded to describe me as part of a “ragtag band of leftie losers” and reached a thunderous end by calling me a “displaced Irish Pansy.” I laughed so hard I wiped away the tears of pleasure, and then abandoned the meanness of the Internet for the pleasure of television.It really doesn’t matter what you watch during the holidays. The TV connects you to the world and offers warmth. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The TV set in your living room, tucked in the corner or hanging on the wall, has replaced the traditional hearth as a core emblem of the holiday spirit. Most of the emblems to signify the holidays are derived from the initial commercialization of Christmas that happened in Victorian England. And, of course that’s why there is so much Dickens on TV at Christmas – the 1951 version of Scrooge starring Alastair Sim is on CBC tonight, also at 8 p.m.In so much writing of the Victorian period, the meaning of the Christmas spirit was anchored in home and hearth. A person without a home and a fireside (usually an orphan in Victorian storytelling) was the loneliest person at Christmas. Now, with fewer real hearths or firesides existing, the TV has become the replacement hearth. It’s not the fire that we sit by and enjoy for its warmth, it’s what emanates from the TV set.Whether you’re watching the Christmas-themed episode of 30 Rock (City, 9:30 p.m.) or the final episode of Mankind: The Story of All of Us (History, 9 p.m.), pleasure can be gained from relaxing and escaping to the place where TV brings you.Perhaps you’ll watch A Christmas Kiss (Bravo, 8 p.m.). The gist: “Wendy is an aspiring designer and assistant to her callous boss Priscilla. Unfortunately, Wendy’s dreams of impressing her boss get complicated when she realizes that the mysterious man she kissed in a falling elevator is Priscilla’s boyfriend, Adam.” Even with such slight fare, a sense of fun and optimism comes through. Everything works out in the end. And during this time of the year there is no better thought than believing that things will work out in the end. Television at Christmas is a safe harbour.Now, vital information for the next few days: The Queen’s Christmas Message is delivered Tuesday, CBC, at noon. And repeated on CBC NN, at 3 p.m. For those of you gripped by Her Majesty’s message, it might also be important to know that on Jan. 1, CBC will air three new back-to-back episodes of Coronation Street, starting at 6:30 p.m.Also, if you’re Brit-TV inclined, know that the new Christmas episode of Dr. Who airs Tuesday on Space at 9 p.m.If you need to catch up with important TV, then note that the second season of Game of Thrones is repeated starting Wednesday (HBO Canada, 9 p.m.) and continuing over the next several nights.Finally, good news for those of us missing La Liga soccer from Spain and Serie A games from Italy: I am assured that coverage of both will return to Canadian TV in early January.And I’ll be back in this space in early January, too. It’s been a pleasure to write and recommend for you during 2012. Enjoy the holidays, be good to each other and enjoy whatever you watch on TV. A whole new mid-season TV cornucopia arrives in January. Get ready. All times ET. Check local listings. Is it possible to banish holiday stress? Nitpicker? Eternal kid? Which holiday type are you? 40 fabulous last-minute stocking stuffers

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A piece of the wreckage is seen at a crash site of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 near the village of Petropavlivka, Donetsk region, on July 24, 2014. (MAXIM ZMEYEV/REUTERS) A piece of the wreckage is seen at a crash site of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 near the village of Petropavlivka, Donetsk region, on July 24, 2014.(MAXIM ZMEYEV/REUTERS) MH17: Australia nears deal to send troops to secure Ukraine crash site KRISTEN GELINEAU SYDNEY — The Associated Press Australia is close to finalizing a deal with Ukraine to send police and a small number of troops to secure the Malaysian plane crash site as part of a multinational team, the Australian Prime Minister said Friday.Australia has 90 federal police officers in Europe ready to be deployed to the site in eastern Ukraine where Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was downed last week, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said. Some of the officers could be armed, and would be accompanied by members of Australia’s defence force, he said. Armed pro-Russian separatists control the area and have hampered investigators’ attempts to access the site.Abbott stressed that the team, which would include countries that lost citizens in the disaster, would not be going in as part of a military mission.“This is a humanitarian mission … with a clear and simple objective: to bring them home,” Abbott told reporters in Canberra, the nation’s capital. “Others can engage in the politics of eastern Europe. All we want to do is to claim our dead and to bring them home.”All 298 people aboard the plane were killed when it was shot down on July 17, likely by a missile from territory held by pro-Russian rebels. Thirty-seven Australian citizens and residents were on board.The urgency to secure the area grew after three Australian officials travelled to the crash site on Thursday and found more wreckage and human remains, Abbott said.“With these remains exposed to the ravages of heat and animals and to the continuing possibility of human interference, it’s more important than ever that the site be properly secured,” Abbott said. “Our objective is the remains can be recovered, that the investigation can go ahead and that justice can be done.”Another 100 Australian police officers will be deployed to Europe in the next 24 hours, Abbott said.The international police team would be tasked with ensuring a thorough search of the site so all remains are recovered and sent to the Netherlands for identification. The mission would be complete within a few weeks of arriving, Abbott said.Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop presented an Australia-sponsored resolution to the UN Security Council that passed unanimously on Monday demanding that rebels co-operate with an independent investigation and allow all remaining bodies to be recovered. MH17: Ottawa expands sanctions against Russia after plane attack MH17 threatens to divide Europe’s leadership Malaysia Flight 17

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Orphaned by deportation: the crisis of American children left behind Andrés Jiménez, under the guardianship of a Florida ‘fairy godmother’ after his father’s deportation, is one of hundreds of children whose families are broken by a fickle system Andrés on MSNBC petitioning President Obama. Photograph: Screengrab/MSNBC Lauren Gambino in New York @LGamGam Wednesday 15 October 2014 07.59 EDT Last modified on Wednesday 11 May 2016 17.42 EDT Ten-year-old Andrés Jiménez was looking forward to the end of summer. Not because he was particularly eager to return to school, but because the end of summer was meant to be the president’s deadline for taking action on immigration. But Obama’s deadline came and went, and with it Andrés’s hopes of reuniting his family after his father was wrenched from his life three years ago. Andrés was seven when his father, after whom he is named, was stopped for driving with an expired licence plate, an event that would unravel the life his parents had worked so hard to build. At a rally for immigration reform in Washington DC last month, the young Andrés begged President Barack Obama to take executive action on immigration policy and help reunite families like his own who are torn apart by deportations. “President Obama, I want to have a family like yours,” Andrés said slowly in Spanish. And then, in a heart-rending moment captured on national television, the young boy breaks down in tears as he talks about his father’s deportation. Speaking to the Guardian, Andrés said that he cried because he was remembering the day his father was deported. “They let us hug him and then they took him away,” he said, speaking English. “It makes me sad to think about.” Obama, facing mounting pressure from his own party, decided last month to postpone taking the decisive executive action he promised on immigration until after the midterm elections in November, infuriating many reform activists and Latinos. But with Congress divided, Obama is the best – if not the only – hope they have for reform on immigration. While Andrés may be too young to understand the bitter partisan rancour that encases America’s immigration debate, he certainly understands better than most the high price of a broken system – one in which an expired licence plate can lead to deportation. Life before a deportation: ‘I was happy’ There was a time before Andrés Sr was deported when the Jiménez family lived what many would call the American dream. He and his wife, Lucía, came to the US desperate and poor nearly two decades ago, in search of a better life than their native Guatemala could provide. They eventually settled in Homestead, Florida. Andrés Sr found a well-paying construction job and the young couple started a family. Video of Andrés aired on All In With Chris Hayes last month. The couple lived in a nice apartment; they owned a car and sent their children to a private Catholic school. At the time, they had four American children – three girls and a boy – with one more on the way. This was the better life they’d hoped for when they left Guatemala. “I was happy,” the younger Andrés said, remembering what it was like to have his father at home. One day, Andrés Sr was pulled over for having an expired licence plate. When he couldn’t provide the necessary identification, the immigration officials were called. Andrés Sr spent months in a detention facility in Florida before he was forced to return to Guatemala, where he had nothing, save for his sad history of poverty. Before he was deported, he was allowed to say goodbye to his children and his pregnant wife. The families left behind Andrés became the man of the house suddenly at age seven. He doesn’t like to think about that day: “It makes me really sad.” Financial instability is the most immediate impact of a detention or deportation. In her research, Molly Scott, a senior research associate at the Urban Institute, said she witnessed high rates of food and housing insecurity among families that lost a deportation. Studies have shown that the threat of deportation causes severe stress and anxiety among children with undocumented parents or siblings. A 2013 report by Human Impact Partners found that nearly 75% of undocumented parents reported that their children had experienced symptoms of PTSD. In her research, Scott said many of the children reported having a sleeping disorder, such as night terrors or insomnia, or stress-related health problems. She said there are many ways the children display their stress: some develop a strong fear of law enforcement, some act out in school, and others become withdrawn from family and friends. Andrés said he worries often about his mother. “I’m afraid they’ll take her too,” he said. Without a legal guardian in the US, children are often placed in protective services. Children sleep in a holding cell at a US Customs and Border Protection processing facility in Texas. Photograph: Eric Gay/AP The Obama administration has directed immigration officials to prioritise the deportation of people with criminal records and prior immigration violations over undocumented immigrants who have strong family ties to the US. Even so, deportations continue at record levels – nearly 438,500 expulsions in 2013, an increase of more that 20,000 removals since the previous year. Lucía is not willing to take this chance. She recently decided to sign over guardianship of her children to Nora Sandigo, a fairy godmother of sorts. Florida’s fairy godmother Sandigo is a guardian to more than 800 American children whose immigrant parents have decided not to gamble on the US foster care system. Like Lucía, the parents have all signed paperwork entrusting Sandigo with their children in the event they’re deported. Aided by her small Miami-based charity, American Fraternity, Sandigo cares for immigrant families broken by deportations like the Jiménezes, whom she provides with food, school supplies and shelter. If, and when, the parents are deported, Sandigo raises their children. Sandigo’s work is remarkable, but she says she has no choice. “We are tired but we cannot stop doing what we’re doing,” she said. “Every single day the kids need to eat. Every day they need to go to school.” Sandigo said she does her best to keep the families well-fed and happy given the circumstances, but limited resources and hundreds of children, it’s not always easy. She said a child once told her that he was excited to go to bed early. When she asked him why, he said: “I don’t think about being hungry when I’m sleeping.” “This kills me,” she said. “But their smiles, they make it all worth it.” Children who are stopped at the border are often taken to detention centres, while those inside the US whose parents are deported are often left without recourse. Photograph: Juan Carlos Llorca/AP Sandigo brought a group of children including Andrés to Washington DC, last month to rally for immigration reform. She said the experience was positive; the children shared their stories with several lawmakers who seemed sympathetic enough. But after years of pushing for immigration reform, Sandigo knows the difference between a kind smile, a promise and action. She said she is being careful not to get her hopes up, again. At the rally, Andrés, clutching the microphone near his face with his small hands, addressed the president directly. “I asked him to stop separating families because it hurts me,” he said. Hope for November Between the end of summer and the November elections, more than 70,000 immigrants will be deported, according to an estimate by United We Dream that is based on current rates. Immigration groups expect Obama to curb deportations and grant relief to the millions of undocumented immigrants currently living in the US. But even if Obama were to usher in sweeping new reforms, it’s uncertain they would help Andrés get his father back. Wendy Cervantes, vice-president of immigration and child rights policy at First Focus, a bipartisan advocacy group, said the options for parents who have already been deported are limited at present. “The only opportunity we have now for parents who have been previously deported is to wait for immigration reform to come up again [in Congress], or for the administration to consider some kind of potential relief as part of whatever announcement they make in the fall,” she said. Border patrol agents take men into custody. Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images Cervantes said the conversation on possible actions the president could take are focused mostly around the undocumented immigrants living in the country. Although, she noted that both omnibus immigration bills included provisions that would have allowed deported parents of US citizens who met certain requirements to apply for citizenship. Meanwhile, Sandigo said it’s becoming harder for her to tell the children that it will be all right, because she’s not sure it will be. “It’s hard,” she said. “Sometimes, I cry with them. It’s so hard for them to understand. It’s too much for them to handle.” Andrés asks me often, ‘When will this problem be fixed?’ I tell him, ‘Nobody except the president can do something.’” US domestic policy

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Search HomeU.S. NewsPoliticsImmigrationConstitutionCongressCrimeHealthcareForeign PolicyWorld NewsEuropeNorth AmericaAsiaAfricaAustraliaSouth AmericaEconomyCommentaryMarketsSectorsEconomicsSci/TechEnergyEnvironmentComputersSpaceCultureFaith and MoralsFamilyEducationBiographyHistoryOpinion/ReviewsMoviesBooksOpinionAmerican PrinciplesFreedom IndexSubscribeDonate Monday, 09 June 2008 Rising Food Costs Written by Charles Scaliger Tweet font size From Nouakchott in northwest Africa to Port-au-Prince in the Caribbean, the situation is becoming grimmer by the day. The specter of world hunger, unseen in generations, even in the world’s poorest nations, is once again raising its head as food prices spiral out of control, leaving hoarding, rioting, and shortages in their wake. Residents of Mauritania, one of Africa’s poorest nations (and one of the last spots on Earth where chattel slavery is still practiced), are being forced to slaughter assets like milk-producing goats to feed their families one meager meal a day. Citizens of Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, recently rioted to protest stratospheric food prices, killing five people and forcing the resignation of Haiti’s prime minister. Some Haitians, according to recent reports by ABC News and other sources, are having to resort to eating dirt — literally. Facing 40-percent jumps in food prices, many of Haiti’s poorest, unable to afford grain and other staples, are surviving by eating cakes made from yellow clay. Nor is this brand-new crisis, dubbed a “silent tsunami” by one UN official, confined to impoverished backwaters. Even residents of the United States are being affected by a global food crisis that has been gathering steam since 2007 and now threatens to spread famine across Africa and Asia, greatly reducing Americans’ dietary options in the bargain. In recent months, commodities prices worldwide have followed petroleum upward, making former staples like wheat and rice unaffordable in many parts of the so-called Third World and driving up prices on U.S. supermarket shelves at a rate not seen since the stagflationary ’70s. Since March of 2007, the price of eggs in the United States has risen an average of 35 percent. Milk is up 23 percent. A loaf of white bread costs 16 percent more than it did a year ago, and a pound of ground chuck eight percent. Unthinkable only a few months ago, some large stores — Sam’s Club, for example — have even imposed buying limits of certain commodities like sacks of rice, preventing major customers such as restaurant owners from buying to hoard. In response to the staggering price surges, Americans are adjusting their lifestyles to exclude multiple shopping trips when a single visit to a Wal-mart or Aldi’s will do, clipping coupons like their frugal parents and grandparents, and buying brands on sale instead of personal preferences. These are sacrifices, to be sure, but insignificant beside the worries of the world’s poor. For Americans, who pay an average of about 10 percent of their wages on food, the crisis may impose inconveniences; for impoverished Africans and Asians, who spend as much as 70 percent of their income on food, the crisis could spell catastrophe. In an age of global plenty, such disruptions of the food supply as we have seen in recent years have all been man made. Famines in Ethiopia and Somalia in the ’80s and ’90s prompted effusions of aid and charitable sentiments. But they were largely artificial. In the case of Ethiopia, the appalling (and now thankfully defunct) regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam embarked on a program of deliberate starvation in drought-afflicted areas of the country that were resisting his brutal regime. Aid shipments of food were prevented from being delivered, and consignments of commodities rotted in warehouses in Addis Ababa, the capital. A few years later, during the horrific, multi-sided civil war in Somalia following the breakup of the regime of dictator Siad Barre, food supplies were again disrupted at the point of a gun, and pictures of emaciated children with flyblown faces again filled the pages of Newsweek. Nor is this a uniquely modern phenomenon. The great Ukrainian famine of the 1930s was contrived by Stalin against the Ukrainian kulaks, middle-class farmers resisting his regime. The famine in Bengal in 1943 was caused in large measure by British authorities exporting vast amounts of rice from India to feed Allied soldiers, driving up prices far beyond what ordinary Indians could afford. And so forth. Not surprisingly, then, the latest food crisis has fingers pointed at allegedly greedy multinationals, at wicked commodities speculators, at heartless governments in wealthy countries unwilling to pony up requested amounts of foreign aid to mitigate the crisis, and at sundry other supposed villains. Fueling Food Costs Perhaps most conspicuous have been the accusations against ethanol producers. The diversion of vast acreages of corn to the production of ethanol rather than food has come suddenly under intense international scrutiny, and well it might. Ethanol, contrary to the pie-in-the-sky promises of the green lobby, has failed to deliver on any of its expectations, being at least as costly and environmentally destructive as coal and oil. Economist Walter Williams has termed the contrived hoopla over corn-derived fuel the “ethanol hoax,” pointing out in a recent column that it takes more than one gallon of fossil fuel to produce a single gallon of ethanol. “Ethanol is 20-30% less efficient than gasoline,” Dr. Williams noted, “making it more expensive per highway mile. It takes 450 pounds of corn to produce the ethanol to fill one SUV tank. That’s enough corn to feed one person for a year.” The conversion of food into fuel for automobiles in wealthy countries, driven by the misguided politics of ethanol production, is nothing less than a moral outrage. “When millions of people are going hungry, it’s a crime against humanity that food should be diverted to biofuels,” raged an official from the Indian government to the Wall Street Journal. But the production of ethanol, the instability in commodities markets, and the disruptions in the food supply are but symptoms of a deeper problem, the real culprit for food shortages and skyrocketing prices in a world of convenience and plenty: the financial and regulatory policies of big government, especially in the United States. Since FDR’s New Deal in the 1930s, when the U.S. government first decided to take control of the agricultural sector, the economics of food production in the United States — and every place that receives American agricultural products — have been severely distorted by systematic government intervention. When the Roosevelt administration moved to subsidize farming and imposed price controls and limits on the production of agricultural commodities, the consequences — as is always the case with the ineptitude of centrally planned economics — would have been laughable if they were not so needlessly tragic. To maintain commodity prices at what the Roosevelt administration deemed optimal levels, vast amounts of grain were deliberately destroyed and livestock slaughtered, an appalling waste of food at a time when much of the world lived barely at a subsistence level. Although the Supreme Court declared Roosevelt’s Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) unconstitutional in 1936, noting correctly that “a statutory plan to regulate and control agricultural production, [is] a matter beyond the powers delegated to the federal government,” the die was cast. The AAA was soon replaced with a similar program that a later court declined to invalidate, and agricultural subsidies and production controls, as well as the economic disruptions they create, have been with us ever since. This has completely transformed the American farm sector. Subsidies and other government favors have tended to benefit large, wealthy farming operations at the expense of smaller family farms. As a result, family farms are disappearing across the heartland, replaced by vast agribusinesses that produce primarily corn and soybeans — much of which, as critics charge, is now being diverted to biofuel production at the behest of zealous environmentalists. Subsidized corn production, in turn, has revolutionized beef production — and not for the better. Wrote Corby Kummer in the Atlantic Monthly in May 2003, “Eating corn is terrible for cattle, which are ruminants meant to chew grass. Corn leaves their digestive tracts susceptible to E. coli and other pathogenic bacteria. Almost all cattle raised for beef are force-fed corn (which costs less to buy than it does to grow, thanks to federal farm subsidies), and the resulting stress makes it necessary to keep them on high doses of antibiotics.” Today’s corn-fed, feedlot-fattened cattle yield fatty, far less-healthy meat that the American public has come to prefer over the healthier, tangier, leaner beef once produced from grass-fed cattle (and still the norm in the Argentine pampas; this author never had tastier beef than during the year he spent in Argentina). According to Kummer in the same Atlantic Monthly article, “Grass feeding results in far lower levels of saturated fat and high levels of both omega-3 fatty acids (more commonly found in fish, and thought to help prevent heart disease) and the newest darling of the nutritional world — CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), polyunsaturated fat that may help prevent cancer. These benefits, and also higher levels of antioxidants, appear in all food from all animals that eat grass, milk and cheese as well as meat.” In other words, most corn grown in the American Midwest is fed to animals that do not need it rather than humans who do, thanks to not-so-benign government intervention in corn prices. But government subsidies and other controls on agricultural markets are not the only problem. While distortions in food and commodities prices have been the norm for several generations, the ongoing food crisis is something more acute. Beginning last summer, the prices of grain began to rise, and the trend soon spread to other food commodities. Tellingly, investors looking for an alternative to real estate in light of the subprime meltdown plowed vast sums into grain futures, driving prices still higher. “We have never seen anything like this before,” said Jeff Voge, chairman of the Kansas City Board of Trade, commenting to the Washington Post in April on the dizzying ascent of grain prices. “Prices are going up more in one day than they have during entire years in the past. But no matter the price, there always seems to be a buyer.... This isn’t just any commodity. It is food, and people need to eat.” It is significant that the global food crisis is in fact a price crisis. “Few believe prices will go back to where they were in early 2006,” the Washington Post opined, adding that “the world must cope with a new reality of more expensive food.” This, in addition to other “new realities” that have hit home in recent months — for example, historically high prices at the gas pump — is evidence that the chief culprit is inflation, a phenomenon created by government operating in cahoots with central banks like the Federal Reserve. Unfortunately, statistics involving inflationary price increases are made deliberately obscure by the Federal Reserve and the financial press. “Food inflation” is arbitrarily distinguished from “core price inflation” — the latter conveniently defined as price increases in consumer goods except for food and fuel — because food and fuel prices tend to be more volatile. Such artificial distinctions allow the government to understate or discount the effects of inflation altogether. Yet, if more honest ways of evaluating the consumer price index (CPI) were being used by government accountants, the overall rate of rising prices would be about 7.3 percent higher — or around 11 percent overall — than official figures now report, according to John Williams of Shadow Government Statistics, an Oakland-based research firm that challenges official government statistics involving prices, unemployment, and other areas where federal statisticians’ books are routinely cooked. “I don’t think the government numbers are too credible,” Williams told the San Diego Union-Tribune recently. “When they say food inflation is moving up by 0.2 percent, that just doesn’t match what we’re seeing in the market. But even if inflation is as low as they are reporting, it’s high enough to be terribly destructive to the economy.” In spite of the mantle of mystery with which inflation is dressed by the popular media, its basic mechanism is not difficult to understand: when banks print money, prices go up. This is so because the more money that is in circulation, the less each unit of it will be worth with respect to the goods and services for which it is exchanged. If it were possible to magically create a million genuine Mickey Mantle rookie cards, the sudden surge in supply of a formerly scarce and highly valued article would cause its value to decline. Inflation — which is properly defined as the expansion of the money supply — causes the same thing to happen to money. Rising prices, therefore, are the effect of inflation, not inflation itself. Unfortunately, inflation seldom manifests itself evenly or uniformly. Rather, prices tend to rise first wherever the money is first pumped into the economy. Because central banks and the commercial banks that follow their lead usually create new money by issuing loans, prices will tend to rise first for things that are purchased on credit. And what we have seen for the last couple of decades has been tremendous inflation in the value of assets and high-ticket items (real estate, stock prices, college tuition, and automobile prices among them), while the prices of consumer goods, including food and fuel, have grown at a comparatively benign pace. But no more. All of a sudden, to the dismay of the would-be managers of the world’s finances, prices for consumer products have begun to rocket upward at a pace not seen since the 1970s, when annual double-digit inflationary price increases were the norm. Core wholesale prices, for example, rose 0.4 percent in April alone — double the forecasts of the punditry — and core wholesale prices for finished goods have risen three percent in the last twelve months, the fastest rate in 16 years, according to the Financial Times’ Chris Bryant. How far or how fast prices may continue to rise in the near future is anyone’s guess. The effects of inflation resemble ripples from a stone cast into a pond, with rising prices spreading across the economy until all goods and services are affected. The hallmark of inflation, therefore, is a general rise in all prices over time, some sooner and others later, but all of them inevitably. By contrast, prices in a non-inflationary free market — the likes of which our country has not seen since before the inception of the Federal Reserve in 1913 — will fluctuate naturally, with some rising temporarily while others fall. Inflation has many baneful effects. It distorts economic judgment by creating a temporary boom in which borrowing and spending is rewarded over thrift and savings. It rewards some (the wealthy and well-connected, who get “first dibs” on newly created money) at the expense of others (all the rest, who suffer the effects of higher-priced consumer articles without benefiting from asset appreciation). It erodes the value of savings and wages, the latter of which are typically the last to be raised to accommodate inflation’s “new reality.” To be sure, food prices may be disrupted by various causes, including war and crop failure. But what we are seeing now is a general rise in food prices (along with the prices of other commodities, such as gold), most likely triggered by the flight of inflationary money from its previous redoubts (like real estate) into commodities markets. While commodities traders have contributed to the crisis by bidding up the prices spectacularly, they have done so with money produced by government printing presses, courtesy of the Federal Reserve and other central banks around the world. Convergence of Events The world’s food supply is thus facing a convergence of events as we near the end of a great inflationary cycle. The expanding economies of China, India, and other newly prosperous countries are driving demand — and prices — for food and energy skyward, even as oil supplies are jeopardized by war in Iraq and political instability in Venezuela and Nigeria. Agricultural prices already distorted by government subsidies, and grain supplies diverted into biofuel production and other extravagances, are all being made worse by the global supply of funny money sloshing through international commodities markets. All of these factors have a hand in the food crisis, but it is the inflationary policies of governments, especially our own, that must bear the lion’s share of the blame. For most of human history, food commodities and precious metals have determined the value of money, not the reverse. At the dawn of civilization, money originated as precious metals measured in units derived from the weight of various critical food sources. Gold and silver have been reckoned in grains because single grains of wheat and other cereals were used as a standard for weighing gold and silver in ancient Babylonia. Middle Eastern monetary units like the shekel and the talent were all standardized in this way. In very early Rome, cattle were used for money, according to Plutarch. Our word “pecuniary” comes from Latin “pecus,” meaning “a head of cattle.” In ancient India, meanwhile, precious metals were measured against the weight of masha beans and pulses. In effect, the value of money in the ancient world depended both on the weight of food commodities and the supply of precious metals. This continued to be the case until the demise of sound money in the 20th century, although the value of grains had come to be standardized in many parts of the world. That in our topsy-turvy era, the value of both food and precious metals should be held hostage by money itself is one of history’s supreme, if less-appreciated, ironies. The solution, unlikely to be embarked upon until the American public is better educated about the roles of the Department of Agriculture and the Federal Reserve, is to abolish federal agricultural subsidies and other restraints on the free market in food production, and to shut down the Federal Reserve itself. This would entail returning to a monetary system based on precious metals which, because of the scarcity of gold and silver, is inflation-proof (gold and silver cannot be printed at will, and their supply therefore cannot be artificially enlarged by the government). In the nearer term, abolishing subsidies for ethanol production would free up needed acreage for food production. But such a step, though salubrious, would not go very far towards changing the root of the problem. That will come only when enough Americans are informed enough about Federal Government chicanery to make a lasting difference. Charles Scaliger is a teacher and freelance writer. Please review our Comment Policy before posting a comment Thank you for joining the discussion at The New American. We value our readers and encourage their participation, but in order to ensure a positive experience for our readership, we have a few guidelines for commenting on articles. If your post does not follow our policy, it will be deleted. « Is Making Taxes “Fair” the Answer? Economic Survival — Not “Stimulus”! »

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Greggs chief executive to step down STEPPING DOWN: Ken McMeikan / Lauren Pyrah, Deputy Business Editor GREGGS boss Ken McMeikan is to leave the company to take up a position as chief executive of a Kent-based catering group. Mr McMeikan, who has been chief executive at the bakery chain since 2008, will remain in his role and as a board member while a successor is appointed, before moving to catering firm Brakes Group supplier to the foodservice sector in the UK, Ireland, France and Sweden. Derek Netherton, chairman of Greggs, said “We are very grateful to Ken for the valuable contribution he has made to Greggs. He has led the company through the major changes that have put us in a strong position for the future with a clear strategy for growth in a difficult environment. We wish Ken well in his new role.” Ken McMeikan, chief executive of the bakery firm, said: "It has been a great honour to lead Greggs since 2008. “It is a wonderful company with fantastic people and I am enormously proud of all that we have achieved together. “ There are many exciting growth opportunities ahead for the business and the team are well placed to deliver them.”

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BALL: Floods a reminder that much needs to be done with infrastructure By Robert S. Ball A few days after flooding rains caused widespread damage in southeastern Michigan, more rain brought not flooding, but PTSD. Post-traumatic stress disorder: It’s raining again, maybe I’d better check on the house. And maybe I’d better change a few things. But if we live in a house with a basement, how can we resist using it? If we have no clear cautions to the contrary, how can we resist using it for storage, recreation, hobbies or relaxing? Many of the folks who made good use of their basements are regretting that. And many who made good use of their basements but didn’t experience damage from flooding as a result are counting themselves lucky. Flood damage in southeastern Michigan was a painful reminder that the pipes that carry off our storm water were never intended to carry off the worst that could befall us. Their lack of capacity reminded us that a lot of basements are in a flood plain, as well as a surprising number of low spots on the surface. All became retention basins and watercourses. Basement flooding in some communities was more common in the middle of the last century than in years since. In southeastern Oakland County, sewage and storm water have been routed through the same set of pipes for most of a century. The original combined sewers were inadequate to carry off heavy rains. The backups put stinky storm water into many basements. A set of relief drains completed in the early 1960s eased the problem for most residents. There were exceptions. One of the heaviest rainfalls recorded in southeastern Michigan, in July, 1967, dropped 5.1 inches in a rain gauge on the roof of the Daily Tribune in just 90 minutes. That intensity, measured in downtown Royal Oak, wasn’t widespread across the region, but a lot of basements flooded nevertheless. Heavy rains entering those combined sewers washed sewage into the Red Run Drain. A dam intended to reduce such overflows had been improved in the early 1960s, but not by much. A map showing locations where residents have filed claims with the city shows that many are close to the major relief drains built in that early-60s project. Environmental agencies in the years since took a dimmer view of sewage into open drains, into the Clinton River and Lake St. Clair than they did of sewage backing up into basements. So improvements in the early 1970s and again in the early 2000s improved the dams and held back increasing amounts of polluted storm water, but closer to the open streams than the basements. If torrential rains are to become more commonplace, whether as a result of climate change or some other cause, perhaps we should be looking at ways to drain and retain storm water upstream, closer to the basements. We’ve spent a great deal to retain it downstream, and we still don’t quite have that right. Overflows still occasionally pollute Lake St. Clair. So what do we do in the meantime? Our drainage systems aren’t sized for the Ultimate Storm. They’re designed for storms our communities could afford to protect us from – perhaps a 10-year or 20-year storm, back when the characteristics of such a storm were well known. Do we want to afford more protection? If we can’t afford insurance, can we get reimbursement from communities for storms the drains were never designed to handle? That doesn’t seem right. We were blindsided by so much flooding. In the absence of a procession of gullywashers over the years, who could have resisted putting basement space to use? And how many of us really wanted to know the risk that the space would flood? In the absence of the larger answers, PTSD is a useful thing to have around. At the least, it should remind us that our basements may not be the best places to keep things we care about and things we can’t afford to replace. Robert Ball is a former reporter, editor and editorial writer for the Journal Register Company/Digital First Media. URL: http://www.theoaklandpress.com/opinion/20140826/ball-floods-a-reminder-that-much-needs-to-be-done-with-infrastructure

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Nancy Reagan: "I'm In Love Again" Written by Stone Riprock Topics: Death, Los Angeles "Yo Nancy, quit yer wigglin', Mr. T don't swing that way" LOS ANGELES - Only weeks after the death of her husband, former President Ronald Reagan, Nancy Reagan announced that she has found love again. The object of her affection is none other than 1980's TV star and bling-bling pioneer Mr. T. "He's just so delicious, I could eat him up," Nancy gushed. The couple were interviewed in a home they've purchased together in a Los Angeles suburb. In a bizarre twist, the home was heavily festooned with Christmas decorations. Mr. T explained that Nancy thinks that it's Christmas year-round now. "And I pity the poor fool that be tryin' to tell her anything else. I won't never hear the end of it if you go and get her all riled up."The happy couple gave each other matching Mr. T dolls. Mr. T explained that he has several warehouses full of the dolls that didn't sell after his show, "The A-Team," went off the air and his popularity plummeted. "She don't remember what I got her from one day to the next, and Mr. T don't be shoppin', so I just wrap up a couple of these dolls every day." The former First Lady appeared to be getting a bit randy as she sat on Mr. T's lap, who rapidly called an end to the interview, but not before Nancy insisted to the reporters that Mr. T would one day be president. "I made a president out of the last dumb-as-a-stump husband, and I'll do it again. You'll see." Make Stone Riprock's day - give this story five thumbs-up (there's no need to register, the thumbs are just down there!) Affleck Only Methane Vapor Death dies in remote Indian village Long line of running mates for Kerry in Hollywood Limbaugh implicated in brutal, yet tasty, homicide. Richard Simmons in Critical Condition after Bejeweling Accident Jonathan Franzen and Oprah Winfrey Collaborate on Book Clay Aiken's Brush With Worse- Than -Death; The Attack of the Paparazzi! Britney Spears Cancels Tour, Freak Knee Injury Blamed / Nancy Reagan: "I'm In Love Again"

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James D. SchwartzToronto of America « Celibacy contest Formula for happiness » Toronto of America 27 Dec 2005 | James D. Schwartz · Murder · News · Toronto This year has been a bad year for the city of Toronto as the number of gun murders keeps climbing. Most gun murders in Toronto have been gang related, but just today there was a deadly shooting spree a few blocks from my house at a shopping mall on one of the busiest shopping days of the year. The shooting spree happened just a few hours ago. Initial police reports would seem to indicate that the victims are random shoppers and not targeted or gang related. One girl has died and 6 others have been wounded from the shots. The girl was standing in the entrance of a foot locker store, another person was shot at the Delta Chelsea hotel, another at Pizza Pizza, and another person was shot at the Red Lobster restaurant. Two people have been arrested and one weapon has been seized by police. Toronto is still a very safe city, but with the number of gun homicides increasing, could Toronto be headed in the direction of the gun problems we see in American cities? Or was this year just a fluke? In 1999, Toronto had a homicide rate of 1.3 people for every 100,000. This was extremely low compared to similar sized American cities, with Chicago at a rate of 23.3, and Washington DC ranking in 1st with a rate of 45.5 homicides for every 100,000 people. But in 1999, out of Toronto’s 49 murders, only 19 of them were shootings. In 2005, Toronto has had 78 murders so far, with 52 being gun related. In 1998, Toronto had 56 homicides with a mere 13 being gun related. As part of their election platform, the Liberals have promised to ban all handguns in Canada other than for Law Enforcement personnel. I don’t know if this will help Toronto’s gun problem much, because most of the guns that are used in crimes are illegal anyway, so it may be difficult to ban them if they aren’t registered in the first place. sandalphon Banning handguns (already all-but-illegal) will not work. What may work is reviewing Canada’s immigration policies. Specifically, before allowing males under the age of 40 to enter the country, do a thorough background check for criminal records, education and employment history, press reports from the applicant’s home country–anything that may uncover a history of gang affiliation or violent crime. Our “let ‘em all in” policy has clearly led to disaster. I like how you failed to mention the early 90′s, in which Toronto had a record number of murders. In 1991, Toronto set the record for highest number of murders, with 88. Just 8 years later, this number had decreased to 49. Lets face it, the homicide rate will go up and down. In 2005, Toronto will probably face about 80 murders. While much higher than last year, this is far safer than all American cities, and its also safer than most Canadian cities as well. You’d think that Toronto was an urban ghetto on the levels of Detroit and Chicago from the way the media spins these stories. http://www.blogger.com/profile/04454437680686627778 Jim Reply to anonymous: I think I very clearly indicated that Toronto is far safer than American cities. The point of the article was to show that the number of homicides involving guns has increased substantially. Even in 1991, there were 89 murders, but only 38 involved guns, so that’s only 42.7%. Every year since 1991, the percentage of homicides with guns has been consistently less than 50% except in 2001 when it was 56%. It was as low as 21% in 1995. I agree that the number of murders will fluctuate, but this year has seen quite an increase in number of homicides with guns. Sandalphon – I’m not sure if adjusting the immigration policies will work either. I don’t have any statistics, but I believe a lot of the murders that involved gangs in Toronto involved kids who were born in Canada but joined gangs in high school. http://www.blogger.com/profile/16252632293116411353 iBrett Those are staggering numbers you’ve noted at the end of your post, Jim. I do hope municipal leaders are able to find a way to curb this escalating violence. Edmonton is also experiencing a proliferation of murders this year. Thirty-nine is the number of murders in Edmonton’ I’m not sure how many of those are gun-related — but that number is staggering just the same. Let’s hope 2005 is an anomaly. http://www.blogger.com/profile/01550550612915623224 Wildcoyote The Boxing Day shootings in Toronto really has left me with an empty feeling in my stomach. I can’t believe how easy it is for people to carry weapons of some kind. Back in Hamilton, This past November a gang rushed into Glendale High School and attacked the senior boys basketball team with michetti’s (spelled wrong sorry) Two boys had stab wounds from the ordeal. It doesn’t matter where the attacks are coming from. Toronto, Detroit, Chicago or any other part of the world. Something has to be done. I saw on the news the other night that the Liberal will deal with severe laws for people caught with a gun. My only question is…. They have been in power for 13 years and now they are going to look into it? In my opinion, which may look plain & simple but I believe anyone not issued to carry a firearm and is caught automatically goes to jail and be brought up on stiff charges. A long period of Jail time. This situation is getting out of hand and someone somehow needs to bring order back to our Nations. Plus someone did mention who we let into our country. A very good point.P.S. Jim, I like reading your inserts keep up the good work.ibrett, I like reading your comments. You have a gift for writing almost like poetry.

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Fort Hood suspect's trial on hold over beard ANGELA K. BROWN Associated Press Published: August 16, 2012 3:16 AM 1 of 7 Photos | View More PhotosFORT HOOD, Texas (AP) -- For the past two months, the military judge presiding over the high-profile case of the Army psychiatrist charged in the deadly 2009 Fort Hood shooting rampage has said he wanted to avoid disruptions in court.So after Maj. Nidal Hasan showed up for a June pretrial hearing wearing a beard, a violation of Army regulations, Col. Gregory Gross banned him from the courtroom until he shaves.Now Hasan's facial hair has become a bigger disruption than anyone might have foreseen. All hearings and the murder trial, set to start next week, were put on hold Wednesday while an appeals court considers Hasan's objections to being forcibly shaved.The delay is frustrating for many involved in the case, although some victims' relatives say they have grown accustomed to waiting for the trial to start. It's been almost three years since the shooting rampage left 13 dead and more than two dozen wounded on the Texas Army post."I stopped holding my breath a long time ago as far as expecting to get any closure regarding the trial," said Leila Hunt Willingham, whose brother Jason Dean "J.D." Hunt was among those killed Nov. 5, 2009.[Article continues below] Gross has not allowed Hasan to stay in the courtroom, saying the beard is a disruption. However, in late July Gross said he wanted Hasan in the room during the court-martial to prevent a possible appeal on the issue if he is convicted. He said Hasan would be forcibly shaved before the trial if he didn't shave the beard himself.Hasan, an American-born Muslim, won't shave because the beard is an expression of his faith, defense attorneys have said. Hasan also has had a premonition that his death is imminent, his attorneys said."He does not wish to die without a beard as he believes not having a beard is a sin," one of Hasan's attorneys wrote in his appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.Hasan faces the death penalty or life in prison without parole if convicted. No military death-row inmates have been executed since 1961.Prosecutors have said Hasan grew the beard so trial witnesses would have a hard time identifying him. They have said they doubt religion is his motive, noting he was clean-shaven at the time of the shootings.[Article continues below]Gross told defense attorneys at a June hearing that he disagreed with their argument that Hasan's beard didn't take away from the dignity of the proceedings."This is a choice that Major Hasan is making," Gross said at a June hearing.At the start of Wednesday's hearing, Gross once again found Hasan in contempt of court and fined him $1,000 for disobeying orders to shave. Hasan then was taken to a nearby room to watch the proceedings on a closed-circuit television.Hasan had been scheduled to enter a plea Wednesday, but the court proceedings were put on hold before he could do that.Hasan indicated he wanted to plead guilty for religious reasons, according to a defense motion. But in ruling on the motion, Gross said he would not be able to accept a guilty plea on the 13 charges of premeditated murder because the charges carry a possible death penalty, which the government is pursuing the death penalty in Hasan's case.Hasan, 41, also is charged with 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder.The court-martial, scheduled to start Monday with jury selection, will be on hold until the appeals court rules on Hasan's appeal to the judge's order to being shaved. Wednesday's court order that halted the proceedings gives the judge a week to respond.Some military law experts not involved in the case said this seems to be a defense strategy."The defense is trying everything to delay this case, and it's frustrating that the beard issue has gone this far," said Jeffrey Addicott, a retired military attorney who is now director of the Center for Terrorism Law at St. Mary's University School of Law.

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More What's OnNational SportEntertainment NewsHealth NewsNational Video NewsArt Katy Perry's angsty teen tour video A video of a teenage Katy Perry on tour for the first time has been released Katy Perry as an angsty teenager has emerged in a video filmed during her first ever tour. The Roar singer was on the road at 16 years old in 2001 and was filmed showing the cameraman, Jim Standridge, around her messy shared tour bus. A fresh-faced Katy, with short, highlighted hair, says: "Yeah, I'm pretty conceited. I usually put loads of make-up on because I'm a pizza face. Would you like pepperoni or cheese?" According to the Daily Mirror, she also says: "I absolutely love the road, it's fun. You meet all kinds of people. It's just like vacation." When the cameraman says she seems very smart, the singer replies: "Too bad I'm in the 9th grade for the second year! I'm specially skilled in other places." Katy also talks about writer's block and missing her parents. She says: "I have this writer's block that I've had for like six months, it really stinks." While dabbing at her eyes with a towel, she continues: "You know when you really hate your parents so much you miss them?" The video also includes footage of Katy singing on stage in a much more acoustic style, playing a guitar and without any of her trademark flamboyant costumes or stage sets.

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�Barre never saw so many people in so small a space as that which gathered between ten and eleven o�clock this forenoon to witness the �send-off� which the citizens of the Granite City were to give our local pride, the crack and loyal Company E.� The Barre Evening Telegraph also reported that Main Street storefronts had been decorated with patriotic bunting and festooned with flags despite the short notice of muster on the morning in early May of 1898, when the citizenry turned out in force to send the boys from Barre to fight the war with Spain.A cornet band from Williamstown played patriotic airs while local service clubs assembled for a farewell parade. The Grand Marshal was City Clerk Burt Wells, who was followed by Barre�s Transatlantic Band, the High School Cadets, the Fire Department, Clan Gordon, the Granite City Foresters of America, the Knights of Pythias, Crandall Post G.A.R., the Williamstown Band, and Company E with its new recruits. The parade moved down Main Street, around City Hall Park, and then up Main Street to the depot where a special train waited to convey the soldiers to Montpelier, where they would be joined by other units in the regiment, and then north by rail to Fort Ethan Allen for assimilation into the First Vermont Infantry.The jingoistic fervor on the morning of May 6, 1898 would be in sharp contrast to the men�s return, three months distant, when these favored sons of Barre would return to Vermont broken in spirit and health, sustaining casualties without ever seeing the rigors of battle.Barre�s militia company was one of the first to be called to active duty � it was considered one of the finest National Guard units in Vermont, having been in existence since 1886 when it was formed by Captain C. M. Spencer. For years the unit had been known as the Spencer Rifles. By the late 1890s their headquarters was on the third floor of the Miles Building on North Main Street. An exclusively volunteer group of citizen-soldiers, it joined the Vermont National Guard as Company E. In late March of 1898 a secret communication was sent to all companies in the Vermont Regiment that armed conflict with Spain was increasingly likely. A speech by Vermont Senator Redfield Proctor was the deciding factor, persuading Congress of the necessity of war. By mid-April a second communication to the units asked if they were willing to volunteer in the event of war. Two days later they were asked to increase their numbers to 100 officers and enlisted men. Within 48 hours war had been declared against Spain, and in early May Company E, along with other units of the Vermont National Guard, assembled at Fort Ethan Allen for training and equipment. On May 15 scores of friends and family made their way from Barre to Colchester for a final farewell, and on the following day the soldiers of Company E boarded railroad cars for their journey to Camp Thomas at Chickamauga Park in Georgia, �which place was destined to become,� noted the Telegraph, �a scene of disappointed military hopes, of sickness, of nostalgia, and death itself.� Severe heat, hardshipChickamauga had been the site of a major Civil War battle 35 years earlier. Heavy casualties on both sides earned Chickamauga Creek the soubriquet �River of Death.� At first glance Chickamauga had some positive attributes. In Bullets and Bacilli, a book on medicine in the Spanish American war, Vincent Cirillo delineated the army�s rationale for this encampment. Its 11 square miles could accommodate the entire regular army, and it had an abundant supply of pure water. In addition, its summer heat and humidity could help acclimatize soldiers to the weather conditions they would face in Cuba. Its major drawback, dense clay soil nearly impervious to water, would come back to haunt the army. Poor drainage and drenching rains in July and August caused the sinks (pit latrines) to fill and overflow, contaminating the camp site.The initial response of Company E to their new home was positive as they set about turning their temporary bivouac into something resembling suitable quarters. William H. Pitkin was listed with the rank of Musician in Company E and he also served as �Special Correspondent� to the Barre Evening Telegram. His letters to the paper evoke day-to-day camp life for the soldiers of Company E, at least until he got sick. Pitkin contracted typhoid fever and spent the last week of July in his quarters. In August he was furloughed back to Vermont to recover at his parents� home in Fair Haven.Pitkin�s first letter from Camp Thomas warned of the severe heat, 90 to 108 degrees �in the shade,� and observed that opportunistic Southerners tried to sell them glasses of water at 5 cents each on the long march from the train depot to the camp. �We would gladly pay 5 cents a glass for Barre water, although our salary is so low we�d soon be as dry as before,� he wrote. A consortium of Vermont companies established a canteen �where the boys may purchase six glasses of cool lager beer or soda, and have a place to buy their tobacco, etc. The profit goes to the Co�s with which they may buy sugar, milk, potatoes, etc.� Pitkin continued, �It might be of interest to know what we had to eat yesterday. Breakfast, 5:50 tomatoes, coffee, hardtack; dinner 12:00 coffee, hardtack, tomatoes; supper 6:00 hardtack, coffee, tomatoes, and still some of the field officers wonder why the boys complain� So far none of Co. E. boys are in the hospital, but some do not feel like walking in heavy marching order more than ten or fifteen miles per day.�The hospital at Camp Thomas soon became notorious for poor sanitation and inadequate care of sick soldiers. The belief of many was that admission to the hospital was tantamount to a death sentence. Captain Morris of the Ninth New York testified some months after: �The day before a sergeant whom I had known long and well was taken to the hospital of the division. As he left the regiment, he said to me that I need not look for him again, as he was going to the hospital, and frankly, I doubt whether I shall ever see him again.� The Captain graphically described the horrors of the hospital. �I heard one day that a man from the Ninth, one of my own company, was dying there. The man was ill with typhoid fever, and his temperature was far above one hundred. When I reached his cot I nearly staggered with horror. The man�s face was literally black with flies. His mouth, which was open � the poor fellow was too weak to close it � was filled with flies. The person in charge nonchalantly remarked that there were not enough nurses to go round.�For the northern boys of the First Vermont Infantry, the nickname for Chickamauga Creek, �River of Death,� became meaningful once again as the National Cemetery had to be reopened to accommodate the bodies ravaged by disease. By June 1, the first death of a Vermont soldier was recorded by the regiment. Musician William Spafford of Bennington �died of a brain fever. He had been sick only a little more than a week.� Sanitary conditions in the sweltering heat of Georgia resulted in deadly cases of typhoid fever, dysentery, and malaria. One officer from a New York Regiment complained that the camp was a modern Andersonville, evoking memories of the prisoner of war camp made infamous during the Civil War. �By the end of June,� reported Cirilli in �Bullets and Bacilli,� Camp Thomas swarmed with 58,548 men and nearly 15,000 horses and mules. The influx of thousands of raw recruits ignorant of basic sanitary principles overtaxed the facilities and led to serious camp pollution. �It was not long before the ground became a mass of putrefaction,� wrote Col. Charles B. Dougherty, a line office with the Ninth Pennsylvania Infantry, �which no effort towards sanitation on our part, using quicklime and disinfectants, could prevent.� On June 17 Pitkin remarked on the monotony of their situation. There had been a good deal of sameness to camp life for the past few days. Their uniform issue was in process with each soldier receiving �Two pairs of shoes, three pairs of stockings, two sets of underwear, two blue flannel shirts, two pairs of blue trousers, one blouse, one campaign hat, one suit brown duck, one pair of leggings, new haversacks and canteens, two wool blankets, one blanket bag, one rubber poncho, new overcoats, one meat can, etc. Pitkin also writes appreciatively of gifts sent from Barre.On June 13 Pitkin mentioned the first watermelons to arrive in camp. Many of the boys had never seen one before and �went very light with them,� some because they were afraid of them. By mid July Pitkin acknowledged that there had been reports of typhoid fever in the camp but the few in the 1st Vermont that have the malady are �doing nicely.� But this was Pitkin�s last missive from Chickamauga. He spent the last week of July sick in quarters and was furloughed to his parents� home in Fair Haven, where he convalesced from typhoid fever. In a month�s time the situation had changed dramatically. On Aug. 16 he noted in his last missive written in Fair Haven, �When there are over two hundred who are unfit for duty and the number increasing, it is time something was done to improve the health of the camp.�Faced with an epidemic that had incapacitated two thirds of many companies of the First Vermont, the decision to send the Vermont boys home seemed most practical. Company E left Chickamauga on Aug. 19 and arrived at Fort Ethan Allen the night of the 22nd. Records in the Adjutant General�s office in Montpelier show that 658 soldiers were sick at one time or another at Camp Thomas � this out of a total of 1,058. or over 62 percent. Company E�s rate of illness was relatively light at about 37 percent. Amazingly, the mortality from disease in the Spanish American War was almost ten times that from enemy fire. And Camp Thomas, the camp for the First Vermont and other regiments, suffered an epidemic of typhoid fever several times the rate of other camps.The boys come homeA reporter for the Telegram witnessed the arrival of First Vermont as the train pulled into Essex Junction. �There is no denying that a harder lot of looking men have not been gathered together in Vermont since the veterans of the Civil War returned from the front. The sight of those in the hospital train made one�s heart ache, but there was little that was inspiring in the tight-drawn sunburned features of the well ones.� The reporter for the Telegram continued, �As the train of sleepers was pushed on the siding they were about the worst looking cars ever seen in the state, and people crowded around and there was an attempt at something like an ovation, the women had their handkerchiefs out and some of the men began to wave their hats, but one look of the sad, haggard faces that were thrust from the windows took away all the gladness of the homecoming and the feeling of sorrow was increased when it was known that Corporal Lamson of Company E, Barre, had died on the way.�Harry Lamson was from Brookfield but had been living and working at the Wells-Lamson granite shed in Barre for several years. He was a graduate of Goddard Seminary and well-liked by his comrades. �No young man in this city had a brighter future before him, yet all too early he was taken from us by the Reaper Death, and we must reconcile ourselves to the loss,� noted the Telegram. The newspaper also reported that 214 sick soldiers returned to Fort Ethan Allen on the same train and that the �appearance of these young men brought tears to the eyes of everyone and many of the women wept as though their hearts would break.� Several other members of Company E. were on the train, and some had to enter the hospital upon arrival. �Of these Frank McRae was the most dangerously ill. He was taken with malarial fever several weeks ago and it was not thought that he would survive the trip north. William Rust has been having a hard case of malaria. He was very weak when seen yesterday and was but a skeleton of his former self. William Fraser is so much reduced in flesh that his father scarcely knew him. William Burroughs has been sick with acute indigestion for nine weeks. He has loss 60 pounds.� The litany of illness went on, and for years after their stint at Camp Thomas, Captain Joe Jackson, a surgeon with Company E. received requests for verification of the illnesses so that the afflicted soldiers could collect disability pensions, such was the chronic nature of malaria and dysentery.Corporal Lamson�s funeral was held at the Barre Congregational Church and all seats were taken long before the scheduled service. A processional was played by S. Holister Jackson, and the church was decorated with red, white, and blue floral tributes. Pastors from all of Barre�s churches participated in the service.Company E�s return to Barre on August 24 was met by a restrained and sober crowd. �Their arrival was a very quiet one,� noted the Telegram. �Each man carried his blanket in a roll and their haversacks, guns and other equipment were left behind, having been turned in to the ordnance department. The boys brought with them a young dark complexioned gentleman by the name of �Walter� from the south and he is attracting a good deal of attention.�Within two days after returning home another Barre soldier died. William Dunham of Clark Street succumbed to the malaria he had contracted at Camp Thomas. Will had been graduated from Goddard Seminary in the same class as Harry Lamson but he had continued his education at Tufts University, receiving a baccalaureate degree in 1895. Two years later he was a member of the faculty at Goddard, teaching literature and elocution. His funeral was held at the Universalist Church and he was buried in Hope Cemetery.The next day Company E was mustered out of the active service of the United States and returned to National Guard status. It was not long after that an official inquiry was initiated into the circumstances of Camp Thomas, where hundreds of healthy men were infected with chronic disease which would plague them for the rest of their lives. As soldiers returned to Fort Ethan Allen they were willing to level criticism at the officers who tolerated their harsh conditions while at Camp Thomas. A reporter for the St. Albans Messenger interviewed an officer �who had much to say concerning rations that were dealt out to them. Over 700 pounds of maggoty meat was turned over to his company which sold it at 1 cent a pound rather than eat it. The boys spent their own money for better food than the government furnished them, and spent lots of it, too.� The reporter noted that �most of the members of the regiment speak in the highest terms of all the officers with one exception. There is slowly coming to light much that reflects on this officer and if his treatment of the men finds its way into the newspapers it will create a sensation.�An investigationA commission, headed by Norwich alumnus Grenville M. Dodge, held hearings in several parts of the country, including Vermont. It was soon clear that one officer held accountable for the poor treatment of the soldiers was Maj. Jenne, a doctor from St. Albans who was charged with supervision of the hospital at Camp Thomas. It was alleged that Jenne �very seldom visited the hospital or paid any attention to it.� The investigation was conducted by Dodge Commission member U.A. Woodbury, a former Vermont Governor. Maj. Jenne had charge of the first and second division hospitals and was grilled by Woodbury for four and a half hours. He read from one of his reports where he noted the bad drainage in the camp which allowed latrine-pits to �overflow into the ground occupied by tents. Garbage was thrown near the tents. There was no thorough investigation of the water...insufficient care was taken of refuse. Hospitals were insufficiently supplied and staffed. Many sinks (latrine pits) filled with water from percolation as in a spring. Saw the sinks filled by rain and the contents spread over the surface of the camps. In the case of the Vermont Regiment it was impossible to locate the sinks further away.� The instances of poor sanitation, infestation of flies and vermin, and poor medical care were detailed in the examination which was reported in the Vermont press.While the public hearings were quick to blame the medical officers, the Dodge Commission Report found that the Regimental commanders were, in fact, equally culpable. Their indifference to the requests for better sanitation in the camps made the epidemic of typhoid fever inevitable. The Commission found the Medical Department �was unprepared to meet the needs of the camps, did not investigate the sanitary conditions, had an insufficient nursing staff, and were insufficiently supplied with medicine due to inadequacies in the Quartermaster Department.�The great tragedy of the disease that killed and incapacitated so many at Camp Thomas was that it was entirely avoidable. Great advances had been made in medicine and sanitation since the days of the Civil War, and had there been cooperation among the line officers and the medical corps, the heartbreak of epidemic and disease could have been averted. The volunteers from Barre were sad victims of military indifference and incompetence, and to the discredit of the regiment two lives were unnecessarily lost.Sen. Frank Greene was Captain of Company K from St. Albans. Some 30 years later he recalled the misfortunes of the Vermont regiment at Camp Thomas: �The First Vermont Volunteers did not see battle but did experience indescribable misery through the Nation�s neglect. I am certain the Regiment would have preferred, yes, welcomed, battle to the suffering, heat, poor water, typhoid fever, dysentery, disgusting food, and lack of medical equipment at Chickamauga. Vivid, undimmed by the years is my memory of the suffering of the sick, their courageous fights to live, and the despair of those trying to aid them. All honor to them and to those men of Vermont who went stoically about their duties, half sick, through that terrible experience. Soldiers true, all of them.�

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Dangers of distracted driving | Times Free Press Local Dangers of distracted driving in Opinion Times Distracted driving, no matter what the age of the driver, is dangerous. It's especially risky, though, for teens -- and those who have no choice but to share the nation's roads with them. That's because teenagers rely so heavily on text messaging to communicate and because so many of the youngsters text while behind the wheel of a moving vehicle. The practice does not come without consequences. Consider this: A new national survey found that 58 percent of high school seniors admitted they had texted or emailed while driving in the month prior to the survey. Among juniors, the number somewhat lower -- 43 percent. The numbers shouldn't be a surprise. The typical teen, researchers say, sends and receives about 100 text messages a day. For teens who drive, it stands to reason that some of those many messages are either sent or received while the youngster is behind the wheel. The result is predictable. A growing number of teens are injured or killed as a result of distracted driving. Indeed, distracted driving deaths are most common in teens, accounting for about 16 percent of motor vehicle deaths in the age group. Ominously, the percentage is climbing. Teens' distracted driving is dangerous to others, too. Those who share the road with them unfortunately face an increasing chance of being injured or killed in a crash caused by distractions. A recent trial in Massachusetts is a case in point. Last week, a judge in Haverhill sentenced an 18-year-old to jail for a year and suspended his driving license for 15 years for causing a fatal crash. Jurors ruled Aaron Deveau was responsible for causing death and injury when he veered across the road while texting. The message from the Massachusetts courtroom is startling and appropriately clear. Jurors and the sentencing judge sent an unmistakable message. There's never an excuse for a teen -- or anyone -- to text, email or use a hand-held cellphone while driving. Those who text behind the wheel should pay a high price for the act. Currently 39 states ban texting while driving and 10 prohibit both texting and hand-held cellphone use. Given the dangers -- death, injury and property damage -- related to those practices, other states should implement similar bans . Boost the minimum wage A controversy's racial tone

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Police probe triple shooting at Philly biker club PHILADELPHIA (AP) � Philadelphia police are investigating after a shooting that left three people injured outside a motorcycle club. Investigators say it happened shortly before 6 a.m. Sunday outside the Wheels of Soul club in west Philadelphia. One man was shot in the head and taken to the hospital in critical condition; police say two others suffered less serious injuries and are in stable condition. Police did not immediately say what led to the shooting. No arrests were announced. In April, police said one man was killed and another critically wounded in a shooting at the same location.

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Insurgents kill six more U.S. troops BAGHDAD - Sunni insurgents, resilient despite the five-week security crackdown in the capital, killed at least six more U.S. troops over the weekend. A Sunni car bomber hit a largely Shiite district in the capital Sunday, killing at least eight people. The American military said four U.S. soldiers died and one was wounded when the unit was struck by a roadside bomb in western Baghdad. During the ongoing security sweep in the capital and surrounding regions, the soldiers' battalion had found eight weapons caches and two roadside bombs and helped rescue a kidnap victim, the military said. A fifth soldier was killed in an explosion in Diyala, an increasingly volatile province just northeast of the capital. A Marine died in fighting the same day in Anbar province, the vast, largely desert region that sprawls west of Baghdad to the Saudi Arabian, Jordanian and Syrian borders. The regions are controlled by the Sunni insurgency. All of the U.S. victims were killed on Saturday, the military said in a series of statements that also reported that a seventh soldier died from non-combat injuries but gave no other details. While U.S. and Iraqi troops have flooded the Baghdad streets and a heavily armored American column was sent north to adjacent Diyala province, attacks on American and Iraqi forces have been robust. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the success of the mission, which was starting well, could not be measured for months and that it was designed to give the Iraqis more time to settle political and sectarian differences. "The issue that we're all trying to figure out is how best do you get the Iraqis to reconcile their differences - because after all, this is not going to be solved by the military. It has to involve political reconciliation in Iraq, among Iraqis," Gates said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "We're basically buying them time," he said. The latest deaths raised the American military death toll in Iraq to 3,217 since the war began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. In Shiite-controlled eastern Baghdad, a U.S. Bradley fighting vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb Saturday evening, set afire and destroyed, said spokesman Maj. Steven F. Lamb said. There were no casualties. Across Iraq, at least 20 people died Sunday, a sign that violence continued to abate as U.S. and Iraqi forces press ahead with what many view as a last-chance bid to quell the sectarian violence in Baghdad and central regions of the country. At least 12 of those killed died in Baghdad and eight of them were slain in the car bombing in a predominantly Shiite district, police said. The attack targeted people grilling meat along the street to offer as charity on a Shiite Muslim holiday marking the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Police said 28 people were wounded. Police said the bodies of 16 people, most shot in the head and showing signs of torture, were found dumped nationwide, just five of them in Baghdad. A U.S. official, meanwhile, blamed al-Qaida in Iraq for chlorine bomb attacks that struck villagers in Anbar province earlier this week but said tight Iraqi security measures prevented a higher number of casualties. Three suicide bombers driving trucks rigged with tanks of toxic chlorine gas struck targets in the insurgent stronghold including the office of a Sunni tribal leader opposed to al-Qaida. The attacks killed at least two people and sickened 350 Iraqi civilians and six U.S. troops, the U.S. military said Saturday. U.S. military spokesman Rear Adm. Mark Fox said at least one of the attackers detonated his explosives after he was blocked by an Iraqi police checkpoint in Amiriyah, just south of Fallujah, killing only himself. Fox conceded that many Iraqis were exposed to the chemical fumes but insisted that steps Iraqi security forces were increasingly effective. "Insurgent attempts to create high-profile carnage are being stopped at checkpoints across the country," he said. Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh appealed to Iraqis in the bid to curb violence. "Opportunity is still available to all honest Iraqis to rescue this country from the criminals," he said at a joint news conference with Fox. "The chlorine attack was a kind of punishment against the people who stood against terrorist organizations." American forces are seeing some progress in their bid to drive a wedge between insurgents in Anbar province and more mainstream Sunnis who oppose them. The insurgent chlorine bombings were viewed as part of the building power struggle between those factions. A U.S. Senate delegation let by John Sununu, R-N.H., met Iraq's parliament speaker in Baghdad. "The most important challenge Iraq faces right now is security," parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani said in a statement afterward, "and all Iraqis need to come together with support from the international community to achieve stability and impose law." AP-CS-03-18-07 2021EDT Recommended for You

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» Reef Residents evacuated after Reef Island fire Scores of occupants of a major luxury residential complex in Bahrain were evacuated yesterday (February 11) after a fire broke out in a restaurant on the ground floor of one of the buildings. Plumes of smoke were seen over Reef Island after th More… Out-of-court deal urged in real estate dispute in Bahrain The parties involved in a dispute over a real estate development project in Bahrain have been urged to seek an out-of-court settlement so as not to harm the personal interests of owners, investors and the master developer. Deputy More… Disputes arise over delay on Bahrain island development A dispute over penalty demands and right of access has broken out between the master developer of a $1.5-billion man-made island project in Bahrain and around 60 developers and property owners there. Lulu Tourism Company (LTC), th More… Enec completes giant artificial reef The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec) has announced the successful completion of a 6,700-sq-m artificial reef, roughly the size of a football field, on the shorelines of Barakah, UAE. Developed in partnership with the Nat More… New underwater tourism project planned in Dubai Reef Worlds, a US-based reef developer, said it has completed the design works on Pearl of Dubai, which is set to become the largest sustainable underwater tourism site in the world. The underwater tourism design company based in More… Jordan firm acquires mediaME Jordan-based Reef for Software Development, the parent company of ShooFeeTV, has announced the acquisition of mediaME, the largest online community of advertising and media professionals in the Middle East, from MediaScope. mediaM More… Artificial reefs to bolster Bahrain’s seas More than 2,500 artificial "reef balls" will be submerged off the coast of Bahrain in a bid to boost the country's marine resources. The cement spheres will be dropped at pre-determined locations in the country's waters over the next year More… Reef expands its management team Reef - Real Estate Finance Company said it has expanded its managment team, with the appointment of Ali Salem and Mukhtar Al Toblani into key positions. Mahmood Al Koofi, CEO of Reef said the additions were in line with the company's strat More… $13.2m mall planned in Malkiya, Bahrain A new BD5 million ($13.2 million) shopping complex will open in November in Malkiya, it was announced on Wednesday. The Reef Shopping Mall, built on an area of 5.4 hectares, will include a hypermarket, shopping outlets, food court, multipu More… $13.2m mall planned in Malkiya, Bahrain The Reef Shopping Mall, built on an area of 5.4 hectares, will include a hypermarket, shopping outlets, food court, multipu More… 1 2 3 4 5 > Last ›

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Alba sponsors UN public services forum Manama, June 23, 2013 Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) is the platinum sponsor of the 2013 United Nations Public Services Forum, Day and Awards Ceremony (UNPSD2013) starting tomorrow. The four-day event, being held under the patronage of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, will focus on the theme ‘Transformative e-Government and Innovation: Creating a Better Future for all’. The sponsorship agreement was announced after a meeting between Ali Al Baqali, Alba’s chief financial officer and Mohammed Ziad Asfour, the vice chairman of the organising committee of UNPSD2013. Also present at the meeting was the senior manager for human resources and public relations, Abdul Rahman Janahi. “Bahrain becomes the fourth country in the world and the first in the region to host and organise such a forum outside the UN premises in New York since its launch 10 years ago,” said Asfour. “More than 700 delegates representing over 94 countries from across the globe are expected to be in attendance here in Bahrain. Signing of the deal certainly enhances the private sector’s initiative to boost Bahrain’s economy, and reinforces strong partnership relationships with the public sector,” he said. The United Nations Public Service Awards is an international recognition of excellence in the area of eServices as it rewards public service institutions, and milestone projects from around the globe that have made contributions in the development of public e-services. - TradeArabia News Service Bahrain | Alba | forum | More Industry, Logistics & Shipping Stories

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Abandoned in Guantanamo: WikiLeaks Reveals the Yemenis Cleared for Release for Up to Seven Years Wednesday, 11 May 2011 05:32 By Andy Worthington, Truthout | Report font size In all of the mainstream media analysis of WikiLeaks' recent release of Detainee Assessment Briefs (DABs) from Guantanamo, relating to almost all of the 779 prisoners who have been held at the prison over the last nine years and four months, one group of prisoners has so far been overlooked: the Yemenis. The most unfortunate group of men in Guantanamo, the Yemenis - 89 in total - make up over half of the 172 prisoners still held. In 2006 and 2007, when the majority of the Saudi prisoners were released, as part of a political settlement between the Bush administration and the Saudi government, which introduced an expensive rehabilitation program to secure the return of its nationals, no such deal took place between the US and President Saleh of Yemen. Just 23 Yemenis have been released from Guantanamo throughout its history and those who remain have found themselves used as political pawns. When President Obama established the Guantanamo Review Task Force to examine the cases of all the remaining prisoners in 2009, the Task Force - a collection of sober officials and lawyers from various government departments and the intelligence agencies - recommended that 36 Yemenis should be released immediately and that 30 others should be held in a new category of imprisonment - "conditional detention" - until the security situation in Yemen was assessed to have improved. The Task Force also recommended that five others should be put forward for trial and 26 others held indefinitely without charge or trial. The designation of this latter group for indefinite detention - as part of a group of 48 prisoners in total - dismayed human rights activists and supporters, in general, of the principle that preventive detention is only authorized if the prisoners in question are enemy prisoners of war, removed from the battlefield until the end of hostilities. This should not have been a contentious viewpoint, but it was a sign of the paranoia regarding Guantanamo - which was deliberately engendered by the prison's supporters and bought into by Obama administration officials - that few voices of dissent were raised when the president attempted to justify holding 48 men indefinitely because they were regarded as too dangerous to release, even though there was insufficient evidence to put them on trial. In the real world, rather than the permanently spooked world of Guantanamo and terrorism, this would mean that there was no evidence and that what the government had instead was multiple levels of hearsay and information extracted through torture. And this, indeed, is what has become apparent in the DABs released by WikiLeaks, which have demonstrated that much of the government's supposed evidence - against prisoners who, presumably, include some of these 48 men - was either extracted from "high-value detainees" like Abu Zubaydah, who were tortured in secret CIA prisons, or from informants within Guantanamo, who were bribed or coerced to tell lies about their fellow prisoners. The 28 Yemenis "Approved for Transfer" From Guantanamo and the Poor Reasons for Their Ongoing Detention Beyond these 48 men, however, and the 26 Yemenis included in the total, the Yemenis cleared for release (or "approved for transfer," in the careful words of the Task Force) have fared no better. Although President Obama released one Yemeni who had won his habeas corpus petition in the fall of 2009 and six others the week before Christmas, the capture, on Christmas Day 2009, of a would-be plane bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian who had apparently been recruited in Yemen, caused a sudden backlash against releasing any more Yemenis from Guantanamo, which President Obama accepted without criticism, imposing a moratorium on releasing any Yemenis that is still in place 16 months later. Since January 2010, just one Yemeni has been freed - a patently innocent man, who also won his habeas corpus petition - while, in general, a terrible injustice has been allowed to prevail. On the one hand, this involves the US government endorsing guilt by nationality and being content to tar the whole of Yemen as a terrorist nation that cannot be trusted with looking after prisoners released from Guantanamo, and on the other, it involves supporters of Guantanamo telling deliberate lies about the Yemenis, by claiming that released Yemenis have "returned to the battlefield" in significant numbers, when only two examples have been reported - one who was subsequently killed in an airstrike, and another who surrendered to the Yemeni authorities. In fact, the majority of the alleged recidivists in the Gulf - around a dozen ex-prisoners - are Saudis, released by President Bush against the advice of his own intelligence agencies, who identified them as a threat. These men passed through the rehabilitation program, but then some of them crossed the border into Yemen to join al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a small terrorist cell inspired by Osama bin Laden's example. As a result of President Obama's moratorium, the remaining 28 men cleared for immediate release by the Task Force, but still held, have been consigned to a fate that, in effect, is no different from the 48 men held indefinitely without charge or trial. The identities of these men have not been publicly announced and it has not been possible to identify all of them, but 19 cleared Yemenis who are still held are identified in the WikiLeaks documents. Cleared for Release Since 2004 What is deeply shocking, in reviewing their cases, is the realization that six of them were cleared for release in 2004, three were cleared for release in 2006 and the remaining ten were cleared for release in 2007. Even these dates may not be completely accurate, as DABs issued in 2008, for example, only refer to transfer decisions made the year before, so some of the men cleared in 2007 may have been cleared even earlier. These 19 men are not the children or geriatrics exposed in the classified documents released by WikiLeaks, swept up when all screening and safeguards are discarded, as they were in Afghanistan after the US-led invasion in October 2001, Nor are they the farmers and taxi drivers and unwilling Taliban conscripts also identified in the documents (what Maj. Gen. Michael Dunlavey, the commander of Guantanamo in 2002, referred to as "Mickey Mouse prisoners"). However, they are people who, according to the criteria for ongoing detention at Guantanamo - their intelligence value and the risk they pose to the US - should have been released from the prison when they were cleared for release between four and seven years ago. Most of the 19 were assessed as low-level Taliban foot soldiers, who, in the opinion of the military, do not constitute a serious threat to the US, and some, of course, dispute the allegations against them. Four of them, it transpires, have had their habeas corpus petitions ruled upon by US judges in the District Court in Washington, DC. In two of these cases (those of Fahmi al-Assani, cleared for release in October 2004 and Suleiman al-Nahdi, cleared for release in August 2007), the prisoners lost their petitions and in two others, in which the prisoners won (Saeed Hatim, cleared for release in January 2007 and Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif, cleared for release in December 2006), the Obama administration appealed. The Case of Saeed Hatim and a Notoriously Unreliable Witness Saeed Hatim, whose habeas corpus petition was granted in December 2009, had his successful petition vacated by the Court of Appeals (the DC Circuit Court) in February this year and Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif, who won his petition last July, is currently preparing to challenge the government's appeal. In both cases, however, it is deeply distressing that the administration chose to appeal the successful habeas petitions of men whose release from Guantanamo was first approved under the Bush administration and was then approved by US judges, especially as further information emerged in court which undermined the government's supposed evidence and added mitigating factors that were not available from an analysis of the documents released by WikiLeaks. In Saeed Hatim's case, for example, Judge Ricardo Urbina ruled out self-incriminating statements made by Hatim himself, accepting that he made them while being mistreated and threatened with torture in Kandahar after his capture and also that he repeated them at Guantanamo "because he feared that he would be punished if he changed his story." Judge Urbina also ruled out the government's major claim against Hatim - that he had taken part in a showdown between al-Qaeda and US forces in Afghanistan's Tora Bora mountains in December 2001 - because the only source for that claim was one of the notoriously unreliable witnesses identified in the WikiLeaks documents, who, in Judge Urbina's words, "has exhibited an ongoing pattern of severe psychological problems while detained at GTMO." As I explained in an article last year: The judge cited an interrogator, who, in May 2002, stated, "I do not recommend [redacted] for further exploitation due in part to mental and emotional problems [and] limited knowledgeability," and also noted that he had attempted to hang himself in his cell in February 2003 and had again tried to commit suicide in March 2003, "saying that he had received 'command hallucinations' to do so." He also noted that the Guantanamo hospital record stated that the witness "had 'vague auditory hallucinations' and that his symptoms were consistent with a 'depressive disorder, psychosis, post traumatic stress and a severe personality disorder,'" and concluded by "refus[ing] to credit what is arguably the government's most serious allegation in this case based solely on one statement, made years after the events in question, by an individual whose grasp on reality appears to have been tenuous at best." I also explained that this particular witness was noteworthy because, in June 2007, the Office of Administrative Review of the Detention of Enemy Combatants (OARDEC), which compiled the evidence against the prisoners for their tribunals and review boards, "warned that because [his] first-hand knowledge had come into serious question since 2005, all information provided by [him] should be adequately verified through independent sources." In Hatim's case, his statement was made in 2006 and, as Judge Urbina also explained, "the personal representative of another GTMO detainee determined that none of the detainees that [the witness] had identified as having trained at al-Farouq were even in Afghanistan during the time that [he] said they attended the camp." This was a reference to a military official assigned to represent a Syrian prisoner, Mohammed al-Tumani, at his Combatant Status Review Tribunal in 2004. In a story by Corine Hegland that was published in the National Journal in 2006, the personal representative was so taken aback by the vigor with which al-Tumani refuted a claim that he had attended at the al-Farouq military training camp in Afghanistan that he "pulled the classified file of the accuser, saw that he had accused 60 men and, suddenly skeptical, pulled the files of every detainee the accuser had placed at the one training camp. None of the men had been in Afghanistan at the time the accuser said he saw them at the camp." Saeed Hatim's DAB, released by WikiLeaks, reveals that his accuser was Yasin Basardah, whose unreliability was first discussed publicly in a Washington Post article in February 2009. His testimony has been excluded by judges in other habeas corpus petitions (see, for example, the case of Mohammed El-Gharani), and he has been singled out in the most recent media reports based on the WikiLeaks documents as a particularly unreliable witness, who, as The Guardian UK explained, was "freed after implicating 123 prisoners," and was "rewarded despite unsupported claims and interrogators' doubts about [the] sheer number of names he gave up." The Case of Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif: Cleared for Release and Mentally Ill If anything, the case of Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif is even more depressing. Although the US authorities persistently tried to portray him as a member of al-Qaeda, both Latif and his lawyers maintained that he had traveled to Afghanistan to receive cheap medical treatment for a head wound received in a car crash in Yemen. When his petition was granted last July, by Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr., who ruled that the government had failed to prove "by a preponderance of the evidence that Latif was in Afghanistan to train and fight with the Taliban," one of his lawyers, David Remes, triumphantly stated, "This is a mentally disturbed man who has said from the beginning that he went to Afghanistan seeking medical care because he was too poor to pay for it. Finally, a court has recognized that he's been telling the truth and ordered his release." There were many reasons for presuming that Latif had told the truth. In my book "The Guantanamo Files," for example, I described what had happened at his Combatant Status Review Tribunal at Guantanamo in 2004: Latif appeared bewildered, refuting what he believed was an allegation that he came from a place called al-Qaeda by saying, "I am from Orday City in Yemen, not a city in al-Qaeda. My city is very far away from the city of al-Qaeda," which perhaps reinforces his claim that he had traveled to Afghanistan to receive treatment for a fractured skull. Moreover, in the years following the tribunal, it also became apparent that the US government knew that Latif had severe mental health problems. When another of his lawyers, Marc Falkoff, tried to secure his medical records in 2008, he wrote that the government had "been aware for years that Mr. Latif suffers from serious psychological problems, apparently including schizophrenia." Nevertheless, as I explained in an article last year, after he won his habeas corpus petition: Even so, the authorities were reluctant to abandon their portrayal of Latif as a conscious troublemaker, as is demonstrated by the following notes in the summary of evidence for his military review board in March 2005: "Detainee's overall behavior has been non-compliant and aggressive. Detainee does not comply with guards instruction. Detainee continues to talk between the blocks. Detainee also has multiple occurrences of causing damage in his cell. Detainee has shown by his actions that he has little regard for the rules of the cellblock and does not respect his fellow man." In fact, far from demonstrating deliberate noncompliance, Latif was in such a precarious mental state that he attempted to commit suicide on a number of occasions. In an appeal issued in May 2009, Amnesty International noted that he had "attempted suicide several times since September 2008," and that he "told his lawyer that on one occasion in November 2008, he tried to hang himself twice in one day." The Amnesty report added, "At least one of these attempts was confirmed to his lawyer by an official at Guantanamo." Last May, Amnesty International issued another appeal and noted little improvement in the intervening 12 months, stating that Latif was "held in isolation," and that in March he told his lawyer that he "continues to be subjected to ill-treatment and indicated that he feels suicidal." When it comes to President Obama's management of Guantanamo, the continued detention of Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif and the decision to appeal his successful habeas corpus petition is a particularly low point, as Latif is patently unwell. The judge in his habeas petition took his responsibilities seriously when ordering his release and his transfer from Guantanamo was first approved over four years ago, in December 2006. The Arbitrary Detention of the Yemenis Even so, it should also be apparent that, when it comes to the other Yemenis whose transfer from Guantanamo was approved by the president's Guantanamo Review Task Force and, in many cases, in decisions made under President Bush dating back to 2004, the continued detention of any of these men undermines any claims that the arbitrary detention that typified the Bush years has come to an end. When judges order the release of prisoners, based on a detailed analysis of their habeas corpus petitions and are ignored, and when decisions taken by the Task Force are discarded because of political convenience, it is clear that the Yemenis are still held as much "outside the law" as they were under George W. Bush. If President Obama wants to make up for failing to fulfill his promise to close Guantanamo within a year, which he made on his second day in office, he should immediately release Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif, Saeed Hatim and the other 26 men, cleared for release up to seven years ago by the Bush administration and cleared for release again on his own watch. Otherwise, everyone might as well stop pretending that Guantanamo is anything other than what it was when it was first established: a place to hold men forever, without any legal interference, even though the rationale for that disturbing behavior - establishing an illegal offshore interrogation center, where the prisoners could be interrogated using whatever means the commander in chief saw fit to authorize - evaporated years ago. It is time for Guantanamo to close and to achieve that, everyone except those put forward for trials should be released - starting with these 28 Yemenis. Note: The 19 Yemenis recommended for transfer (and the date those recommendations were made) ISN 026 Fahed Ghazi (recommended for transfer July 2006) ISN 034 Abdullah al-Yafi (recommended for transfer April 2007) ISN 115 Abdul Rahman Naser (recommended for transfer January 2007) ISN 152 Asim al-Khalaqi (recommended for transfer January 2007) ISN 156 Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif (recommended for transfer December 2006) ISN 163 Khalid al-Qadasi (recommended for transfer January 2007) ISN 165 Adil Said al-Busayss (recommended for transfer September 2004) ISN 167 Ali Yahya al-Raimi (recommended for transfer October 2004) ISN 224 Abdul Rahman Muhammad (recommended for transfer January 2007) ISN 249 Muhammad al-Hamiri (recommended for transfer April 2007) ISN 251 Muhammad bin Salem (recommended for transfer April 2004) ISN 255 Saeed Hatim (recommended for transfer January 2007) ISN 259 Fadil Hintif (recommended for transfer January 2007) ISN 440 Muhammad Bwazir (recommended for transfer May 2007) ISN 461 Abdul Rahman al-Qyati (recommended for transfer September 2004) ISN 506 Khalid al-Dhuby (recommended for transfer December 2006) ISN 511 Suleiman al-Nahdi (recommended for transfer August 2007) ISN 554 Fahmi al-Assani (recommended for transfer October 2004) ISN 572 Salah al-Dhabi (recommended for transfer September 2004) Andy Worthington is a journalist and the author of "The Guantanamo Files" (Pluto Press), the first book to tell the stories of all the prisoners in Guantanamo. Worthington, along with a half-dozen mainstream media organizations, worked with WikiLeaks on the Guantanamo detainee file released rencently. He maintains a blog here. Police Contract and State Law Shield Cops From Accountability in Chicago - BuzzFlash Bill Nye: Climate Deniers Are Wrong - BuzzFlash Legalization of Industrial Hemp in the US Is a No-Brainer - BuzzFlash Abandoned in Guantanamo: WikiLeaks Reveals the Yemenis Cleared for Release for Up to Seven Years

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3player Xposé Ireland AM Fitness & Well Being Parent Trap Xposé Mag Jessica Chastain buys $1.4m home 28th Jun 13 | Entertainment News Liam Gallagher: I was wrong about Glastonbury Jessica Chastain has spent $1.4 million on a New York City apartment. The 36-year-old actress' new home in the Big Apple's Greenwich Village - a largely residential neighbourhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan which contains a number of celebrity pads - boasts a two-bedroom and two-bathroom loft duplex. One of the two very spacious bedrooms feature huge double doors and the other has three large windows and high ceilings. The large living room has vaulted ceilings with spotlights, ample space and a wood-burning fireplace. The modern apartment also has a separate open dining area which sits beside a spiral staircase that takes you to the next floor. According the Daily Mail newspaper, she signed for the property in September 2012 which also features 24-hour doorman, bike room, roof deck and courtyard in her building. The red head landed the Yves Saint Laurent Beaute fragrance campaign - which has previously features big names like Kate Moss and Emily Blunt - in June 2012 and the fragrance was released in August 2012, a campaign which is believed to have helped her earn millions. Jessica was praised by Stephen Bezy, general manager of Yves Saint Laurent Beaute at L'Oreal Plus, when her first campaign hit billboards in August 2012. MORE FROM ENTERTAINMENT NEWS Simon Pegg and Mike Myers joining noir thriller Terminal 25th May 16 | Entertainment News Directed by Vaughn Stein from his own screenplay, Terminal tells the story of two hit-men, played by Max Irons and Dexter Fletcher, as they embark on a dangerous mission for a mysterious employer who offers a tempting pay cheque. Along the way, the duo comes across a dynamic woman named... Zoe Kravitz: 'Braids banish hair problems' 25th May 16 | Entertainment News The 27-year-old star takes after her parents, musician Lenny Kravitz and actress Lisa Bonet, when it comes to her edgy aesthetic and often switches up her look. Zoe's hair never stays the same for long and she's rocked everything from shiny straight locks to her current braided do -... Alicia Keys announces intimate London gig 25th May 16 | Entertainment News The show will feature an intimate performance from the award-winning singer-songwriter, with a number of special guests also expected to appear on the night. The show comes as Alicia is set to make history as the first artist to perform at the UEFA Champions League Final this weekend... Robert Plant pulls out of festival due to Led Zeppelin plagiarism trial 25th May 16 | Entertainment News The British rocker was due to play in a concert as part of a benefit show, The Ship We're In, to raise money for The British Red Cross' refugee awareness campaign at London's Royal Festival Hall on 19 June (16). The gig was to close the Meltdown Festival, which this year (16) is... Professor Green and Millie Mackintosh granted divorce 25th May 16 | Entertainment News The Read All About It star split from the reality TV star-turned-fashion designer in February (16) after two and a half years of marriage, and their union is now officially over. Millie was granted a decree nisi by District Judge Heather MacGregor on the grounds of unreasonable... X-Men: Apocalypse puts U.K. box office rivals in the shade 25th May 16 | Entertainment News The mutant superhero epic, which stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and Oscar Isaac, smashed its competition over the past weekend (20-22May16) with ticket sales of $10.8 million (�7.35 million). In second place was cult computer game turned children's... Coldplay to headline Prince Harry's charity concert 25th May 16 | Entertainment News The Paradise singers will take to the stage at a show hosted by Sentebale in the public gardens of London's Kensington Palace, the official royal residence of Prince Harry and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, on 28 June (16). The concert was announced on the Kensington Palace... Steve Harvey's daughters forgave him for leaving to pursue career 25th May 16 | Entertainment News The comedian, chat show host and Miss Universe host went from being homeless to building a reported $100 million (�70million) fortune after quitting his job as an insurance salesman. Harvey opened up about how his decision to pursue his dream of a career in showbiz cost him his marriage... Viggo Mortensen: 'Death consumes me' 25th May 16 | Entertainment News The Danish-American actor was catapulted to global fame when he landed the role of Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings movies, but keeps a relatively low profile when away from the camera. While his life has changed in many ways since becoming a star, Viggo still dwells on the same... Patrick Dempsey and wife 'fail to inform court of reconciliation' 25th May 16 | Entertainment News The make-up artist filed for divorce from the former Grey's Anatomy star in January, 2015, after 15 years of marriage, but it appeared they had rekindled their relationship later that year (15) when they were spotted together on a number of occasions, including a notable red carpet... MORE FROM XPOSÉ Featured Fashion Rihanna designs sunglasses collection for Dior Tweets by @TV3Xpose about tv3 group TV3 Commissioning © TV3 2014. All Rights Reserved. TV3 Group, Westgate Business Park, Ballymount, Dublin 24

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Gerry Conlon dies aged 60 Tributes have been paid to Gerry Conlon - one of the Guilford Four who was wrongly convicted of being an IRA bomber - following his death on Saturday. Mr Conlon spent 15 years in prison for the 1974 attack which killed five people and injured 65, before the convictions were overturned by the Court of Appeal in 1989.In 2005 Prime Minister Tony Blair apologised for the miscarriage of justice.The Belfast man had been ill for some time before passing away in his Falls Road home.He was 60.Mr Conlon's family issued a statement through his lawyer Gareth Peirce.It said: "This morning we lost our Gerry."He helped us to survive what we were not meant to survive."We recognise that what he achieved by fighting for justice for us had a far, far greater importance - it forced the world's closed eyes to be opened to injustice."It forced unimaginable wickedness to be acknowledged."We believe it changed the course of history. We thank him for his life and we thank all his many friends for their love."He brought life, love, intelligence, wit and strength to our family through its darkest hours.Conlon familyWriting in the Guardian in 2009 about the introduction of anti-terrorism laws, Mr Conlon said he suffered nightmares about his time in prison following his release.He said how he was beaten constantly and suffered abuse at the hands of both prison staff and fellow inmates."It was almost as if I was in the eye of the storm while I was inside, and everything was being held back for a replay later in my life," he wrote.He detailed how he suffered two breakdowns, attempted suicide and became addicted to drink and drugs following his release."The ordeal has never left me. It was a terrible price to pay," he said.Mr Conlon's father, Guiseppe, was also jailed as part of a discredited investigation into a supposed bomb-making family - the Maguire Seven - and died after five years in jail before his name was cleared.He was arrested while travelling to London from Belfast to help his son.His mother Sarah, a tireless campaigner for their freedom, died in 2008, aged 82.The Oscar nominated film, In The Name Of The Father, was based on the family's wrongful incarceration and bid for freedom.Daniel Day-Lewis played the role of Gerry Conlon.SDLP MLA Alex Attwood paid tribute to Mr Conlon who had been a supporter of his party.He said: "He'd given an awful lot but yet had so much more to give."He's now with his dad and his mum."What he learned from his time in prison and campaign for release was the importance of not only raging against his own injustice but fighting for those who had also suffered miscarriages of justice.Alex Attwood MLASinn Féin president Gerry Adams expressed his shock and deep sadness at the news."Gerry and his father Giuseppe were two of the most infamous examples of miscarriages of justice by the British political and judicial system," he said."To his family and friends I want to extend my sincere condolences."Ireland's Foreign Affairs Minister, Eamon Gilmore, also extended his condolences."I am saddened to hear of the death of Gerry Conlon and send my condolences to his family and friends," the Tánaiste said."Mr Conlon suffered a grave miscarriage of justice along with his father, Giuseppe, Paul Hill, Carol Richardson and Paddy Armstrong."In later years Gerry drew from his experiences to campaign on behalf of others with the group Miscarriages of Justice Organisation."His loss will be felt both within the community in west Belfast and across the world with all those who work in pursuit of justice."Gerry Conlon has died, aged 60. Always found him a very likeable man.— Ken Reid (@KenReid_utv) June 21, 2014 World Cup highlights: Belgium v Russia WC highlights: Switzerland v France

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Hong Kong publisher 'lured' to China and detaineducanews.com Hong Kong publisher 'lured' to China and detained Publisher planned to release a critique of President Xi Jinping China's president Xi Jinping with his wife (picture: AFP Photo/Laudes Martial Mbon) AFP, Hong Kong China January 21, 2014 Tweet A Hong Kong publisher, who was due to release a dissident's book about Chinese President Xi Jinping, has been detained in China for almost three months, a report said Tuesday. Yao Wentian, the 73-year-old chief editor of Morning Bell Press, was surrounded by a dozen plain-clothes security agents and detained late October after he was "lured" to the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, the South China Morning Post said. Citing sources close to Yao's wife, the report said Yao was being held in a detention centre and police have not disclosed the charges against him, which may include smuggling and evasion of import tariffs. Yao was working with US-based author and dissident Yu Jie to publish his book Chinese Godfather Xi Jinping. "I think his work on my Xi Jinping book is the main reason why he's been detained," Yu told the Post, adding that Yao disappeared just as the book was about to be published. Morning Bell Press was not available for comment when contacted on Tuesday. Yu had said on Facebook that the first draft of his book on Xi was complete and was expected to be released in April. Yu had previously authored China's Best Actor: Wen Jiabao, a scathing critique on the nation's former premier. In 2012, Yao complained to Google, saying his Gmail account had been hacked while he prepared to release Yu's Hu Jintao: Harmony King, a book on China's former president. Censored Chinese books have become a big seller in the former British colony of Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous region of China. China came 173rd in a press freedom ranking of 179 countries issued by the advocacy group Reporters Without Borders last year, climbing one place on the previous year. AFP Want more stories like this?

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Search continues for couple after boy was beaten | New Hampshire Contact us James Nicholson, 3, remains hospitalized. (COURTESY) Search continues for couple after boy was beaten Jessica Linscott, front, and Roland Dow. Charges upgraded as hunt for Plaistow mother, boyfriend in beating case continues PLAISTOW - Helen Nicholson says she was worried about her 3-year-old grandson's safety long before his mother and her boyfriend took off after he was allegedly severely injured and burned."I'm just very, very happy that he's alive," Nicholson said Tuesday as the search for Jessica Linscott and Roland Dow expanded into Massachusetts.Linscott, 23, and Dow, 27, both of 197 Main St. in Plaistow, remained on the run Tuesday night after police issued warrants for their arrest. The two are facing assault and child endangerment and neglect charges after Linscott's son, James Nicholson, suffered a severe head injury, a visual impairment, bruises over much of his body, and second- and third-degree burns, police said.He remains hospitalized at Children's Hospital at Dartmouth in Lebanon, but Nicholson said he is now out of the intensive care unit and continues to improve."I talked to him and he said, 'Hi Nana. I love you Nana,'" she said.Plaistow police began investigating the injuries after Linscott and Dow brought James to Exeter Hospital on Nov. 14. The hospital staff became concerned about the extent of the injuries and contacted police.While she was interviewed by police after James was rushed to Children's Hospital at Dartmouth, Linscott wasn't immediately arrested as police were just beginning their investigation. While investigating the injuries, which police Lt. William Baldwin said appeared to have occurred over the course of two to three days, police obtained arrest warrants and searched the couple's Plaistow apartment.Authorities from several agencies have been searching for the pair, but so far they haven't turned up. Police said they don't believe the couple has a car and that someone is likely helping them elude capture."I don't think they're going to find them," said Helen Nicholson, of Melrose, Mass.Nicholson said her son, who passed away when James was just 3 months old, is the boy's father.She said Linscott and Dow have been dating for about a year and that James was often left with her or Linscott's mother.Nicholson said she became concerned about Dow after her grandson told her over the summer that he was "hitting him in the head and spanking him."Nicholson said she told Linscott that there would be "an investigation" if she brought him back to their Plaistow apartment.Nicholson described James as a fun-loving 3-year-old boy who's smart, loves to run around and play with his cars."He's a very typical happy-go-lucky child," she said. "He's just an awesome little boy."The Rockingham County Attorney's Office has scheduled a press conference for today at noon to provide an update on the case."I can't comment on the evidence, but anytime a child is alleged to be a victim we all take it seriously," said Rockingham County Attorney James Reams.He urged Linscott and Dow to surrender and asked the public to contact Plaistow police if they have information.- - - - - - - -Jason Schreiber may be reached at [email protected]...

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Much talk, little action from Obama on gun control | New Hampshire Contact us Much talk, little action from Obama on gun control By ANITA KUMAR and LESLEY CLARKMcClatchy Newspapers WASHINGTON - Even before he became President, Barack Obama stressed the need to curb gun violence."We essentially have two realities when it comes to guns in this country," Obama said at the 2008 Democratic primary debate in Las Vegas. "We can reconcile those two realities by making sure the Second Amendment is respected and that people are able to lawfully own guns but that we also start cracking down on the kinds of abuses of firearms that we see on the streets."But in four years he's yet to deliver.Obama instead has found himself, time and time again, comforting a grieving nation: after 13 people were killed in 2009 at a military base in Fort Hood, Texas; after six were shot to death early last year outside a supermarket in Tucson, Ariz.; after 12 died this summer at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo.This week, after 26 people were gunned down Dec. 14 at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., the President said the nation must look for ways to stop the violence. "This time the words need to lead to action," he said.Obama tapped Vice President Joe Biden to recommend ways to decrease access to guns and improve access to mental health services and urged Congress to ban the sale of military-style weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips. Even some who praised him for his action wondered what took him so long."He made a strong case for action when he spoke at the memorial service on Sunday," said Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., whose husband was killed in a shooting on the Long Island Rail Road in 1993. "And I'll be honest with you, I was surprised by what I heard, because it was more than he has ever said before."Obama has never been a friend to the powerful gun lobby, but he's chosen to avoid the thorny subject of gun control, an issue that was unlikely to win him political points or bring him legislative success. He expressed his view on the topic when asked but rarely volunteered it or lobbied for policy changes, even those that could be made without congressional approval.As President, Obama loosened some gun restrictions, signing into law measures that allow people to carry concealed weapons in national parks and in checked bags on Amtrak trains. He long-supported reinstating a 1994 assault weapons ban that expired in 2004, but he hasn't pushed to make that happen. Gun advocates say he failed to act on most of the recommendations from his attorney general, Eric Holder, after the Tucson attack, which severely wounded then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz.White House spokesman Jay Carney reiterated this week that Obama had improved the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which federal firearms licensers are required to use to determine whether a potential buyer is eligible to purchase a gun or explosive.Both the National Rifle Association and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the pre-eminent gun control organizations in the nation, have given Obama an "F" rating.The United States has more firearms than any other nation in the world - 270 million, according to the international Small Arms Survey, an independent research project at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva.Background checks to purchase firearms soared in the days after the Newtown shooting after potential buyers became worried about new restrictions. The shooting has led lawmakers who'd been reluctant in the past to begin to consider such curbs.House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Democrats didn't push for legislation to reduce access to guns even when they controlled the White House and Congress because "there was no prospect of success" in a Senate that requires 60 votes to overcome procedural hurdles."We wanted the members to be here, to continue to make the fight, so that when there was a prospect of success, they would be here rather than being cleared out by the NRA," Pelosi said. "We all saw that happen when we lost in 1994 - cleared out by the NRA," after voting to ban assault weapons.Gun-control advocates have pressed Obama to fill a years-long vacancy for a director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives while Congress is on recess, since lawmakers have failed to confirm his choice. They also want him to direct his Justice Department to prosecute those who lie on background-check forms and to lift a gag order that keeps the public from receiving information about gun traffickers.Further, they want the President to lobby Congress to make gun trafficking a felony, require every person-to-person gun sale to be subject to a background check - including private sales - and ban assault weapons.Democrats have shied away from gun control since the 1990s, particularly after losing so many seats in the 1994 election, when they realized it was working against them in marginal states and wouldn't make much of an impact on the supply of guns, said William Vizzard, a criminal justice professor at California State University, Sacramento, who was a special agent in charge at the ATF."I can't fault the administration and I'd probably do the same thing, because the first rule of politics is you've got to be able to count," Vizzard said. "It's like global warming, in that, yes, it's theoretically possible to do something, but it's not politically possible."The NRA, the nation's largest gun lobby, spent 3,199 times what the Brady Campaign did during the 2012 elections: $18.6 million compared with $5,816, according to the Sunlight Foundation, which promotes transparency in government.Some of the spending was aimed at Obama, who the NRA charged had "stacked the Supreme Court with anti-gun justices." The group also seized on his answer to a question in a presidential debate this year, when he tepidly endorsed reviving the assault weapons ban as a way of cutting crime.One NRA ad accused the administration of "threats to our sovereignty," a reference to a proposed United Nations international arms-trade treaty that the NRA claims could be used "for the imposition of extremist gun control."At a news conference Wednesday announcing efforts to curb gun violence, a reporter asked Obama, "Where have you been?""I've been President of the United States dealing with the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, an auto industry on the verge of collapse, two wars," he said. "I don't think I've been on vacation."..

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Service Thursday for teen killed as a result of quarry accident | New Hampshire Contact us Service Thursday for teen killed as a result of quarry accident ALLENSTOWN — A service will be held Thursday at Pembroke Academy's auditorium for Joshua Michael Glover, 14, who died as the result of a fall in a local rock quarry last week.A freshman at Pembroke Academy, Glover was at the Plourde Pit in Allenstown Saturday morning, April 12, when he fell from a height of about 20 feet, according to authorities.He suffered serious head injuries and was airlifted by medical helicopter to Massachusetts General Hospital.The boy and three of his friends were on the property without permission, according to Deputy Fire Chief Paul St. Germain, who said the accident happened at the base of the quarry in an area with loose granite and other rock."This appears to be an unfortunate accident," he said. "What we do know is the boys shouldn't have been there, but they were apparently playing when he fell and was seriously injured."Glover, of Dowst Road, died Monday, April 14. According to his obituary, he was the son of Edmund and Beverly (Thresher) Glover and graduated last year from the Armand R. Dupont School in Allenstown.Family and friends are invited to gather to share memories Thursday from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Pembroke Academy auditorium. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Joshua Glover Memorial Fund, c/o TD Bank, 50 Glass St., Pembroke, 03275. The Petit Funeral Home is handling arrangements...

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Home / Top News / Special Reports Activists flood hearing on deportation program, confront official By GILLIAN BROCKELL, MEDILL NEWS SERVICE, Written for UPI | Aug. 25, 2011 at 10:25 AM Follow @upi Comments ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Immigration activists flooded into a public hearing and confronted an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official in Virginia to protest a program they say is heavy-handed and a threat to public safety. About 400 opponents of the Secure Communities Program, which uses state and local law enforcement biometric databases to identify illegal immigrants, demonstrated outside the George Mason Law Center in Arlington, Va., where Wednesday's hearing was conducted, before filling auditorium seats inside. This is the last stop on a national tour for a non-governmental task force appointed to evaluate the program and recommend changes. Previous hearings in Los Angeles, Dallas and Chicago were also met with large demonstrations. Activists from Casa de Maryland interrupted the public testimony period to bring out two women in deportation proceedings to speak to Marc Rapp, the ICE acting assistant director for the Secure Communities Program, who sat in the audience. Hearing organizers attempted to ignore the scene and called on the next members of the public listed to speak, all of whom said they wished to donate their time to the women. The organizers eventually relented. "Mr. Rapp, I am not a criminal," Maria Bolanos said through an interpreter. Bolanos may be deported after calling police during a domestic dispute last Christmas. While on the scene, police officers arrested her for illegally selling a telephone card to a neighbor, a charge that was later dropped. Bolanos said she is afraid to leave her 2-year-old daughter, who is a U.S. citizen. "I hope you understand, Mr. Rapp," she said. "Maybe you are a parent, too." Rapp didn't respond to the women and declined to comment. S-Comm advocates say using identification data such as fingerprints that have already been gathered by state and local jurisdictions help ICE identify, prioritize and remove criminal aliens who pose a threat to public safety. Since the program began in October 2008, more than 277,000 immigrants have been transferred into ICE custody and more than 120,000 have been deported. But 28 percent of those deported under the program were never charged with a crime, the agency's own data indicates. Another 31 percent were convicted of low-level offenses, such as traffic violations. Marisa Vertrees, of the St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Arlington, said her church is working with a young man who is in deportation proceedings after being detained for not wearing a seatbelt. "Is this really who we wish immigration enforcement to be targeting?" she said. Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said even if an illegal immigrant isn't prosecuted, they still did something to warrant being fingerprinted. "There seems to be a sense that only reason someone should be deported is if they committed some heinous crime," he said. "The job of ICE and (the Department of Homeland Security) isn't to make people who are violating immigration laws feel entirely comfortable." Immigrant and public safety advocates also say the fear of deportation keeps illegal immigrants from reporting crimes, putting them and everyone else in the community in danger. "Without assurances that contact with the police would not result in purely civil immigration enforcement action, the hard-won trust, communication and cooperation from the immigrant community would disappear," said a representative for the Major Cities Chiefs Association in a statement. The situation looks a lot different to a cop on the street than it does to the "political brass that run the departments," Mehlman said. Police officers frequently get information from sources that may not be following the letter of the law without reporting those minor offenses, he said. "There's no reason for people to fear that if they pick up the phone to say, 'This is what I saw,' they're going to get deported," he said. Opponents of S-Comm claimed that's exactly what happened to Bolanos. Shortly after the women's testimony, members of Casa de Maryland walked out of the auditorium, chanting: "End it. Don't amend it." This was the public hearing before the task force makes recommendation to ICE Director John Morton. Ala. immigration law faces court challenge New immigration regs draw kudos from Dems Ariz. border immigrant deaths drop 38 pct

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Home / Top News / U.S. News UPI NewsTrack TopNews 3 die in fire shooting WEBSTER, N.Y., Dec. 24 (UPI) -- A gunman who served time for killing his grandmother set a trap for firefighters in Upstate New York Monday and opened fire, killing two, police said. William H. Spengler Jr. 62, the alleged shooter, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head outside the burning home in Webster, The (Rochester) Democrat and Chronicle reported. The dead firefighters were identified as Lt. Mike Chiapperini, 43, and Tomasz Kaczowka. Chiapperini was a volunteer firefighter and the public information officer for the Webster Police Department. The two were among the first to arrive at the fire, which broke out at 5:45 a.m., The Democrat and Chronicle reported. Two other firefighters, Joseph Hofsetter and Theodore Scardino, were injured. They were reported in guarded condition at Strong Memorial Hospital. Greece police officer Jon Ritter, who was driving near the scene, suffered a shrapnel injury to his arm and left chest. "These people get up in the middle of the night to fight fires. They don't expect to be shot and killed," Webster Police Chief Gerald Pickering told a news conference. Police said Spengler spent 17 years in prison for the beating death of Rose Spengler, 92, in 1980. Because firefighters were unable to fight the fire after the shooting started, seven other homes also were engulfed in flames and were destroyed. Fiscal cliff would hit poor hardest WASHINGTON, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- Economic researchers at the Tax Policy Center said low income U.S. households with children would be the hardest hit by the so-called "fiscal cliff." The impact of the federal budget that would become law Jan. 1 if a compromise deal is not reached by House Republicans and the White House is not equal among income brackets. The budget includes $500 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts. Spending cuts generally affect lower-income earners the hardest. In this case, for example, the Head Start program would serve about 100,000 fewer children and the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program would lose $271 million out of a budget of $3.4 billion. Then there are the tax hikes. "It is striking how large some of the (tax) increases are," said Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center, which is a think-tank jointly run by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institution, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. Brahimi, Assad meet in Damascus DAMASCUS, Syria, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi met with Syrian President Bashar Assad Monday to discuss a plan to de-escalate the country's civil war. "The president expressed his view regarding the current situation and I briefed him on the meetings I had in several capitals with officials from different countries inside and outside the region," Brahimi said following the meeting in Damascus. "I also told him about the steps that in my view need to be taken to help the Syrian people find a way out of this crisis. Brahimi has previously stated his plan for the country is based on the so-called Geneva communique that was issued in late June by the Action Group for Syria, the U.N. News Service said. The Geneva communique outlines key steps in a process to end the fighting in Syria where at least 44,000 people, mostly civilians, have died so far. "The situation in Syria is still worrying and we hope that all parties would adopt a solution that would meet the aspirations of the Syrian people," Brahimi added. Iraq arrests 66 suspected terrorists KARBALA, Iraq, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- Iraqi security forces arrested 66 members of an al-Qaida affiliate planning attacks against Shia Muslims, a security chief said. The members of a terrorist group calling itself the Islamic State of Iraq were rounded up Sunday in a sweep in the Iraqi central province of Karbala, Staff Lt. Gen. Othman al-Ghanimi, head of al-Furat al-Awsat operations command told the Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He added police seized weapons and munitions in the sweep. The group was formerly led by Jordanian militant Abu Musad al-Zarqawi, killed in June 2006, and allegedly was planning attacks against Shia Muslims marking Arbaeen, a religious observance which includes a pilgrimage to Karbala, the Iraqi Press TV reported Monday. Ghanimi said 35,000 soldiers have been deployed to Karbala, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) southwest of Baghdad, to provide security for the Arbaeen ceremonies Jan. 3. Petition to deport CNN host reaches goal WASHINGTON, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- A petition calling for the deportation of CNN personality Piers Morgan to be deported for criticizing U.S. gun laws has collected more than 46,000 signatures. The White House petition needed to reach 25,000 signatures by Jan. 20 to receive a response from the White House, Politico reported. The petition against Morgan, a British citizen, came after his criticism of gun advocates in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., elementary school shooting, in which 20 students and 6 educators were slain. "British citizen and CNN television host Piers Morgan is engaged in a hostile attack against the U.S. Constitution by targeting the Second Amendment," the authors of the petition wrote. "We demand that Mr. Morgan be deported immediately for his effort to undermine the Bill of Rights and for exploiting his position as a national network television host to stage attacks against the rights of American citizens." As of Monday afternoon, the petition had 46,207 signatures. UPI NewsTrack Entertainment News UPI NewsTrack Business newstrack Topics: Aswat al-Iraq, Brookings Institution, Lakhdar Brahimi, Piers Morgan, Islamic State Latest Headlines

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Home / Top News / U.S. News FBI launches probe as armed group retains control of Oregon building By Andrew V. Pestano | Jan. 4, 2016 at 12:32 PM Follow @upi Comments BURNS, Ore., Jan. 4 (UPI) -- The FBI is leading an investigation into the armed siege of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters to protest the prosecution of two ranchers. "The FBI is working with the Harney County Sheriff's Office, Oregon State Police and other local and state law enforcement agencies to bring a peaceful resolution to the situation at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge," the FBI's Portland office said. "Due to safety considerations for both those inside the refuge as well as the law enforcement officers involved, we will not be releasing any specifics with regards to the law enforcement response." Nearby Harney County School District 3 canceled classes for the week. The group, of an undisclosed number, believed to be armed, took control of the unoccupied building Saturday after holding a rally in support of two ranchers convicted of arson. The group said it was prepared to stay for years and to use violence if authorities attempt to evict them. "These men came to Harney County claiming to be part of militia groups supporting local ranchers, when in reality these men had alternative motives to attempt to overthrow the county and federal government in hopes to spark a movement across the United States," Sheriff David Ward said in a statement. The incident began in the town of Burns, where protesters were voicing support for Dwight Hammond, 73, and his son Steven, 46, who were convicted of arson in 2012 and served time in prison but whose sentences a court later ruled were too short. Dwight and Steven Hammond were originally sentenced to three years and one year, respectively. The men are scheduled to turn themselves in on Monday to serve five years in prison. Dwight Hammond previously said he and his son are planning to peacefully report to prison despite the protest. There was no police presence at the building Monday morning. The Hammond family has distanced itself from the group and its leader, Ammon Bundy -- the son of Cliven Bundy, a Nevada rancher who gained international attention in 2014 after staging an armed standoff with federal authorities over a grazing dispute with the Bureau of Land Management. "Neither Ammon Bundy nor anyone within his group/organization speak for the Hammond family," the Hammonds' attorney, W. Alan Schroeder, wrote to Ward. The BLM district office in Burns, Oregon, is closed until further notice.— BLM Oregon (@BLMOregon) January 4, 2016 In a blog post written ahead of the takeover, Ammon Bundy said his grievances with the federal government are based on land seizures that harm working-class farmers. "The abuses and corruptions affecting people like the Hammonds are symptoms of a more encompassing problem. Government employees (full-time & elected) have changed their culture from one of service to, and respect for the people, to the roll of being a masters," Bundy wrote. "On the subject of the land, it is evident that government employees are no longer assisting the people in claiming, using and defending property. Instead, they have become the people's competitor to the benefits of the land, and are willing to use force on those who they erroneously compete against." In the arson case, the Hammonds said they lit the fires to reduce the growth of invasive species and protect their land from wildfires. The acting U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams of Oregon wrote an opinion piece in the Burns Times Herald in December defending the prosecution's actions in the Hammond case. "Five years ago, a federal grand jury charged Dwight and Steven Hammond with committing arson on public lands and endangering firefighters," Williams wrote. "Steven Hammond was also found guilty of committing a second arson in 2006." Prosecutors said witnesses saw the Hammonds illegally slaughter at least seven deer on public land, with some "limping or running from the scene." Williams wrote that a teenage relative of the Hammonds testified that Steven Hammond gave him a box of matches and told him to start a fire, which "destroyed evidence of the deer slaughter and took about 130 acres of public land out of public use for two years." Ammon Bundy told CNN that the group's actions are about "taking the correct stand without harming anybody to restore the land and resources to the people so people across the country can begin thriving again." "We will be here as long as it takes," he added. "We have no intentions of using force upon anyone, [but] if force is used against us, we would defend ourselves." Oregon armed group member would rather die than see prison FBI raids Cook County offices in Chicago FBI continues probe of Ore disappearances Bike riding bandit hits 2 Oregon banks

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Home / Top News / World News Indian state moves to free 7 convicted in Rajiv Gandhi assassination Feb. 19, 2014 at 6:45 AM Follow @upi Comments CHENNAI, India, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- India's Tamil Nadu state decided to free all seven prisoners convicted in the 1991 assassination of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, a government official said. The decision, announced Wednesday in the southern state where Gandhi was killed, would free four people serving life terms and three whose death sentences were changed to life imprisonment the previous day by India's Supreme Court. The announcement, made by Chief Minister Jayalalitha Jayaram, came months before India's much-awaited general elections in which Jayalalitha is seen by some analysts as a likely aspirant for the prime ministerial post. About a dozen political parties will be in the election fray. Rajiv Gandhi's widow, Sonia Gandhi, heads the ruling federal coalition government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Rahul, the couple's son, is also seen by some experts as a candidate for the top job in the world's largest democracy. The Gandhi family is not related to Mohandas Gandhi, acclaimed as the father of India's freedom movement. The Hindustan Times said the Tamil Nadu government will send its decision to New Delhi. If the federal government does not respond in three days, the state will use its own powers to release the prisoners. "Taking into account that they have spent nearly 23 years in prison, the state Cabinet has resolved to release them, exercising the power of remission ....," Jayalalitha told the state Assembly, the Indian Express reported. The prisoners are Santhan, Murugan, Perarivalan, Nalini, Robert Pious, Jayakumar and Ravichandran. The first three had been on death row since 1998 before their sentences were commuted Tuesday. The death sentence of Nalini, a woman, had earlier been commuted on humanitarian grounds on the recommendation of Sonia Gandhi. Murugan is Nalini's husband. All seven had belonged to the Tamil Tiger separatist group in neighboring Sri Lanka, where a 25-year-long civil war was crushed by the military in 2009. Rajiv Gandhi was killed in May 1991 by a female suicide bomber at a rally in Tamil Nadu as he campaigned for re-election. Authorities said the attacker set off the explosives while garlanding him and also killed seven other people. The Financial Times said Gandhi may have been killed in retaliation for sending a peacekeeping force to Sri Lanka in 1987. Profile: Sonia Gandhi Profile: Sonia Gandhi defies Italian roots Court stays release of three convicted in former PM's assassination Indian police arrest suspected militants Topics: Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Mohandas Gandhi, Tamil Nadu, Supreme Court Latest Headlines

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Industries McDonnell to seek $1 million for commemoration event The tall ships are coming back to Virginia. Gov. Bob McDonnell said Wednesday that he will seek a $1 million budget amendment to support a commemoration of the War of 1812 that will feature OpSail 2012. This parade of tall ships and naval vessels from around the world filled hotel rooms in Hampton Roads when it last visited the state 10 years ago. OpSail 2012 starts in New Orleans in May and will reach Virginia from June 6th until June 12th. “This state support for OpSail 2012 is exactly that kind of targeted investment and will leverage significant private sector dollars,” McDonnell said in a statement. “State funds will be invested specifically in activities that generate revenue and jobs for our localities and citizens.” In 2012, OpSail generated an estimated $58 million in the Hampton Roads economy and attracted 2 million visitors to the region, McDonnell said. Local hotels were 90 to 100 percent full. The event also would provide an opportunity to showcase the Port of Virginia. OpSail 2012 is expected to generate $150 million in spending, according to Bill Magann, president of the W.F.Magann Corp. and chairman of OpSail 2012. The $1 million in state funding is expected to leverage $80 million from private, foundation and other public-sector groups.

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NGO Praises Recent Anti-Hunger Efforts Bread for the World Institute says for the first time in human history, the opportunity exists to end global hunger within a generation. (Credit: Laura Pohl / Bread for the World) South Sudan President Launches Famine-Averting Initiative Study in CAR Links Mental Health and Malnutrition IRC: Critical Time for South Sudan Oxfam Warns of South Sudan Hunger Crisis Multimedia Listen to De Capua report on world hunger Joe DeCapua Last updated on: May 26, 2014 9:05 AM The U.N. says hunger kills more people every year than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Despite progress since 1990, it’s estimated more than 840 million people still do not have enough to eat. Nevertheless, the director of the Bread for the World Institute said recent efforts can bring a dramatic improvement. Listen to De Capua report on world hungeri Asma Lateef said that the opportunity exists to tackle hunger on a sustained basis -- and not just address emergency situations. “Well, I think we are in a good space right now. I think for the first time in human history we have the prospect of ending global hunger within a generation – by 2030,” she said. The Bread for the World Institute is a Christian-based organization providing strategies to end world hunger. Lateef said achieving the potential to ensure food security has been a joint effort. “This has been due to a lot of deliberate work on the part of governments around the world, particularly the governments of countries that are hardest hit by hunger – but also by the support of the United States and the leadership of the United States,” she said. The 1996 U.N. World Food Summit issued the Rome Declaration. It called for reducing by half the number of chronically undernourished people by 2015. However, Lateef said that at the time there was no unified strategy as to how to do that. “There was a great focus on industrialization. I think people felt that if you helped countries develop and have economic growth that that would address hunger as well," she said. "And so you did find, actually, a huge reduction in extreme poverty around the world. But that didn’t translate into – necessarily at the same pace – a reduction in hunger.” Lateef said the focus on how to fight hunger changed during the 2008 food security crisis – as high prices and shortages affected many countries. “It was the global response that came as a result of that food price crisis. It was a real wake-up call," she said. "Riots around the world as people were really struggling to be able to afford and prices of basic commodities had just skyrocketed. That got the attention of a lot of policymakers, including U.S. leaders at the time. And since then, the Obama administration has really made food security and hunger a priority within global development programs and has galvanized global attention to this issue.” Leaders realized that food insecurity was a threat to national security. Lateef said policies developed during the food crisis have made a difference. “You know,” she said, “we’re very close to achieving the Millennium Development Goal of halving hunger by 2015. We won’t make that target because it’s next year and because of the food price crisis, but the effort that’s been put in over the last few years really puts us on track.” The Bread for the World Institute director says currently enough food is being produced to feed everyone on the planet. The problem, she says, is that many people cannot afford it or gain access to it. And a lot of food is wasted every year by poor harvesting and inadequate storage and transportation. It’s estimated the world population will grow from about seven billion to nine billion by 2050. As a result, the emphasis in recent years has been on investing in smallholder farms – and making them much more efficient. Lateef said, “With growing population as well as with the impact of climate change on food security there will be a need to really become more innovative -- and make use of all the available arable land and get more out of the land than we currently do. In Africa, a lot of the land is not being used to its full potential.” Lateef praised the U.S. government’s recent Feed the Future progress report, saying it links livelihoods to smallholder farm investments. She called on the U.S. and others to ensure those investments are made over the long-term.

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Your Perth Sydney's Vivid winter festival finds its feet It’s taken a while for the Sydney winter music, light and ideas festival to find its footing, but six years in, Vivid feels like an event firmly in its groove.Thousands flooded the city’s harbour, streets, concert halls and museums for the opening weekend, kicking off last Friday night with the lighting of the sails on the Opera House. Vivid Sydney's Aquatique Water Theatre at Darling Harbour. Photo: Wolter Peeters British outfit 59 productions, the video designers for the 2012 London Olympic opening ceremony, were commissioned to cast projections over the Opera House, decorating the sails in washes of vibrant colours, bold shapes and whimsical designs including a snakeskin print, puffy pastel clouds and butterflies.On the other side of Circular Quay, artist Jess Johnson’s Gamma World lit up the facade of the Museum of Contemporary Art, where hypnotic images inspired by cosmology and science fiction were projected in an eight-minute loop, recalling the projections that lit up the front of Melbourne’s Forum Theatre in February for White Night. Black Francis (right) and Joey Santiago from the Pixies at the opening night of Vivid Live. Vivid Sydney is comparable to White Night (only 18 days long instead of 12 hours). The crowds are not as concentrated as during Melbourne’s 12-hour dusk to dawn festival, making it a more family-friendly environment. In front of the MCA, First Fleet Park turned into a children’s wonderland by night, with a range of interactive installations designed specifically for kids (and attracting a lot of big kids too). Unlike White Night, nearly all of Vivid’s Music and Ideas program is ticketed, while most White Night events are free.Melbourne’s own winter festival, the Light in Winter, kicks off this week at Federation Square and runs until June 22. Like Vivid, the Light in Winter will feature light installations,art, music and performance, but the event is on a much smaller scale and is aimed at locals rather than tourists. More similar to Vivid in its attempts to drive tourism during winter is the Museum of Old and New Art’s Dark Mofo festival in Hobart, running from June 12 to 22. Last year’s inaugural Dark Mofo attracted more than 128,000 visitors over 10 days. The visual centrepiece of this year’s festival and Hobart’s answer to Sydney’s lighting of the sails will be Articulated Intersect, an interactive “canopy of light” made with searchlight beams visible from a 15km radius slicing through the sky. While Hobart’s winter festival is invariably a chilly one, unseasonably warm weather drew more crowds than usual to marvel at more than 50 light installations that dotted Sydney’s harbour. One side of the Harbour Bridge was illuminated for the first time in Vivid’s history, controlled by the public via an interactive touchscreen at Luna Park, and boats twinkled on the water, decorated with LED lights that changed colour as the boats moved into different parts of the harbour.Vivid Lights director Anthony Bastic recalled when he first took the idea of a winter light festival to the NSW government. “I was told that Sydneysiders wouldn’t go to a winter festival,” he says. Bastic had just returned from the Fête des lumières in Lyon, France, where it was a frosty -8 degrees.“I figured they could brave the elements,” he said with a grin.Headlining the music section of the program was legendary indie-rock group the Pixies, revered by Nirvana and Radiohead – and a mostly greying, wildly appreciative crowd in the Opera House concert hall. Performing four shows over the weekend, the Boston four-piece, with Paz Lenchantin doing an admirable job of filling the shoes of former bassist Kim Deal, mixed classic tracks like Where Is My Mind? and Vamos with newer fare from this year’s Indie Cindy, their first album in 23 years.Vivid’s director of music, Fergus Linehan, said the program was designed to appeal to “anyone who is culturally curious.”“There have been years where we’ve ended up with something quite specific, I think in 2012 it was very kind of indie royalty, with Karen O and Sufjan Stevens,” he said.“We’ve tried to broaden that out a little bit so it’s not purely electronic or purely indie, and also to appeal to different generations.”The opening weekend was a good showcase of this all-ages approach; other events at the Opera House included Jonti and Astral Kids’ effervescent tribute to the Avalanches' 1999 multi-sampling masterpiece Since I Left You, and Timeline, a staggeringly ambitious and successful attempt at condensing the past 40,000 years of music into two hours, performed by the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Presets (it comes to Melbourne on June 1 and 2).Next week, disco don Giorgio Moroder will appear at three different events, and Pet Shop Boys will perform at Modulations, a new electronic music offshoot in Eveleigh.The Ideas section of the program, encouraging creativity and innovation through workshops and seminars is hosted at the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Powerhouse Museum. Speakers this week include producer Flume and fashion designer Karen Walker.Vivid Sydney drew a record crowd of 800,000 over 18 days last year according to organisers, who are expecting to eclipse that figure this year.The nebulous structure of the event in its infancy has been shaped into something that is both comprehensive and easily navigated, says Linehan.“It’s evolved from something that was very confused and had very little public sympathy, to something which is suddenly beloved.” Kiss Bang Love: New dating show is ... Seven Year Switch reunion: The wash-up

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Flag Retirement Ceremony By Laura Rogers | Posted: Thu 4:04 PM, Jun 14, 2007 | Updated: Thu 7:41 PM, Jun 14, 2007 Veterans in the community gather to respectfully dispose of American flags. The American flag is the most recognized and most displayed banner in the world. Flag Day is a day to celebrate the true meaning of the stars and stripes. There's a right and wrong way to display and store the flag, and to dispose of it as well. Vietnam veteran, Jerry Hagerman comes from a lineage of military servicemen. "My dad was in World War II. I was in Vietnam. My brother in the Cuban Crisis - my other brother was in Desert Storm. It means to honor these people for the sacrifices they've made for the freedom we have," Hagerman said. Freedom, that comes with a price. "Freedom is not free. It always comes with debts, sacrifices, limbs and everything else," Hagerman added. Every Flag Day, the VFW Post 1298 holds a Flag Retirement Ceremony. The flags are burned and the remains are placed in a canister and buried on the post grounds. "Flag Day is a day that goes back hundreds of years honoring the flag that so many men shed their blood for," said Post Commander Michael Graf. Like Jerry Hagerman, Commander Michael Graf is a Vietnam veteran. "The American flag means...it's a thing that puts tears in your eyes if you've been with men that have given their life for it," Graf said. For him, the stars and stripes are an emotional reminder of our liberties. "It's a symbol of everything that is great about this country, the men and women that serve it, that are still serving it today," said Graf. The American flag was officially established by the Continental Congress on June 14th, 1777. Proper flag etiquette is an important way to show respect for the banner that represents so much. "We have veterans here that served in World War II, in Korea, and everything in between, so it means a lot to every veteran," said Graf. There is a right way and a wrong way to display the flag. The American flag should be held in the highest of regards. It represents our nation and the many people who gave their lives for our country and our flag. Here are the basics on displaying the American flag: The flag is normally flown from sunrise to sunset. In the morning, raise the flag briskly. At sunset, lower it slowly. Always, raise and lower it ceremoniously. The flag should not be flown at night without a light on it. The flag should not be flown in the rain or inclement weather. After a tragedy or death, the flag is flown at half staff for 30 days. It's called "half staff" on land ,and "half mast" on a ship. When flown vertically on a pole, the stars and blue field, or "union," is at the top and at the end of the pole (away from your house). The American flag is always flown at the top of the pole. Your state flag and other flags fly below it. The union is always on top. When displayed in print, the stars and blue field are always on the left. Never let your flag touch the ground. Fold your flag when storing. Don't just stuff it in a drawer or box. When your flag is old and has seen better days, it is time to retire it. Old flags should be burned or buried. Please do not throw it in the trash. Fish and Wildlife confirm identity of victim in Rochester boating accident Local News

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Father's Day poll: Most men aspire to be dads Associated Press 5:10 PM, Jun 15, 2013 Don't forget dear old Dad by celebrating Father's Day on the third Sunday in June. courtesy: small_frog Show Caption A recent Associated Press-WE tv poll found more than 8 in 10 men said they have always wanted to be fathers or think they'd like to be one someday.Debates about the different ways women approach motherhood dominate news coverage about parenthood these days, with fathers' experiences often left unexamined. A look at what the poll found on how men view fatherhood, and the changes it has brought for those who have become dads:BECOMING A DADAbout 8 in 10 fathers surveyed said they always knew they wanted to have children, compared with about 7 in 10 mothers, and 69 percent of dads called that long-standing desire to have children an important factor in their decision to have kids.Dads were more likely than moms in the poll to say they saw positive effects from fatherhood on their love life and career, and they are just as likely as moms to say it improved their overall happiness, sense of accomplishment and sense of purpose.When weighing whether to become a parent, mothers and fathers placed similar levels of importance on where they stood in their career and the impact having kids might have on their social life, and like mothers, saw having found the right person to have a child with and the joy of having children as the most important considerations.ASPIRING TO FATHERHOODMen who do not have children were just as likely as women without kids to say they want them someday. Among men under age 35, 91 percent are dads already or say they think they would like to have children someday.Men were more likely than women to say the main reason they'd like to become fathers someday is to carry on traditions or family history. According to the poll, 14 percent of men called that a top reason compared with 4 percent of women. Women place greater emphasis on wanting to be a parent, to care for and raise a child - 22 percent among women who want children compared with 2 percent among men.MARRIED, WITH KIDSThree-quarters of dads said they were married when their first child was born. Among those men who aren't married and who would like to have children, about one-quarter say they would consider having or adopting a child without a partner, though 88 percent within this group say they do want to get married someday.Men are a bit more skeptical than women that a single mother can do as good a job raising a child as two parents can, and men are more likely to say an increase in the number of single mothers is bad for society. Still, about half of men in the survey said the growing variety in family arrangements these days ultimately doesn't make much difference.The AP-WE tv poll was conducted May 15-23, 2013, using KnowledgePanel, GfK's probability-based online panel. It involved online interviews with 1,277 people age 18-49, including interviews with 637 men. The survey has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points for all respondents; it is larger for subgroups.KnowledgePanel is constructed using traditional telephone and mail sampling methods to randomly recruit respondents. People selected who had no Internet access were given it for free.---Online: http://surveys.ap.org Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Hot Button MomsEveryday Behind The Scenes Salt Shaker Shake-up / Article The government is telling half of the U.S. population to drastically cut their daily salt intake. That's the advice to consumers -- and the food industry -- as the government issues new dietary guidelines, which are the recommendations behind the popular food pyramid. For the first time, the Agriculture and Health and Human Services departments, which issue the guidelines every five years, are telling people who are 51 and older, all African-Americans and anyone suffering from hypertension, diabetes or chronic kidney disease to reduce daily sodium intake to little more than half a teaspoon. That group includes about half of the population and those who are most at risk of having higher blood pressure due to sodium intake. For everyone else, the government continues to recommend about a teaspoon a day -- 2,300 milligrams, or about one-third less than the average person usually consumes. The assault on salt is aimed strongly at the food industry, which is responsible for the majority of sodium most people consume. Most salt intake doesn't come from the shaker on the table; it's hidden in foods such as breads, chicken and pasta. It has long been known that too much sodium increases the risk of high blood pressure, stroke and other problems. But cutting the salt won't be easy. The prestigious Institute of Medicine has said it could take years for consumers to get used to the taste of a lower-salt diet. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the government is trying to be realistic while targeting the highest-risk groups. "I think it's important for us to do this in a way that doesn't create an immediate backlash," he said. "If we fail to get our arms around the obesity epidemic, especially in our children, we're going to see a significant increase in health care costs over time." Several large food companies have already introduced initiatives to cut sodium and introduced low-sodium alternatives, but it's unclear if the industry will be able to cut enough to satisfy the new guidelines. The Food and Drug Administration has said it will pressure companies to take voluntary action before it moves to regulate salt intake. Dr. Howard Koh, assistant secretary at the Health and Human Services Department, said food companies will have to make cuts for the reductions to work. "Even the most motivated consumer can make only a certain amount of progress before it's clear that we need extra support from the food industry," Koh said. Consumers still have some control. To reduce the risk of disease from high sodium intake, the guidelines say people should: --Read nutrition labels closely and buy items labeled low in sodium. --Use little or no salt when cooking or eating. --Consume more fresh or home-prepared foods and fewer processed foods, so they know exactly what they are eating. --Ask that salt not be added to foods at restaurants. --Gradually reduce sodium intake over time to get used to the taste. Other recommendations in the guidelines are similar to previous years -- limit trans fats, reduce calorie intake from solid fats and added sugars, eat fewer refined grains and more whole grains, consume less than 300 mg per day of cholesterol. The guidelines also recommend eating less than 10 percent of calories from saturated fats -- full-fat cheese and fatty meats, for example. The government promotes these guidelines to consumers by using a symbolic pyramid. Introduced more than five years ago, it doesn't specify recommended amounts of foods but directs people to a USDA website that details the guidelines. That replaced an old pyramid that specified what to eat after surveys showed that few people followed it. Vilsack said USDA may come out with a new icon, but that won't be for a few more months. For now, the government wants consumers to focus on the guidelines themselves. He says the recommendations -- coupled with efforts from industry and other government campaigns for healthy eating, such as first lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" initiative -- should bring about some change in the country's diet. "I don't think it necessarily has to take a generation or two to see some progress," he said. ------

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Search this site: 关于 WLUML Home Iran: A Letter to Christiane Amanpour about the Media, "Freedom", and Ahmadinejad Source: Enduring America Masih Alinejad, an Iranian journalist, writes Christiane Amanpour, the broadcast journalist of America's ABC News who interviewed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this week. Originally in Rah-e-Sabz and translated by Hasty Pezhman: Ms Amanpour, In our country Iran, those who control the prisons and have control over citizen’s lives are the absolute power. Those who can interpret the law as they wish or change it for their own benefit should be strongly challenged. Those who have the means to change the fate of their citizens should be questioned seriously. The criticism and questioning of those in power, above all the President whose winning of the election has cost hundreds of lives, is encouraged by the Iranian people. The people of Iran know that, because we, Iranian journalists, are not able to do this right now, the responsibility has fallen on other journalists, like you, in the foreign media. We would like to think it is this responsibility to criticise absolute power that has resulted in the line of interviewers wanting their time with Mr Ahmadinejad. Related Video Feature --- An Interview with Masih Alinejad: "Sometimes We Have to Pay for Freedom" In Iran there is no such thing as freedom of speech. This is why we appreciate it more than anyone else, and we admire the fact that you have been willing to interview Ahmadinejad in this practice of freedom. If you ask the real victims of the lack of freedom in Iran, “What do you want from these interviews by the foreign media, on your world filled with threats and misery?,” you would probably get a common answer. They all believe it is good to question him so that the whole world can see the real Ahmadinejad. However, these one-sided interviews with Ahmadinejad have always brought more pain for Iranians and we believe they infect the concept of real freedom. When you prepare the stage for a person to talk to the whole world and influence people’s views about the existence/non-existence of freedom in his country, and you justify this act by giving him the freedom everyone else has in your country , you should take the rights of people of his country into consideration. You should acknowledge a nation whose freedom has been violated by this same person and whose lives have been infected by his never-ending lies. You as a journalist are merely doing your job, even when interviewing a dictator, but your work is affected by the lack of justice in the case. What you lack is an equal chance given to the other side of the “Iran case”, the Iranian people. Last year when people were being killed in the streets of Iran while protesting, when four young innocents were tortured to death in Kahrizak Prison, the Iranian government deported every last one of the foreign journalists. All the Iranian journalists who opposed the government were imprisoned, silenced or forced to leave the country. In that same year, as soon as Ahmadinejad dared set his foot outside Iran, the world gave him the chance to feed the media with his usual lies, denials and excuses. A year later, while those arrested journalists are still in prison and the silenced ones are still under serious threat, while those who killed people have not been tried and not even the foreign journalists --- the same ones who prepare this stage for Ahmadinejad --- are given permission to go back to Iran to carry on with their work, your media is giving him more chances to present the world with more shameless lies. We do understand you were doing your job when showing Ahmadinejad the video of the mothers of the two American detainees, Josh Bauer and Shane Fattal, so that he can play his usual “I am innocent” and “others are to blame” game, but shouldn’t you do your job differently when it comes to a dictatorial regime? We did not expect you to make him listen to the voice of all those Iranian mothers who hold Ahmadinejad responsible for their children’s deaths, to Sohrab Arabi’s mother saying that he son participated in a silent protest [on 15 June 2009, three days after the election], that he did not set fire to any cars or houses, and that was shot to death by people who directly or indirectly work for Ahmadinejad. To the voice of the spouse of Ali Hasanpour, saying that her husband was shot in the head when trying to help another person who was shot also, his death a threat from the Islamic regime to the people of Iran that they fear of even caring for one another. We did not expect you to make him listen to the voice of all those whose beloveds are in prison because of criticising Ahmadinejad. But would it be too much to expect you to ask him, as he is so willing to be interviewed by you outside Iran, why wouldn’t he permit you to go to Iran and allow you to interview some Iranians and ask them the same questions? Questions about the freedom of speech that he insists exists there fully and unconditionally? You would not ask Ahmadinejad if the Iranian regime would allow Mr. Obama to appear on Iranian state TV and talk freely to the people of Iran, because you know very well what his answer would be --- that the Iranian TV is free and independent and that he can’t meddle with their decisions, the same way he has always answered the questions you have asked many times about the judiciary of Iran. He is partly right. What the judiciary does has nothing to do with him, so why question him about it? Ahmadinejad should be questioned about all the suppression and the crackdown enforced by organisations under his supervision. He should be asked why the newspapers are being closed down because of complaints made against them by his minsters and members of his government like his close advisor Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai. Ahmadinejad is the head of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. The ministry that dictates who to interview and who not to interview to any foreign journalist that travels to Iran, that dictates this to an Iranian journalist travelling outside Iran. This is the ministry that has banned journalists from interviewing those who have been opposing Ahmadinejad’s government and whose rights have been violated constantly by his agents. This is the ministry that has banned journalists from interviewing even those who have had high positions within the Islamic regime in the past. I personally was interrogated in the passport office of Ahmadinejad’s goverment for hours merely because I had requested an interview with Mr. Obama. My passport was confiscated, and I eventually lost my interview in the end. This is the same ministry that interrogated eleven of my colleagues in the airport for several hours and confiscated their passports because they intended to report on the US Presidential elections. While Ahmadinejad is not being questioned about that for what he is directly responsible, would it be too much if we expected you --- instead of competing with the other media sources over a more challenging interview by asking the same old questions of the same person who denies everything and anything --- to be a bit more creative and, for example, request an interview with the university students who have been banned from their studies by the Ministry of Science, working directly under Ahmadinejad’s supervision, and who have been imprisoned because of protesting this? Or to ask Ahmadinejad to let you travel to Iran and interview people like Mr. Farahani, Tajzadeh, Arabsorkhi, Nabavi, Ramezanzadeh and all those political activists who have claimed the election was rigged, who claim they have documents to prove this, and who have been jailed for daring to make this public? We wished that, instead of competing to interview Ahmadinejad over and over, you would think of the people in Iran and of those who have lost lives under this regime and that you had tried once to hear them. We wished instead of sitting there and listening to repeated lies, you had asked Ahmadinejad to allow you to talk to the people of Iran, those who are not allowed to travel to America. Is it against the principles of journalism and international standards of the media if a professional journalist, when interviewing the head of a dictatorial government, a government that has silenced any voice other than its own, tries to create an opportunity for a whole nation suffering under that dictatorship, a chance for their voices and stories to be heard as well? Ms. Amanpour, I know it’s too much to expect you to present Ahmadinejad with the questions of Iranian mothers waiting endlessly for the trial of the murderers of their children, as you present him with the requests of the American mothers waiting for their children to come home. But you had an opportunity to ask Ahmadinejd in front of millions, as a sign of goodwill and a proof of the freedom that he shamelessly insists exists in Iran, to allow you to travel to Iran and interview those mothers whose children were killed in the streets and in prisons, without his Ministry of Culture causing you problems or his Ministry of Intelligence later imprisoning those whom you interviewed. Before anything a journalist is a human being, and in a situation like this when the normal people in Iran, who are beting killed and imprisoned, are in serious need of help, people of the world --- including the journalists --- can offer them a hand and at least try to create for them opportunity. An opportunity equal to that given to an Ahmadinejad whose lies have destroyed the lives of many. Masih Alinejad Submitted on Tue, 09/28/2010 - 11:52 in Iran [fund] resisting fundamentalisms

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Police identify second man killed when car struck Richmond Township house From our news staff Brandon Blasko, 22, of Coaldale, Schuylkill County, was fatally injured in a one-vehicle accident near Kutztown last week that also killed a Muhlenberg Township man, Fleetwood police said Saturday. Blasko was pronounced dead in Lehigh Valley Hospital near Allentown at 12:09 p.m. Friday after being taken there by medical helicopter after the crash on Kutztown Road near Crystal Cave Road, about 11/2 miles west of Kutztown. The car struck a utility pole in Richmond Township before crashing into a house in the 1500 block of Kutztown Road, Maxatawny Township, partially breaking through a brick wall, officials said. Scott A. Lieber, 24, of Muhlenberg was dead at the scene, officials said. The Berks County coroner's office said he died of head injuries. The death was ruled an accident. Lehigh County coroner's office said Blasko also died of head injuries. His death also was ruled an accident, chief deputy coroner Paul Zondlo said. Fleetwood police Chief Ray A. Nester Jr. said witnesses reported that the car was speeding eastbound on Kutztown Road, also known as business Route 222. Nester said police aren't certain which of the occupants was driving the car, which was owned by Lieber, or where the men were heading. The major damage to the car and most serious injuries to the occupants occurred when the car smashed into the house, the chief said. Nester gave this account: Shortly after 11:15 a.m. the car was speeding and passing other vehicles while heading east on Kutztown Road in Richmond Township. The car went out of control and slid onto the westbound shoulder just east of Crystal Cave Road. It caromed off a utility pole before crossing a small field and smashing into the house in the 1500 block of Kutztown Road. No one was in the home, which is owned by Marvin Berger. The car put a hole through the wall of the house. Neither victim was wearing a seat belt. Blasko and Lieber were the seventh and eighth people to die this year as a result of traffic accidents on Berks roads. Five people died after three separate accidents since last weekend.

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Uncategorized | Author Louis Auchincloss ’39 dies at 92 Vivian Yee Author Louis Auchincloss ’39 dies at 92 Vivian Yee Jan 27, 2010 The writer Louis Auchincloss ’39, who is most famous for his novels about aristocratic, old-money New Yorkers, died Tuesday night at age 92. He had suffered from complications of a stroke, The New York Times reported today. Auchincloss, who came to Yale in 1935 after graduating from the Groton School but left before his senior year to go to the University of Virginia law school, was “one of America’s pre-eminent novelists of manners and a portraitist of the white Anglo-Saxon Protestant upper crust,” according to the Times. At Yale, he wrote stories for the literary magazine of the time and wrote a novel about a Manhattan socialite based on “Madame Bovary”—though after the book was rejected by a publisher, he decided to abandon his literary ambitions and become a Wall Street lawyer instead. Though he did become a lawyer, and said he liked it, he also served in the Navy before becoming a full-fledged author. And he may have never graduated from Yale, but he once explained his reasons for writing the novel “Honorable Men,” about a young man who resigns from Lyndon Johnson’s administration during the Vietnam War, by saying: “I used to say to my father, ‘Everything would be all right if only my class at Yale ran the country.’ Well, they did run the country during the Vietnam War, and look what happened!”

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Vivian Campbell Debuts New Look At Def Leppard Tour Launch Posted June 24th, 2013 @ 1:03pm Listen to Def Leppard on iHeartRadio Fans are getting their first look at Def Leppard's Vivian Campbell's new look. The guitarist was on hand as the band launched their summer tour with an appearance at HellFest in France. Friday's show marked Campbell's first concert since undergoing treatment for cancer. When he announced that he was battling the disease, he'd mentioned that the chemotherapy had forced him to take on a "new aerodynamic hairstyle." Campbell has been taking his chemo-induced hair loss with a sense of humor. In a recent interview on Eddie Trunk's Q104.3 radio show "Friday Night Rocks," the guitarist said since he was now looking more like the hairless Joe Satriani, he hoped it meant he's "going to play even more notes like Joe" as well. Campbell added that things are "going remarkably well" with his treatment." He said the side effects of the chemo are "uncomfortable" but not "debilitating." Vivian also said the persistent cough that led to his cancer diagnosis is now gone, and he now has "a lot more energy as a result of that." Recommended Stories

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>Our Blog>Sandy survivor: "At night, we are so cold" Sandy survivor: "At night, we are so cold" Posted on November 7, 2012 by Laura Reinhardt in Disaster Relief As parts of the East Coast continue recovery efforts in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, a nor'easter threatens to add to the misery of hard-hit areas. World Vision's Laura Reinhardt shares the story of a family whose apartment flooded, leaving them to face bone-chilling nights without power or heat ever since. “Torture.” That’s how 12-year-old Travis Marshall describes the bitter cold he and his mother face when they go to bed at night. Superstorm Sandy left them homeless when floodwaters rushed into their first-floor apartment in the Far Rockaway section of Queens. Travis eyes a head-high stack of blankets, part of the relief supplies delivered by World Vision’s disaster response team to Upper Room International Ministries, where Travis and his mother are staying. “I could sleep with all of them at once,” he says. When Sandy hit, Travis and his mother, Sandra Pommell, 45, watched in horror as the water rose in their ground-floor apartment. There was no rain, so she couldn’t understand where the water was coming from. “I started to remember [what] they said back home [in Jamaica],” she says. “They said it was a tidal wave. It looks like the sea is taking its course.” Travis feared that both he and his mother would drown as the waters rose with alarming speed. They didn’t have time to save anything, but took shelter with an upstairs neighbor. All night long, they kept vigil to make sure the water didn’t come all the way to the second floor. “We had to throw out everything,” says Sandra when they returned to their apartment. Except, that is, for the few pieces of clothing that she is now laying out to dry in the church parking lot. “I’m trying to dry some clothes, some sweaters, to see if I can save them,” she says. She needs these clothes so that she and Travis have more to put on when they go to bed at night. They have a place to stay, but a week after the storm, there’s still no power or heat. World Vision employees unload blankets and other relief items for distribution in Far Rockaway, New York. (Photo: Laura Reinhardt/World Vision) “At night, we are so cold,” says Sandra. With daytime temperatures in the 40s, the sun doesn’t offer much warmth to dry out the clothes, but it’s the best she can do. She and Travis sleep on mattresses that were wet on the bottom from the flood. They’ve covered them in plastic to keep out the damp. In the morning, Sandra’s hands are so cramped with cold she can’t even soap up her washcloth. Travis suffers more in the cold. He has asthma, and Sandra had to take him to the hospital twice in the past week because of attacks brought on by cold temperatures. Despite her own losses, Sandra feels for the other families who have lost everything. “It’s terrible to see the children in this cold,” she says. She sees families walking along the beach in the cold, the children with runny noses. The area is bracing for a nor’easter that is predicted to bring 55-mph winds, high tides, rain, and possibly snow. Temperatures could drop into the 30s later this week, bringing more hardship to the hundreds of thousands of people whose homes are still without electricity. Church partners provide relief “I think that the tidal wave and the hurricane was one issue," says Pastor Courtney Brown of Upper Room Church in Far Rockaway, "but the lack of electricity created a domino effect that I don’t think was properly planned or prepared for. “No light means the food spoils in the fridge. And it means the boilers don’t work; no heat. And so that’s created its own situation,” adds Pastor Brown. Pastor Brown’s church is trying to help as many families as possible. In support, World Vision brought in relief supplies for the church to distribute, including bottled water, World Vision Family Food Kits, packages of cookies donated by a New York bakery, and blankets. World Vision's Family Food Kits are enough to feed a family of five for a day. (Photo: Naomi Lasdon/Genesis Photos) “Folks right now are in dire need of immediate day-to-day food. There’s no way without refrigeration to preserve anything,” says Pastor Brown. Sandra has seen other families struggling to find food. “So [many] people are suffering a lot. They’re cold. [For] some people, it’s meal by meal,” she says. “So they [have] to go every day on the street to find food.” World Vision’s Family Food Kits provide enough food to feed a family of five for a day. All ingredients are included, and people only need to add hot water. Pastor Brown worries about families who have lost their cars -- and with them, a way to get to work. Others’ workplaces were lost in flooding, and so those families are without a source of income. Sandra hasn’t worked at her job cleaning homes on Long Island since the storm hit. She doesn’t have any extra money to provide for herself and Travis. “I don’t have anything, but as long as I have life, I believe God is going to work it out,” she says. Read related post: Storm recovery especially hard on children Read more about World Vision's response to Superstorm Sandy's devastation along the U.S. East Coast. Please join us in continuing to pray for the affected children, families, and communities. Pray, too, for those who are on the ground now, working tirelessly to bring much-needed relief to those in great need. Hurricane Sandy: Preparing for the worst, praying for the best Read more on the World Vision Blog about: Domestic disasters Hurricane Sandy U.S. Programs Winter Comments Submitted by Obayele Tosin O... (not verified) on Thu, 11/08/2012 - 10:47 Permalink Thank u world vision,God wl strenghten u more. And for those families that are in hardship,i pray for the peace of God over them and God should give them hope for living nd facing the future. Amen. Tosin Obayele from Nigeria.

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You are here: Home » Local Commentary » Editorial: Time for F.C. to Get Spruced Up Editorial: Time for F.C. to Get Spruced Up January 1, 2014 3:40 PM3 comments Anyone who had friends or relatives over to their home for the holidays knows what this is all about. Making ready means getting to work cleaning and polishing up the digs in ways often ignored most of the rest of the time. Whether or not your party was a success or your guests were sufficiently grateful, you could say that it was worth all the trouble if for no other reason than you got your place cleaned up. Well, in the immediate coming years, the City of Falls Church is going to be playing host to some important new guests. The City is on the verge of hitting the proverbial “tipping point,” or “critical mass,” that will make every square foot of developable land in its commercial corridors attractive, at least theoretically, to all kinds of fresh new large-scale projects, the kind that City residents will find appealing and the right kind of fit for the unique character of the City. However, if this is going to happen in the wake of the new Rushmark (Harris-Teeter) and Reserve at Tinner Hill mixed-use projects, for example, the City is going to have to do its part to foof up some of its unsightly streets and sidewalks. Frankly, the area between the two big projects that will begin construction this year is a mess. Walking the area between the two is dangerous because the sidewalks are so uneven and broken up, and the area is a magnet to litter than general shabbiness. Now, it is precisely that area which is most likely to attract new projects, but if that will happen, the City has to get busy right away doing a cost-effective basic clean up and landscaping effort, putting in some new sidewalks, benches, greenery and other amenities that can make it look like a million bucks for very little. Some are talking of setting up a “business improvement district” (BID) to raise money from businesses in the area to pay for improvements in their own neighborhood. However, this is not something that the private sector should have to foot the bill for. It is the City, overall, which will stand to benefit from the tax revenues that new businesses will bring to any of its areas, so it is the City that should pay for it. It is hard to imagine that the particular array of small businesses in the area between the two new large-scale projects, for example, have the resources to do any significant cleanup there. Another area where the City should not wait to make cosmetic but meaningful sidewalk and landscape improvements is the half-block between the State Theatre on N. Washington St., and the intersection of Broad and Washington. We’ve been sawing this fiddle so often over the years we’re weary of it. But it involves expending the least for gaining the most to spread the audiences at the State to restaurants and retailers a half-block away. Please mark you calendars with this date! I finally agree with everything Nick Benton says. The City does come across as a bit shopworn. Just fixing the sidewalks will make a huge difference to people going to our restaurants, shops and music venues. I agree. Take a walk down W Annandale near the Rushmark plot. On one side you have sidewalks that have been almost entirely overgrown by grass and brush (something the Public Works dept. is on notice about) and the other side has low-hanging trees that need to be pruned. JFallsChurch sounds like an excellent Eagle scount project

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What Integration Means For Germany's Guest Workers James Angelos Courtesy Reuters Letter From October 28, 2011 EuropeGermany Refugees & Migration What Integration Means For Germany's Guest Workers The Debate Over Multiculturalism Alienates the Immigrants Germany Needs Most By James AngelosAbout the Author: JAMES ANGELOS is a former German Chancellor Fellow at the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. He has written on religion and immigration in Germany for The Wall Street Journal, Spiegel Online International, and The New Republic.Read more by James Angelos Facebook On October 30, 1961, Germany and Turkey signed a recruitment agreement that would change German society inexorably for decades to come. The agreement brought hundreds of thousands of Turkish Gastarbeiter, or guest workers, to Germany to work in coal mines and steel factories, providing a vital and inexpensive labor supply that fueled the country's booming postwar economy. Today, there are as many as three million people of Turkish heritage living in the country, making up Germany's largest ethnic minority. On Sunday, Germans will mark the fiftieth anniversary of this recruitment agreement with commemorations and reflections on immigration and its legacy. "The new German history began 50 years ago," an article last week in Süddeutsche Zeitung read. Germany has become "multicultural," the article continues, "whether one likes the word or not." Yet half a century after the first Turkish guest workers arrived, Germany remains uneasy, if not downright schizophrenic, about the role immigration has played in the country. The anniversary comes amid what has been an especially fraught time in an incessant German debate about the integration of immigrants and their descendants, including senseless political attacks on Multikulti, a German nickname, often uttered with a hint of derision, for multiculturalism. But, worryingly for Germany, if the divisive political rhetoric is poised to accomplish anything of lasting significance, it will be to alienate many of the most successful and well-educated Germans of diverse backgrounds -- those in the best position to help fix many of the problems ailing German society. Germany's policy toward its Log in or register for free to continue reading.

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Your Community News Opinions Features Sports Classified ads Contact Us Letters to Editor « LETTERS for December 19 issu... LETTERS for December 5 issue...» LETTERS for December 12 issue Save | Typhoon victims in the Philippines need help My name is Joshua Ancheta, a 16-year-old Filipino-American boy who attends Maui Preparatory Academy. I am writing for the cause of reaching out to the Filipinos affected by the massive typhoon in the Philippines known as Typhoon Haiyan. This typhoon struck the Leyte and Samar islands, which are south of the nation's capital, Manila. It is considered to be the second-most deadly typhoon in the Philippines, and there were more than 2,000 casualties in the Philippines. I admit, as a 16-year-old boy, I don't pay attention to the news very often. I'm a gamer, as well as a hard worker in school and an avid phone user. I did hear some things about this storm in the background, but I never really paid attention to it, because I knew that it was typhoon season in the Philippines. When I first saw the typhoon on Headlines, the images and videos struck me. I have never seen such devastation to a place, other than Hurricane Sandy on the East Coast that struck a year ago, and Hurricane Katrina that struck the New Orleans coast in 2005. When I saw those images of the flooded cities and the struggling people, I immediately felt grief and sorrow for those living there. So now I would like to ask for your help. Please donate money and/or resources to the American Red Cross and other charitable organizations, as they are feverishly working hard for the Filipinos affected there. It would mean so much to the devastated Filipinos if they see our combined efforts in helping them with food resources, money, etc. I hope that we can all work together to help the affected Filipinos. JOSHUA ANCHETA, Napili ------------------ Our veterans need more than a day; they need a career America is home to 21.2 million veterans - men and women who were willing to risk their lives for our country. Unfortunately, many of these veterans face a daunting personal battle here at home: finding work. According to the labor department, more than 700,000 U.S. veterans are currently unemployed. This simply isn't acceptable. Our veterans have earned the opportunity to earn a living and take part in the very society they fought to defend. The most effective way to help them succeed in post-military life is through targeted efforts to extend educational opportunity. Since the 2008 financial crisis, competition for jobs has become fierce. Positions that once required a high school degree or less are being filled by college-educated applicants. This development presents a particular challenge for former soldiers, airmen and sailors, many of whom enlisted without much education or civilian experience. Moreover, unemployed vets who find work typically take 43 weeks to land a job. Joblessness is stressful for all who have experienced it. However, many veterans face additional obstacles. At least 3 million were wounded in battle and still suffer from some form of disability. Among those who served in Iraq or Afghanistan, about 20 percent are living with post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression, and one in three cope with a serious psychological trauma. All these stats are troubling - and illustrate why Americans must commit to making sure veterans have the tools they need to build successful post-military lives. The best place to start is by broadening educational opportunity for our veterans. Indeed, education is often the determining factor in whether or not a veteran is able to thrive after returning to civilian life. One initiative has already made important progress in this respect. At the beginning of this academic year, 250 community colleges and universities committed to implementing best practices established by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Education and more than 100 educational experts. These "8 Keys to Success" help connect veterans with academic, career and financial help, and surround them with a community of students and fellow veterans who can encourage them as they further their education. For similar efforts to grow in number and effectiveness, more Americans need to get involved with private initiatives like Student Veterans of America and the Wounded Warrior Project. These two groups enable soldiers to draw on the skills they have already developed through military service and apply them to their post-military careers. We should always welcome opportunities to show our appreciation for those veterans who risked everything for our safety and security. But these brave men and women need more than our appreciation; they need our help. And, more specifically, they need more opportunities to arm themselves with the skills to create a prosperous, fulfilling life. THOMAS A. KENNEDY ------------------ Find common ground on same-sex marriage Our state's regrettably divisive struggle over marriage equality has been settled through landmark legislation that rectifies past injustices denying a minority of our population full legal recognition without depriving the majority of a single right they've long enjoyed. We're all in this together. Our task now is to find common ground and heal by uniting in basic human decency. We must strive to respect every individual's dignity and right to hold their personal beliefs, values and opinions, no matter how much they differ from our own. Doing so brings out our better angels and makes our community stronger. We've nothing to fear but our judgments. Once we drop our judgments, accepting and respecting others despite our differences isn't hard to do. As the Master Counselor instructed, we need simply "love one another," exactly as we are without trying to change anybody. Love is about accepting people, not judging them. MICHAEL RA BOUCHARD, Hilo Save | I am looking for:

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Jeremy Kryn NewsAbortionFri Aug 12, 2011 - 4:34 pm EST Florida Gov. Scott signs ultrasound mandate, three more pro-life bills choose life plates , rick scott , ultrasound TALLAHASSEE, Florida, August 12, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Florida’s governor has signed into law four pro-life bills, including an ultrasound mandate and a ban on abortion coverage in the insurance exchanges mandated by President Obama’s health care law. A July 30 ceremonial signing by Republican Rick Scott took place at the governor’s mansion nearly a month after the legislation went into effect, and provided an opportunity for pro-life activists and Florida lawmakers to express their support. Scott, the self-proclaimed “jobs governor” of Florida and a former health care executive, had been denounced during his gubernatorial campaign as “ extremely anti-choice” by Emily’s List, a political action committee dedicated to putting pro-abortion women into office. Emily’s List had criticized Scott for his opposition to Roe v. Wade and his support for a bill vetoed last June by former Governor Charlie Crist that would have required abortion-bound women to undergo an ultrasound, and be shown the image upon request. At the July 30 ceremony, Scott signed the ultrasound mandate as well as a bill stripping abortion coverage from health exchanges created through Obamacare. A third bill directing funds from Choose Life license plates to Choose Life, Inc., which counsels against abortion, and a fourth measure toughens parental notice requirements for minors seeking abortions. As previously reported by LifeSiteNews (LSN), in March, Scott promised to approach a slew of abortion bills as a “pro-life governor.” “I’ll review all those bills, but as you know, I’ve been pro-life all my life and I’m going to be a pro-life governor,” said Scott according to local CBS affiliate WCTV. In an interview with LifeSiteNews (LSN), Florida Representative Kelli Stargel of Lakeland said she sponsored the parental notification bill, HB 1247, because she “wanted to be sure that parents were back in the picture.” Commenting on the ultrasound legislation, she said that in her opinion, former Governor Crist’s veto was “strictly political” as he was “looking at his political future.” “[The ultrasound bill] makes sure that women are fully informed before they make such a critical decision,” she said. “Florida is moving as a state to recognize the civil rights of the child being carried in a mother’s womb as equal to that of the mother,” Rep. Larry Ahern of St. Petersburg, who was present at the signing ceremony, told LSN. “It’s called equal rights and should be protected by our Bill of Rights.” Florida Right to Life President Carrie Eisnaugle, who was also present, expressed gratitude to the Florida Legislature and Governor Scott for their dedication to the bills. “The consequences of these four pieces of pro-life legislation as a whole are that the lives of unborn babies will be saved for many years to come,” Eisnaugle told LSN. “I have commented many times that I believe Governor Crist’s veto of the ultrasound legislation ended up being helpful to our cause,” she added, “in that it energized pro-life voters and as a result the Florida legislature is more pro-life than it has ever been in recent memory.” By Jeremy Kryn Houston prosecutor worked behind the scenes with Planned Parenthood in…

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example: life, funny (comma separated)example: Einsteinexample: one small step for manSearch HelpAdvanced Search Charles Grande All quotes by Charles Grande (6 quotes found) “That's fine if you say the kids don't go to school and people don't drive on roads until the house is sold. Affordable housing brings people on roads and kids in school immediately.” Charles Grande “We're pretty much in this situation now because last time their goal was to do it fast rather than right.” “Before they started, we told them exactly what would happen, that they couldn't possibly finish it in that amount of time. They've left us out here totally at the mercy of the weather.” Told “A big trip where we're going to spend a lot of money -- we like to see the world a little more.” “There's only one thing that's going to help, and that's the flow-way. It needs to flow, and it needs to flow south. We need to get out of this at some point in time, instead of digging deeper and deeper.” “We had a dune that survived Wilma. I don't think what's out there now could survive a medium storm, let alone a northeaster.”

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Home Intentional Disciples Blog September 2008 Catholic Charities Assists Hurricane Refugees Catholic Charities Assists Hurricane Refugees Written by Sherry Monday, 08 September 2008 07:34 It's good to hear via CNS about a creative new partnership addressing the struggles of returning hurricane refugees in this hurricane season that seems to have no end."Catholic Charities USA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are joining in a new pilot program that aims to help hurricane victims receive federal and state assistance they need with less hassle and red tape.If people cannot return to their homes after a disaster they need to find a place to live, a job and medical care, the same things a person arriving in the United States from another country faces, said Kim Burgo, senior director of Catholic Charities' disaster response office. She also noted that the maze of paperwork an individual must fill out to get assistance can be daunting.With the new pilot program, one caseworker will be assigned to each family unit or person displaced by Hurricane Gustav, which hit Louisiana Sept. 1."Sherry's note: I especially like the comment that a hurricane "refugee" who has lost their home is a real refugee who needs much the same things immigrants and refugees from other countries need. That is exactly what it feels like. The level of uncertainty and disruption is very similar even though you may not have to learn a new language - depending upon what part of the south you hail from :-). It is not dramatic exaggeration to use the term "refugee". Snip."As displaced hurricane evacuees were returning to their homes, staff members and priests representing the Archdiocese of New Orleans and Catholic Charities were on hand, starting Sept. 5, at the Union Passenger Terminal in New Orleans and the Jefferson Parish evacuee return site. An estimated 2 million people evacuated the city and were returning to the area by bus and train. From the city's main terminal they would be transported by bus to one of 17 drop-off points.Catholic Charities staff members were on hand to provide information about available services in the community and counseling when needed and appropriate. Priests and deacons were available to provide pastoral care.'

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United States Digital Service Search You are hereHomeBlog Dr. Jill Biden Hosts a National Guard Christmas Tree Dedication December 9, 2013 at 5:48 PM ET by Melanie Kaye Twitter Facebook Email Dr. Jill Biden hosts a National Guard Christmas Tree dedication in her office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, in Washington, D.C., Dec. 9, 2013. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann) Today, Dr. Biden -- herself a National Guard mom -- welcomed senior National Guard spouses, National Guard Family Program members, and their children to her office for a National Guard Christmas tree dedication. The 54 ornaments came from each state, territory, and the District of Columbia. Each state submitted one ornament, some of which were designed by military youth or service members. The National Guard tree is just one part of this year’s White House holiday décor honoring service men and women, veterans and military families. As visitors enter the White House for holiday tours, they will first see a tree featuring red, white, and blue star-shaped ornaments, to honor Gold Star Families – those whose who have lost a loved one serving in the military. And in the Blue Room, this year’s 18-foot-6-inch official White House Christmas tree features decorations made by children living on bases across the country. If you would like to share a message of thanks this holiday season, please visit www.joiningforces.gov. For additional information about holidays at the White House 2013, go to WH.gov/Holidays. Holiday-related content from the White House will be tagged #WHHoliday. Melanie Kaye serves as the Communications Director to Dr. Jill Biden. The Final State of the Union Watch President Obama's final State of the Union address. Read what the President is looking for in his next Supreme Court nominee. Find Your Park Take a look at America's three newest national monuments.

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Taxi meter scam overcharged 1.8 million riders March 12, 2010 5:02:55 PM PST Jennifer Matarese, Eyewitness News NEW YORK -- New York City officials have discovered a widespread scam in which thousands of taxi drivers overcharged passengers more than $8.3 million. The Taxi and Limousine Commission said Friday that it had found at least 1.8 million trips over the past two years where passengers were ripped off. More than 35,000 drivers are accused of overcharging their customers an average of $4.45 per trip. While over 1.8 million trips is a significant number of overcharge violations, there were 361 million taxi trips during that time period, so the illegal fare was only charged in 0.5% of all trips during that time period. The scam was primarily perpetrated by a small number of drivers, with 3,000 drivers overcharging more than 100 times. Officials said drivers overcharged by illegally setting their meters at a rate they are supposed to use for trips to the suburbs. That rate is double the rate within city limits. In a few weeks, taxi riders will see an alert when the extra rate code has been activated. Rate Code 4 should only be used in Nassau or Westchester Counties. Passengers will be advised to contact 311 with questions or complaints. Each vendor's solution would also include some combination of a sound alert to the passenger and/or the driver and require an acknowledgement by the passenger before the message would disappear from the screen. The alert will appear even if the passenger has turned off the screen. TLC is also exploring the development of a geo-fencing solution that can remove manual Rate Code 4 activation by the driver. Rate Code 4 would be automatically activated upon crossing into Nassau or Westchester Counties. On his radio show Friday, Mayor Bloomberg commented on the allegations saying, "As you saw the other day, there is- some of the drivers were setting their meters to out of town- there's a switch, you just throw it and you pay more at a higher rate if you're out of the City. Well somebody in the back seat doesn't notice. How do we know? Because now we have, thanks to Matt Daus, GPS and a reporting device in every cab so we can look and see from here to there, and what they charged. And it's so obvious, it's double what it should be. And so now we're going back and, you know, some of these people could face serious charges." The TLC commented on the situation saying, "Thanks to the new taxicab technology, the TLC was able to initiate a review of GPS data, which has revealed evidence of a considerable number of taxicab drivers having improperly applied a suburban rate code to fares in place of the correct city code. When used properly, the code effectively doubles the metered fare from the city limit to destinations in several nearby counties. The matter was referred to the Department of Investigation for possible criminal action. We anticipate that these drivers will also face TLC-imposed administrative penalties, to include license revocation and monetary fines." Load Comments

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Joe Denies Rumors Of Fight With Trey Songz Over Tahiry November 30, 2009 by Chuck "Jigsaw" Creekmur News. Share |Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)MoreClick to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window) R&B crooner Joe vehemently denies rumors and reports that he was embroiled in a fight with Trey Songz that evolved into a huge brawl at a New Jersey concert over the weekend. On Saturday November 28, Trey Songz celebrated his birthday with a party and a concert at the 501 Lounge in Montclair, New Jersey, a show that brought out Joe, Tahiry, the ex-girlfriend of rapper Joe Budden and a throng of fans. Joe gave his account of what happened that night, saying he had nothing to do with any violence. “First of all, I was not involved in a fight. Me and Trey Songz are real cool. We did a record on my last album. We did ‘We Need To Roll’ and, you know, I went to show support,” Joe told AllHipHop.com. “That’s my man. I heard he was going to be having a party that night and there was going to be a performance. Nothing happened between him and I.” However, Joe did say that the fracas could have been from an associate, even though he had left the venue prior to the melee. “It could have been where my man had a problem with security just for a quick second and they were trying to clear the V.I.P. It was really, really crowded up there. It wasn’t anything like they didn’t want me there [or] they didn’t want the other guests there, like Tahiry. Everybody was cool.” Joe said that an associate of his attempted to prevent a young lady from getting kicked out and that might have sparked the whole fracas. “So, security had him hemmed up in the corner and I told them. ‘That’s my man. He’s with me’ and [security] was like ‘Cool, no problem.'” Joe explained. After that, he said he left the club. “After that, I was bouncing, getting ready to leave anyway so I told Trey [I was leaving] and we made a couple of toasts with some Patron and then I left.” The singer said that he could not fathom how attending an event under the auspice of support would result in widespread unconfirmed reports of a fight between friends. “Its just crazy…for it to go from us just hanging out to..maybe Trey got into a fight and people thinking it was me. Before anything popped off, I was already out of the building.” Lastly, of the evening, Joe briefly dismissed that the ordeal could have been a lover’s quarrel over Tahiry. “I just met her that night for the first time. Its nothing going on between me and her and definitely no fights between me and Trey,” he concluded. These day, Joe says he is more focused on his Christmas album,Home Is The Essence Of Christmas, that is currently available on Apple iTunes. “I just got that Christmas album out. Its just an incredible album,” he said. “I’ve always been a fan of Christmas. I play Santa Claus every year…with my nieces and nephews…[I enjoy] seeing how happy they are.” Joe released Signature in July. It is his eighth studio album. “We Need To Roll,” which features Trey Songz, is a bonus song on the album. Prev « AHH Stray News: Gorrillaz, Norah Jones/Beastie Boys, K’Naan Next “Viva La Vevo! A Re-Birth For The Music Business? » Lists

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Eulogy for Ronald Reagan delivered 11 June 2004, The National Cathedral, Washington, D.C. Audio mp3 of Address Plug-in required for flash audio Mrs. Reagan, Patti, Michael, and Ron; members of the Reagan family; distinguished guests, including our Presidents and First Ladies; Reverend Danforth; fellow citizens: We lost Ronald Reagan only days ago, but we have missed him for a long time. We have missed his kindly presence, that reassuring voice, and the happy ending we had wished for him. It has been ten years since he said his own farewell; yet it is still very sad and hard to let him go. Ronald Reagan belongs to the ages now, but we preferred it when he belonged to us. In a life of good fortune, he valued above all the gracious gift of his wife, Nancy. During his career, Ronald Reagan passed through a thousand crowded places; but there was only one person, he said, who could make him lonely by just leaving the room. America honors you, Nancy, for the loyalty and love you gave this man on a wonderful journey, and to that journey's end. Today, our whole nation grieves with you and your family. When the sun sets tonight off the coast of California, and we lay to rest our 40th President, a great American story will close. The second son of Nell and Jack Reagan first knew the world as a place of open plains, quiet streets, gas-lit rooms, and carriages drawn by horse. If you could go back to the Dixon, Illinois of 1922, you'd find a boy of 11 reading adventure stories at the public library, or running with his brother, Neil, along Rock River, and coming home to a little house on Hennepin Avenue. That town was the kind of place you remember where you prayed side by side with your neighbors, and if things were going wrong for them, you prayed for them, and knew they'd pray for you if things went wrong for you. The Reagan family would see its share of hardship, struggle and uncertainty. And out of that circumstance came a young man of steadiness, calm, and a cheerful confidence that life would bring good things. The qualities all of us have seen in Ronald Reagan were first spotted 70 and 80 years ago. As a lifeguard in Lowell Park, he was the protector keeping an eye out for trouble. As a sports announcer on the radio, he was the friendly voice that made you see the game as he did. As an actor, he was the handsome, all-American, good guy, which, in his case, required knowing his lines -- and being himself. Along the way, certain convictions were formed and fixed in the man. Ronald Reagan believed that everything happened for a reason, and that we should strive to know and do the will of God. He believed that the gentleman always does the kindest thing. He believed that people were basically good, and had the right to be free. He believed that bigotry and prejudice were the worst things a person could be guilty of. He believed in the Golden Rule and in the power of prayer. He believed that America was not just a place in the world, but the hope of the world. And he believed in taking a break now and then, because, as he said, there's nothing better for the inside of a man than the outside of a horse. Ronald Reagan spent decades in the film industry and in politics, fields known, on occasion, to change a man. But not this man. From Dixon to Des Moines, to Hollywood to Sacramento, to Washington, D.C., all who met him remembered the same sincere, honest, upright fellow. Ronald Reagan's deepest beliefs never had much to do with fashion or convenience. His convictions were always politely stated, affably argued, and as firm and straight as the columns of this cathedral. There came a point in Ronald Reagan's film career when people started seeing a future beyond the movies. The actor, Robert Cummings, recalled one occasion. "I was sitting around the set with all these people and we were listening to Ronnie, quite absorbed. I said, 'Ron, have you ever considered someday becoming President?' He said, 'President of what?' 'President of the United States,' I said. And he said, 'What's the matter, don't you like my acting either?'" The clarity and intensity of Ronald Reagan's convictions led to speaking engagements around the country, and a new following he did not seek or expect. He often began his speeches by saying, "I'm going to talk about controversial things." And then he spoke of communist rulers as slavemasters, of a government in Washington that had far overstepped its proper limits, of a time for choosing that was drawing near. In the space of a few years, he took ideas and principles that were mainly found in journals and books, and turned them into a broad, hopeful movement ready to govern. As soon as Ronald Reagan became California's governor, observers saw a star in the West -- tanned, well-tailored, in command, and on his way. In the 1960s, his friend, Bill Buckley, wrote, "Reagan is indisputably a part of America, and he may become a part of American history." Ronald Reagan's moment arrived in 1980. He came out ahead of some very good men, including one from Plains, and one from Houston. What followed was one of the decisive decades of the century, as the convictions that shaped the President began to shape the times. He came to office with great hopes for America, and more than hopes -- like the President he had revered and once saw in person, Franklin Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan matched an optimistic temperament with bold, persistent action. President Reagan was optimistic about the great promise of economic reform, and he acted to restore the reward and spirit of enterprise. He was optimistic that a strong America could advance the peace, and he acted to build the strength that mission required. He was optimistic that liberty would thrive wherever it was planted, and he acted to defend liberty wherever it was threatened. And Ronald Reagan believed in the power of truth in the conduct of world affairs. When he saw evil camped across the horizon, he called that evil by its name. There were no doubters in the prisons and gulags, where dissidents spread the news, tapping to each other in code what the American President had dared to say. There were no doubters in the shipyards and churches and secret labor meetings, where brave men and women began to hear the creaking and rumbling of a collapsing empire. And there were no doubters among those who swung hammers at the hated wall as the first and hardest blow had been struck by President Ronald Reagan. The ideology he opposed throughout his political life insisted that history was moved by impersonal ties and unalterable fates. Ronald Reagan believed instead in the courage and triumph of free men. And we believe it, all the more, because we saw that courage in him. As he showed what a President should be, he also showed us what a man should be. Ronald Reagan carried himself, even in the most powerful office, with a decency and attention to small kindnesses that also defined a good life. He was a courtly, gentle and considerate man, never known to slight or embarrass others. Many people across the country cherish letters he wrote in his own hand -- to family members on important occasions; to old friends dealing with sickness and loss; to strangers with questions about his days in Hollywood. A boy once wrote to him requesting federal assistance to help clean up his bedroom. The President replied that, "unfortunately, funds are dangerously low." He continued, "I'm sure your mother was fully justified in proclaiming your room a disaster. Therefore, you are in an excellent position to launch another volunteer program in our nation. Congratulations." Sure, our 40th President wore his title lightly, and it fit like a white Stetson. In the end, through his belief in our country and his love for our country, he became an enduring symbol of our country. We think of his steady stride, that tilt of a head and snap of a salute, the big-screen smile, and the glint in his Irish eyes when a story came to mind. We think of a man advancing in years with the sweetness and sincerity of a Scout saying the Pledge. We think of that grave expression that sometimes came over his face, the seriousness of a man angered by injustice -- and frightened by nothing. We know, as he always said, that America's best days are ahead of us, but with Ronald Reagan's passing, some very fine days are behind us, and that is worth our tears. Americans saw death approach Ronald Reagan twice, in a moment of violence, and then in the years of departing light. He met both with courage and grace. In these trials, he showed how a man so enchanted by life can be at peace with life's end. And where does that strength come from? Where is that courage learned? It is the faith of a boy who read the Bible with his mom. It is the faith of a man lying in an operating room, who prayed for the one who shot him before he prayed for himself. It is the faith of a man with a fearful illness, who waited on the Lord to call him home. Now, death has done all that death can do. And as Ronald Wilson Reagan goes his way, we are left with the joyful hope he shared. In his last years, he saw through a glass darkly. Now he sees his Savior face to face. And we look to that fine day when we will see him again, all weariness gone, clear of mind, strong and sure, and smiling again, and the sorrow of his parting gone forever. May God bless Ronald Reagan, and the country he loved. Book/CDs by Michael E. Eidenmuller, Published by McGraw-Hill (2008) http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov Copyright Status: This text = Property of AmericanRhetoric.com. Audio & Image = Public domain. Top 100 American Speeches Online Speech Bank � Copyright 2001-Present. American Rhetoric. HTML transcription by Michael E. Eidenmuller.

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Most States Punt Health Exchanges To The Feds By Phil Galewitz Dec 14, 2012 ShareTwitter Facebook Google+ Email Gov. Bill Haslam speaks to reporters after announcing in Nashville, Tenn., on Monday that that he had decided against creating a state-run health insurance exchange. The Republican governor said he will leave it to the federal government to run the marketplace. Erik Schelzig Originally published on December 14, 2012 3:48 pm Few people expected that the Obama administration would be running health exchanges in more than 30 states when the federal health law was signed two years ago. But with the deadline for states to decide just hours away, only 18 states and the District of Columbia have proposed operating their own insurance marketplaces. The exchanges are a key tool under the law to expand health coverage to an estimated 23 million people over the next four years. "Most analysts did not anticipate that the federal government would end up playing such a big role in the operation of exchanges nationwide," said Carolyn Pearson, a director at the Washington, D.C., consulting firm Avalere Health. The option to have the federal government run the state markets was seen as a backstop when the Affordable Care Act was signed. Administration officials have repeatedly said they hoped most states would run the markets themselves because they know their insurance markets best. Only states with small populations such as Delaware or Montana would seek federal help, thought most experts. Instead, the majority of states will rely on the federal government. They include two of the most populous: Texas and Florida, which together account for nearly 20 percent of nation's uninsured. By law, the state exchanges must be approved by the federal government by Jan. 1, begin enrollment next October and have coverage take at the start of 2014. Administration officials say Americans can be assured the markets will be available in every state next year for people to compare and buy coverage. This week, eight states — Colorado, Connecticut, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Washington and the District of Columbia — were given federal conditional approval for their exchanges. Most with states with Republican-led governments have opted against running an exchange, although Idaho and Nevada this week said they would seek approval. States that don't run their own exchange have two options: a federal exchange that needs little state participation or a federal partnership exchange, in which states help by performing certain duties such as providing customer service. States have until Feb. 15 to say whether they intend to seek a federal partnership exchange. Five states, including Iowa, have done so already. "I don't envy ... [federal regulators] for the job that they have," Dennis Smith, the top health official in Wisconsin told a congressional committee Thursday. Wisconsin won't pursue a state exchange. "At the end of the day, you're trying to connect a buyer to a seller. And the fundamental things required to do that are not yet in place," he said. But Ceci Connolly, managing director at consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, said the work for the administration is the same whether one state or 50 opt for a federal exchange. The challenge will be in coordinating that federal exchange with various state Medicaid programs and creating a seamless experience for consumers, who are likely to move back and forth between Medicaid and private insurance, she said "It is going to be a sprint for government officials and the industry to be ready by next fall," Connolly said.Copyright 2012 Kaiser Health News. To see more, visit http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/. View the discussion thread. Support Provided By:

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Michele KingFaith McNally, 5, the adopted daughter of Bruce and Beverly McNally of Island Falls, suffers from spina bifida and life-threatening seizures. She poses here with her black Labrador retriever, Dandy, who serves as an assistance dog to help her cope with her seizures. By Jen Lynds, BDN Staff Posted April 22, 2013, at 6:28 p.m. ISLAND FALLS, MAINE — An Island Falls family is grateful for the support of donors from around the state and nation who helped their 5-year-old daughter raise money to secure a service dog. Faith McNally suffers from spina bifida and life-threatening seizures. Despite the child’s numerous health problems, Bruce and Beverly McNally of Island Falls took Faith into their home, first as a foster child and then as their adopted daughter. While learning to adjust their lifestyles and manage schedules to meet the new challenges, the couple soon realized they needed help monitoring the special child for seizures, which could be deadly if not addressed in a timely fashion. Michele King, Faith’s aunt, said that Faith once had a serious seizure in bed at night and was found unresponsive. That led the family to seek a service dog that could detect when Faith was going to have a seizure. “The family became very worried, which is why they wanted to get the dog,” said King, who also is the chief administrative officer for Brave Hearts, a nonprofit Christian home for young men located in Island Falls. “Brave Hearts decided to sponsor a fundraiser in March to see if we could raise the $2,500 that was needed to get the animal and to send them out to Kansas for the training.” King said that donations came from not only the more than 100 people who attended the benefit supper, but from people as far away as North Carolina. Because of that generosity, the family was able to get the black Labrador retriever, Dandy, from CARES — Canine Assistance Rehabilitation Education and Services. It is a not-for-profit organization in Concordia, Kansas, that trains and matches assistance dogs with owners. “Dandy has just been wonderful for Faith,” Beverly McNally said on Friday. “She picks up on a chemical change in the body when a seizure occurs. One day when we got back, Faith was very lethargic. She was in the chair with me and needed to be snuggled a lot more. And the dog got up in the chair and started whining. And I didn’t realize what was going on. And 45 minutes later, Faith had a seizure. Then I realized what the dog was trying to tell me.” She said that the dog now knows 75 commands and wears a vest to let people know when it is working. The McNallys also have a 4-year-old boy living in the home. “It was hard at first, but now he knows that when the dog has the vest on, it is working and he can’t play with it,” she said. “And one of the hardest things when we are out in the community is seeing little kids and they want to come up and pet the dog, but you have to tell them that they can’t, because the dog is working with Faith.” She said that the family is “overwhelmed” by the generosity they saw from friends and strangers. “We just couldn’t believe it,” she said on Friday. “We eventually had enough money and we had to gently turn people away. We had to tell them that we had enough for the dog, but that we wanted them to donate the money to a charity of their own choosing.” McNally said that she and her husband are happy that Faith has been able to get the dog and they also are happy with the choice that they made. “Overall, we are glad that we stepped out of our comfort zone and took in a high-needs foster child,” she said. “We would encourage others not to be afraid to do the same. These kids need good homes.” http://bangordailynews.com/2013/04/22/news/aroostook/donors-help-island-falls-family-buy-service-dog-for-5-year-old-girl/ printed on May 25, 2016

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News Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 Council Roundup: Utilities presents proposed budgets Also, Parks Yes! Committee recognized Staff from the city's Utilities Department Monday briefed the City Council on the department's proposed 2009-2010 operating budget and 2009-2015 capital budget. The proposed budgets call for the average residential utilities customer to pay about $11 more each month in 2009 and $7 more each month in 2010. A typical residential utility bill would increase from $100.02 per month in 2008 to $111.56 per month in 2009 and $118.51 per month in 2010. Staff told council members the proposed increases, which were the subject of earlier public hearings, are needed to a meet a number of critical issues facing the Utilities Department, including increases in wholesale water and wastewater costs, capital projects needed to support growth and the effects of increasing federal and state requirements. Moreover, Bellevue, like many municipalities across the nation, faces serious challenges due to its aging water, sewer and storm water systems. The city maintains approximately 1,600 miles of utilities pipes and numerous water reservoirs, pump stations and other infrastructure. Half of this $3 billion worth of infrastructure is now past mid-life and failures are increasing. Significant investment is necessary to maintain safe and reliable systems and reduce water main breaks, sewer backups and flooding. The Environmental Services Commission, which acts as a citizen advisory board at the direction of the City Council, previously reviewed the details of the proposed Utilities budget and rates. The Commission also reviewed information regarding the Utilities' Asset Management program, infrastructure Renewal and Replacement program, capital program and the status of failures and claims associated with failing infrastructure. The Commission determined that investing in needed personnel and capital projects now ultimately would be in the best interests of the ratepayers and utilities systems, fending off higher rate increases in the future. To meet infrastructure needs and become compliant with all state and federal regulations, the proposed budget calls for approximately $44 million in new capital investment during the next six years. The proposed budget also calls for 15 new positions. Ten of the requested positions would be for maintenance and operations work, three would be dedicated to delivering critical capital projects and two would be devoted to development, review and inspections related to the requirements of new federal storm water regulations. The City Council is expected to act on the proposed budgets in early December. Feedback: Wendy Skony, Utilities Community Relations Specialist, 425-452-5215 or [email protected] Parks Yes! Committee recognizedThe Bellevue City Council Monday acknowledged the efforts of the Bellevue Parks Yes! Steering Committee, the citizens' volunteer group that oversaw the successful campaign for a parks levy. Merle Keeney, who served as chair of the volunteer group, introduced a number of citizens who were key to the campaign, including Karen Roper, Paul Wiegand, John Stokes and Lee Maxwell. Bellevue voters this month overwhelmingly approved the measure, with more than 66 percent voting in favor. "It really is a great testament to a lot of hard work by a lot of people to make this happen," Mayor Grant Degginger said. "The City of Bellevue and the people who live here believe that the parks are a great part of our quality of life, and they've recognized that once again. With the passage of the levy, we'll be able to continue to improve -- not only preserve natural areas but also to deliver some great new facilities that the public certainly wants and is supporting." The levy, which will replace one due to expire this year, will provide $40.5 million to protect water quality in Bellevue's lakes and streams, preserve additional natural areas throughout the city, and expand and maintain recreational facilities for organized sports. The average homeowner will pay 12 cents per $1,000 of assessed value or $71 per year for the typical home in Bellevue. Among the key projects funded by the levy will be: Trail and natural area improvements in Coal Creek Park and Lewis Creek Park; Completion of the loop trail around the waterfall and reflecting pond at Bellevue Downtown Park; Upgrades to synthetic turf for Wilburton and Newport Hills soccer fields; Expansion of the Crossroads Community Center; Improvements to the Bellevue Botanical Garden; The addition of neighborhood parks in Bridle Trails and along West Lake Sammamish Parkway; Redevelopment of Surrey Downs Park; and Development of a new 27-acre community park in the Eastgate area along 156th Avenue Southeast. The measure also includes funding to ensure that new parks are maintained and operated consistent with Bellevue's standards. Feedback: Robin Haaseth, Parks & Community Services Public Information Officer, 425-452-6182 or [email protected] The Council Agendas and Council Minutes pages offer complete information regarding Council meetings. Return to News Release Index

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J.C. Penney’s head of “The Square” under ousted CEO Ron Johnson has left the company Maria Halkias/Retail Writer Follow @MariaHalkias Email [email protected] Published: June 25, 2013 10:39 am Here’s one more late departure from Ron Johnson’s team at J.C. Penney. Remember The Square? It was to be built in the center of the store and sell seasonal merchandise or host various events to correspond with the calendar. In Penney’s planned transformation, the streets housing the 100 shops would lead to The Square. Laurie Beja Miller, hired to be executive vice president, The Square in April 2012, has left the company. It was her job to carry out Johnson’s idea to “create a gathering place with ongoing attractions and services.” Johnson said at the time: It was going to be reminiscent of the golden age of department stores, when “America’s families came for more than just to shop. They were able to have fun experiences and were offered a range of useful services. We are going to revive that excitement and convenience at J.C. Penney.” (That’s Penney’s first store opened in 1902 in Kemmerer, Wyo. It’s still an operating store.) But The Square has been canceled as returning CEO Myron “Mike” Ullman tries to fix the department store after last year’s failed strategy. A Penney spokeswoman confirmed both Miller’s departure and no plans for The Square. With 20 years of retail experience at leading brands like Disney, Nike, Hallmark Cards, Pottery Barn and of course Apple, I’m sure Miller had some great ideas. Miller, 55, began her career working in department stores, first at Milwaukee Boston Company and later at Chicago’s Marshall Fields. Editor Picks Comments

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News Conn. Man Arraigned in Ex-Patriot’s Murder Case Posted 3 years ago. DAVE COLLINS, DAVID KLEPPER,Associated Press 0 ATTLEBORO, Mass. (AP) — Two men authorities say were in a car with former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez before one of his friends was shot to death were in custody on Friday, one charged with illegally carrying a gun and the other accused of being an accessory after murder. Prosecutors, who this week charged Hernandez with murder, haven’t said who fired the shots that killed his friend Odin Lloyd, a Boston semi-pro football player. Carlos Ortiz, who was arrested in Connecticut but was transferred to Massachusetts to face the gun charge, and Ernest Wallace, who walked into a South Florida police station to surrender, were identified earlier as being with Hernandez and Lloyd the night of his shooting death, a prosecutor said. Ortiz was charged Friday with carrying an unlicensed firearm in North Attleborough on June 17, the day Lloyd was found shot to death near Hernandez’s home there. Details of the charge weren’t released. Wallace, whose wanted poster was released Thursday night, surrendered in Miramar, Fla., police said. Authorities had been seeking Wallace on a charge of acting as an accessory after Lloyd’s murder. Details of that allegation also weren’t released. Police arrested Hernandez on Wednesday at his home and charged him with orchestrating Lloyd’s execution-style shooting. Prosecutors said Hernandez orchestrated the killing because Lloyd talked to the wrong people at a nightclub. Hernandez, Ortiz and Wallace were in a Nissan Altima with Lloyd shortly before his death, Bristol County, Mass., District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter said. “We now have in custody the three individuals who were in the silver Nissan Altima,” Sutter said Friday when Ortiz was arraigned on the gun charge in Attleboro District Court. All three men have ties to Bristol, Conn.: Hernandez grew up there, Ortiz had been living there and authorities had conflicting addresses for Wallace there and in Miramar. Hernandez pleaded not guilty to murder and was denied bail Thursday. Ortiz also was being held without bail pending a court hearing on July 9. Wallace was taken to a jail in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., pending extradition proceedings, police said. Hernandez’s lawyer argued in court that the case is circumstantial. He said Hernandez, who was cut by the Patriots the day he was arrested, wanted to clear his name. Ortiz’s attorney, John Connors, said he will seek bail for his client at the July 9 hearing. He described Ortiz as a “gentle person” and said he will advise Ortiz to plead not guilty. “I can say that his charge has nothing to do with homicide,” Connors said. Wallace walked into the police station and told officers there was a warrant for his arrest, which officers confirmed by checking a computer database. “He stated he knew he had a warrant because he saw himself on TV,” Miramar police Officer Gil Bueno said. “He was very cooperative. It was uneventful.” An attorney for Wallace, David Meier, told The Boston Globe that his client was visiting his mother and other relatives in Miramar when he realized he was wanted in Massachusetts and went to police. Meier said Wallace intends to return to Massachusetts “as soon as possible.” Earlier Friday, Ortiz appeared in Bristol Superior Court in Connecticut, where a judge authorized turning him over to a Massachusetts state trooper and a North Attleborough officer. A friend and a relative of Ortiz said outside the courthouse that they were stunned by his arrest. They said Ortiz is the devoted father of two girls and a boy, all under the age of 9. Ortiz was unemployed recently but previously worked a long time at a Savers clothing store, they said. They also said they couldn’t believe Ortiz could be part of a murder. “He’s not that type of person. He has a good heart,” said friend Milton Montesdeoca, who added he didn’t know Hernandez and never heard Ortiz talk about the football star. Also Friday, authorities said law enforcement officers recovered in Bristol a car Wallace was seen driving before he surrendered. Meanwhile, Lloyd’s relatives were preparing for his funeral in Boston on Saturday. A relative said the service will be at Church of the Holy Spirit in the city’s Mattapan section. Lloyd played for the Boston Bandits and was dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancee. Authorities have said trouble that led to Lloyd’s killing happened June 14, when Lloyd went with Hernandez to a Boston nightclub. Hernandez became upset when Lloyd began talking with people Hernandez apparently didn’t like, prosecutors said. On June 16, the night before the slaying, a prosecutor said, Hernandez texted two unidentified friends and asked them to hurry to Massachusetts from Connecticut. A few minutes later, he texted Lloyd to tell him he wanted to get together, prosecutors said. Authorities say the three men picked up Lloyd at around 2:30 a.m. June 17, drove him to an industrial park near Hernandez’s home and shot him five times. Prosecutors said an ammunition clip was found in Hernandez’s Hummer and matched the caliber of casings found at the scene of Lloyd’s killing. Hernandez, who was drafted by the Patriots in 2010 and signed a five-year contract worth $40 million last summer, could face life in prison if convicted.

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Toni Lynn Washington wins over the crowd with voice and politics Mark Bialczak, The Post-Standard Toni Lynn Washington won the crowd now lined up a dozen rows of out-of-the-bag chairs deep with more than her soulful, true-blues voice as she started action this afternoon on the Budweiser main stage. Her vocals would have been more than enough. She definitely worked hard to back up the claim on her myspace page: "The best voice you've never heard." A couple songs in, she turned political. "This is dedicated to all the politicians in the audience," the Boston singer said. "Where are you?" The crowd: "Booooooo." (Even though nobody stood up or dared wave.) The song: "We Don't See Eye to Eye."

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Search Main menuHomeStoriesRegionsSocials Secondary menuSubscribeAboutState.gov You are hereIssues » Population, Refugees, and Migration Three Million: Changing Lives One Refugee at a Time Posted by David Robinson February 27, 2012 Refugees Wave Before Departure to the United States This month Americans welcomed the three millionth refugees since 1975, helping them build new lives, homes, and communities in all 50 states. The United States is proud of its history of welcoming immigrants and refugees. The 1980s saw primarily refugees resettling in the United States from Vietnam, Laos, and the Soviet Union. The 1990s brought large numbers of Bosnians as war engulfed the former Yugoslavia. In the 21st century, we welcomed refugees from Burma, Bhutan, Iran, Iraq and Somalia, among others, reflecting a more diverse and expansive refugee resettlement program. Historically the United States has provided protection to such well-known individuals as former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and Madeline Albright, Nobel Prize winner Albert Einstein, performer Gloria Estafan, and marathoner Mebrahtom Keflezighi. The stories of many other lesser-known refugees reflect the same determination and perseverance: - Mr. Bol B. Aweng, a "Lost Boy" from Sudan, came to the United States in 2001. He fled at the age of six, without his parents, when helicopter gunfire and aerial bombs destroyed his village. He saw friends shot, eaten by crocodiles, and die of food poisoning. He took refuge in Ethiopia and finally in Kenya before being resettled to the U.S. As a boy in the refugee camp, Mr. Aweng first began drawing in dirt and then on cardboard. He brought his love of art with him to the U.S. He graduated from Ohio State University in 2009, where he majored in Fine Arts, specializing in digital media. - Mr. Bertine Bahige, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, arrived in the United States in 2003. When Mr. Bahige was fifteen years old, rebels came to his house and tried to forcibly recruit him. Traveling alone, he fled first through Zambia, then spent five years in a refugee camp in Mozambique. When he was resettled in Maryland, he worked multiple jobs and went to community college. In 2006, he was offered a scholarship to the University of Wyoming. Today, he serves as a high school and community college math teacher, soccer and cross-country coach, and liaison/interpreter for Spanish-speaking parents. - Mr. Anh "Joseph" Quang Cao was the first Vietnamese-American elected to the U.S. Congress, serving Louisiana's second Congressional District from 2009 until 2011. Mr. Cao left his home country with his aunt and two siblings in a military transport plane three days before the fall of Saigon, while his mother and the rest of his family stayed behind to wait for his father. - Mr. Wilmot Collins, from Liberia, arrived in the United States in 1994. Mr. Collins and his wife have been U.S. citizens since 2001. He is an administrative officer at the Veterans Hospital in Helena. He has an M.A. in Human Resources Management, and is working towards a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. He is also a member of the U.S. Naval Reserves. - Mr. Aumer Hadi is an Iraqi refugee who resettled in Columbia, South Carolina in 2010. Following the Gulf War, Mr. Hadi and his family fled to Yemen, where they lived for eight years. With a computer science degree from Saba University in Yemen, Mr. Hadi has been able to use his education in the United States by helping his employer to develop software for the iPhone. - Mr. Igor Kotler, originally from the Soviet Union, has lived in the United States for over 20 years. He is President and Executive Director of the Museum of Human Rights, Freedom and Tolerance. An accomplished scholar in human rights and world history, Mr. Kotler and others helped to capture 52,000 interviews of Holocaust survivors in 32 languages, representing 56 countries. Less than one percent of refugees worldwide are ever resettled in a third country, estimates the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. But, in the words of one refugee, new life in the United States was "the beginning of my return to humanity." This past year, more than 56,000 refugees from almost 70 countries, fleeing fear of persecution based upon race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group, found new homes in the United States. Until then, some lived in camps for years or even decades, such as the Burmese on the Thai border or Bhutanese in Nepal. Others, like Iraqis in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, or Somalis and Ethiopians in Kenya, eked out meager existences in temporary and uncertain urban dwellings. Some came with family members, most came with few belongings, but all came with hope for the future. In the end, all Americans benefit from our nation's open doors -- the refugees, those whose lives they touch, and communities strengthened by their contributions. The Great Seal of the United States carries the motto "E Pluribus Unum." Ninety-nine percent of all Americans trace our heritage to foreign lands. Our founding fathers would be proud that our nation continues to offer a place of refuge to the most persecuted from many ethnicities, races and religions, who now call America home. Continue the conversation on PRM's Facebook page.Editor's Note: This entry appeared first on the Huffington Post. Monnie | Maryland, USA February 28, 2012 Monnie in Maryland writes: My family and I were part of the 1980's wave of immigrants to the US. We settled in the suburb outside Chicago, in Yorkville, Illinois where the whole community adopted us, where Mr. Denis Hastert was then a math teacher and my father who was a head master in our community back home in Laos settled into his humble job of being a custodian in the high school to support seven children and a wife. We are thankful, grateful and indebted to the Yorkville and Aurora communities for adopting us and showing us kindness and sharing with us the American can do spirit. Although it is still difficult for some of us after this many years (30+), I do attest that America is one of the few places remaining in the world where a family can remain hopeful and aspire to be greater. I personally thank you for the opportunity to continue to elevate! America is great! In service - Monnie :-) @ David Robinson, I was watching the video of the Sec. of State and the Korean foreign minister today and noted the Secretary's comments regarding North Korean refugees in China being repatriated back to NK, and it reminded me that (since folks are still working on a solution to that issue) that I'd offered one on Dipnote quite awhile back (buried in the archives someplace), so I thought I'd offer it up for consideration again to you, in the hopes that it will offer the State Dept. a viable framwork to both China and Korea for a cooperative alternative to sending folks back into harm's way and hardship in North Korea. A more humane way for China to deal with an influx of refugees they do not want on their soil would be to reach an understanding with Korea that should Korea be willing to accept them in the interests of reunification and/or humanitarian reasons, and be willing to take care of the travel expenses from China to the RoK, then this would solve China's basic problem, and safeguard the lives of the refugees. It would then be up to Korea to determine on an individual case by case basis what the permanent status of these refugees would be, by their own immigration policies. I see the State Dept's role as being the bearer of a good idea to both nations and helping to facilitate a dialoge to reach the understanding outlined above. Should North Korea insist that these folks be sent back to North Korea, the answer to that is simply that no nation owns an idividual excercising free will to better their lives, and slavery as such has been universally outlawed within the family of nations, thus any claim upon their persons is null and void under international law. I hope you'll let me know what you think of this idea, and I hope this helps folks resolve the issue. Previous: Engaging Youth in the 'Most Wired Place on Earth' »« Next: Support for the People of Syria . Top stories delivered to your inbox. East Asia and Pacific Near East South and Central Asia Domestic View more stories in this area » Borderless Hack Istanbul: Harnessing Creative Talent to Benefit Syrian Refugees in Turkey Record Population Displacement Shows Needs Are Rising Universities Are Helping Refugees…and So Can You! Story Tags Population Refugees and Migration 127 PRM 42 Latest Stories U.S., Pakistan Hold Strategic Dialogue on Women’s Empowerment About the Author: Rick Snelsire serves as Spokesperson at U.S. Embassy Islamabad . As part of the U.S.-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue… more 1 World Cup: South African Students Experience American Spirit Writing for the U.S. Department of State's DipNote blog, U.S. Embassy Pretoria Regional English Language Officer Eran Williams highlights 13… more 1 U.S., Russia Hold "Civil Society to Civil Society" Summit Writing for the U.S. Department of State DipNote blog, DipNote Bloggers highlight U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton remarks… more 3

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New NBC/WSJ Poll: 'A Disaster For The President' By Matt Vespa | June 18, 2014 | 10:15 AM EDT Earlier this month, the Washington Free Beacon's Matthew Continetti wrote a great op-ed about how President Obama has pretty much given up; his reputation as a transformative figure in politics is over. Right now, it seems as if he's looking towards his post-presidency. The latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll numbers on his presidency seem to support that hypothesis (via WSJ), prompting NBC Political Director Chuck Todd to declare the resulsts "a disaster for the president." Todd added, "Essentially the public is saying your presidency is over." [A] New Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds Mr. Obama's job approval rating at 41%, matching a previous low. Approval of his handling of foreign policy hit a new low of 37%. Both numbers are driven in part by conflicts largely outside the president's control, including a new wave of sectarian violence in Iraq. At the same time, Americans seem to be losing faith in Mr. Obama's ability to accomplish his goals, with 54% of those polled saying they no longer feel the president "is able to lead the country and get the job done," compared with the 42% who said he could. And 41% said his administration's performance has gotten worse over the past year, compared with the 15% who noted improvement. Over at the Washington Examiner, T. Becket Adams added that Hispanics helped drive down the president's approval rating: The recent decline is notable in that it has been rather sudden, consisting of several sharp dips occurring just after the start of this year. Also notable: The president has lost a considerable amount of support from the Hispanic community, his approval rating plummeting to 44 percent, down from its previous posting of 67 percent in January 2013. The decline comes at a time when the border between the U.S. and Mexico has been overrun with thousands of abandoned immigrant children and teenagers. FollowMatt VespaBio | ArchiveMore from Matt Vespa Printer-friendly version

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Search this site: Colorado Indymedia Become the media. Navigation Home Open Newswire News by RegionBoulder Ft. Collins Mountains/Foothills Non-Colorado AboutGet Involved Obama administration grants DACA relief to more than 50,000 undocumented immigrants Submitted by boaoeoao on November 16, 2012 - 11:08pm Non-Colorado The Obama administration released updated statistics today that indicated that, as of yesterday, 53,273 undocumented youths have received relief under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. As of Nov. 15, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) had received more than 300,000 requests for deferred action. Most of those applicants are still awaiting the completion of background checks. The figures the administration released didn't indicate either how many beneficiaries have received work permits under the program or whether any requests for deferred action have been denied. DACA directs U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to practice prosecutorial discretion towards those who came to the United States without documents as minor children. At the rate the agency is processing applications, it appears likely that more than 100,000 requests for deferred action will be granted by the end of the year. To be eligible for the DACA program an applicant must be under 31 years of age and present in the U.S. by June 15 of this year and came to the U.S. before age 16. Applicants must have continuously resided in the U.S. since June 15, 2007, they must have attended school or served in the military and have no serious criminal record. The grant of deferred action doesn't confer lawful immigration status. It doesn't change an individual’s existing immigration status or allow a path to citizenship. It does, however, provide relief from deportation for a two year period and allows beneficiaries to apply for work authorization. The statistics indicated that USCIS has accepted 298,834 applicants who have submitted the $394 processing fee. Currently there are 273,203 scheduled to for the $85 biometrics analysis. A total of 124,572 cases are presently under review. The DACA federal policy directive could potentially benefit 1.76 million young immigrants who came to the United States with their parents without proper authorization and have subsequently lived and worked here, making the United States their own country. They are eager to contribute to the nation, but they encounter obstacles hindering their ability to pursue their dreams. Members of the population group affected by DACA are frequently referred to as the "DREAMers" because they would be the beneficiaries of the often-proposed but still unenacted DREAM Act legislation. That decade-long legislative effort would provide conditional permanent residency to those who fulfill requirements. In related news, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Alejandro Mayorkas and other senior Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials announced that they will hold a stakeholder conference call on Monday, Nov. 19, to discuss deferred action for childhood arrivals. During the teleconference, Director Mayorkas will provide updates on the process of requesting deferred action and take questions via phone, email and Twitter. In anticipation of the conference call, the Public Engagement division at USCIS is accepting advance questions on DACA from the public via Twitter and email. The United States needs to facilitate a path to citizenship for this significant segment of the population. By refusing to acknowledge the potential contributions of youth and thereby thwarting their potential, the nation furthers a "no-win" situation. Lives of individuals are stunted through no fault of their own, the nation is divided, and the world is denied the gifts of those who have so much to give. DACA is a first step in the right direction of righting a dead-end situation. DACA is, in effect, the first significant immigration policy development since the Reagan Administration provided legal status to three million undocumented immigrants. While the action is political, its effect is highly personal because it wields an overwhelming impact on the lives of the youth of the United States. DACA is an important process leading toward a just future. Open Newswire I Was Renditioned By The FBI In San Jose de Peten, Guatemala About six months ago I contacted a man by the name of "Federico Machon" in San Jose de Peten Guatemala, on couchsurfing.com. We discussed nothing with each other online, other than going fishing; little did I know what he really meant. When I arrived at his home in San Jose, Guat, He immediately started telling me about "everything" I had watched on "YouTube and NetFlix" for the last six months and asking questions about it. I noticed immediately that Mr. Machon's nose had been broken; and he said it had been broken twice; clearly a man of violence. In my presence he admitted to another guest that he could kill without remorse; clearly not the most desirable host. He also explained to me how someone could be given throat cancer as a form of asassination. I did not solicit this explanation. I stayed with him from Feb 27 - Feb 29th and the questioning became more intense and threatening. Most of his questions were about politics, finance and technology. He even went so far as tell me that I had watched videos on Nicola Tesla, The US ecomonmic decline, fiat currency and Jacob Rothschild. There was a Vietnamese-American couple staying there, who were from the Washington DC area. They were both graduates with degrees in International Relations and History. This is the exact background that the CIA hires from. Not only did the two of them deliberately disturb my sleep; but the male became threatening when I tried to leave on the morning of February 29th. I made an excuse that I was going to get something from the store; and he finally let me pass. I think I was lucky to have escaped with my life. The FBI and apparently the CIA spent six months researching me and debreifing this person on what to question me about. IMO he is an absolute threat to honest American tourists, living outside of the country. Radio Spots Focus on Puerto Rico Crisis Ahead of Sunshine State Presidential Primary A religious development organization is running radio spots focused on resolving Puerto Rico's debt crisis on 238 stations across Florida. The ads air in Spanish and English continuously ahead of the state's March 15th presidential primary. More than 1 million Puerto Ricans live in Florida and their turnout could sway important presidential contests. "There are counties in Florida that decide presidential races," noted Eric LeCompte, head of Jubilee USA, the organization airing the radio placements in Florida. "The turnout of Puerto Ricans living in Florida could decide not only who wins the primaries but also who wins in November." Both parties held debates in Miami this week - the Democratic debate was hosted by the Spanish language Univision network. Florida Senator Marco Rubio won Puerto Rico's March 6 Republican primary. The election itself highlighted the island's economic troubles. Partly due to lack of funds, officials reduced the number of polling locations for the territory's GOP primary from 3,226 in 2012 to just 110 in 2016. Roughly 25,000 voters participated this year, compared to approximately 130,000 in 2012. Puerto Rico owes $72 billion in debt and is cutting education, health, law enforcement and pension funding to pay its debt. Congress is debating solutions to the crisis ahead of a March 31 House deadline set by Speaker Paul Ryan. "The people of Puerto Rico are American citizens and they should have the rights as citizens living on the mainland," stated LeCompte. "Puerto Ricans are voting in key swing states and will make their voices heard." G20 Focuses on Paris Attacks and Economic Stability In a meeting overshadowed by the Paris terrorist attacks, G20 Heads of State finished their annual meetings in Antalya, Turkey. ‎The leaders focused on a range of issues focused around "economic inclusion." "G20 leaders endorsed important policies to address corporate tax avoidance‎," noted Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious development group, Jubilee USA Network. The package of tax reforms supported at the meeting is called the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) measure. Tax and transparency issues have been a focus of G20 meetings over the last four years. In recent years, the G20 has also urged support for "quota" reforms to give developing countries greater voting shares at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). These reforms are held-up because the US Congress has yet to enact the new rules. The G20 stated they were "deeply disappointed with the continued delay" in implementing reforms agreed on during the 2010 G20 summit. "IMF quota reform is long overdue and Congress should pass it immediately," said LeCompte, who serves on expert working groups in the United Nations that focuses on global finance policy. "The G20 is united on the need for these reforms." Jubilee USA Network is an alliance of more than 75 US organizations and 400 faith communities working with 50 Jubilee global partners. Jubilee's mission is to build an economy that serves, protects and promotes the participation of the most vulnerable. Jubilee USA has won critical global financial reforms and more than $130 billion in debt relief to benefit the world's poorest people. www.jubileeusa.org United Nations Votes for Global Bankruptcy Principles A United Nations committee adopted nine principles to create a global bankruptcy process for countries. Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz addressed the final session of "The UN Ad Hoc Committee on Sovereign Debt Restructuring" that the UN General Assembly established last fall. Countries currently cannot access bankruptcy protection when they face economic crisis. The World Bank notes that 49 countries face worrying levels of debt distress and the International Monetary Fund notes debt is the root cause of inequality. In recent months, governments across the Caribbean, Greece and Argentina expressed an immediate need for a global bankruptcy process. "With so many countries facing debt crises, we urgently need solutions to protect investors and poor people," noted Eric LeCompte, who is participating in the UN meetings. LeCompte is the executive director of the religious development organization Jubilee USA Network. "The UN's work is a step in the right direction, but we still have a lot of work to do if we want a legally binding process." Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Fines Predatory Student Lending Practices; Churches and Synagogues Pray for Students Trapped in Debt‎ Synagogues and churches held prayer services for students as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fined Discover Bank $18.5 million for illegal student lending practices. The bank must repay students $16 million, pay a $2.5 million civil penalty and reform its lending practices. The Bureau accused Discover of overstating the minimum amount due in billing statements, misrepresenting students' total interest payments and engaging in illegal debt collection practices. The penalty is the first of its kind by the Bureau against a student loan company. "This fine sends a strong message to companies that take advantage of students," said Eric LeCompte, executive director of the religious anti-poverty coalition Jubilee USA Network, which advocates for responsible student lending policies. "Predatory lending traps students in debt." This past weekend, 64 faith communities from 26 states prayed and acted for fair student lending policies as part of Jubilee USA's national interfaith "Jubilee for Students" prayer event. In 2012 and 2013, the event pushed congressional legislation to stop federal student loan interest rate increases. "Unfair lending practices put our young people at risk," said Rabbi Barnett Brickner of Temple Israel in Alameda, Calif. "It's important we protect our students and ensure they can graduate college without mountains of debt." As a part of religious services, communities collected students' stories as part of a national campaign to highlight predatory lending practices. Pope Francis Calls for Global Bankruptcy Process Pope Francis called for an international bankruptcy process in a news conference as he left Latin America on Monday. According to the Associated Press, when asked about the Greek debt crisis, Francis stated, "if a company can declare bankruptcy, why can't a country do so and we go to the aid of others?" Francis offered further comments noting that too many countries are struggling with high debts and he suggested a United Nations bankruptcy proposal could be the solution.‎ “Pope Francis knows that heavy debt loads cause poverty and inequality,” said Eric LeCompte, who consulted the Vatican on its position. LeCompte is the head of the religious development organization Jubilee USA Network. “The Pope's statement is a logical extension of the Catholic Church's strong support of debt relief for struggling countries." Last year, LeCompte led a delegation of global Jubilee organizations to advise Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin on the need for a bankruptcy process to address inequality. The Catholic Church is a founder of Jubilee USA and supports its efforts to win debt relief for struggling countries. In September of 2014, the United Nations General Assembly voted 124-11 to develop the bankruptcy process that Pope Francis referenced. LeCompte addressed the UN earlier this year on the creation of the process. This Fall, the United Nations is set to review progress on the proposal. Because International Monetary Fund (IMF) studies point to debt as a cause of inequality, the IMF is exploring aspects of a bankruptcy process based on an April 2013 paper. In addition to the debt crisis in Greece, nearly 50 countries‎ face worrying levels of debt distress according to World Bank statistics. World Leaders Challenge Predatory Hedge Funds in UN Development Agreement At a United Nations development summit, world leaders, the International Monetary Fund and development organizations recommend the elimination of a type of hedge fund that preys on countries in financial crisis. So called “vulture funds” are featured in a global agreement to be signed this week at the Financing for Development Conference. “These predatory funds undermine development and can destabilize a country’s economy,” said Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious development organization Jubilee USA Network. “From Zambia to Peru, they target, litigate and collect aid monies that should be building schools and hospitals.” When countries face economic hardship, "vulture funds" buy a country's debt cheaply and then sue for full repayment. After Zambia received international debt relief in 2006, a hedge fund called Donegal International sued Zambia to collect $55 million on a $15 million debt the fund purchased for $3.3 million on the secondary market. NML Capital sued Argentina over debt holdings and refused to participate in Argentina's debt restructuring. The Argentina case put a broader spotlight on this type of litigation. “World leaders are saying enough is enough,” stated LeCompte who is attending the summit and participated in agreement negotiations. “The final agreement recommends changing contracts to prevent the behavior or legislating the funds out of existence.” On July 1st, Belgium was the latest country to pass a law restricting this behavior. Three of the ten paragraphs in the United Nations agreement that focus on debt, state concern or recommend ways to stop these hedge funds. Two additional paragraphs promote aspects of global bankruptcy and responsible lending and borrowing which further deter this behavior. Greece Reaches Financing Deal with Eurozone: Religious Debt Relief Coalition Issues Statement European negotiators agreed unanimously to a new financing deal with Greece. The deal includes up to $96 billion in new loans to Greece in exchange for economic reforms, including austerity measures. Greece can reschedule its debt under the deal but cannot receive debt relief. Greece's parliament and Eurozone parliaments must approve the deal. Eric LeCompte, executive director of the religious development organization Jubilee USA, issues the following statement: "It's too early to tell if this deal will work, but I'm skeptical. It's important that they can extend debt payments into the future, but no debt relief and more austerity is a recipe for more of the same for Greece. "The International Monetary Fund is right that Greece needs debt relief to end this crisis. Without debt relief, it's hard to believe Greece can grow its economy. ‎ "The Greek people voted clearly against austerity because they've seen its impact first hand. "In the long run, we need an international bankruptcy process to avoid more and more crises like this one‎." Greek Voters Reject Financing Plan Greek voters rejected a financing plan that would have provided funds for the debt-ridden country in exchange for austerity measures such as pension cuts. Sixty-one percent voted against the plan while 38.7% voted yes. "Austerity programs over the last five years pushed a third of the Greek population under the poverty line," said Eric LeCompte, executive director of the religious development organization Jubilee USA. "The Greek people voted in large numbers for debt relief." Greece and its lenders will now need further negotiations to reach a financing agreement. European leaders meet this week to discuss next steps. Greece owes $300 billion in total debt. It missed a 1.5 billion euro payment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on June 30. Approximately 7 billion euros in payments are due in July. The IMF stated in a report this week that any new agreement between Greece and its lenders should include debt relief. "Greece is the most heavily indebted country in Europe," LeCompte noted. "I agree with the International Monetary Fund that Greece needs serious debt relief and needs to extend other debt payments into the future." Greece implemented austerity measures as part of emergency financing agreements with the European Union, the IMF and the European Central Bank in 2010 and 2012. The new financing plan Greek voters rejected included pension cuts and other austerity provisions. "Austerity in exchange for financing doesn't work. It's like treating an injured person with beatings," LeCompte stated. "Unless we establish a global bankruptcy process for countries, we'll continue to see more situations like Greece around the world." Read the IMF's paper, Greece: Preliminary Draft Debt Sustainability Analysis. Puerto Rico Public Utility Reaches Debt Deal; Congress Could Provide Bankruptcy Protection 42 weeks 5 hours ago Puerto Rico's public utility company, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA), reached a deal Wednesday with investors to extend debt negotiations. PREPA will pay $416 million immediately and then will have until September 15 to reach a long-term deal. PREPA owes a total of $9 billion in debt. Puerto Rican Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla announced this week that the island cannot pay its $72 billion debt burden and asked to extend payment terms. "Without access to US bankruptcy law or emergency financing, Puerto Rico has few options," said Eric LeCompte, executive director of the religious development organization Jubilee USA Network. ‎It's good news that Puerto Rico won't default in the short term, but we need a long term solution." Meanwhile, Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) announced Tuesday he will introduce a bill to allow PREPA to access US Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection. Puerto Rico's representative in the US House introduced a similar bill (HR 870) in February. Puerto Rico is currently unable to access bankruptcy protection because it is a territory and not a US state. "Congress should immediately extend bankruptcy protection to Puerto Rico. The island should have the same protections as any US city or state," LeCompte stated. "Bankruptcy law protects both investors and debtors from crises just like this." Read more about HR 870. Read more about Puerto Rico's debt situation. more Upcoming events No upcoming events available more Recent comments location of event tina braxton No labor = No money more (((i))) This indymedia site was created with Drupal. Based on Newswire theme. We respect your privacy. Thanks DOM! If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the site administrator at [email protected].

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3 killed in plane crash in Mississippi neighborhood by 01:33 AM, Wednesday, November 14 2012 | 1047 views | 0 | 6 | | A fireman carries empty oxygen tanks from battling a fire in a west Jackson, Miss., home where authorities say a small plane carrying three people crashed shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday evening. The home's resident is believed to have escaped but authorities have not released names of plane's passengers. (ASSOCIATED PRESS / Rogelio V. Solis) JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A small plane en route to an FAA safety conference crashed into a house in a modest Jackson neighborhood late Tuesday, killing all three pilots aboard, authorities said. A resident of the home escaped with minor injuries.The Piper PA-32 single-engine plane had just taken off from the Hawkins Field Airport when it began to falter. A police officer who saw the plane go down said it was sputtering as if out of fuel, and the plane's owner said it struck several trees as it went down.Large flames and black smoke rose about 50 feet from the house that was hit, according to witnesses in the neighborhood of single-family homes surrounded by big magnolia and oak trees.A deputy fire chief told WJTV-TV that one person escaped the burning home with minor injuries, but it was not immediately clear if anyone else was inside. One patient from the scene was in good condition at University of Mississippi Medical Center, said spokesman Jack Mazurak. He wouldn't give the person's name or gender or the extent of the injuries, citing privacy laws.Hinds County Coroner Sharon Grisham-Stewart confirmed three people died in the crash. She said dental records or DNA would be needed to confirm their identities and that the identities would not be confirmed Tuesday night.The plane was owned by Roger and Michele Latham, from Superior Pallet Company in Flowood, Miss., both of whom showed up at the crash site, along with their grown daughter, Emily Latham.Emily Latham noted that her father was supposed to have been on board but changed his plans."He went hunting," she said. "Thank God."Michele Latham said all three men on board were pilots. Roger Latham, who is 15 hours short of getting his pilot's license, identified one of the victims as John Edward Tilton Jr., his flight instructor."He was one of the finest Christian men I knew," Latham said.Authorities did not identify the other two people aboard the plane."We had three great men who lost their lives," he added. "I just want to wake up in a while and say, 'This didn't happen.'"The plane had just departed Hawkins Field Airport headed for Raymond, Miss., for an FAA safety conference, just 25 miles away. Latham said his plane had been parked in a hangar for a month and they wanted to take it out for a short flight before he flew it to Gulf Shores, Ala., for Thanksgiving. Latham said he had owned the plane for 2 1/2 years and described it as being in mint condition.The plane took off at 5:10 p.m. and shortly after, the pilot asked for permission to return to the airport, according to a news release issued by the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority. The plane was unable to return and crashed.Latham said a Jackson police officer who was about a block away when the plane was coming down told him "it was spitting and sputtering and ... starving for fuel."It hit trees on the way down, Latham said, adding, "I'm sure John was doing everything he possibly could to save the lives on board."Vivian Payne, who lives about six blocks from the crash site, said she heard a loud bang that sounded different from an electrical transformer blowing."It shook the walls of my house," Payne said as she stood among ambulances, police cars and fire trucks, their lights flashing in the chilly night air.The weather in Jackson is partly cloudy in the 40s.The National Transportation Safety Board along with the FAA will be investigating the cause of the crash. 1 reported dead after plane crash in central Arkansas Chase ends when vehicle hits home The next UALR chancellor Trooper, others recognized for service to state Yell County man dies in crash

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I Am Not A Terrorist, Tonight on CBS4 at 10 (Watch Preview) 9/11 Legacy: Analysts Now Part Of Law Enforcement Filed Under: Air Force, American Civil Liberties Union, Analysts, Colorado Information Analysis Center, Department of Homeland Security, FBI, Lakewood, Mohammed Atta, Najibullah Zazi, Ron Paul, Zacarias Moussaoui (credit: ciac.co.gov) LAKEWOOD, Colo. (AP) – On a single day in August, police investigated a bomb threat in Colorado Springs while, 850 miles away, officers checked out a suspicious package at an Air Force base in Illinois. Analysts at a Colorado intelligence center monitored both investigations to determine if there was any connection involving a single plot and the Air Force. There wasn’t. But if there was, the Colorado center would have alerted law enforcement in both states, using real-time analysis that may not have been possible a decade ago. Analysts at the Colorado Information Analysis Center in Lakewood process pieces of information from police across the country that, taken alone, may not make sense. Created after the 9/11 attacks, it’s one of 50 state “fusion centers,” plus more than 20 regional centers. Analysts from the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, the military, the state highway patrol and local police departments examine crime reports and tips on suspicious activity. In Colorado, many of those tips come from more than 500 “terrorism liaison officers” serving with local police agencies. The center has a nearly $1 million annual budget funded by federal grants. It includes a secure room with videoconference links to FBI and Homeland Security headquarters. Homeland Security spent $327 million between 2004 and 2008 establishing the fusion centers to better share intelligence and avoid a repeat of missed opportunities before the 9/11 attacks. Among them, according to a 2004 report issued by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States: — A Phoenix FBI field agent’s report about suspicious activity at civilian flight schools in the U.S. went unnoticed. — Conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui was arrested 3 1/2 weeks before the attacks after a flight instructor became suspicious. But the arrest failed to raise a national alarm about a possible plot. Moussaoui is serving a life sentence at Supermax in Colorado. Also in 2001, a Florida arrest warrant for hijacker Mohammed Atta went unnoticed. Atta was wanted for driving without a license but was let go after an unrelated traffic stop in Florida two months before the attacks. “He could have been sitting in jail on Sept. 11, but there was no system for quickly sharing this information,” said the Colorado center’s deputy director, Rich Smith. Civil rights groups view the centers with suspicion, fearing they could be used to spy on Americans. There have been some missteps. In 2009, Missouri’s fusion center issued a report that said supporters of GOP Rep. Ron Paul of Texas posed a security threat. In 2010, Pennsylvania ended its contract with a private company that produced warnings for distribution by that state’s fusion center. The firm had issued reports on peaceful protesters. “Unfortunately (the centers) were built at such a rapid pace without sufficient controls to ensure they were reaching into areas that they shouldn’t be,” said American Civil Liberties Union policy counsel Michael German. Publicly, Colorado’s center has operated free of such intrusions. It also has had its share of activity. Center analysts helped coordinate evidence in building the case against Denver airport shuttle driver Najibullah Zazi, who pleaded guilty in 2010 of plotting to bomb New York City’s subways. Authorities said Zazi was trained by al-Qaida in Pakistan and cooked up explosives using supplies from beauty stores in suburban Denver. The FBI turned to the Lakewood center for help in identifying what supplies Zazi purchased and where, said Jim Davis, who oversees the Colorado Department of Public Safety. For its efforts, the CIAC was named top fusion center for 2009. On April 20, analysts quickly determined that a crude bomb found at a Littleton shopping mall on the anniversary of the 1999 Columbine High School shootings was likely the work of a single person with little training and didn’t mark the start of a larger attack. Earl Albert Moore, who had spent 18 of the past 27 years bouncing through federal prisons, was arrested April 26 at a Boulder grocery. In the weeks leading up to this year’s 9/11 anniversary, auto theft analyst Robert D. Force looked for van or large vehicle thefts that could be used in an attack. No such trends emerged. And on Aug. 31, center analysts monitored both a report of suspicious packages at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois and a bomb threat at a Walmart in Colorado Springs, home to Peterson and Schriever Air Force bases and the Air Force Academy. Nothing suspicious was found at the Illinois base, while the bomb threat at Walmart turned out to be a hoax. “A very large percentage of these suspicious reports end up being nothing,” said center director Dana C. Reynolds of the Colorado Department of Public Safety. “But we check them out to be sure.” – By P. Solomon Banda, AP Writer

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I Am Not A Terrorist, Tonight on CBS4 at 10 (Watch Preview) Economic Forecast Key In Upcoming Colorado Budget Filed Under: Colorado Budget, Colorado Department of Revenue, Frank McNulty, John Hickenlooper, Mark Ferrandino Colorado State Capitol (credit: CBS) DENVER (AP) – With major implications for the state budget, Colorado economists will release a quarterly tax forecast Monday that will influence lawmakers’ decisions on key issues of next year’s budget. The big pieces of the puzzle: Will the state have enough money to pay for a property tax break for seniors that’s been foreshadowed to spark a big partisan fight? How will the often-slashed colleges and schools fare this go-around? Lawmakers are hopeful that Monday’s numbers will show enough improvement in the economy that they won’t have to make as many painful cuts as they’ve made in the past. One lawmaker said numbers he’s seen from the Colorado Department of Revenue show tax receipts increased anywhere from $50 million to $70 million higher than what state economists predicted in December. The actual projections could be lower or even higher. But more money could also equal more problems in Colorado’s split Legislature, where Republicans who control the House have indicated they won’t budge on a senior property tax break totaling nearly $100 million. It’s money that Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper’s economists have insisted the state can’t pay. Republican House Speaker Frank McNulty said he’s optimistic “the revenue forecast will improve, if only modestly.” “If we do see increased revenues, I hope that we do our part to restore funding to K-12 education,” he said. “It’s been our priority, it continues to be our priority and something we care very much about.” But McNulty and fellow Republicans have also been adamant on their position to keep the senior property tax break, known as the homestead exemption, which lawmakers from both parties have eliminated in the past to balance the budget. The exemption is scheduled to return this year. Lawmakers need to pass a bill to eliminate it again. McNulty points out that no Democrat has introduced a bill. But he’s also made clear such a bill would fail in the House, where the budget debate starts this year. Democratic House Leader Mark Ferrandino, who cited the extra $50 million or more in tax revenue, said his party’s priorities are to eliminate or reduce cuts to K-12 education and higher education. He said he’s willing to keep the senior property tax break if there’s enough money. The voter-approved tax break lets homeowners 65 years and older deduct 50 percent of the first $200,000 of property value on their taxes if they’ve lived in the same home for at least 10 years. Ferrandino said that although McNulty has expressed that education and the homestead exemption are his priorities, Republicans will have to make tough choices is there’s insufficient money for both. “If those come in conflict, then it’s really the question of where does the majority want to go,” Ferrandino said. The state’s general fund is just above $7 billion. In past years, the biggest cuts have happened in K-12 and higher education. Hickenlooper previously said $89 million needed to be cut from K-12 schools to balance next year’s budget. But after the December revenue forecast, he said the cut was unnecessary. Higher education – which could but cut by $30 million next year – makes up about 9 percent of the budget and K-12 education is nearly 40 percent. Mandatory Medicaid spending is driving most of the new spending in the general fund as more people qualify for the entitlement in the aftermath of the Great Recession. – By Ivan Moreno, AP Writer

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I Am Not A Terrorist, Tonight on CBS4 at 10 (Watch Preview) Questioning Of Potential Jurors To Start In Theater Shooting Filed Under: Arapahoe County, Aurora Movie Shooting, carlos samour, Centennial, Death Penalty, James Holmes CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) – Prospective jurors for the Colorado theater shooting trial will be grilled about their views on the death penalty, mental illness and aspects of the criminal justice system as the second phase of jury selection begins Wednesday. Thousands of people have been called to court since Jan. 20 to fill out lengthy questionnaires. Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. dismissed more than 1,000 who brought doctors’ notes, weren’t U.S. citizens, had family problems or weren’t Arapahoe County residents. The hundreds who remain will return starting Wednesday to answer questions from prosecutors, defense attorneys and the judge about issues at the heart of the case. They will do so in the presence of defendant James Holmes, who has been sitting quietly in the courtroom since jury selection started. Holmes, 27, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the July 20, 2012, attack on a Denver-area movie theater that killed 12 people and injured 70 others. If jurors find him not guilty for that reason, he would be committed indefinitely to the state psychiatric hospital. Prosecutors dispute that Holmes was insane and are seeking the death penalty, though Colorado has only executed one person in the last 40 years. RELATED STORIES: Aurora Movie Shooting Story Archive Twelve citizens will be questioned each day in a process that could last up to four months. Each side will have 20 minutes to ask them whether they can be fair about a case that has received massive news coverage. Samour hopes the process will parse out between 100 and 120 people, who will then return for group questioning. Twelve jurors and 12 alternates will be chosen from that pool. The scope of jury selection is testament to the logistical hurdles of trying the rare case of a mass shooter who survives his attack. Opening statements won’t likely begin until late May or early June. Only potential jurors who would be willing to sentence someone to death can be selected. Prosecutors will try to ensure jurors have no reservations about the death penalty, while defense attorneys will look for those sympathetic to mental illness and uneasy with the idea of executing a person. “You’re talking about a human being, and that human being is right over there in the room,” said Denver attorney Craig Silverman, who is not involved in the Holmes case but has been monitoring it. “It’s a soul-searching moment for a person to say, under oath, that yes, under the right circumstances I could vote for death for this person.” By SADIE GURMAN, Associated Press

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Search The Turkish Publisher Ragıp ZarakoluThe Power of the WordFor almost 40 years now the Turkish publisher, author and human rights activist Ragıp Zarakolu has been a thorn in the side of the Turkish state. He has been jailed several times and there are numerous indictments against him going through the courts. But Zarakolu has never lost his faith in the power of the word. Profile by Ceyda NurtschDescribe someone as a bulwark against the Turkish state, and a quite different image springs to mind. Ragıp Zarakolu is a diminutive man with frizzy, grey hair, a full beard and a thin voice. Bright eyes sparkle behind his spectacles. There is an air of cosiness about him. It soon becomes apparent that he loves to laugh. Even when he's talking about things that others regard as no laughing matter. For example, that there are 20,000 titles on the list of banned Turkish literature, because as new governments take power they add more titles without deleting any of the old ones. "The list reads like a history of Turkish literature," says Zarakolu ironically. A warrant for arrest He was also able to maintain a sense of humour when he was released from the high security Kandıra prison in the spring of 2012, after six months behind bars. He had been arrested in the spring of the previous year as part of a campaign to detain anyone suspected of links to the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK). The Heavy Penal Court in Istanbul had issued a warrant for his arrest, as well as for the arrest of a large number of lawyers, politicians, students and activists on suspicion of involvement in terrorist activities. Ambitious leftwing book publisher: Zarakolu founded "Belge" in the Istanbul district of Sultanahmet in 1977 together with his wife Ayşe Nur, who died in 2002. It still exists to this day... ​​The reason: He had given a lecture at the political academy of the pro-Kurdish BDP (Peace and Democracy Party). Those detained also included his son Deniz and the political scientist Büşra Ersanlı. When he was released from jail, Zarakolu's comments to journalist were typically of a humorous nature: "The true political academies in Turkey are the prisons," he said. Zarakolu sums up his experiences in an article: "In my 60 years of working life I have experienced nothing but pressure, interrogation, trials, exile and death threats." He has been indicted more than 70 times to date, and has served several jail sentences. On previous occasions however he was not locked up as an alleged terrorist, but because of newspaper articles or books published by his own publishing house Belge ("Documents"). Challenging every kind of taboo The publishing house, located in the Istanbul district of Sultanahmet and founded in 1977 by Zarakolu and his wife Ayşe Nur, who died in 2002, publishes books on politics, economics, philosophy and the cosmopolitan diversity of the region. The publishing house's declared goal is to "challenge every kind of taboo". Without doubt, the business experienced its darkest days during the military junta led by General Kenan Evren, when thousands of books were either burned or recycled into waste paper. Some 50 publishing houses and 500 bookshops were closed down at the time. Editors and journalists working on socialist and pro-Kurdish publications faced jail terms totalling over 1,000 years. But Zarakolu had no intention of closing down, as long as he wasn't being forced to do so. This makes it the only leftwing publisher to have been founded before the coup and to have survived to this day. While he may have had to refrain from publishing classic works of Marxist literature during the junta years, he continued to sell Marxist political and economic analyses. Taking a tough line with leftwing intellectuals and publishers: The darkest days for "Belge" were undoubtedly during the military junta led by General Kenan Evren, when thousands of books were destroyed. Some 50 publishing houses and 500 bookshops were forced to close at the time As the publishing climate began to improve, alongside its usual academic and theoretical works the business began to publish a series of books containing poems, short stories and novels written by political prisoners. Then came translations of books written in Greek, and books about the Armenian genocide, about the Jews and the Kurds. Nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize Zarakolu believes it would be too short sighted to tackle individual governments. "Parties or the power games of religious groups are not my thing. I have a problem with the state, the others come and go. In this country, governments are nothing more than visitors. But then there are still those who rule the roost, some describe them as the 'deep state'," says Zarakolu, who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012. "It may well be the case that a new constitution has been under discussion for 10 years, and that the issues of the past are increasingly a feature of public discourse, but attempts to reopen a Christian seminary on the island of Halki continue to be blocked," says Zarakolu, who was himself born on another of the Princes' Islands, Büyükada – a place where Muslims, Christians and Jews have always lived together. Since the murder of the Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in 2007, Zarakolu has observed a change of mindset in Turkish society, a "bursting out of the conscience", as he puts it. "The reactions to the murder came as a surprise to the state first and foremost. The authorities hadn't expected it. It was as though all victims of the extremist, tyrannical state joined in empathy with the murdered man. In a knee-jerk reaction, they poured onto the streets crying out 'we are all Armenians, we are all Hrant Dink'." Zarakolu views the next two years as something of a litmus test for Turkey. The year 2015 sees the 100th anniversary of the start of the Armenian genocide, on 24 April. "Turkey must tackle the issues raised by its history and the political system. Not for the Armenians, who were either killed or who still live in fear to this day," says Zarakolu. "It must do this to liberate itself from its infamy. It must do this for its own citizens." Ceyda Nurtsch HomePrintNewsletterMore on this topicRepression of Journalists in Turkey: Fighting Press Freedom with Anti-Terrorism LawsCommentary by Aryeh Neier: Turkey's Imprisoned PressInterview with Pınar Selek''The Old Mindset Is Still in Place in Turkey''Related TopicsArmenians, Democracy and Civil Society, Hrant Dink, Human Rights, Islam and Democracy, Justice and Development Party (Turkey), Media in TurkeyAll Topics Agatha Christie and the OrientWhen murder came to Mesopotamia12.02.2016Hydrangea hedges, village gossip and high tea form the backdrop for Agatha Christie′s detective stories, which, sold in their millions worldwide, shape our image of England. But ...More Art from Iraq and the Armenian diaspora in Venice A far cry from what we′ve seen before07.10.2015While in the mass media, the war of images with and over Islamic State is making headlines, very little attention has been paid to the visual art being created in the region. To ...More Exhibition: Political Art and Resistance in TurkeyThe art of remembering14.08.2015Protest art from Turkey, covering the period from the 1970s to the present day, is currently on show at the Neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst or nGbK (New Society for Visual ...More The AKP's version of Turkish historyContrasting interpretations of Gallipoli24.04.2015Joseph Croitoru reports on how leaders in Ankara are putting an Islamist spin on centenary commemorations of the Gallipoli Campaign and how they seem to hope that these events ...More The German Empire and the Armenian genocideTurning a blind eye24.04.2015On 24 April, people all over the world will commemorate the mass killing of Armenians 100 years ago. A memorial service is planned in Germany as well. Many critics contend, ...More The Nazi glorification of AtaturkAnkara's shining star 27.02.2015The historian Stefan Ihrig's new book reveals the fascination that Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, held for Hitler and the National Socialists. Ihrig's book has ...More DeutschAuthor: Ceyda NurtschDate: 14.03.2013Mail: Send via mail Share: Topics: Armenians, Democracy and Civil Society, Hrant Dink, Human Rights, Islam and Democracy, Justice and Development Party (Turkey), Media in TurkeyPrint: Print articleCountries: TurkeyPermalink: http://en.qantara.de/node/1393

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You are hereHome » American Indian Complex to Cool Off Using Ice Storage System American Indian Complex to Cool Off Using Ice Storage System September 2, 2010 - 3:38pm Addthis Ice storage coolers lie next to the central plant for the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum in Oklahoma City, OK. | Photo courtesy of the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum |New ice storage coolers at the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum in Oklahoma City, OK are saving energy and saving money. Lorelei LairdWriter, Energy Empowers In Oklahoma City, summer temperatures can get above 100 degrees, making cooling more of a necessity than a luxury. But the designers of the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum (AICCM) wanted to make cooling choices that reflect American Indian cultures' respect for the land. So, rather than using conventional air-conditioning, the museum's main complex will use an ice storage system estimated to save 644,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a year. "Certainly it was a choice to save money in the long run," says Nathan Hart, Director of Community Affairs for the AICCM. "One of the driving forces is being friendly to environment as well." Freezing at night The ice storage system will cool the 125,000-square-foot complex housing the bulk of AICCM's exhibits and activities. To visitors, the system will seem like central air-conditioning, with cool air being blown through vents. But instead of generating that cool air from conventional refrigeration, it will come from large tanks of ice. As the ice melts over a day, the air around it will become cooler. Fans will blow that air from the storage tanks into the buildings. The ice will be re-frozen at night, when electricity demand and prices are at their lowest. An energy savings calculator from Oklahoma Gas & Electric suggests the system could save nearly $42,000 a year over conventional air-conditioning. "During the day, all we're doing is utilizing the blowing system to blow air through the storage tanks," Hart says. It is funded by most of a $1 million grant from the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, through the State Energy Program portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The remaining $234,455 of the grant, Hart says, will finance glass and glazing treatments for the windows of the Museum and Cultural Center. This will allow less sunlight to enter the buildings, reducing demand for cooling. Healing the land The ice storage system isn't the only environmentally friendly choice the AICCM is making during construction, which is expected to be completed by 2015. The steel walls of the Hall of the People, part of the main complex, are 98 percent recycled from things like appliances and bedsprings. In addition, the entire museum complex – including a visitor center, amphitheater, hotel, retail space, a dance circle and athletic fields - is being built on an area that was once the nation's most productive oil drilling site, and later turned into an illegal dump. The AICCM has undertaken extensive remediation efforts, including creating a natural wetland to filter harmful runoff before it hits the nearby Oklahoma River. "In a cultural sense, what we're doing is healing the land," says Hart. "We're trying to be as friendly to the environment as we can." Denver Museum Taps Into Unique Geothermal Source Keeping Cool, Saving Water and Money Grant Improves Comfort for Nevada City's Employees Careers & Internships

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Ex-envoy: Pakistan must account for bin Laden By Josh RoginJosh Rogin covers national security and foreign policy and writes the daily Web column The Cable. His column appears bi-weekly in the print edition of The Washington Post. He can be reached for comments or tips at [email protected]. Previously, Josh covered defense and foreign policy as a staff writer for Congressional Quarterly, writing extensively on Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo Bay, U.S.-Asia relations, defense budgeting and appropriations, and the defense lobbying and contracting industries. Prior to that, he covered military modernization, cyber warfare, space, and missile defense for Federal Computer Week Magazine. He has also served as Pentagon Staff Reporter for the Asahi Shimbun, Japan's leading daily newspaper, in its Washington, D.C., bureau, where he reported on U.S.-Japan relations, Chinese military modernization, the North Korean nuclear crisis, and more. A graduate of George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, Josh lived in Yokohama, Japan, and studied at Tokyo's Sophia University. He speaks conversational Japanese and has reported from the region. He has also worked at the House International Relations Committee, the Embassy of Japan, and the Brookings Institution. Josh's reporting has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, C-Span, CBS, ABC, NPR, WTOP, and several other outlets. He was a 2008-2009 National Press Foundation's Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellow, 2009 military reporting fellow with the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism and the 2011 recipient of the InterAction Award for Excellence in International Reporting. He hails from Philadelphia and lives in Washington, D.C. The Pakistani government must explain how Osama bin Laden was able to hide in Abbottabad for years and reveal who in Pakistan helped him, Pakistan’s former Ambassador to Washington Husain Haqqani said Wednesday. "It’s Pakistan’s responsibility to the world to say who did it," Haqqani told an audience at the Center for the National Interest, formerly known as the Nixon Center. "It doesn’t have to be the government, it doesn’t have to be the military, but whoever it is, we have to come clean on that, because that is the only way we will assure the rest of the world that Pakistan’s government and Pakistan’s state has its hands clean on this whole thing." Haqqani said that he has no information on how the late al Qaeda leader lived with a large number of family for five years in a military garrison town, but that there were clearly sympathizers in Pakistan that supported bin Laden and the government has failed to issue any report on who they were. "There’s no report on bin Laden yet. No one is saying it was the government … but somebody helped him. Somebody bought the place for him, somebody paid for the electricity bills, somebody helped bring food there, and at least that should be identified and it hasn’t been," he said. "Somebody knew. I mean, nobody lives anywhere without anybody knowing. Even Friday knew where Robinson Crusoe was. Somebody in Pakistan knew. Who that somebody is, it’s Pakistan’s responsibility to identify." Haqqani speculated that bin Laden might have been helped by a private group, a set of individuals, people in Pakistan’s jihadi groups, or people in Pakistan’s Islamic political parties. He said the U.S.-Pakistani relationship is hampered by the lack of official answers. "The bin Laden event was a very huge event from the point of view of American psyche and it hasn’t registered in Pakistan sufficiently … I tried very hard at that time in Islamabad to get people to realize that people in Washington really want answers," he said. A forthcoming book by journalist Richard Miniter claims that a senior colonel in Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence directorate walked into the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad in Dec. 2010, five months before the bin Laden raid, and told U.S. officials about bin Laden’s whereabouts. The book also reports that the bin Laden compound was "carved out" of the Kakul Military Academy and that senior Pakistani military officials may have been briefed on the raid in advance. Haqqani said he has no idea what the ISI knew or did but he can be sure that the civilian leadership in Pakistan had no idea that the Abbottabad raid was coming on the night of May 1, 2011. "We really, on the Pakistani side, were totally taken by surprise by what happened on May 1, 2011. That said, a full, proper investigation on the Pakistani side is needed to find out how Osama bin Laden lived in Pakistan and who supported him, within or outside the government," said Haqqani. Haqqani returned to Washington earlier this year following three months of house arrest in Pakistan while the Pakistani Supreme Court investigated the "Memogate" scandal, in which Haqqani stood accused of being behind a secret memo passed from Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz to Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, calling on the United States to support an overthrow of the military and intelligence leadership in Pakistan. A commission set up by the Supreme Court eventually determined that Haqqani was behind the memo, but Haqqani maintains that he was not and that the commission’s ruling was politically motivated. He has not been indicted on any charges and is free to go back to Pakistan, he said, but fears for his safety if he were to travel there. He returns to Boston this fall to resume teaching at Boston University. Haqqani’s new book, Magnificent Delusions, is set to come out later this year. The book argues that, since 1947, Washington and Islamabad’s tumultuous relationship has been based on the false assumption that if the two countries could simply engage enough, they could develop a close strategic relationship based on overlapping interests. "I have reached the conclusion that 60 years is long enough for two countries to understand if they really do see things each other’s way," he said. "The two countries should look for a non-alliance future that is not based on security assistance and aid." Opinions of the two countries among their respective populations is at historical lows, Haqqani noted, and the relationship won’t change for the better until the unhealthy dynamic of giving and then threatening to withdraw U.S. aid to Pakistan is ended, he argued. "Pakistan ends up behaving like Syria while wanting to be treated like Israel," Haqqani said. He called for an amicable divorce in the relationship. "If in 65 years if you haven’t been able to find sufficient common ground to live together and you’ve had three separations and four affirmations of marriage, then maybe the better way is to find friendship outside of the marital bond," he said. Share + About The Cable The Cable is FP's real-time take on the news driving the day — from the White House to the Pentagon, Capitol Hill to the State Department — and the people and personalities at the center of it all. DAVID FRANCIS | @DAVIDCFRANCIS JOHN HUDSON | @JOHN_HUDSON Situation Report is FP's daily national security news brief. PAUL MCLEARY | @PAULMCLEARY

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Ardenwald: Details That Cannot Be Ignored Dorothy Rintoul It had been a week's worth of festivities and celebration with visitors flooding in from all over the Pacific Northwest. The 5th Annual Portland Rose Festival was in full swing and the major event of June 9, 1911 was the Decorated Horse and Buggy parade to be followed by the Military parade that evening. On that peaceful morning, as the parade route was prepared along Grand Avenue, it was Sarah Matthews, the neighbor of the Hills', who noticed the stillness of the Hill cabin. She often visited Ruth Hill in the mornings and William Hill was usually up and around by 5:30 a.m. With rambunctious kids in a small cabin a quiet morning was notably rare. Entrance into the cabin was through the back door, which dropped her into the north room of the house. The house itself was a two room affair. The north room being the kitchen and dining/living area and the south room being where Ruth and William slept. In this room were built small partitions to give some privacy to the family. The largest section of the room was where William and Ruth slept. Also inside of this section was a smaller partitioned area where Phillip was sleeping. In the living area, on the sofa, is where Dorothy slept. Near her was a table and on this table was a new clock, purchased a few weeks prior to the murders. The house was dark; the windows were covered by clothing and pieces of cloth. Even in the dark, Mrs. Mathews could see a form under the blankets on the sofa. Dorothy's feet were the only part of the girl's body not covered. Sarah Mathews went in to check if Dorothy was okay then she saw the axe resting against the sofa. She then looked into the parent's room and saw only a form on the bed. Sarah went back to her house, where she and her husband lived, next door to her son and his wife. She informed her family that that Dorothy was dead. Inspector Winship Ardenwald, Ardenwald, Milwaukie, OR, USA CSI Iowa Featuring Dr. Epperly Dr. Epperly's book on the Villisca crime is scheduled for release in 2015! Here is an interview he did back in 2012. Enjoy! Dr. Ed Epperly, Villisca, IA 50864, USA Delving Deeper into Ardenwald Phillip, Ruth and Dorthy Six years ago I wrote this article explaining the differences between the Ardenwald crime and the Colorado Springs crime. Go read the article; I'll wait... I hope you enjoyed the article. You will note that I made this bold statement: So were these crimes done by the same UNSUB? IMHO, no. I based that statement on what I knew at the time, which, again is detailed in the linked article. But now, after digging deeper into the Ardewald crime, I am compelled to think otherwise. I will also admit that I was reaching that conclusion because I believed there was a pretty good suspect for the murders already... Ardenwald Victimology: William Hill William L. Hill After the murders, nearly all of the attention was given to the Cowing family and, what would become, a very public and bitter fight between the Clackamas County prosecuting attorney's office and the Clackamas County Sheriff. The focus was entirely on Ruth Hill and her family. This seems natural since Ruth had grown up in Oregon City and her father and brother (all her brothers, really) were respected businessmen in the area. William Hill's entire family lived in Washington state as did his ex-wife and her new husband and before you ask, no, she was never a suspect. At the time of his death, William was a pipefitter for the Portland Gas Company in the community of Sellwood, just a few miles west of Ardenwald. Generally, not much was known about William. He was new in the area having just recently moved his new family into the little cabin by the woods. Neighbors would note he was a hard worker but not much else could be said. Let me add a bit more information about Mr. Hill... Another Mystery Solved? Jack The Ripper With the news coming out a few days ago that DNA may have finally solved the Whitechapel murders of 1888 along with PBS possibly solving the Servant Girl Annihilator case it seems I am way behind in solving history's greatest crimes. So I'll just go ahead and say this: Elizabeth Borden was totally guilty. There. Take that... other historic crime... people. However, this may not be the final word on Saucy Jack. The DNA testing method used has not been studied and the results of the tests need to be independently verified. Like many amature crime sleuths, I first discovered the world of historic true crime through Jack the Ripper. In 1988 the murders were 100 years old and TV (that's what we used to watch back in the day) was awash in Ripper specials...even an awful made for TV movie starring David Hasselhoff. But one show I really got into, The Secret Identity of Jack the Ripper , was hosted by the great Peter Ustinov and featured a panel of experts who were given information on five suspects and asked to give their assessment as to which of these was most likely the killer. I grabbed a notepad and a pencil and parked in front of the TV to studiously take notes. The only reason I remember this at all is because at the end of the program, when the experts revealed their most likely suspects, they all said what I had written down...Aaron Kosminski. One of the experts on the panel was FBI Special Agent John Douglas, one of the FBI's first criminal profilers. I am an admirer of Mr. Douglas' and find his insights into the criminal mind to be quite interesting. You can read a brief write up about the recent Ripper Revelation TM on his website and I highly recommend you read his books. Posted by Victimology: Ruth Cowing Hill Thomas F. Cowing, Sr. Thomas (Tom) F. Cowing emigrated from England as a child with his family and grew up in Wisconsin on his parent's farm. He enlisted in the 2nd Infantry of Wisconsin in 1861 and was wounded and captured at the 2nd Battle of Bull Run on August 28th, 1862. His wound was considered fatal and the Confederates released him. However he recovered and was transferred to the Veterans Reserve Corp in December of 1863 until his term of service ended in June of 1864. He returned to Wisconsin and married Abby Bennett a month later. Eventually he moved to the fledgling town of Alexandria, MN and, with a partner, opened a hardware and implement store. Selling hardware and farming implements paid well and Thomas built a new house for his family. This is the house in which Ruth would spend the first 11 years of her life and it still stands today. Thomas Cowing was a well respected and prosperous member of the town, and Douglas county, when he passed the Minnesota Bar exam in October of 1889, but he promptly moved the entire family to Oregon City. He was named Notary Public of Clackamas county and passed the Oregon Bar in December of the same year. By February of 1890 he had opened a partnership with his oldest son Eugene, arguing land grant cases. It seems this early business venture may not have worked out because he was soon working for J.B. Brockenbrough's land agency. I don't know why Mr. Cowing decided to leave a prosperous life behind and move his whole family to Oregon but it worked out for him financially. Mr. Cowing, and his family, would prosper in the West. Unnecessary Headaches: Wikipedia Surveying the Burnham Crime Scene "Ellsworth the wickedest..." September 20, 1911, Colorado Springs, CO The Story of the Midwest Axe Murders In 1911 and 1912, entire families were destroyed by a silent fiend wielding an axe. Whole branches of family trees were sawed off and many of these people were forgotten. This is an attempt to memorialize those who were tragically killed. I have a degree in Anthropology. I am a history buff who is particularly interested in historic crimes. I stumbled on the subject of the Midwest Axe murders entirely by accident and have obsessed about them ever since. 1912VAMB Belle Jordan Charles Marzyck Coroner's Inquest Dr. Ed Epperly George Birdsall ICB Detective Award John Hanley Lovey Mitchell Lyn Kelly McClaughry Pfanschmidt Suspect Roundup Tony Donatel Wehrman Subscribe to Getting The Axe! AddMe - Search Engine Optimization The Inspector's library - Google Book Search Blogs You Should Know Tattered Fabric: Fall River’s Lizzie Borden Crimeblog The 1912 Villisca Axe Murders Blog Looking for The Axeman Virtually Visit the Victims Search Inspector Winship's cemetery records at by entering a surname and clicking search: This contributor's recordsAll of Find A Grave (21.0 million names)Restrict search to

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Network | François Furstenberg: Bush’s Dangerous Liaisons SOURCE: NYT 10-28-07 François Furstenberg: Bush’s Dangerous Liaisons Roundup: Historians' Take [François Furstenberg, a professor of history at the University of Montreal, is the author of "In the Name of the Father: Washington’s Legacy, Slavery and the Making of a Nation."] MUCH as George W. Bush’s presidency was ineluctably shaped by Sept. 11, 2001, so the outbreak of the French Revolution was symbolized by the events of one fateful day, July 14, 1789. And though 18th-century France may seem impossibly distant to contemporary Americans, future historians examining Mr. Bush’s presidency within the longer sweep of political and intellectual history may find the French Revolution useful in understanding his curious brand of 21st- century conservatism. Soon after the storming of the Bastille, pro-Revolutionary elements came together to form an association that would become known as the Jacobin Club, an umbrella group of politicians, journalists and citizens dedicated to advancing the principles of the Revolution. The Jacobins shared a defining ideological feature. They divided the world between pro- and anti-Revolutionaries — the defenders of liberty versus its enemies. The French Revolution, as they understood it, was the great event that would determine whether liberty was to prevail on the planet or whether the world would fall back into tyranny and despotism. The stakes could not be higher, and on these matters there could be no nuance or hesitation. One was either for the Revolution or for tyranny. By 1792, France was confronting the hostility of neighboring countries, debating how to react. The Jacobins were divided. On one side stood the journalist and political leader Jacques-Pierre Brissot de Warville, who argued for war. Brissot understood the war as preventive — “une guerre offensive,” he called it — to defeat the despotic powers of Europe before they could organize their counter-Revolutionary strike. It would not be a war of conquest, as Brissot saw it, but a war “between liberty and tyranny.” Pro-war Jacobins believed theirs was a mission not for a single nation or even for a single continent. It was, in Brissot’s words, “a crusade for universal liberty.”... Though it has been a topic of much attention in recent years, the origin of the term “terrorist” has gone largely unnoticed by politicians and pundits alike. The word was an invention of the French Revolution, and it referred not to those who hate freedom, nor to non-state actors, nor of course to “Islamofascism.” A terroriste was, in its original meaning, a Jacobin leader who ruled France during la Terreur. entire article at NYT

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Angela Cortez DJ Apprentice Raquel Roxy Hit Mixers #iamhot983 Advertise on Hot 98.3 Feelin' 520 Win Tickets to SOAK at Casino del Sol Resort Win Tickets to see Pitbull and Prince Royce Lipton Brisk Mate Wild Nights, Wild Boys! Tucson's Hits & Hip-Hop The CW & IHeartRadio Unite To Bring Music To The Masses Posted May 16th, 2013 @ 6:50am The CW Network and iHeartRadio are saying "I do" to a long term engagement. In a new partnership announced today, The CW and iHeartRadio's parent company, Clear Channel Media + Entertainment, will team up to deliver the two-day, star-studded iHeartRadio Music Festival to TV viewers at home. The three-year agreement will also seat music lovers front row at iHeartRadio's annual Jingle Ball concert; its Ultimate Pool Party; album release events; and concert specials through The CW and CWTV.com. The partnership widens the young demographic shared by The CW and iHeartRadio. It also expands the audience reach for some of today's hottest artists. The first event to be broadcast under the new deal will be the iHeartRadio Ultimate Pool Party on Monday, July 15th. The date for the CW broadcast of the iHeartRadio Music Festival will be announced in July, and details of iHeartRadio's Jingle Ball broadcast will be announced in the fall. Also, throughout the year, fans can expect to see more artists performing on iHeartRadio's new album release party series in the CW spotlight. Back in March, the network aired Justin Timberlake's Los Angeles El Rey Theatre concert event, which was jointly sponsored by Clear Channel and Target. Photo Credit Getty Images

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News Opinion Journal Junction Blogs Weekender Sports Ads Classifieds Jobs Extras CU Contact Us Senior Living / Senior Living « Long-term Care? Retirees attend Facebook ses...» A novelist at heart Save | TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - A few months shy of 90, Will Brenner is at it again. Less than three years after his first novel was published, his second book is out. "When you get older there are things you experience that you want to say, you want to talk about," Brenner said recently in his ample Foothills home. After finishing his first book, he found he still had plenty to say. So he began writing another one, "A Look Alike Mystery," which centers around the lives of two look-alike teenage girls from different economic backgrounds. Article Photos (AP photo)Will Brenner, a retired high school guidance counselor, stands with his second novel outside his house in the Foothills area in Pima County near Tuscon, Ariz. He published his first novel at 87. Now he's 90 and he's just published his second book. "They appear to be identical twins, but of course they're from separate families, and that's the mystery," he said. The book emphasizes the girls' family life and what Brenner calls "the obscene disparity of wealth between the rich and the poor." The book also delves into the negative impact of drugs on young people and the rational reasons why they should avoid them, Brenner said. For his writing, Brenner drew on his experiences as a high school counselor in New York, where he worked with many adolescents through the years. He hopes the book will appeal to young adults and that it "will be taken up by people in high schools, like librarians," he said. "I also hope it will appeal to parents who want to prevent their kids from getting involved with drugs." His first book, "Concerned," also dealt with two families - one from Tucson and one from New York City - who come together after their only sons go off to war in the Middle East. Writing became somewhat of an obsession for Brenner in the last few years. "He was at the computer all the time," said Anne, his wife of nearly six decades. Brenner couldn't help but write every day. "I'd wake up in the morning with all these thoughts about what I'd been writing," he said. "I just had to write and rewrite." He completed his latest book while battling cancer and other health problems. This is probably the last book he'll write because it's becoming increasingly difficult to sit at his computer for long periods of time, Brenner said. But with two books under his belt, he feels good about being a two-time author. "I've said the things I wanted to say," Brenner said. "I wanted to leave something tangible behind, other than just memories." Save | Subscribe to Journal News I am looking for:

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FBI Encourages Public To Turn Over What They May Know By Steve Inskeep Originally published on April 17, 2013 1:46 pm Transcript DAVID GREENE, HOST: It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm David Greene. STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: And I'm Steve Inskeep. Good morning. The special agent in charge of the FBI Boston office hopes someone somewhere heard something that will point to a suspect in the Boston Marathon attack. (SOUNDBITE OF STATEMENT) RICK DESLAURIERS: Any individual who expressed a desire to target the marathon: suspicious interest in researching how to create explosive devices, the noise of explosions in remote areas prior to yesterday, which may have been used as tests. INSKEEP: That's the FBI's Rick DesLauriers. GREENE: And NPR's counterterrorism correspondent Dina Temple-Raston has joined us in the studio now. Dina, good morning. DINA TEMPLE-RASTON, BYLINE: Good morning. GREENE: So we had some facts yesterday, not many. We knew there were two bombs in Boston, no more than that. Are we getting more physical evidence? TEMPLE-RASTON: Yes. Because they haven't had the usual claims of responsibility, the FBI is focusing on physical evidence. And right now, among other things, they're focusing on the remains of the explosive devices that were used earlier this week. We know that at least one of the devices is what is known as a pressure-cooker bomb. Basically, you take explosives and you put them in, like, one of those pots in which you cook rice. The other device was more damaged in the blast, so authorities are still trying to assess whether it was the same kind of bomb, or a slightly different one. Pieces of black nylon were also recovered, and officials think they might be part of a backpack or duffel bag that was used to bring the bombs to the finish line. GREENE: All things you could buy almost anywhere. TEMPLE-RASTON: That's right, but something traceable, which is important. And then yesterday, if that wasn't enough, the FBI confirmed that there had been a letter sent to senator on the Hill that tested positive for the poison ricin. INSKEEP: Which is immediately going to cause people to remember the weeks and months after 9/11, when there were letters sent to Capitol Hill. Are these events connected in any possible way? TEMPLE-RASTON: The FBI has no reason to think that the two events are connected. They expect definitive tests on the ricin, which was sent to Republican Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, to come back as early as this afternoon. Now, ricin can be fatal if ingested or inhaled. And, as you said, you know, this is reminiscent of the anthrax attacks that came in the days after 9/11. So it's rattled people a bit. INSKEEP: OK. So let's ask about possible suspects, even though there are no names that the FBI seems to have in their sights. Any indication in the evidence that the FBI has that al-Qaida might have anything to do with these attacks? TEMPLE-RASTON: They've been very careful not to rule anything in or out. And pressure-cooker bombs have traditionally been the bomb of choice in Afghan jihadi training camps, which clearly has given investigators some pause. Directions for that kind of bomb appeared in an al-Qaida online magazine a couple of years ago. The magazine was called Inspire. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that this is a foreign plot or it has an al-Qaida connection, because anyone on the Web could have found the directions. In fact, a white supremacist website had linked to Inspire magazine and these directions, and told their followers that they could look for the recipe themselves. INSKEEP: Groups are sharing information, you're saying. TEMPLE-RASTON: Exactly. So it's not just Boston. INSKEEP: A little detail here, Dina Temple-Raston. Yesterday, we were asking if, in fact, the day before, if cell phones had been used to detonate these explosives. Do you know how they were set off at this point? TEMPLE-RASTON: Well, we're getting some indications. It doesn't look like it was a cell phone. It was some sort of timer. Again, forensics are going through these bombs and pawing through all this to see what exactly it is. But it may have been a kitchen or an egg timer. GREENE: Dina, is one of the hard - the difficult things here that, I mean, if you're looking for a possible involvement of a foreign terrorist group, versus someone domestically? I mean, those sound like two incredibly different kinds of investigations. I mean, it's almost like they have to keep two tracks going at once in these early stages. TEMPLE-RASTON: Well, when you have something like a bomb, there are signatures within a bomb. So there's a certain way that al-Qaida makes bombs. Basically, if you're bomb-maker and you haven't blown your hands off, you always twist to the wires three times and put green over red, because it worked. So there are lots of indications. When they have this kind of physical evidence, this goes a long way towards explaining who might be responsible. And these two tracks are very important because of these signatures. INSKEEP: And it's interesting that you mentioned that there were directions to make this kind of bomb on the Web. You begin to wonder if there's going to be an electronic trail of some kind of any possible suspects. TEMPLE-RASTON: Certainly, there looking at that. But it's early days for that, and right now what they have, you know, that they can actually point to is this physical evidence, because nobody has taken responsibility. INSKEEP: And they are appealing to the public for evidence, for anything that people may have heard. TEMPLE-RASTON: It's interesting. An FBI agent told me yesterday that they think the way they're going to solve this is going to be with some photograph or video that people don't know is important, but the FBI looks at and sees some clue. INSKEEP: Wow. Dina, thanks very much. TEMPLE-RASTON: You're welcome. INSKEEP: That's NPR's Dina Temple-Raston. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.Related Program: Morning EditionView the discussion thread. © 2016 KASU

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View Photo Gallery3 photos0shares tweet now!0shares tweet now!Mon, 22 Oct 2012 21:05:04 GMT — The Molly Brown House in Hannibal was built in the mid 1800s. And the City of Hannibal has owned the historic house since 2007. But for the past two years, the operating budget of the house has ended in the red. Now there's talk on what the Hannibal Convention and Visitors bureau is facing and what it can do to put the budget back into the black. The house is not located right in the heart of the Hannibal Historic District, but the old Molly Brown House does have plenty of it's own history behind it. The director of the Hannibal Convention and Visitors Bureau said she thinks the heat this summer had an effect on attendance. "The heat of course, that was a factor and then of course the air conditioning went out so there are just some things you cannot control," Gail Bryant, executive director of the Hannibal Convention and Visitors Bureau said. The house is located at the corner of Butler and Denkler, which is right off of Mark Twain Avenue. But the problem is that there isn't a place for charter and tour buses to either park or turn around. So that presents a real problem to the CVB to get people to the house. "There is just no place to turn around. It's just not feasible for them to go to the Molly Brown. There might be options, maybe we can consider shuttles, working with someone with shuttles. But we are looking into options on how we can better promote the Molly Brown," said Bryant. Bryant said this year, their attendance from May until now is at about 1,325. Last year, the attendance compared to the same time was at about 1,400. From when the museum opened earlier this year to the end of June, there was a positive balance for the budget showing a profit of $1,045. But from July 1, 2012 until the end of September, there was a loss of $5,682, which ends up with a loss for the year at about $4,600. The season runs from May first to the end of October. But Bryant points out that although the season is nearly over, the house still has some expenses for the entire year, although there isn't any income during the winter months. She said she hopes with more planning and more promotion, attendance and the budget will be up for 2013.component-story-more_media_horiz-v1-01TrendingCavemen sign first female player to the league Quincy baby gains national attention for his NBA looks Fourth person arrested in connection to 7-year-old's death AMBER Alert issued following St. Louis shooting Offbeat NewsArmed homeowner catches teens in attempted burglary, makes them call 911 Rescue farm overwhelmed by 50 goats, seeks the public's help Friends, Romans: Help restore Rome's ruins, monuments FOLLOW US ON TWITTERQUICK LINKSNewsWeatherSportsDealsScheduleMobile AlertsOne Class at a TimeKHQA INFORMATION

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'We Hurt A Lot Of People,' Westboro Pastor's Granddaughter Says By Bill Chappell Megan Phelps-Roper, granddaughter of Westboro Baptist Church leader Fred Phelps, is seen during her days with the church. Now alienated from their family, Phelps-Roper and her sister, Grace, speak to religious and cultural groups. Jennifer Hack Westboro Baptist Church members hold a protest in Topeka, Kan., in this photo from the Showtime documentary Fall From Grace. David Gnojek Originally published on October 29, 2013 5:25 pm Nearly a year after breaking with the Westboro Baptist Church, two of Pastor Fred Phelps' granddaughters are enjoying a new freedom. But as they tell a Canadian newspaper, they also want to extend empathy to those they hurt in the name of a cause championed by the man they call "Gramps." Those are among the details that emerge in an interview in The Globe and Mail conducted in Montreal, where Megan and Grace Phelps-Roper are spending a month at the invitation of a Jewish community. In a turnaround from their years in a church known for its fierce protests at the funerals of American soldiers and others in the name of denouncing homosexuality, the women often speak to community and educational groups about tolerance and religion. That means Megan, 27, and Grace, 20, are living much of their life on the road. "We don't have a set home," Megan says. Discussing her future goals, Megan tells the newspaper, "I'm at a complete loss. But I do know that I want to do good, to have empathy. Even though we intended to do good [with the picketing], we hurt a lot of people." Like many Westboro Church members, they had been living just down the road from the church in Topeka, Kan. And they say they understand the certainty its members show in stating their beliefs — even though they no longer agree with them. "The way the church presents it is, there's the WBC and the rest of the world. And the rest of the world is evil. The WBC is the only place in the world in our generation that is telling the truth of God," Megan says. Over time, those little things built up, and there were so many of them. Once you step out of it for a second, and you're out of that vacuum, things change." The sisters also say that it was very hard to leave their parents and siblings. Before their departure, it was made clear to them that leaving the church would be the same as leaving the family. "We were both terrified after leaving," Megan says. "I was afraid we were going to hell. Many times when we were driving, I thought God was going to kill us." "I won't get to hear my brothers playing piano again or see my parents' hair go gray," Grace says. A driving factor in their departure was a series of email and Twitter exchanges between Megan, who ran the church's social media efforts, and David Abitbol, the editor of the Jewlicious blog, who repeatedly challenged the church's stance on Jews. They eventually met in person. "Say what you will about the Westboro Baptist Church, but they raised a couple of really, really nice girls," Abitbol told The Daily Beast in March. "They are wonderful guests, super polite and super friendly. And here's my revelation: had Grandpa Phelps been my grandpa, I would have been no different. What makes Grace and Megan so remarkable is that I don't know, if I'd been in the situation they had been, that I would have had the strength of character and intellectual integrity to walk away from my family." Abitbol was speaking as the two sisters attended a Jewlicious festival in California; he helped facilitate their current trip to Canada, as well. Their story details how two young church members who had once spoken out against other religions eventually came to visit a different church — with a gay man and his husband. That man is Jeff Chu, who had interviewed Westboro members in writing his book about being a gay Christian, Does Jesus Really Love Me? About a year after that visit, Megan called him up to say she'd left the church, he says. "Megan was really one of the strongest voices in the third generation of the Phelps family," Chu tells The Globe and Mail. "They were both junior, but key members of the WBC. They visited and my husband and I went to church with them — something I never thought would happen." As for their long-range plans, the sisters say they've been offered chances to capitalize on their background — including a pitch for a reality TV show. "We do not want to use our past as a way to make money. We abhor the idea," Megan says.Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. © 2016 KMUW

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Cyclone Phailin Hits India With 120 MPH Winds; Thousands Flee By Bill Chappell A man covers himself with a plastic sheet as a shield as he walks to a safer place near Gopalpur in eastern India Saturday. Hundreds of thousands of people living along India's eastern coastline took shelter from the massive powerful cyclone Phailin. Biswaranjan Rout As cyclone Phailin bears down on India's coast, villagers try to protect themselves from heavy rains in Srikakulam district Saturday. Indian officials report more than 500,000 people were evacuated along the coast. Manan Vatsyayana Originally published on October 12, 2013 12:35 pm Cyclone Phailin has struck India's east coast in the Bay of Bengal, where more than 500,000 people have evacuated from vulnerable areas along the coast. Phailin reportedly packed sustained winds of more than 120 mph when the eye of the storm hit; strong winds will likely persist for hours to come. Update at 3:15 p.m. ET: It is past midnight in India now, and the cyclone's winds aren't expected to dwindle for hours to come. Due to its massive size and creeping speed, the process of making landfall took a long time — and that also means the storm is soaking the areas it passes over, according to India's Meteorological Department. Saying that some areas should expect rainfall totaling 9 inches or greater, the weather agency predicts "Gale wind speed reaching 100-120 kmph (62-75 mph) would also prevail for 6 hours and 60-70 [kmph] for subsequent 6 hours" in the hardest-hit areas. From Orissa, the state along the coast where the storm hit, the BBC's Andrew North describes the scene in Brahmapur: "The town was in total darkness, the headlights of our vehicle illuminating felled trees and power lines blocking roads. Store signs and other debris were being pitched high in the air by powerful storm gusts. Elaborate decorations for a major Hindu festival that people were due to celebrate this weekend were strewn across the main road." Update at 11:45 a.m. ET: Cyclone Has Made Landfall "Cyclone Phailin makes landfall near Gopalpur, with a windspeed of around 200 kmph," reports The Times of India. That's around 124 mph. The storm came ashore after its progress stalled. As the storm bore down on the coast, government and military groups rushed to get personnel and equipment in place. A C-17 was used to airlift vehicles and ambulances into the area, reports The Times of India. The newspaper says at least four branches of India's military will take part in relief efforts. In the hours before the storm hit, electrical utilities cut power to many areas in its path, hoping to reduce the risk of injuries and fires. In its most recent update, the U.S. Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center reported that Phailin had maximum sustained winds of 138 mph, with gusts of more than 165 mph. In the next 12 hours, the center says, parts of the storm will likely maintain strong winds of up to 98 mph, gusting up to 120 mph. In an opinion piece for India's LiveMint site, environmentalist Biswajit Mohanty says the coast in Orissa has lost its natural barriers to sea floods and storms, noting a combination of previous storms and development that flattened 80-foot sand dunes and removed mangroves. Our original post continues: The storm surge might measure as much as 10 feet; seawater could reach nearly 2,000 feet inland in the states of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, according to official predictions. Earlier Saturday, the U.S. Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Hawaii reported that Phailin's maximum sustained winds reached 150 mph, with gusts at 180 mph. If the storm were to make landfall packing such forceful winds, it would be the equivalent of a category 4 or 5 hurricane. Most forecasts predict Phailin will lose power before it hits the coast. The large storm has already brought strong winds and rain to the India's coastal plains, which are prone to frequent flooding even without a cyclone's presence. People have been preparing for the worst, securing their belongings and gathering food and other supplies. The AP reports from the scene: "The skies were dark — almost black — at midday in parts of Orissa state, which will bear the brunt of the cyclone, and by mid-afternoon the winds were so strong that they could blow over grown men. Along the coast, seawater was pushing inland, swamping villages where many people survive as subsistence farmers in mud and thatch huts." The predictions are especially dire given that many houses and other structures in the area are built using mud and thatch. As the BBC reminds us, "A deadly super-cyclone in 1999 killed more than 10,000 people in Orissa." Phailin is being described as the most powerful cyclone to threaten India since that storm 14 years ago. Phailin is the Thai word for sapphire. And while we're on the topic of names, you might see "Orissa" used almost interchangeably with "Odisha" in some reports. The state long known as Orissa formally became Odisha in 2011.Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. View the discussion thread. © 2016 KNAU Arizona Public Radio

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House Rejects Measure That Would Have Curbed NSA Program By Robert Siegel Originally published on July 24, 2013 5:58 pm Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. Transcript ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel. On Capitol Hill, an effort to limit the authority of the National Security Agency has fallen short. It was the first chance for House lawmakers to vote on the government's phone surveillance program since news of it was leaked by Edward Snowden. They rejected an amendment that the White House and top intelligence officials had lobbied hard against. NPR's Tamara Keith joins us from Capitol Hill. And, Tamara, the amendment was defeated. How close was it? TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: It was actually surprisingly close. It failed by about a dozen votes. And it was really, truly bipartisan, one of the more bipartisan things that the House has done in a long time, both in those voting for it and voting against it. And I'll also say that the underlying bill, the defense spending bill, that has passed. SIEGEL: Well, let's consider this amendment then that was defeated. What would it have done? What did it actually say? KEITH: So the NSA currently collects data about Americans' phone calls in bulk. This amendment would've limited it to just people who are actually under investigation. Michigan Republican Justin Amash is the lead author of the amendment. REPRESENTATIVE JUSTIN AMASH: The government collects the phone records without suspicion of every single American in the United States. My amendment makes a simple but important change. It limits the government's collection of those records - of the records, to those records that pertain to a person who is the subject of an investigation. SIEGEL: Now, Tamara, Congressman Amash, whom we just heard there, is a conservative Republican, but this (unintelligible) some very unusual alliances. Some of his co-authors are liberal Democrats. KEITH: Indeed, they are. It's said the whole thing about the political spectrum on the left and the right, they sort of come together at times. Raul Labrador is a - also a conservative Republican from Idaho, and he was speaking at an event called Conversations with Conservatives. And this is how he described this alliance. REPRESENTATIVE RAUL LABRADOR: I call it jokingly the wing nut coalition, where you have the right wing and the left wing working together and trying to get things done. KEITH: Now, in this case, they didn't quite get it done, but they certainly did send a message that there are a lot of people concerned about this. SIEGEL: So, some strange bedfellows in support of this amendment, who formed the opposition to it? KEITH: Oh, similarly strange bedfellows. You had the Heritage Foundation, the president and the White House, and Michele Bachmann and John Boehner, people who often don't get along, all united in opposition. And they made an argument that this amendment would undermine national security. Tom Cotton is an Arkansas Republican who spoke against the amendment on the House floor. REPRESENTATIVE TOM COTTON: It does not limit the program, it does not modify it, it does not constrain the program. It ends the program. It blows it up. Some of you've heard the analogy that if you want to have - search for a needle in a haystack, you have to have the haystack. This takes a leaf blower and blows away the entire haystack. SIEGEL: Well, they prevailed. What does that say about what was accomplished by the sponsors of this amendment to cut NSA funding? Was anything accomplished by them? Is there some next step that they take? KEITH: Well, 205 members of Congress, a bipartisan group, voted to say that they have concerns about this NSA program. And those concerns, no doubt, have been heard. They sent the head of the NSA up to answer questions yesterday and presumably lobby against the measure. And also, this large bipartisan coalition formed with outside groups, all different groups that you wouldn't expect to come together, and those groups intend to keep working on this issue. And next week, the Senate Judiciary Committee is planning to hold a hearing about oversight of the surveillance program. So the conversation continues here on Capitol Hill. SIEGEL: That's NPR's Tamara Keith on Capitol Hill. Thank you, Tamara. KEITH: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.Related Programs: All Things ConsideredWeekend All Things Considered © 2016 KTEP

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Texas And London I am a subscriber and a regular reader of the Economist despite their maddening tendency to recommend US presidential candidates that are left-leaning. The Economist is very useful on business and international issues and their US focused articles sometimes have a candor and simplicity that is lacking elsewhere.A recent cover story titled "America's Future - California v. Texas" described the falling fortunes of virtually bankrupt and high-tax California against the high flying economy of Texas. In typical Economist style, there is a one-page editorial type summary of the article in the front of the magazine and then two special sections on California and Texas, respectively.One critical element of the story, however, is mentioned nowhere in The Economist's article - that is of personal freedom vs. state control.London, as anyone who has visited recently will tell you, is completely blanketed with security cameras. Virtually the entire city is under surveillance. At the same time, London has completely disarmed its residents of any firearms. Even the police, for the most part, are unarmed (although they do have heavily armed police at the airport and on call for other types of engagements). And building anything in London is difficult and slow, with myriad restrictions; notably they limit the heights of buildings and also require extensive open spaces outside the cities. London also has a famous congestion tax, which hits all drivers who enter the city limits and is managed through a vast system of security cameras, as well. It isn't fair to say that everyone in London is behind all of this; but these facts are generally accepted by the populace and aren't likely to be changed any time soon.The Economist basically reflects many of these views; they support free markets but with a huge dosage of state control. They have limited use for other types of freedom, such as the right to bear arms, or to live your life in private, or to drive where you please without paying inordinate taxes.In these items they can feel a similar kinship with the liberals that run California. California has implemented their own "green" policies and controls on businesses where ever possible. Gun control and limits on ability to build or expand properties (except those that they already own, of course), are their stock in trade. California has high taxes (like London) and is marked as the least favorable business climate in America. Unions are viewed positively overall (or at least accepted) among the California liberal elite as well as London.The interesting thing is that as The Economist looks to Texas, they miss out on the larger context of what "freedom" means. While London has no guns, Texas has essentially empowered their own citizens and businesses to arm themselves. When I lived in Houston about a decade ago, not only was concealed carry widespread, most larger businesses (pretty much every large grocery store or big restaurant) had an armed security guard at the door. Other laws, including "stand your ground" have been implemented in Texas in one of the most liberal senses in the US. A local bank near where I lived had a guard who was lauded because he saw robbers (guys wearing masks) coming up towards the bank and he shot them in the driveway before they even entered the bank. There were so many stories like this down in Houston that I don't even think they all made the paper - most of what I heard came from friends or colleagues.In addition, Houston had no zoning whatsoever when I lived there. Near my apartment was a home for the blind, a large factory, and other buildings inter spaced together. Not far from our apartment was a 60+ story skyscraper, sitting virtually alone in a business neighborhood. Zoning in other parts of Texas was limited, as well.Since there were no unions in the construction trades (that I was aware of), buildings were put up in an unimaginable time. In the mid-1990's I saw a PF Chang's on Westheimer Road built in what seemed to be just DAYS - they put up spotlights and worked around the clock - it was amazing. One week I left to travel and it was a parking lot and I came back a week later and the exterior was largely completed.Texas has always leveraged its energy resources - laws are friendly to drilling and oil and natural gas are a backbone of the economy. California, by contrast, does all it can to ensure that no one drills offshore or otherwise extracts or transports energy in the state. Texas also "walled off" their electric grid from the rest of the US and worked to ensure that there was adequate capacity, while California failed to invest and actively tried to shutter key electric plants (such as their nuclear plants). I think that there is a lot more to the changing of the guard in America's economy from California to Texas than The Economist understands - they ought to move down to Texas for a few years and get a first-hand education. Freedom includes the right to bear arms, a lack of unions, and a general freedom to improve your property without intrusive state control. Also note that freedom includes a limited role for the state, and California has the highest personal income taxes in the nation while Texas has no income tax. It is hard to believe that they wrote these articles without highlighting these key differences as to why California was declining and Texas rising - they mentioned demography (net inflows and outflows of residents) - but they didn't discuss the CAUSE of the demographic changes, which include:- high taxes vs. low taxes- minimize energy use vs. leverage existing resources- heavy business regulation vs. light business regulation (unions, zoning)- limited rights to bear arms vs. highly armed populaceThe Economist should open their eyes to the full picture of what works and what doesn't. A heavy handed state drives away new business and entrepreneurial leaders, and unions and government squeeze the rest until it all falls apart.Cross posted at Chicago Boyz

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Connecticut toddler's death in hot car a homicidePosted: August 21, 2014 - 7:30pm Associated Press HARTFORD, Conn. — The death of a 15-month-old boy who was left in a hot car in July has been ruled a homicide, the office of the state medical examiner said Thursday. The medical examiner determined that Benjamin Seitz died of hyperthermia due to environmental exposure. The toddler's father, Kyle Seitz of Ridgefield, was supposed to take him to day care July 7. Police say he instead went to work and left the boy inside the car for an "extended period of time" as temperatures climbed into the upper 80s. He took the boy to the hospital after finding him in the car. Ridgefield police Capt. Jeff Kreitz told WTNH-TV on Thursday that detectives plan to meet with prosecutors to discuss the medical examiner's findings. A police investigation into the death is continuing. "The autopsy report is one factor to be considered by the state's attorney in the evaluation of the incident once the investigation is complete," said Stephen Sedensky III, the state's attorney for the Danbury area. The boy's mother, Lindsey Rogers-Seitz, told The Associated Press last month that her husband is a good father and she forgives him. Rogers-Seitz, an attorney who also has two daughters, has set up a website in her son's memory to raise awareness of the danger of leaving children alone in cars on warm days. More than three dozen children die of hyperthermia in cars annually in the United States, and more than 600 children have died in hot cars since 1998. Heatstroke can happen when the temperature is as low as 57 degrees, and car interiors can reach well over 110 degrees even when the outside temperature is in the 60s. Benjamin Seitz Heat illness Jeff Kreitz Kyle Seitz Lindsey Rogers-Seitz State's Attorney WTNH-TV City names new parks and rec director Dear Abby: Family fears for teen under boyfriend's... Spotted

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Plane makes emergency landing in Omaha OMAHA, Neb. - More than 100 airline passengers have already left Omaha after their plane made an uneventful emergency landing on Christmas Day. Southwest Airlines spokesman Paul Flaningan says a fuel valve problem prompted the crew of Flight 2879 to declare an emergency. The Boeing 737 was diverted to Omaha's Eppley Airfield and landed around 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Flaningan says the plane landed without incident. It was carrying 109 passengers and five crew members from Denver to Kansas City International Airport. He says the passengers boarded another plane and arrived in Kansas City, Mo., about two hours later than their original schedule.

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Wandering cattle killed in separate Newell H'way accidents By Catherine Clifford Mon 15 Jul 2013, 8:52 PM AEST Investigations into two separate collisions near Moree on the Newell Highway are continuing.Spokesman with Roads and Maritime Services, Ben Tracey, says cattle were hit and killed in both accidents.The Highway was closed for nearly two hours between 4:30am and 6:15am on Monday.Ben Tracey says investigations are ongoing."Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) was advised of two incidents which occurred this morning on the Newell Highway, south of Moree, near Tycannagh Creek in which five cows were killed," he said."One crash involved a woman driving a car which collided with one cow and the second crash involved a B-double truck which collided with four cows."RMS says the closure of the Newell was necessary to remove the carcasses of the animals.It is believed the cattle escaped from a nearby paddock. Officers from Barwon Local Area Command and staff at Moree Plains Shire Council are making further inquiries.The female driver of the car was transported to Moree Hospital in a stable condition.The male truck driver suffered minor injuries.

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Entertainment of 2014-04-04 Ghana to participate in Mr World 2014 finals Beginning June this year, Ghana will send a representative to the Mr. World male pageant. Exclusive Events Ghana Limited (local franchisee holders, and representatives of the Mr. World office in Ghana, which is a division of the Miss World organization) today announced it has been granted the privilege of organizing the event in Ghana. To kick off what would be a yearly activity, auditions will be held in Accra on April 26 at Mahogany Lodge, after which the contestants will take part in series of activities in the lead up to the final selection. The activities will include but not limited to photo-shoots, Corporate Social Responsibility pitching, fitness and sports challenges, to determine a winner. A formal announcement of the winner of Mr. World Ghana 2014 is intended for May 7 2014. This year’s winner will tentatively leave Accra by May ending ahead of the June 15 world finals in London. Inna Maryam Patty, CEO, Exclusive Events Ghana says, “We are excited at the opportunity to once again pioneer and lead a novelty in Pageants in Ghana. “We are inspired by the trust reposed in us by the Mr. World Organization, and are hopeful of not only pulling a successful maiden edition but choosing a worthy winner to complement our recent feat at the Miss World stage.” Audition forms are selling for GHS 50 at the Labone offices of Exclusive Events. Contestants must be between the ages of 17 to 27 and Ghanaian. He must be articulate and proficient in both a local language and international language. A tertiary level of education is preferable and must be current on world events. He must have a lean physique and must not be bulky, handsome, and eloquent, talented and be photogenic Would-be-applicants must also be willing to do community/corporate social responsibility work during their reign. Prizes and other details for the maiden edition would be announced at a subsequent date, says Exclusive Events Ghana Limited.Source: Casandra« Previous | Next »View CommentsNews Categories

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EDITORS' BLOG Last Updated: Wednesday, 2 May 2007, 13:02 GMT 14:02 UK Mother-in-law on trial for murder Surjit Athwal's body has never been found A young wife was strangled during a trip to India with her mother-in-law, an Old Bailey court has heard. Surjit Athwal, 27, went missing in 1998 after allegedly being lured to India on the pretext of attending some weddings. Her disappearance remained a mystery until other family members decided to brave their fear of reprisals and come forward, the prosecution said. Her husband Sukhdave Athwal, 42, and his mother, Bachan Athwal, 68, from Hayes, west London, both deny murder. Forged letters The case involved an "unhappy marriage" and a degree of tension between Surjit and her mother-in-law, said Michael Worsley QC, prosecuting. This matter came to light as late as it did because some members of the family who knew the truth of what had happened were frightened Michael Worsley QC He said a plan was hatched to get Surjit Athwal to India "on a pretext of going to some weddings" which the two women did in fact attend. "Thereafter, certainly within a few days, she completely disappeared from the surface of the Earth," he said. When Bachan Athwal returned to the UK she said her daughter-in-law had been strangled by her brother or a friend of his, the court heard. It was alleged she and her son forged letters impersonating British police to their Indian counterparts to throw detectives off the scent. The pair also faked a document transferring ownership of the home Surjit Athwal part-owned into their names, the court was told. Her body was never found despite an "elaborate" investigation by British police, Mr Worsley said. He said the matter came to light after some of her husband's relatives decided to break their silence despite their fears. "They were frightened that if they told anybody the same sort of thing might happen to them as they believed happened to the victim," he said. BBC London TOP LONDON STORIES Teen murder 'witnessed by many' Man denies double murder Ambulance service under scrutiny

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After 32 Years At Annie Malone, Former CEO Angela L. Starks Stands By Her Work By Erin Williams Jan 15, 2013 ShareTwitter Facebook Google+ Email In the 32 years she has worked for the Annie Malone Children and Family Service Center, former CEO Angela Starks has always made serving both the community both in and outside of the building her main priority. Listen Listening... / Erin Williams talks with former Annie Malone CEO Angela Starks on her 32 years of service in the organization. She stepped down in December, with her role to be carried on by Darryl Wise, who has worked with Annie Malone for the past five years. When she first began her work as a therapist, Starks was amaze by how dedicated her coworkers were to providing help to their young patrons. Annie Malone headquarters, located in The Ville neighborhood. Credit Douglas Duckworth “I never met so many people who worked so hard. It was all about the kids, it was all about making the children feel their self-worth was everything in a home-like atmosphere,” she remembers. “There was this kind of stigma - kids that came from homes or from orphanages at the time had a certain look. And the workers and the staff really made sure that that did not occur.” “We used to have a saying when we’d had to go to the school - ‘The only time they knew you were from Annie Malone is when you’d act out and we’d have to come up here for you.’ They worked very hard in making sure the kids fit into any community they went in.” Starks slowly worked her way through the development ranks, becoming Vice President of Program and Planning in 1995, and later the Chief Operating Officer. She also helped create the guidelines for the organization’s “Teen Take Charge of Your Life Program.” “I felt my strengths were direct service, but I soon learned that I understood programs, I understood that I learned how to write contracts, and I was negotiating for programs and activities and things for the agency – and I became good at it,” she says. Girls dance in the 2011 Annie Malone parade. Credit Marjie Kennedy In her 2 ½ years as CEO, Starks is most proud of having kept the facility open despite budgetary woes. “We didn’t have to do a massive layoff – I was able to change some of the programs and utilize what our strengths were.” The choice to close the facilities residential program but keep the crisis intervention program open was difficult, she admit, but “it kept our doors open...and I’m proud that I was able to do that.” For the 125 year-old organization’s future, Starks feels it is key to reinforce the fact that Annie Malone is not only a part of the community, but is there to help. “Whatever the neighbors or whatever that community needs, that we can be at least a referral source, or that we can be a help to them.” Tags: More Than You ThinkView the discussion thread. St. Louis Public Radio is a service of

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Nina Totenberg NPR’s Ari Shapiro On Politics, Pink Martini And Dinner Parties With Nina Totenberg By Alex Heuer, Mary Edwards & Don Marsh Mar 7, 2013 Stephen Voss for NPR Ari Shapiro is a White House correspondent for NPR. His stories about ongoing political negotiations in Washington, D.C. are familiar to public radio listeners as is his recent guest hosting of Talk of the Nation. Shapiro, a graduate of Yale University, began his journalism career in 2001 in the office of NPR Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg. He would go on to cover the Justice Department and serve reporting stints in Atlanta, Miami and Boston. The award-winning journalist was the first NPR reporter to be promoted to correspondent before age thirty. St. Louis Public Radio is a service of

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You Are Here:Home >US Newspaper Archives >Texas >New Braunfels >New Braunfels Herald Zeitung >2003 New Braunfels Herald Zeitung >February 16, 2003 Issue date: Sunday, February 16, 2003 Previous edition: Saturday, February 15, 2003 View sample pages : New Braunfels Herald Zeitung, February 16, 2003 All text in the New Braunfels Herald Zeitung February 16, 2003, Page 1. New Braunfels Herald Zeitung (Newspaper) - February 16, 2003, New Braunfels, Texas CHS students learn art of jewelry making/1 C Guest harpist performs with Mid-Texas Symphony/Inside Smithson Valley kicks off baseball season Monday/1 B SUNDAY February 16f, 2003 42 pages in 5 sections ■■■■■■ ~ PaRes m se(-'ti< - i rn. t: Serving New Braunfels and Comal County since 1852 State swimming champ K. JESSIE SLATEN Herald-Zeitung Canyon senior Justin Ashby checks the scoreboard to find he is the winner of the state gold medal in the boys 50-yard freestyle swim Saturday during the Swimming and Diving State Championships at the University of Texas at Austin. For complete coverage, see Page 1B. Photos by K. JESSIE SLATEN/HerakJ-Zertung Couples take a spin on the dance floor Saturday at the Knights of Columbus Hall during the Eighth Annual Polka Fest. The hall opens at 11 a.m. today featuring Oma and the Oompahs, Litt’l Fisherman, the Cloverleaf Orchestra and others. Couples keep polka tradition alive and well By Sean Bowlin It was happy music — the beat said so. And hundreds of mostly seniors were happily hopping, shuffling, twirling and stepping to an oom-pah, oom-pah, oom-pah-pah beat, celebrating the German and Czech heritage of the Hill Country as they grinned, ate barbecue and bought Polka CDs. They were enjoying the New Braunfels Polka Fest — and the music that made them smile. And as they heard a succession of Polka bands, the seniors talked, danced and remembered a time when life was a lot simpler, when there were country dance halls, a happy beat in the background — and when they were young and in love. One of the seniors was Polka Fest organizer Gordon Zunker. Zunker said it was important to promote and keep the Polka alive. (Above) Alfred and Mary Ann Till of San Marcos twist and twirl the day away at Polka Fest Saturday. This was the couple’s fourth year to attend. (Left) Terry Cavanagh stepped in after the first act bowed out because of illness. “The last few years its been dropping off,” Zunker said. He’s a New Braunfels native and Bergheim resident who started playing Polka music as a high school sophomore in 1949. Zunker’s seen the ebb and flow of the music come with births and funerals — his band, the Cloverleaf Orchestra, has turned over IOO percent in 50 years. But the beat was alive and loud in the Knights of Columbus Hall, and it was plain to see that last night, Polka music wasn’t on a downtrend as couples bobbed, hopped and waltzed until 9:30 p.m. Pat Mollenhauer, 65, who was planning to waltz with his wife, Doris, said the Polka was locally historical. “Its part of our heritage in New Braunfels,” Mollenhauer said. Mollenhauer said Polka dances were held at the old Echo Hall and other dance halls. ‘That’s where a lot of us met our wives. The parents would take the children along to the dance, and if you were real small and you didn’t know how to dance yet, they’d fix a pallet for you and you crashed out there.” Mollenhauer and Doris were members of a Polka dance club — “The Good Time Polka Waltz Club.” Mollenhauer said the club unites a lot of people that rarely get to see each other See POLKA/8AFiling begins for local races2 seats on city council open By Ron Maloney Staff Writer The official filing period for the municipal election in New Braunfels opens Tuesday morning and runs through 5 p.m. March 19. A write-in candidate can declare candidacy through Monday, March 24. Election Day is Saturday, May 3. Liz I^adshaw. who works in the city secretary's office, said filing would open Tuesday because Monday is the Presidents’ Day holiday. “We have the packets here ready at our office for any candidates who are interested in applying. They can just come by and pick them up,' Ladshaw said. So far, two candidates have announced their intentions to run for seats on the New Braunfels City Council. Gale O’Hara Pospisil See COUNCIL/8A4 CISD spots up for grabs The annual board of trustees’ election in the Comal Independent School District is Saturday, May 3. Candidates interested in filing for one of the four seats up for election can do so between Monday and March 19. The school district is divided into seven single-mem ber districts. For 2003, only patrons in districts 1,2,5 and 7 will vote in the CISD school board election. Trustees currently representing those districts are Dora Gonzales, District I, secretary; Dan K. Krueger, District 2, president; Deraid LaRue, District 5; and Randy Pawelek, District 7. All are completing their three-year terms on the school board except Pawelek. Pawelek was appointed to the board in November See CISD/8A Seguin man dies after car slams into bridge abutment A 26-year-old Seguin man died early Saturday when the car he was riding in slammed into a Seguin Avenue fridge abutment. Comal County Judge Danny Scheel pronounced David Neal Prophet, 26, dead in the McKenna Memorial Hospital emergency room minutes after the 6:30 a.m. accident. Prophet was the right rear passenger in a 1976 Oldsmobile driven by Jay Lee Benefield, 33, of Seguin. New Braunfels Police Sgt. Mike Rutherford reported police, firefighters and paramedics who went to the 700 block of South Seguin found Benefield’s southbound car had slammed into the stone and concrete railroad overpass bridge abutment at high speed. The vehicle was heavily damaged. Benefield and two other passengers, a man and a woman who were not identified, were aU flown to University Hospital with major injuries. A hospital official Saturday night said Benefield was in stable condition. The conditions of the passengers were not known. Abby......................................2C Classifieds..............................1-8D I Comics..................................4B Lifestyle.............................1-8C Forum....................................6A Local/State............................4A Movies........................... 2C Obituaries.............................3A Records................................SA Sports................................1*3B Today....................................2A Stocks ...............................5B www.herald-zeltung.com Edgett: County not a likely target a 56825 00002 8 Comal County Emergency Management Coordinator Carol Edgett said the public should make the preparations recommended with the nation’s week-old, level orange terrorism threat, but shouldn’t be overly alarmed. “We’re monitoring the situation, but I understand San Antonio is not one of the cities where we’re expecting activity,” Edgett said. Terrorism bulletins have stated New York City and Washington D.C. as likely targets. A third unnamed city also could be a target, Edgett said. Bush: Leave worrying to professionals/9A But that city is not believed to be in Texas. A report earlier this week from a purported former associate of Osama bin Laden that a “dirty” nuclear device would be used in an attack in the United States has been debunked, according to the Associated Press. “We don’t want panic. We don’t want people t| be highly alarmed. If we do have an incident in San Antonio our emergency management office would be one of the first to know, and we would be able to respond accordingly to get the message out,” Edgett said. “I work closely with San Antonio and Bexar County emergency management. I really don’t foresee any great impact for our community. If there was, it would probably be people evacuating the San Antonio area. We don’t have any facilities in New Braunfels that would be priority terrorist targets.” Comal County Judge Danny Scheel told commissioners Thursday the county is monitoring the threat on a continual basis. “Understand that we have See TARGET/8A annThe happy dance

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Syria Developments: Debate In Washington; Assad Speaks To Rose By Bill Chappell Sep 8, 2013 ShareTwitter Facebook Google+ Email The Greek Orthodox monastery of Mar Takla in the Syrian Christian town of Maaloula is seen on Sept. 7. The town is now controlled by a rebel group with al-Qaida ties. Originally published on September 8, 2013 4:05 pm We're following several stories regarding Syria Sunday, including new comments from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. There are also reports that an Islamist group with ties to al-Qaida has seized a town with a large Christian population. Elsewhere, officials in the U.S. and its allies are debating how to respond to the conflict that began in 2011, as President Obama's administration tries to shore up support for military action. We'll update this post with news as it emerges today. Update at 5 p.m. ET: Sampling Of Political Debate As the Obama administration pushes for congressional support for its plan to punish Syria, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough appeared on all five major Sunday talk shows today. Below, we've collected a sampling of opinions that aired Sunday, using transcripts from the Federal News Service. McDonough, speaking on NBC's Meet the Press: "Nobody doubts the intelligence. That means that everybody believes that Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons against his own people to the tune that you just said of killing nearly 1,500 on August 21st. "So the question for Congress this week is what are the consequences for his having done so? How Congress chooses to answer that question will be listened to very clearly in Damascus but not just in Damascus, also in Tehran and among the Lebanese Hezbollah." ... Later in the show, discussing the Obama administration's plan: "Here is what this is not: No boots on the ground; not an extended air campaign; not a situation like Iraq and Afghanistan; not a situation even like Libya. This is a targeted, limited, consequential action to reinforce this prohibition against these weapons that unless we reinforce this prohibition will proliferate and threaten our friends and our allies." New Mexico Sen. Tom Udall, a Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, speaking on Meet the Press: "I haven't changed my mind, and I think the most important thing here is we all know, first of all, that what he did, Bashar Assad, was a heinous act. It's despicable. My heart is broken when I see that video, and you see women and children dying as a result of chemical weapons.... "But the big question for the Congress right now is what is the most effective way to move forward? And I think the American people don't want to be embroiled in a Middle Eastern civil war. This is an act of war that we're going to take. We haven't exhausted all of our political, economic, and diplomatic alternatives, and that's where I want to be focused. " ... Later in the show, discussing other options: "I think what we're talking about is moving much too rapidly down the warpath and not trying to find a political solution through the international community. And Russia — we haven't even made them vote. You know, everybody says, well, Russia is going to veto it. They keep saying they haven't seen the intelligence. We ought to show them the intelligence. We ought to take the intelligence to the world and like has been done in the past, at the United Nations and the Security Council, a presentation as to exactly what has happened here and why Russia is complicit in all of this. "And I think we have a real chance to move us forward in a very, very positive vein." New York Rep. Peter King, a Republican on House Panels on Intelligence and Homeland Security, speaking on Meet the Press: "I would vote yes in spite of the president's conduct." ... Later in the show, discussing regional concerns: "I do believe, though, that there is a real axis between Syria and Iran that for Syria to be allowed to use chemical weapons, to continue to have their chemical weapons, at the same time, we're issuing a red line to Iran not to go ahead with nuclear weapons. That makes that Iran/Syria an axis predominant in the Middle East. It endangers Jordan, it endangers Israel, and that necessarily endangers our national security. "I just wish president had laid this out better. I wish he'd quit backing away from his own red line, and I wish he was more of a commander-in-chief than the community organizer." Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, speaking on Fox News Sunday: "Well, the interesting thing is when I see the horror of those attacks, my first impulse is that whoever would order that deserves death. I mean, someone who is a war criminal who would execute citizens and kill innocent people with any kind of weapon deserves death. But the question is the attack as I've seen the plan, as I've heard about the plan from the administration is not to target Assad, not to target regime change and to really be so surgical and so specific that it doesn't affect the outcome of the war. ... Later in the show, discussing possible outcomes: "The worst case scenario is that the stockpiles of sarin gas begin to move about the country and maybe they go to Hezbollah and they go into Lebanon and become more of a threat to Israel. I think that is more likely to happen if we attack Assad than if we don't attack Assad. "With regard to North Korea, I think the North Koreans know and should know absolutely if gas or conventional weapons were used on our troops ever that there would be an overwhelming response against them. They're completely separate situations." Update at 11:30 a.m. ET: Assad Speaks To Charlie Rose In an interview that will air on Monday, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad tells CBS News' Charlie Rose about the looming threat of a U.S. military strike and the claims that he used chemical weapons against his own citizens. Speaking from Beirut, Rose described the interview on Face the Nation Sunday morning, saying that Assad repeated his denial of having ordered a chemical weapons attack. Assad also said the U.S. hasn't shown evidence of such an attack. CBS News reports: "'He does accept some of the responsibility' for the attack that killed almost 1,500 Syrian civilians — including hundreds of children, Rose said. 'I asked that very question: 'Do you feel any remorse?' He said, 'Of course I do,' but it did not come in a way that was sort of deeply felt inside. It was much more of a calm recitation of anybody who's a leader of a country would feel terrible about what's happened to its citizens." Assad also told Rose that if the U.S. military attacks, there will be retaliation. He didn't give further details, though he warned the American people that their previous experiences in the Middle East have not been good. Parts of Rose's interview with Assad will air Monday on CBS This Morning, and the full interview will air Monday night on The Charlie Rose Show on PBS. Our original post continues: A rebel group that is believed to be part of the al-Nusra Front took control of the town of Maaloula from the Syrian military late on Saturday. As CNN reports, the town is historically Christian — a group that it says makes up about 10 percent of Syria's population. The al-Nusra Front is one of two groups with ties to al-Qaida that are fighting the Syrian government, as Radio Free Europe reports in a profile of the group. The U.S. has not ruled out the idea of asking the U.N. Security Council for a resolution on Syria, Secretary of State John Kerry said in Paris on Sunday, according to Reuters. On the same trip, Kerry also said that President Bashar al-Assad's "deplorable use of chemical weapons crosses an international, global red line," the BBC reports. The U.S. accuses Assad of killing more than 1,400 people in a chemical weapons attack on Aug. 21. The Obama administration has released video footage that it says show victims of the attack. The graphic videos are also published on the website of the Senate Intelligence panel, which was shown the videos on Thursday. During his visit to Paris this weekend, Kerry has often addressed officials in fluent French. That led Reuters to call a speech that highlighted ties between the U.S. and France "something of a love letter" — and to note France's staunch support for airstrikes on Syria. Kerry's comments come days after U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power said the Security Council is paralyzed by Russia's refusal to act against Syria, and may not be the best route for the U.S. to pursue its goals. As we reported Saturday, member nations of the European Union joined to blame Syria's President Bashar al-Assad for the chemical weapons attack. But EU officials stopped short of endorsing military strikes on Syria, preferring instead to await a U.N. analysis of the site of the alleged attack. U.N. inspectors have not yet publicized the findings of their analysis.Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. View the discussion thread. © 2016 WNIJ and WNIU

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POLL: Do you think the property tax cap is working? Julie Rovner Julie Rovner is a health policy correspondent for NPR specializing in the politics of health care. Reporting on all aspects of health policy and politics, Rovner covers the White House, Capitol Hill, the Department of Health and Human Services in addition to issues around the country. She served as NPR's lead correspondent covering the passage and implementation of the 2010 health overhaul bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. A noted expert on health policy issues, Rovner is the author of a critically-praised reference book Health Care Politics and Policy A-Z. Rovner is also co-author of the book Managed Care Strategies 1997, and has contributed to several other books, including two chapters in Intensive Care: How Congress Shapes Health Policy, edited by political scientists Norman Ornstein and Thomas Mann. In 2005, Rovner was awarded the Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for distinguished reporting of Congress for her coverage of the passage of the Medicare prescription drug law and its aftermath. Rovner has appeared on television on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, CNN, C-Span, MSNBC, and NOW with Bill Moyers. Her articles have appeared in dozens of national newspapers and magazines, including The Washington Post, USA Today, Modern Maturity, and The Saturday Evening Post. Prior to NPR, Rovner covered health and human services for the Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report, specializing in health care financing, abortion, welfare, and disability issues. Later she covered health reform for the Medical News Network, an interactive daily television news service for physicians, and provided analysis and commentary on the health reform debates in Congress for NPR. She has been a regular contributor to the British medical journal The Lancet. Her columns on patients' rights for the magazine Business and Health won her a share of the 1999 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award. An honors graduate, Rovner has a degree in political science from University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. As Supreme Court Sends Back Birth Control Case, Both Sides Claim Victory May 16, 2016 When it comes to the issue of religious rights versus no-cost contraception, the only thing the Supreme Court could agree on was not to decide. In an unsigned opinion issued Monday, the court sent a series of cases back to a raft of federal appeals courts, with instructions for those courts and the parties in the lawsuits to try harder to work things out. "The Court expresses no view on the merits of the cases," the opinion said. Selling Health Insurance Across State Lines Sounds Good, But Is It? May 12, 2016 Presidential candidates like to float solutions to long-standing problems. Making those solutions stick is another thing altogether. When it comes to health care, the enactment of the Affordable Care Act, rather than tamping down chatter about how to insure people, seems only to have spurred more of it. But you know what? There's a reason some problems are long-standing. They may have no easy solution. Or the solution isn't politically feasible. Or there's a solution that sounds good on the campaign trail but isn't likely to actually work. Supreme Court Takes Up Birth Control Access Yet Again Mar 23, 2016 On the sixth anniversary of the enactment of the Affordable Care Act, the federal health law was back before a seemingly divided Supreme Court Wednesday. Legal Foes In Texas Abortion Case Are Using New Playbooks Mar 4, 2016 The fate of the controversial Texas abortion law is in the hands of the Supreme Court, and a decision isn't expected before June. But how this particular law reached the high court and how its opponents have gathered evidence to strike it down represent fresh twists in an acrimonious national debate stretching back to the 1970s. A Voter's Guide To The Health Law Chatter Feb 6, 2016 Nearly six years after its enactment, the Affordable Care Act remains a hot issue in the presidential race — in both parties. "Our health care is a horror show," said GOP candidate Donald Trump at the Republican debate in South Carolina in December. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, winner of the Iowa caucuses, said at the debate in Des Moines that the health law has been "a disaster," adding it's "the biggest job-killer in our country." Pages1 © 2016 New York NOW

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Articles tagged mutual aid What Mutual Aid Looks Like Posted 2 years ago on Dec. 30, 2013, 12:30 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt food not bombs, mutual aid, Exponentially growing income inequality has widened the gulf between the haves and have-nots in the United States, leaving too many hungry and disempowered. A small group of caring individuals in Long Island, NY has taken matters into their own hands and organized a DIY network of food recovery and redistribution "food shares" across their community. This 7 minute video provides a cross-sectional view into 24 hours of their regular operations and details how in that short time frame 50,078 lbs of food was recovered and then shared in Hempstead, NY providing food to 2,500+ people in need. </iframe> <p>24hrs with Long Island Food Not Bombs Thank you, Food not Bombs! Give Directly to #TyphoonHaiyan Victims (not the @RedCross) Posted 2 years ago on Nov. 12, 2013, 9:13 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt Typhoon Haiyan, Occupy Philippines Please take a moment to donate directly to on-the-ground organizations. It's been nearly a week since Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest hurricane in a generation, battered the Philippines, leaving unimaginable devastation in its wake. According to initial estimates, over 10,000 people dead, millions more shelterless and struggling to survive, as other storms threaten to wreck havoc on the archipelago. The hurricane comes just three weeks after a 7.2 earthquake brought down buildings and infrastructure in central Philippines. As the international aid industrial complex sluggishly awakens from its slumber, hundreds of on-the-ground grassroots organizations are doing much of the heavy lifting, providing aid to hardest hit areas, places in which the government and international relief organizations are visibly absent. These organizations need support, not only because the storm has drastically strained their resources, but more importantly, because we recognize that for a relief effort to be effective it has to be led by the impacted communities. Help power the people lead recovery efforts currently happening on the ground by donating to National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON). Besides doing valuable work to advance immigration reform in the United States and environmental justice, they work with a network of grassroots Philippine partners, to ensure that donations go directly to those most in need of help, information, and basic necessities. For years, NAFCON has carried out its overseas relief and rehabilitation efforts with partner organizations who maintain a proven track record of serving Filipinos communities with integrity and trust. For more information check out Occupy Philippines: Post by Occupy Philippines. Washington, D.C.: Mutual Aid in Mass Mobilizations occupy dc The District of Columbia is the nation’s Capital and therefore a lightning rod for national organizing, but it is also the home of 600,000 people who deal day-to-day with the consequences of many of the important issues that get protested downtown. Often, there is a great divide in DC between locally and nationally focused groups even though these groups encounter the same difficulties, require many of the same resources and often have similar goals. This leads to competing for attention, attendees, media and support while wasting that most valuable of resources, time, by duplicating efforts. Often times there are class and race divides between local and national organizers, adding to the power dynamics and complicated relationships. Mutual Aid in the Face of the Storm via Tidal People are not helpless against the storm. While the winds howl, the thunder rages, and the waters rise, people can find shelter when they act together in the face of collapsing economies and ecological crises. Shelter can take the form of robust mutual aid networks and solidarity economies by which people empower and support one another to sustain themselves outside the constraints of the capitalist system. Those within the community can share their knowledge and talents, letting people know what they are willing and able to do, and what sorts of non-market goods and services they are willing to accept in exchange. Plumbing and repairs in a home reclaimed from a bank or a building liberated from a landlord; gleaning and sharing unsaleable goods cast off stores and markets. Learning to grow and distribute our own food as we traffic between the urban and the rural through community gardens, neighborhood potlucks, Occupy Farms. Legal and tactical skill-shares among those being hunted down by the debt-collectors and Repo Men. Forming industrial co-ops in which managerial decisions are made by workers in their own collective interest rather than for the profit of a Boss. Medical care provided to those who have put their body on the line in a protest or encampment. Self-generated energy-systems for those who want to opt out of the fossil-fuel economy that is destroying the very basis of life on earth. The specifics of a solidarity economy vary based upon those participating and the resource-landscapes of particular areas. But the focus should always be on creating communities of sharing and mutuality. Such communities are not based in charity, or simply giving things away for free. They present, rather, a way for people to use their talents and skills — regardless of economic worth — to build social bonds that subvert the way capitalism has warped and colonized our human relationships. In constructing a solidarity economy, it is always prudent to reach out to local organizations and see what sort of meaningful work can be done for them in exchange for what they, in turn, can provide for you. Even people who have never heard of mutual aid will understand it on a fundamental level. Against private accumulation and self-interested gain, we advocate the communal support of life, the reciprocal donation of resources, and the passing-along of good will across space and time. Starting a conversation about mutual aid with friends and partners can create a space in which to challenge the relation of their work to the constraints of paternalistic State and well-meaning 1% donors. The powers that be are counting on our efforts to construct alternative economies to founder, especially since the current system has made us feel isolated and alone in the face of crises. Debtors are encouraged to think that they failed, individually, to fulfill their promises, even though going into unpayable debt is a structural condition of life under capitalism. Tenants feel they must acquiesce to the negligence of the landlord. Consumers think they must buy into an endlessly developing energy economy based on the burning of fossil fuels. Workers imagine themselves in a perpetual competition to work harder and for less against their fellows at home and abroad in the name of economic growth. As long as the system isolates and pits us against each other, successful strikes against capitalism are impossible. Thinking and acting alone, we suffer alone. But creating a unified front disrupts this ongoing pattern. We are forming debtors’ unions, energy coops, food networks, strike committees, and more. When we develop sustainable networks based on mutual aid and solidarity, we will realize that, as terrifying as the storm of the current system makes itself out to be, the power it wields is minuscule compared to the torrential deluge that we, the 99%, are capable of unleashing against capitalism itself. Occupy and Sandy Storm Recovery Resources Posted 3 years ago on Oct. 30, 2012, 7:17 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt hurricane, solidarity, Occupy Wall Street & 350.org have teamed up with Recovers.org – a people-powered disaster relief platform – to help coordinate response to Hurricane Sandy in NYC. At Recovers.org we are launching support pages where people can GIVE help or post a NEED. For ongoing updates and info about this evolving relief effort, and to find out how you can help, be sure to sign up and stay informed at the Occupy Sandy Hub! http://interoccupy.net/occupysandy/ https://lowereastside.recovers.org/ – (646) 580-7473 https://astoria.recovers.org/ – (347) 669-4394 https://redhook.recovers.org – (347) 770-1528

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Search Bank employee slain in robbery ambush Posted: Saturday, October 25, 2003 By Associated Press ROSWELL - Bank robbers shot and killed a bank employee Friday morning in an ambush-style robbery attempt. The employee - 39-year-old Angela Tole - was shot two or three times inside the Bank of America branch after arriving for work sometime before 8 a.m., police said. Joe Parris, an FBI agent in Atlanta, said investigators are trying to determine whether the killers were the same robbers who have hit four Atlanta area banks by arriving before the bank opens and accosting the first employee to come to work. In those robberies, no one was hurt. Police did not say whether any money was taken from the Roswell bank. The employee was discovered by other workers arriving at the bank, so there were no witnesses, but police said the shooting was captured on security videotape. The killers were men in dark clothing who had their faces covered. Tole is survived by her husband and two children. The bank offered a $100,000 reward for information on the attackers. Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Saturday, October 25, 2003. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION ANGELA TOLE ATLANTA LAW_CRIME BANK OF AMERICA USD THE ATHENS BANNER-HERALD AREA BANKS BANK JOE PARRIS Trending this week:

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World News > Hiroshima, Nagasaki anniversaries marked around the world Hiroshima, Nagasaki anniversaries marked around the world Dan Margolis August 7 2012 tags: History, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, nuclear disarmament, war In Japan and around the world, tens of thousands are marking one of the worst atrocities in modern history: the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They are vowing to never let it happen again. Hiroshima was bombed Aug. 6, 1945, and Nagasaki was demolished two days later. Descriptions from hibakusha, those who survived the blasts and ensuing fallout, have given testimony to the horror of those days. These were the only time atomic weapons have been used against human populations "When it struck, I was burned on my back with the heat ray of the fireball, as high as 3,000 to 4,000 degrees Celsius at its center, melting rocks and iron, and also with the invisible radiation," Taniguchi Sumiteru said at a UN meeting in 2005, describing his experience. "The next moment I was blown off together with the bike about 4 meters and smashed to the ground by the blast. The blast had a velocity of 250 to 300 meters per second. It knocked down buildings and warped steel frames." In Hiroshima, a memorial service was held yesterday to mark the 67th anniversary of the bombing. There, representatives of the United Nations, as well as hibakusha, peace groups and others remembered the past and vowed to continue fighting until all nuclear weapons were destroyed. A group of students from Fukushima, the site of the widely reported nuclear power plant disaster caused by an earthquake and tidal wave, attended the ceremonies, according to The Asahi Shimbun newspaper. UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Angela Kane delivered a message from Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Aug. 6 in Hiroshima. "On this day, in this city, let me proclaim again: there must never be another nuclear attack - never," she said. "The elimination of such weapons is not just a visionary goal, but the most reliable way to prevent their future use." Ban, in his message, said that defense experts had concluded that nuclear weapons do not actually ensure a balance of power. Instead, he said, their very existence is destabilizing to the region and to the world. Around the world, the fight against nuclear weapons is continuing. On Aug. 1, 16 new cities joined Mayors for Peace, including Bogotá and Gainesville, Fla. The organization was formed in 1982 at the behest of Takeshi Araki, then mayor of Hiroshima. His proposal, according to the organization, "offered cities a way to transcend national borders and work together to press for nuclear abolition. Subsequently, the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki called on mayors around the world to support this program." Earlier this year, the organization celebrated as the number of cities signed up surpassed 5,000. Still speaking on behalf of Secretary General Ban, Kane announced that the UN was undertaking several initiatives to preserve the memories of the horrors of the atomic blasts and to strengthen the fight against nuclear weapons. "Your message is being heard," Ban's message continued. "I am very pleased that the testimonies of many hibakusha are being translated into several languages. In support of these efforts, the United Nations has just launched a multimedia website of hibakusha telling their stories. It is very important that these words be heard and understood in all countries, especially by the younger generation." The UN disarmament official added, "The United Nations ... has also sponsored international 'Art for Peace' and 'Poetry for Peace' contests, challenging young people everywhere to imagine a world free of nuclear weapons. In many ways, our collective future rests on their understanding and support for this goal." Kane, while in Hiroshima, met with the leaders of Japan's political parties, Kazuo Shii, chair of the Japanese Communist Party. Photo: Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. karma police // CC 2.0 Get latest news via email Donate to People's World Get the Mobile App Badge widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox! Not seeing a widget? (More info) “Darwin Day” pushed in House Immigration reform fight begins in earnest Boy Scouts might drop anti-gay clause Fear, then hope for an immigrant family Report challenges anti-immigrant "enforcement first" calls Ten of the worst things said in 2012 GOP senators stop treaty on disabled rights Largest ever gathering of undocumented youth held “Red Dawn” a disappointing remake “Latino voters have a check to cash” for immigration reform international environment analysis disasters republicans workers rights sports health energy corporations Home

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Owyhee Canyonlands supporters, opponents face off in Salem hearings DEQ finds toxic metals in air near Precision Castparts Free lead testing offered today in response to high emissions traced to Bullseye Glass Audubon calls for halt of cormorant killing after East Island nesting population is decimated Governor tells Bullseye Glass to stop using hazardous pollutants Hales gets Adams' left overs Created on Monday, 24 December 2012 10:00 | Written by Jim Redden | Tweet Adams completes most of wish list before final City Council vote Mayor Sam Adams got most — but not all — of his final wish list through the City Council before its last meeting of the year. But a number of big ticket items remain unresolved for the next mayor to tackle in 2013. The current council held its final meeting on Thursday, Dec. 20. The next meeting is not scheduled until Wednesday, Jan. 2. By then Mayor-elect Charlie Hales will have replaced Adams. Steve Novick will also have filled the council seat being vacated by Commissioner Randy Leonard. When asked by the Portland Tribune, Adams outlined a lengthy final wish list of projects a few months ago. He persuaded the council to go along with most of the items, including selling bonds to complete the Portland Streetcar Loop over the coming Willamette River Transit Bridge and approving a parking plan for Northwest Portland. But Adams was stymied on three major items before time ran out. Hales will now have to decide whether and how to push them forward. The three items are: • The annexation of 800 acres of West Hayden Island. The proposal was intended to allow the Port of Portland — which owns the land — to develop 300 acres on the island. The remaining 500 acres would be maintained and enhanced as wildlife habitat. Adams' final proposal called on the Port to pay over $30 million to protect island residents against the development impact and mitigate any environmental damage. Although the Port was open to the proposal, many island residents and environmentalists oppose it, in part because it was proposed at the last minute. The city is under pressure to identify more land for industrial development. It is currently undating its Comprehensive Land Use Plan, as required by state law. An analysis prepared as part of the update identified a shortage of 635 acres of industrial land for future use, with 356 of those acres being in the Portland Harbor where West Hayden Island is located. This is the first time the city has been required to present the state with a Comp Plan update that eliminates the gap in industrial lands. Until recently, the Department of Land Conservation and Development required all cities to only comply with the state’s environmental protection goals in their Comp Plans. New DLCD rules now require that state land use employment goals also be met. • The renovation of the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Adams had crafted a plan to partner with the Portland Winterhawks and spend $31.5 million on the aging Coliseum. The plan would maintain it as a spectator facility, upgrade the heating, cooling and plumbing systems, and replace the ice floor where the hockey team plays. The plan suffered a setback, however, when the Western Hockey League imposed huge sanctions on the Winterhawks for rules violations. They are the harshest in WHL history and include a $200,000 fine, the loss of nine draft picks, and the suspension of team General Manager Mike Johnston for the remainder of the season. The team’s appeal was delayed until February, creating uncertainty about its future. As a result, Adams postponed the scheduled vote until March 13 of next year, when the new council will be seated. • A memorandum of understanding to encourage the city to move some of its offices to the Gateway area. The proposal was intended to help spark development in Gateway, which is covered by a city-approved Urban Renewal Area that has not yet encouraged much new private investment. Adams had talked earlier about wanting to see a catalytic project undertaken in the area that would trigger a wave of development. The council hesitated to support the MOU, however, because the city already has approximately 26,000 square feet of vacant office space downtown. The issue has simmered throughout Adams’ tenure, in part because he was also pushing for the construction of an experimental, environmentally-sensitive building called the Oregon Sustainability Center where some city office would be relocated. The OSC was to be built in partnership with the Oregon University System. The plan fell apart when the Oregon Legislature would not approve the sale of state bonds for the project. JW_DISQUS_VIEW_THE_DISCUSSION_THREAD

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Proposed gas plant in Elizabeth Township leads to zoning debate Pam Panchak/Post-Gazette Fred Bickerton from the Mount Vernon section of Elizabeth Township is opposed to the Invenergy LLC proposal for a zoning change to accommodate a power plant in Elizabeth Township. Pam Panchak/ Post-Gazette Part of the site for the proposed 550 mega watt natural gas fired power plant on the 22 acre parcel in East Elizabeth Twsp. By Daniel Moore / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The energy company that wants to build a natural gas-fired power plant in Elizabeth Township has called the proposed site a “vast area ... that is providing absolutely no benefit.” While that assertion may be difficult to challenge — the plant would rest on a property contaminated by the illegal disposal of coal ash and demolition waste in the 1980s — an organized group of local residents says building a 550-megawatt power plant is not the answer. The debate has spilled into a municipal zoning proceeding over Chicago-based Invenergy’s request to allow the plant to go up in a chunk of the township zoned “suburban residential.” The second hearing on the matter is scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight at the Elizabeth Forward Middle School. Invenergy, a developer of wind, solar and natural gas power plants, has argued that an industrial facility can be built on much of a 600-acre brownfield property along the Youghiogheny River near Buena Vista. The property is owned by local resident David Fiore. Mr. Fiore’s father, William, operated an industrial landfill during the late 1970s and 1980s that accepted fly ash from U.S. Steel’s Clairton Works and demolition waste from several other companies. Though the landfill was permitted by state environmental regulators, William Fiore was found to have exceeded the terms of his permit. In 1986, he was sentenced to six to 12 years in prison for illegally disposing of waste and discharging some into the river. William Fiore has passed away; his son directed questions about the land to Invenergy. The company is eyeing a 22-acre “doughnut hole” surrounded by fly ash contamination, said Michael S. Blazer, an environmental lawyer representing Invenergy. “You routinely look at an area that, because of whatever the challenges may be for the property, can’t really be used for something else,” Mr. Blazer said. “It’s a great beneficial reuse of a brownfield.” Mr. Blazer emphasized the company is not asking to change the zoning designation of the property; rather, it is asking for a variance, which allows development outside the terms of a zoning designation in polluted areas where it is impossible or prohibitively expensive for permitted developers to clean up. In his request to the zoning board, Mr. Blazer cited a 1997 Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision that supported variances granted by the Pittsburgh Zoning Board of Adjustment to allow construction of a parking lot in an area zoned “residential” that was contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbon and benzene. The justices found because the property was “practically valueless as zoned” and costs of cleanup would have been $2.5 million to $3 million, the zoning board could legally grant the variances. But when Invenergy brought the idea of a gas power plant to a community forum in January, it brought out resistance from area residents. Protect Elizabeth Township, a citizens group opposed to the plant, was formed by some of the residents who live in the Mt. Vernon neighborhood, a collection of large homes perched on a steep hillside overlooking the Youghiogheny River. The group believes the plant will cause more pollution and disturb the peace. It also believes residential development under the current zoning is possible. “I’d be fine with residences,” said Fred Bickerton, a Mt. Vernon resident and retired director of waste management for Duquesne Light Co. Mr. Bickerton said he was involved in shutting down and cleaning up parts of the Fiore landfill for the utility. He pointed to the success of the Summerset at Frick Park, a housing development in Squirrel Hill built on a coal slag heap. The group is trying to raise awareness without being too confrontational, said Patty Hoffman, a Mt. Vernon resident. So far, they have bought space on a billboard near the bridge entering Versailles. “Help Stop Proposed Invenergy Power Plant,” it reads, advertising the zoning board hearing. In a tour of the proposed location Wednesday, Nick Cohen, director of thermal development for Invenergy, said the plant is being suggested for one of the most isolated sites he’s seen. “We try to go to a place that’s invisible and inaudible,” he said. At Mr. Fiore’s property, he pointed to patches of contamination, fenced-off areas deemed indefinitely unsafe by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. A towering power transmission line cuts through the property. Mr. Cohen urged residents who have concerns to reach out to him at public meetings. “I wish I could take people here and show them,” he said. “I think their fears would be allayed if they really saw where this is.” Daniel Moore: [email protected], 412-263-2743 and Twitter @PGdanielmoore. Profile: Kyle O'Connor is simplifying a complex energy market

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by Virginia Goodell Around Mantua Published: November 15, 2012 4:00 AM Throughout the United States, Thanksgiving Day -- the fourth Thursday in November -- is a legal holiday.It is a time for family reunions and bountiful dinners and for giving thanks for the blessings of the past year.Originally it was a harvest festival.The harvest festival is one of the oldest and most widespread of celebrations.Thanksgiving Day, however, began in the United States. It commemorates a particular celebration that was held after the first New England harvest in 1621.The Pilgrims had come ashore from the Mayflower on Dec. 21, 1620.The winter hadbeen heartbreaking. Only about half of the original band survived.Fortunately, the harvest was good. There were 30 acres of the strange Indian corn, for which the Indians had furnished seeds.There were also barley and plenty of meat.WilliamBradford sent out four men to hunt forfowl.They returned with enough fowl and wild turkeys to last a week.Fishermen brought in cod and bass.Indian hunters contributed five deer.Ninety Indians, with their chief, Massasoit, feasted with thecolonists for three days.The date of the feast is not known. Bradford wrote in his history "Of Plimooth Plantation" that on Sept. 18 some men set out in a small boat for Massachusetts Bay to trade with the Indians. The harvest was gathered in after they returned.The feast must have occurred before Dec. 11.It was described in a letter written on that date by Edward Winslow of Plymouth to a friend in England.There is also no record that the feast was called a "thanksgiving." Appointing certain days for giving special thanks was a custom of the Puritans, but the first record of such a day was two years later,in 1623.Then the Pilgrims "set apart a day of thanksgiving" for rain that ended a terrible drought.Thanksgiving continued to be celebrated on varying dates, and proclamationswere often issued by state governors.[Article continues below] Sarah Josepha Hale believed that Thanksgiving should be a national patriotic holiday.She was the editor of thepopular women's magazine called Godey's Lady's Book.She began her campaign in 1846.Year after year, she wrote editorials and sent letters to the president, state governors and other influential people. For the date, she chose the last Thursday in November, because on the last Thursday of that month in 1789 George Washington had proclaimed a National Thanksgiving Day in honor of the new United States Constitution. She chose the name Union Thanksgiving because she hoped to bring the states into a closer union.Finally, Sarah Hale was able to win the support of President Abraham Lincoln. In the third year of the war, he believed the union had been saved.On Oct. 3, 1863, he therefore proclaimed a national Thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday, Nov. 26.He also named the last Thursday of November to be a day to be observed every year.Lincoln andeverypresident who followed him proclaimed the holiday each year. The date chosen, with few exceptions, was the last Thursday in November.President Franklin D. Roosevelt thought that Thanksgiving fell too close to Christmas, so in 1939 he issueda proclamation that the third Thursday would be Thanksgiving Day. Not all states complied.In 1941, Congress finally issued a joint resolution that named the fourth Thursday as Thanksgiving Day.I don't know if reading about the history of the holiday will make us more thankful or not, but I do know thatwe are all so richly blessed that we often neglect an important "attitude of gratitude" thatshould be the foundation for our lives every single day.[Article continues below]Here is a Thanksgiving prayer our family has used for a long time.Itappeared in the Dear Abby column, written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips:"Heavenly Father, we thank you for food and remember the hungry. We thank you for health and remember the sick. We thank you for friends and remember the friendless. We thank you for freedom and remember the enslaved.May these remembrances stir us to service, that your gifts to us may be used for others."------The Mantua area Community Thanksgiving service will be held at 7 p.m. Sunday at Hilltop Christian Church on West Prospect Street.The Rev. Carolyn M. Berry of Portage Faith United Methodist Church will deliver the message of the evening. All are welcome to participate.------Happy Thanksgiving to all!------For Mantua news, contact Virginia Goodell at 330-274-2376 or [email protected].

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Best Buy Rethinks Big-Box Model By editor This Best Buy store in Richfield, Minn., near the retailer's corporate headquarters, is getting remodeled as part of a pilot project in the Twin Cities and San Antonio, Texas. The new store, part of Best Buy's "connected store" concept, will be smaller and emphasize portable electronics, such as tablets and e-readers. Annie Baxter/NPR Outside the Richfield, Minn., store on Thursday, a banner announces the coming changes. Black Friday shoppers wait in line outside Best Buy on Nov. 26, 2010, in Fort Worth, Texas. Best Buy will shut down 50 of its large stores while testing new stores that are 20 percent smaller. Tom Pennington Best Buy is trying to wriggle out of the big box. The electronics retailer has a lot of real estate in its giant blue stores, but it isn't profitable space: In its most recent quarter, the company reported a $1.7 billion loss. So it's shedding stores and workers — and rethinking its big-box concept. Best Buy's sprawling showrooms full of TVs, digital cameras and video-game consoles once drew people in. But demand for those products has dropped off, and on top of that, the company is up against rivals like Amazon, whose bargain prices and low overhead costs are hard to compete with. So Best Buy is shifting its strategy. "We're clearly going to have more doors and less square footage," said CEO Brian Dunn. On a conference call with investors Thursday, he explained how the company is angling for a smaller footprint and a wider range of store sizes. Best Buy plans to close 50 stores. Dunn said the closures are part of an overall strategy aimed at cutting $800 million in costs and 400 workers. At the same time, Best Buy is going to expand its portfolio of small stores that sell mobile products. Dunn said it will add 100 new mobile stores into the existing mix. "These locations have the highest customer-satisfaction scores and are on the path to generate strong financial returns," Dunn said. He said Best Buy is also going to pilot another store model similar to the big box — but on a diet. It's being tested in two markets — San Antonio, Texas, and Minnesota's Twin Cities. 'Connected' Stores With 'Central Knowledge' A Best Buy outside Minneapolis, near the company's headquarters, is one of the pilot stores. It will be remodeled and the footprint will shrink. What's inside will change, too. Best Buy is calling these trimmed-down big boxes "connected" stores. They'll focus more on portable electronics, like e-readers and tablets. And they'll feature a "central knowledge desk" where customers can get stuff like wireless plans for mobile phones. Those kinds of services, along with warranties, are big moneymakers for the retailer. Frank Tsuchiya, a loyal customer, is optimistic that these strategies will pay off for Best Buy. "I hope so — just to keep them solvent and good and profitable," he said. "If the product I need isn't here, I'll go somewhere else, but I think it will be here." But some analysts worry that the changes Best Buy is implementing are coming too late. That's a concern for Morningstar analyst R. J. Hottovy. "The big question is whether this is going to be enough to offset the competitive pressures the company is facing in the form of a large online player in Amazon, who has a compelling value proposition, and a key vendor in Apple, who continues to build out its own retail stores," Hottovy said. He said it's good that Best Buy plans to compete more aggressively on price with those foes. But ultimately, he thinks more cost-cutting measures will be necessary to keep the retailer afloat, including additional store closings.Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. Related Program: Morning EditionView the discussion thread. Our Partners

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