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Minnesota event encourages young women to advocate for dairy farming Submitted by admin on Wed, 05/23/2012 - 09:03 Hoard's Dairyman: Minnesota event encourages young women to advocate for dairy farming Date: Wed, 05/23/2012 Miss Oklahoma kicks off event by encouraging young women to share their story. by Chelsey Johnson, Hoard's Dairyman Editorial Intern Betty Thompson felt like she had the odds stacked against her when she ran for Miss America. “I was the little farm girl with a milk dud platform that wasn’t tall enough to win,” she said. But, this Oklahoma farm girl sorted her way to 1st Runner Up in the 2012 Miss America pageant. Now, she travels the U.S. promoting her platform: “Milk, it really does a body good.” This weekend, she made a trip to the Minnesota Dairy Princess Promotion event in St. Joseph, Minn., to remind young women that while their story may seem small, they shouldn’t be afraid of sharing it. On Friday evening, Thompson stood before a crowd of nearly 100 young women from across Minnesota as well as princesses from Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. Her speech kicked off a weekend full of engaging presentations and sessions meant to equip young women with the tools needed to advocate for the dairy industry. During the weekend, Minnesota princesses had the option to compete for one of 12 finalist spots for Princess Kay of the Milky Way, the official goodwill ambassador for the Minnesota dairy industry. During a banquet on Sunday afternoon 12 young women found out they would join the nearly 450 prior princesses who have sat in a rotating cooler while Linda Christiansen, a butter sculpting extraordinaire, creates their likeness in a 90-pound block of butter. The tradition of sculpting princesses in butter at the Minnesota State Fair has been around since 1965. Not only is it a source of pride for Minnesota dairy farmers, it also engages the thousands of fair visitors who pass through the dairy building. While Minnesota dairy producers love finding out who will sit for the 12 signature butter sculptures, greater benefit for the dairy industry after this event is that nearly 100 young women went home ready to promote agriculture in a changing society.

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Byron banks on votes for cash funds Campaigners fighting to reopen Hucknall’s Byron Cinema need people to vote for them to win a prize of £3,000. The Byron Community Project has been shortlisted for the Lloyds Bank Community Fund 2014.By encouraging the public to vote, the Byron Community Project has a chance to be awarded a grant of up to £3,000 from Lloyds Bank to enable it to continue doing its work. Set up a year ago, the project aims to renovate the 1936 Art Deco Byron Cinema building at the gateway to Hucknall High Street. Ria Cash, chair of the project team, says: “It’s no simple task, there’s a huge amount of work to be done, and everyone involved in the project knows we’re in for the long haul.“There’s a generation of children who have never known the Byron as a cinema. “The 400-seat auditorium upstairs closed about 10 years ago, leaving the bingo downstairs.“The bingo will continue but we want to open up the cinema again. “But we want to do much, much more.“Most importantly, in 2014, the entire building has to be fully accessible, say, to people in wheelchairs.“The project will cost a lot of money, and we are in ongoing talks with the Heritage Lottery Fund, among others.“But we need money now to make our bid credible: we have appointed an architect, and he has recommended a full structural survey of the building. “We can’t expect professionals to work for free, and we do need this work done to full professional standard; people’s lives depend on it.“So, £3,000 from Lloyds will move us forward by a huge step.”People can vote by texting VOTE BDG to 61119, tweeting #CommFund BDG or by going online to https://lly-cf. com/BDG. People can also visit Lloyds Bank in Hucknall and ask for a voting token.The Lloyds Bank Community Fund was set up to help local people across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and Isle of Man to have a positive impact at the heart of their community by giving grants to up to 1,400 local good causes in 350 communities.Voting for the 2014 Community Fund is open until Friday 10 October.

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BC Ferries Public Hearings To Focus On Costs, Services CBC Posted: 10/29/2012 4:28 pm EDT Updated: 12/29/2012 5:12 am EST Skyrocketing BC Ferries costs are the subject of public hearings designed to find a balance between services and costs. (<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/madeleine_h/">Madeleine_H</a>) | Flickr: Madeleine_H | Flickr Share B.C.'s Transportation Minister Mary Polak is asking the public to take part in a consultation process on the future of BC Ferries to help find a better balance between service and costs. As part of the process, the government will host open houses and small group meetings in coastal communities and webinars online, Polak announced Monday. "Taxpayer contributions to our coastal ferry service are at an all-time high of $180 million this year," said Polak. "This open public consultation process will ensure that coastal communities, ferry users and taxpayers all have the opportunity to inform decisions about service adjustments that will ensure we have a sustainable, affordable and efficient ferry service." The public process was created in response to a report by the province's independent ferry commissioner that said the BC Ferries Corporation and the government must consult the public about the future of the service. In his January report, B.C. Ferry Commissioner Gord Macatee said declining ridership, financial losses, and the need for huge upgrades of ships and terminals are all straining the sustainability of the provincial ferry corporation. Macatee said fares have reached the tipping point, imposing a hardship on coastal communities and passengers, and ridership has declined as a result. "Over the last nine years, fares have gone up by 47 per cent on the major routes and 80 per cent on the minor routes. During that time, inflation has risen by about 15 per cent," he said. Rising costs and declining ridership According to the Ministry of Transportation, declining ridership and rising costs resulted in a loss of more than $16 million in the year ending March 31, 2012. Increasing operational costs and the need to replace aging vessels and infrastructure could drive the funding shortfall to $114 million per year within five years. The two largest operational costs are fuel and labour. "Between 2004 and 2012, BC Ferries cut annual fuel consumption by 3.7 million litres (three per cent of total annual fuel consumption), but annual fuel costs increased 140 per cent, from $50 million to $121 million," said a statement released by the ministry. "Between 2004 and 2012, labour costs rose 24 per cent from $245 to $305 million, partly due to increased staff levels mandated by federal safety regulations. "Most coastal ferry routes are operating well below 50 per cent capacity, with some carrying more crew than passengers," said the statement. BC Ferries receives $150 million from the provincial government and $30 million from the federal government to operate each year, plus a $79 million funding bonus from the provincial government spread out over the next four years. Mary Polak BC Ferries BC Ferries Costs BC Ferries Subsidies BC Ferries Public Hearings BC Ferry Subsidies BC Ferry Costs Bc Ferries Subsidy BC Politics BC Ferries Cuts UPDATED: BC Ferries riders will be asked for ideas of most pain-free cuts to ... BC ferry returns to service after fire Fire on BC Ferries vessel sends ship back to Tsawwassen, cancels some ... Public meetings to address challenges at BC Ferries will fail, says group of ... Islander submits invoice for lost time to BC Ferries BC Ferries service back to normal Indie band Headwater makes $83000 busking on BC Ferries Suggested For You

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Featuring fresh takes and real-time analysis from HuffPost's signature lineup of contributors Rachel Décoste Media critic, policy analyst and pundit This Unsung Canadian Hero Deserves His Due Posted: 11/20/2012 5:23 pm EST Updated: 01/20/2013 5:12 am EST Share Québec City and Trois-Rivières received federal funds to celebrate their 400th and 375th anniversaries, respectively. Victoria (150th), Montreal (375th) and Ottawa (150th) are preparing to follow suit. These celebratory salutes constitute opportunities to recognize the brave founding fathers, who introduced the seeds from which bloomed the country we love. The residents of these cities as well as Canadians from coast to coast take these occasions to look back at halls of history to salute Samuel de Champlain, Jacques Cartier, and many others. Was the canvas of the founding fathers painted by our government missing a brush of colour?The most influential man in the history of the province of British Columbia is James Douglas. The South American immigrant arrived in Lachine, QC in 1819, at the age of 16, before heading West. Educated, skilled and bilingual, he quickly rose through the ranks of the Hudson's Bay Company, starting in Île-à-la-Crosse, SK, then New Caledonia, BC, before reaching the edge of Pacific Ocean in 1830. Have you ever heard of Sir James Douglas? No Share your vote on Facebook so your friends can take this poll As Chief Trader of Fort Vancouver, the highest rank in the district, Douglas used his position of influence to denounce slavery of indigenous peoples. Soon, he was summoned to establish Fort Victoria -- the village which would become the provincial capital. Appointed Governor of the colony of British Columbia, Douglas established agreements with First Nations favouring negotiation and transactions instead of violence -- a strategy strongly linked to the Canadian identity to this day.The son of a Black Caribbean woman and a Scottish father, Douglas married a Metis woman. He was fluent in both official languages -- he spoke French so well that he lead religious gatherings for French-Canadian voyageurs. Douglas is a true symbol of cultural integration which remains Canada's strength.Douglas finally settled on Vancouver Island just before the famous gold rush, which attracted British interests, American miners with thirst for sudden wealth, and African-American escaped slaves fleeing for their freedom. In a six-week period in 1858, 10,000 immigrants invaded British Columbia, threatening the colony's sovereignty. At this time of great crisis, Governor Douglas chose to defend the land rather than retreat sensibly. With scarce resources, Douglas wove collaborative solidarity between African Americans, French and British settlers and First Nations to shield the colony from the U.S.'s territorial tentacles. Similarly, Douglas brokered an agreement with the Russians who aspired for resource-rich northern B.C. territory. The quintessential Canadian phrase from coast to coast would never have been possible without the man known as the "Father of British Columbia."A man of vision, Douglas is one of the first politicians to push for the TransCanada highway. He supports the advancement of women's rights by facilitating the sale of farmland to Isabella Ross in 1853, making her the first ever registered female landowner in British Columbia. One hundred years before Pierre Elliott Trudeau's innovative policy of multiculturalism, Sir James Douglas embodied the values of collaboration, tolerance and plural partnership which formed Canada's cultural fabric of yesterday and today.Upon retirement, England knighted Douglas and invited him to tour Europe. The province has dedicated an obelisk on the site where he built the inaugural seat of government. The influence of man is so transformational that not one but two statues were erected in his honour outside the modern Parliament in Victoria.Canada has shown its gratitude to Champlain and Cartier by instituting monuments to their names across the country as well as central locations in the national capital, near the Parliament. Curiously overlooked by Ottawa, no statue of Sir James Douglas adorns the capital. Fact is, the capital region bestows no parks, no bridges, no street or stretch of highway to Douglas -- an honour reserved for the monarchy and Canadian heroes of European heritage. The federal government has ruled out diversity in the new passport watermarks. The last time Ottawa consecrated a federal building, it was to salute a leading eugenics advocate -- the kind of figure who championed sterilization of "others" -- those citizens outside the WASP umbrella. Last month, the new Canadian History Museum initiative launched with curiously monochromatic roster.In light of the demographic reality of Canada's past and present, it is time to recognize all those who cradled our nation, whatever their origin. Sir James Douglas, Father of B.C., deserves to be freed from the clutches of obscurity -- from coast to coast! Follow Rachel Décoste on Twitter: www.twitter.com/RachelDecoste Sir James Douglas Diversity Canada Aboriginal Canadians James Douglas Canadian Hero Canada's Heroes

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Barney Frank Blasts Obama For Being '9-1-1 For The World' In Libya (VIDEO) Elise Foley Immigration And Politics Reporter, Huffington Post WASHINGTON -- Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) bashed the White House on Friday for intervening in Libya to oust dictator Muammar Gaddafi, saying the United States does not need to be the "9-1-1 for the world." "We have got to stop subsidizing the rest of the world," he said on the House floor (see video below). "Particularly now. When members from the Appropriations Committee come up and tell us, you got to go and do this, but let's cut police in Massachusetts, let's cut housing in Ohio, let's cut transportation in California, we cannot reduce our deficit in a way that allows us to maintain any concern for the quality of life here if we continue to spend money promiscuously over there." Frank spoke in support of a measure by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) that would have blocked the U.S. military from assisting NATO forces in Libya after 15 days. That measure went down on Friday afternoon in a 148 to 265 vote, with support from 87 Republicans and 61 Democrats. Another resolution on Libya, rebuking President Barack Obama for acting without authorization, passed the House in a 268-145 vote. That bill, written by Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), does not demand that the U.S. withdraw from Libya. Instead, the resolution asks the White House to deliver justifications for invading Libya based on American national security interests, which they initially used to explain the intervention but did not officially give to Congress. Supporters of the Boehner resolution said it was important to show their disappointment with Obama without harming the United States' relations with its NATO allies, a rationale Frank flatly rejected. "I heard one of my colleagues on the other side say, well, the Europeans are there, but let's not poke them in the eye," he said. "Poke them in the eye? We have for years, since the beginning of NATO, been subsidizing them so they have military budgets less than half of ours as a percentage of their GDP, so they can do better than us in health care and competitiveness and every other way." WATCH: More: Libya White House Barney Frank Spending Cuts Libya Intervention

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NewsWorldAmericas Bernie Sanders: Every working woman should get 12 weeks paid maternity leave, not two weeks unpaid The Democratic Presidential candidate says it’s unacceptable that 20% of American women only take two weeks leave Rachael Revesz New York @RachaelRevesz Friday 8 January 2016 18:01 BST Bernie Sanders wants every woman to be offered 12 weeks of paid maternity leave Win McNamee/Getty Democrat Bernie Sanders has stepped up his campaign on paid parental leave, arguing it is unacceptable that 20% of American working women only take two weeks off after giving birth. The 74-year-old Vermont Senator and father of one, who is speaking about his family policies in Iowa on Friday as part of the campaign trail, wants to offer every working woman in the US the right to 12 weeks of paid maternity leave. Mr Sanders will propose that employees can also take three months of paid leave if they or a family member becomes ill. Vogue editor speaks out against too much maternity leave Currently 20% of the female workforce returns to work just 14 days after giving birth as they can’t afford to stay home with their newborn babies. The bill was introduced by New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and would be paid for by raising taxes on a typical worker by $1.61 per week. Fellow Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton also wants to provide three months of paid parental leave, but has not yet announced how the move would be financed. Both candidates are trying to enhance the existing 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act, signed by former President Bill Clinton, which allows workers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Vodaphone to offer four months' maternity leave regardless of local Half of all mothers will not take full maternity leave As the first minister to take maternity leave, I know how difficult it President Obama pointed out in his State of Union address last January that the US is the only developed economy that does not have paid sick or maternity leave for workers enshrined by law. According to data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Bulgaria offers the most paid maternity leave at 58.6 weeks. Second on the list is the UK at 39 weeks. More about:

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| August 29, 2013 Feds And Retailers Both Want Swipe-Card Fee In Place During Appeal By Sam Lewis, associate editorFollow Me On Twitter @SamIAmOnFood Debit Swipe-Card Fee Drama Continues In 2010, Congress passed legislation requiring the Federal Reserve to create regulations which reduce swipe fees for debit cards, then averaging 45 cents per transaction, down to a more reasonable level. After heavy lobbying by banks saying the proposed 12 cents per transaction was too low, the current 21 cents per transaction was set. The NRF sued the Federal Reserve in 2011 on the claim that the cap was still too high. Last month, Judge Richard Leon agreed, and ordered banks to recalculate the cap at a lower fee. He initially agreed to have the cap remain in place during the recalculation, but when the Federal Reserve announced its appeal, Leon was unsure he would allow the cap to remain, asking for a brief from banks and retailers. Both parties of this ongoing case asked Leon to keep the Federal Reserve’s 21-cent cap on debit card swipe fees through the appeal process. The ruling stated the limit was too high, but both parties agree, for the time being, that a high cap is better than no cap at all. “If the regulations here were vacated by the district court, there would be no legally binding standards for determining the permissible amount of interchange fees an issuer could receive with respect to a debit card transaction,” the Federal Reserve said in a brief filed Monday. “Such a lack of restrictions would plainly frustrate the will of Congress.” In a brief filed today by the retailers, they said “In the absence of, the credit card networks would be free to dramatically increase the interchange fees. Thus, the plaintiffs vastly prefer the status quo, to an unregulated free-for-all which would likely subject merchants to fees well in excess of the Fed’s current standard.” Experience has shown that card networks increase interchange fees; they don’t lower them. The only direction the fees would move if the existing rule is abandoned, before a new rule takes effect, is up. Retailers have asked the Federal Reserve be given no more than three months to come up with a new, lower cap and it be effective within 30 days of its announcement, if the ruling of 21 cents is deemed to be too high. Retail Solutions Online 5340 Fryling Road, Suite 101 Erie, PA 16510 US

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Hoboken St. Patrick’s Day parade cancelled for the second year running in New Jersey - VIDEO IrishCentral Staff Writers @irishcentral February 07,2013 The news that Hoboken’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade has been cancelled for the second year running will come as unwelcome news for local business owners, still recovering from Superstorm Sandy. However, Lepre-Con pub crawl, will still go ahead. Last year Mayor Dawn Zimmer, dismayed at the number of arrests made and the out-of-control revelers at the St. Patrick’s Day parade, said the parade should be held on a Wednesday, rather than at the weekend, in an attempt to quash any disturbances.Read more: Hoboken, NJ, cancels St. Patrick’s Day Parade after 26 yearsHowever the parade organizers disagreed and despite the popularity of the parade it was cancelled. For 25 years before last year’s cancellation the parade was held on a Saturday when families were all available to attend. Typically bars and restaurants opened as early as 8am, according to Fox News. Critics of the long running parade said the problem was not the parade itself but those who were partying around the clock.However last year revelers took part in Lepre-Con, a pub crawl. Those taking part dress up as leprechauns or at least all in green and are expected to visit dozens of bars in the area on Saturday, March 2nd.Read more: Hoboken residents plan ‘Lepre-Con’ celebrations to replace St. Patrick’s Day parade - POLLHere’s the Fox News report: New York News | NYC Breaking News

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Culture Heritage 1916 Century All Culture Books Poll finds most feel proud to be Irish on national holiday Small majority say that Ministers should travel overseas for St Patrick’s Day Sat, Mar 15, 2014, 01:01 Merle Bukowski and Julian Middeke from Lower Saxony, Germany, enjoying the St Patrick’s Festival Céilí Mór at St Stephen’s Green Dublin. Photograph: Alan Betson/ The Irish Times A majority of people in the Republic feel proud to be Irish on St Patrick’s Day, according to a poll conducted by Ipsos MRBI. It shows that 58 per cent of people feel proud to be Irish on the Republic’s national holiday. Poorer people are much more likely to express pride in their nationality than the better off, with more than 70 per cent of them saying they feel proud of their Irishness. Across the age groups, older people over 65 are much prouder of their national identity than younger people. It is not that younger people or the better off are ashamed of their nationality; it just doesn’t appear to mean as much to them. A substantial proportion of people say they intended to go to their local St Patrick’s Day parades on Monday – 57 per cent in Munster, 45 per cent in Connacht-Ulster, with Leinster just behind at 44 per cent. Although it has the biggest parade, a smaller percentage of Dublin people intend to go to it, with just 30 per cent of those living in the capital saying they will attend. Opinion is divided on the question of whether Government Ministers should visit overseas events on St Patrick’s Day. Forty-nine per cent say they should go but 46 per cent say they should not and 5 per cent had no opinion. There is a big difference in the responses of men and women, with 57 per cent of men saying Ministers should travel, compared to 41 per cent of women. There was also a social divide on this issue, with 70 per cent of the best off AB voters saying Ministers should travel, compared to 42 per cent of the poorest DE social category. A total of 61 per cent think that people living abroad tend to celebrate St Patrick’s Day more than people who live in Ireland. Fieldwork for the survey was conducted by telephone with a nationally representative sample of 1,005 respondents aged 15 and over. Both landline and mobile phone numbers were contacted through fully random digit dialling. The accuracy level is plus or minus 3 per cent. Forecasters confident weather won’t rain on St Patrick’s Day parade Proud to be Irish but at home elsewhere Marguerite Donlon brings a little bit of Longford to the Bolshoi Ballet Books Roisín O’Donnell: How to publish a debut (in 17 steps) From The Irish Times Book of the Year to Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales, you'll find books for all tastes and ages.

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Antonio Maceo: In Memoriam Monday, December 17, 2012 Dear Editor, For anyone interested in the history of Cuba and of the Americas, the date of December 7 has more profound foreboding than the fateful event of 1941. For it was on December 7, 1896 that Cubans fighting for their independence suffered perhaps their greatest military loss. Antonio Maceo, the bravest warrior of the long Cuban wars for Independence, lost his life at Punta Brava, in Matanzas Province south of the city of Cardenas between the small towns of Jovellanos and Pedro Betancourt. Few warriors are more distinguished in Latin American history than Antonio Maceo, called by his fellow Cubans "The Bronze Titan". Born in San Luis, Oriente, in 1845, Maceo was the son of Marcos Maceo, an exile from Venezuela and Mariana Grajales y Coello, a local Afro-Cuban from Santiago. As the oldest of 13 children, Maceo accepted responsibility and discipline from an early age. A freemason as well as a successful petit entrepreneur, Maceo and his entire family joined the independence movement in 1868. His mother ran hospitals and provided supportive service for the guerrilla bands of Cubans wherever her sons were involved in battle. Mariana Grajales died in Jamaica in 1893, but her remains lie in the Santa Efijenia cemetery in Santiago, Cuba, along with José Martí and other notables. Articulate, astute, creative, determined and competent, Maceo participated in more than 500 military engagements between 1868 and 1896, and suffered more than 25 injuries. Maceo was one of the fighters who did not accept the Pact of Zanjón that ended the Ten Years War, and left Cuba shortly afterwards. But he was a distinguished combatant who rose rapidly through the ranks despite the envy and antagonism of some white Cuban insurgents, becoming in the final war, lieutenant-general to Máximo Gómez of the Cuban liberation forces in 1895. Antonio Maceo lived for a short time in Jamaica. As noted above, his mother died during their sojourn on the island. Maceo also lived in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica. Martí invited Maceo to return to fight alongside Máximo Gómez in the final exhausting war for Cuban independence that began in 1895. Immediately after the commencement of war Martí died in combat at Dos Ríos on May 19. Maceo and Gómez brought discipline to their greatly outnumbered forces and extended the war from one end of the island to the other. While Maceo did not live to see the end of the war and the achievement of his goals, Cuba did win its independence, albeit with some help from the United States of America. The history of the island might well have been different, had either Maceo or Martí survived. Franklin W Knight When does the talk change to action? Not NWC’s sewage plant We, not slavery, are to blame for our current health problems Global warming: Too hot not to handle JLP kept its election promise Consider a national crime council Preserving the lives of our children Am I the sole leper among applicants, RGD? Interesting times in the PNP We really didn’t support Mr Cozier Opposing for the sake of opposing is foolishness This matter of reserve judgements Why are children exposed to this manual? Intervene before Phillips gets six-love Pine peeling and lateral thinking Promise kept; now for accountability and collaboration Dealing with the ‘monsters and beasts’ Suicide is everybody’s business Really, Dr Phillips? How are the youth to get work experience? ADVERTISEMENT

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White House: Egypt must bring new elements into gov’t By HILARY LEILA KRIEGER \ Gibbs calls for "meaningful negotiations" with Egyptian opposition; advocates "orderly transition," says there's more work to be done. Robert Gibbs White House 311 AP. (photo credit:Associated Press) WASHINGTON – The White House asked on Monday for a range of actors, including religious elements, to participate in the more representative Egyptian government the US is calling for.“It is clear that increasing democratic representation has to include a whole host of important nonsecular actors,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. He stressed he was not weighing in on whether Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak should go.RELATED:Egypt's army recognizes 'legitimacy of people's demands'EU urges Egypt: Seek peaceful shift to democracy Instead, he called for “meaningful negotiations with a broad cross-section of the Egyptian people, including opposition groups,” to provide greater freedoms as part of the “orderly transition” America supports.Gibbs declined to address directly the possible rise of the Muslim Brotherhood should Mubarak be toppled, pointing out that the protesters calling for his ouster represent a wide swath of the country rather than a particular constituency.Gibbs did, however, criticize Mubarak for not taking sufficient steps to respond to the demands of demonstrators who have not been satisfied by his moves to change the government and appoint Omar Suleiman, the longtime intelligence chief and a close confidant, to the new position of vice president. “This is not about appointments, it’s about actions,” Gibbs said. “It is obvious that there’s more work to be done. That is obvious in the pictures we continue to see from Cairo.” Gibbs acknowledged the challenge of forming America’s message amid the unrest in Egypt, which he called “a cornerstone for stability in the region” as well as a key partner in Arab-Israeli peace.“It’s always important that our words not contribute to great volatility,” he said.Gibbs noted that the US continues to review its aid to Egypt, a $1.5 billion annual package comprised mostly of military assistance.New York Democratic Rep. Gary Ackerman on Monday said that the US is not acting fast enough on aid or lending sufficient support to the protesters. He called on Mubarak to step down.“The United States must suspend its assistance to Egypt until this transition is under way,” said Ackerman, the presumed ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Middle East subcommittee.“The Egyptian people have made their wishes very clear,” he declared. “It is time for President Mubarak to step down and allow Egypt to move forward into a new era of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.”Meanwhile, US military forces have moved into Cairo to secure the American embassy, while the government arranged chartered flights to help thousands of US citizens leave the country.Also on Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton convened the country’s first global meeting of US ambassadors, comprising the top diplomats from almost all of America’s 260 embassies, consulates and other similar offices from more than 180 countries.The meeting at the State Department was long planned to discuss US foreign policy in the coming year, but the crisis in Egypt, which comes on top of WikiLeak’s publishing of troves of diplomatic cables touching on sensitive Middle East issues, focused the conversation on the region. Clinton was expected to use the opportunity to meet directly with ambassadors from the key countries affected by the recent developments.US officials have also been talking to Egyptian counterparts, businessmen and opposition figures.Gibbs said that the US has an “ongoing” conversation with Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency who has emerged a central opposition figure, but said he was not aware of any discussion between him and US officials in the past week.American officials have also been consulting with outside experts on the path forward, as the US walks a difficult path between supporting the demands of Egyptians for more freedom and a potentially democratic system – but one that could also elevate anti-US and Islamist voices – or bolstering an important American ally in the region whose treatment by his own people and the US will be watched closely by other Arab potentates whose support Washington counts on.Gibbs said that whatever ends up happening, “It is our hope and our strong belief that that is a role that Egypt will continue to play for a long time going forward.” Share on Facebook

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In likely shuttering of Dutch Jewish broadcaster, fears of a cultural loss U.S. In likely shuttering of Dutch Jewish broadcaster, fears of a cultural loss By Cnaan LiphshizJanuary 4, 2013 5:43pm Scenes from “Make Jewish Babies,” a film about Birthright Israel produced and aired on the Dutch Jewish Broadcasting Company in 2012. (Jewish Broadcasting Company) Scenes from “Make Jewish Babies,” a film about Birthright Israel produced and aired on the Dutch Jewish Broadcasting Company in 2012. (Jewish Broadcasting Company) AMSTERDAM (JTA) — The Birthright Israel phenomenon arrived only last year in the small Jewish community of the Netherlands. With only 250 Dutch Jewish alumni, few here knew much about the program, which has brought 300,000 young Diaspora Jews on free 10-day group trips to the Jewish state. And that’s the way it might have remained if not for a documentary, “Make Jewish Babies," that aired in early 2012 by the Dutch Jewish Broadcasting Company. The film, which follows the Birthright experience of three sisters from Amsterdam, sparked a fierce debate in the Netherlands. Some said the program inspired participants to be proud Jews; others decried it as a nationalist propaganda exercise. But the same year, two locals groups and a philanthropist started planning the first all-Dutch Birthright delegation. The documentary demonstrates not only the Dutch Jewish Broadcasting Company’s importance to Holland’s Jews — but also what could be lost when the Dutch government implements its plan to withdraw the $1.2 million it provides annually to the broadcaster, known locally as Joodse Omroep, or JO. “The threat of excluding us from public broadcasting is terrible and shakes the community’s internal feeling of safety in their identity, which is necessary for openness toward other identities,” said Awraham Soetendorp, the country’s chief Reform rabbi. “It will banish the community’s soul.” Dutch Jewry received its own broadcasting company 40 years ago with the establishment of NIK Media. In 2005, the outfit became JO, currently the only publicly funded Jewish broadcaster of its size in Europe, offering 70 hours of radio and 23 hours of television annually along with a website containing news and archived programs. JO’s five staffers run the operation out of a humble studio in Hilversum, Holland’s media capital, with an annual budget of just $1.2 million, provided entirely by the Dutch government. Local Jews say JO provides a vital platform for community members to talk to one another and to Dutch society at large, while also providing an avenue for Jews outside Holland’s major cities to stay connected to the community. On Dec. 6, the Dutch government announced it would cut the annual $18 million that it gives to nine religious broadcasters, including JO, as part of a wider effort to reduce the government’s culture expenditures. Broadcasters that wish to continue to receive public funds must sign up 50,000 subscribers each by 2016 and reapply. For other religious communities, this probably won’t be hard. There are over 1 million Muslims in the Netherlands, 170,000 Buddhists and at least 90,000 Hindus — and each of those groups has their own broadcasting service, two in the case of Dutch Muslims. But Holland’s Jewish community of 40,000 stands little chance. “The government’s decision therefore spells certain demise only for JO,” said Bart Wallet, a historian at the University of Amsterdam and an expert on Dutch Jewish history. The singular impact of the government’s decision on the Jewish community has led, perhaps inevitably, to public discussion of the Holocaust, in which 100,000 Dutch Jews were killed. Even among critics of subsidized media, the argument that special dispensation should be provided to Holland’s Jews has resonated. “Generally speaking, our taxes shouldn’t go to spreading religion, but I would make one exception here, and that is in the case of the Jews,” Prem Radhakishun, a Surinam-born Hindustani television personality said recently in a prime-time television appearance. In relative terms, he said, “more Jews were murdered here than elsewhere in Europe, and we have a moral debt to Jews.” But for some Jewish leaders, such appeals to Holocaust guilt are discomforting. “I don’t want to immediately go all the way back to the Shoah,” said Alfred Edelstein, director of the JO. “The JO is important for Jewish life here and now, for the community and especially for people who live in small towns, for whom it is a way to stay connected.” Given such sensitivities, Dutch authorities have been reticent to comment directly on JO’s fate. In a televised discussion on Dec. 9, State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science Sander Dekker declined to comment on any “specific program or network.” But Dekker added that “very specific and complicated issues that concern very few Dutchmen should not be the first place that public funding goes.” Nevertheless, Edelstein remains hopeful that a place can be maintained for Jewish broadcasting in the Netherlands, perhaps by housing JO at one of the larger broadcasting groups. Edelstein said he will raise that possibility in a meeting with government officials on Jan. 16. But Wallet is less optimistic. “I don’t know which broadcaster will want to be Santa Claus for the JO, which only costs money and brings nothing in,” Wallet said. “I’m afraid all Dutch media are feeling a serious pinch right now and I’m not sure at all a satisfactory solution will be worked out.” SPONSORED: "Why Be Jewish?" Edgar Bronfman's clarion call to a generation of secular, disaffected and unaffiliated Jews. Next: German pol quits party race over poems seen as anti-Semitic > Featured Stories

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Park amenities are a work in progress as summer approaches “Every week, it’s amazing what happens in here,” Ron Heisler said as he walked through the double doors now in place at the north end of the Mouse River Park auditorium. The building is being remodeled into the new Country Mouse Bar, and Heisler was granted the lease to operate the establishment. “For the Park, this is awesome.” Waiting for warm, dry weather . . . The Mouse River Park gazebo remains buttoned up for winter last week. Caretaker Darrell Iverson is preparing the Park's campgrounds for the summer season, and all campsites should be available for use by Memorial Day weekend. Amazing progress happening each week By Caroline Downs He has spent many weeks through the winter and spring checking on the building’s progress and talking over his plans with Park caretaker, Darrell Iverson. The two of them met last week to discuss some of the finish work yet to take place. The auditorium and Park bathrooms were some of the few buildings still usable after the 2011 Mouse River flood. The former Country Mouse Bar and Mouse River Park Cafe were both demolished as a result of extensive water damage, but the auditorium was cleaned and its fate discussed among Park residents, the Renville County Park Board and the Renville County Commissioners. Construction on a project approved to renovate the auditorium as the new Country Mouse Bar started early last fall, with Tafelmeyer Construction of Sawyer handling the work. Iverson can be found in the building most days, however. “I just come down here so they’ve got somebody to holler at,” he said. He knows every nook and cranny of the building and all the changes that have occurred, from the six-inch thick concrete floor poured to the newly-insulated walls to the length of the bar lined with a corrugated steel siding. “They tell me it’s maintenance free,” he said. He indicated the new fireplace, purchased and donated by Park resident Jerry Brekhus, now set in place on the east wall. He gestured to the tops of the walls, where duct work for heating and central air conditioning has been installed. He demonstrated dimmer switches installed for the stage lights and mentioned the extra outlets added for the bands, along with a separate backstage door and a 50-amp outlet in the electrical room to accommodate band equipment. He pointed out the ceiling, now lowered 12 feet from the building’s peak to 13’8” and covered with blonde knotty pine boards that create a welcoming atmosphere. Heisler called attention to the sunburst design worked into that wood immediately above a mural painted across the back of the stage. Both men stopped to admire the mural, an enlargement of a painting done by Park resident Marylin Carter of Carlyle, Saskatchewan. She volunteered her time last fall to create the mural, which highlights all the Park’s features through the years. “That’s so realistic,” Heisler said as he pointed at the merry-go-round, a Pepsi sign and screen door on the cafe, and the order of the three flags flying near the Park office. He looked closer at the old Country Mouse Bar as painted on the wall. “I think it even has the right number of windows,” he said, “and there’s the old Hamm’s sign. That’s going back up here, outside.” “You can see all of the Park,” Iverson added. Many steps have been taken to convert the auditorium into a bar, but several parts of the project remain to be finished, including a frame for the mural. “I’m going to wait until the artist is here to do that,” Iverson said, adding that he wanted to frame the picture with the same log siding trim he used around the front of the stage. “But if she doesn’t like it, I’ll have some good used logs for sale.” While Heisler could serve customers before the mural frame is completed, the current lack of running water presents a problem. Plumbing, heating and air conditioning installation still need to take place, now that the ground is thawed and crews can access water lines. Other projects yet to be done include finishing trim work around the windows, installing a set of double doors between the bar and the patio area, sealing the concrete floor, and hanging the light fixtures. “We’ve got quite a few guys that have got a little to do yet,” Iverson said. “The biggest thing is to get the water and sewer installed. Everything else will fall in after that, but it’s coming together pretty decent. Some of it can be done after the bar’s open.” Historical photos wanted for new bar counter The bar counter will have to be completed before customers arrive, but Iverson has special plans for that. He salvaged and sanded the fir boards that made up the seats lining the walls of the old auditorium with the intent of using that wood for the bar’s counter. Before he seals the counter, though, he wants to arrange historical photos of Mouse River Park across the top. “I’ll have some framed and hanging in here, too,” he said. “I had frames made up of wood out of the old bar and cafe here.” Iverson has collected some of the photos he wants to use, but he asked area residents for their help. “If anybody’s got any pictures of the old skating hall or the old store building, I would like to have a copy of those,” he said. He hopes to have a few choices of photos of the skating hall, with that building standing until the late 1990s. Getting pictures of the old store at the Park could be more difficult. “That’s been gone for 40 years or better,” he said. Kitchen and furniture assembly required Both Iverson and Heisler were interested in getting the new kitchen set up, although Iverson laughed about the location. The bar was originally designed with two separate rooms at the north end. The room intended for office space, on the west side, will now serve as Heisler’s kitchen. “And our poker room, as I called it, will become storage,” Iverson said. The kitchen counters, cabinets and cupboards, still protected in their packages, filled the available space at the north end of the building. “Your ice cream machine is here, too,” Iverson told Heisler. “They delivered it.” The two men were looking forward to setting up the bar’s furniture, now boxed and stacked on seven or eight pallets stored in Iverson’s shop. “I was thinking about how many days it’s gonna take to put all those tables and bar stools together,” Iverson said. “I was tempted to open a box and get started the other night.” “Once we get the dust out of here, I will be decorating some, too,” Heisler said. The dust will also be cleared before First District Health Unit completes their inspections, but Iverson anticipated a positive report about the new establishment. “We met with them as the project started,” he said, “and we’ve been pretty careful about this as we’ve gone along. First campers to arrive soon As work on the bar continues, the calendar moves closer to the first camping days at the Park. “I have some campers coming next weekend,” Iverson said, “and some of the seasonal boys will come the weekend after that.” Along with his work on the bar project, Iverson has kept up his maintenance routine. “We still have to replace a bunch of trees,” he said, “but I think that’s scheduled for this spring.” All campsites at the Park will be ready by Memorial Day weekend. Fees for campers remain at $13 per night. Persons with further questions about camping at Mouse River Park can leave a message for Iverson at the Park office by calling 701-386-2875. Heisler and Iverson agreed the presence of the bar would benefit the Park and continued cleanup efforts at some of the flood-damaged properties. “There’ll be a lot going on this summer,” Heisler said. “There have been new mobile homes and campers going in.” “Some residents have started remodeling again or building new,” Iverson added. “That’s something that’s going to take some time. I think there are only three or four places left to come out yet.” The bar project has generated interest among local residents and Park visitors. “There’s always somebody coming and going here,” Iverson said, “but everybody’s been happy with what’s going on.” Heisler glanced at the scraps of insulation, piles of lumber and tools still scattered around the business he hopes to open before the end of May. “You can picture this cleaned up, the floor sealed and the furniture in,” he said. “It’s amazing what’s happened in these last couple of months.” Picnic tables stacked at Mouse River Park and surrounded by lingering snow drifts and puddles will be moved to individual campsites soon.

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New estimate could increase Alaska Class Ferry cost By Ed SchoenfeldNovember 25, 2011Southeast, Syndicated No Comments 0 0 0 http://www.ktoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/25FerryCost.mp3 The state is reexamining its cost estimate for the first Alaska Class Ferry. And it’s likely to come in higher than the total allocated to construction. Earlier this year, the Legislature set aside $60 million for its next generation of ships. That brought funding to a total of $120 million. Many thought it would be enough to design and build the first vessel. “Unfortunately, numbers tend to stick and $120 million is the number that stuck. So everybody believes that’s full funding for the vessel,” says Captain Mike Neussl, who runs the Alaska Marine Highway System. He says the estimate is several years old and may be low. “That may or may not be the case because we’re not on contract with anybody for a vessel at that price,” he says. The ferry system has asked Elliot Bay Design Group, its architectural engineering firm, to revise the numbers. Ketchikan’s Alaska Ship and Drydock will likely build the ship. Neussl says a lot of factors affect the cost. “The price of steel, the cost of labor and the design of the ship. There’s a lot of factors that play into that, and whether it’s higher or lower, I couldn’t really tell you,” he says. He’s unsure when the new information will become available. Officials have decided not to take federal funds for the Alaska Class Ferry. That would add environmental requirements and block an in-state contract preference. State government is the other source of construction money. “I think one of the issues we need to keep an eye on is replacement of the marine ferries,” says Sitka lawmaker Bert Stedman, who assembles the Senate’s capital budget as co-chairman of that chamber’s Finance Committee. “I have been hearing we may have to put forward a little bit more money for the first one. That has me a little bit concerned,” he says. “But clearly we need to have a discussion on when we want to start funding the second one. Because we need to build two or three of these ships and retire our older vessels because of the operational costs.” The first Alaska-Class Ferry will sail Lynn Canal, linking Juneau, Haines and Skagway. A second is slated to travel between Ketchikan and Prince Rupert. A third would double up on the Lynn Canal route. The ships will be about 350 feet long and carry up to 500 passengers and about 70 vehicles. They will have crew quarters but no staterooms and will not sail overnight.

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NATION NATION Alert lifted at Columbine High School, area schools; students go home Michael MuskalThis post has been updated to reflect news developments. A lockout at Columbine High School and nearby schools in Colorado ended at the end of the school day Thursday, and students went safely home, the Jefferson County sheriff's office said.The alert had been issued earlier in the day after several telephone threats. A lockout means that school business goes on as usual but that no one is allowed to enter or leave the building, sheriff’s spokesman Mark Techmeyer told the Los Angeles Times.“We’ve had several phone calls back-to-back threatening Columbine High School,” Techmeyer said. “We’ve had hundreds of these since the massacre, and we take them all seriously. It is normally a short-lived event.” On April 20, 1999, Columbine High School was the scene of one of the nation’s worst massacres. Two students killed 12 students and one teacher. They injured 24 other students, then committed suicide.In addition to the high school, numerous elementary and middle schools in the area were also placed on lockout status as a precaution, Techmeyer said. Deputies were dispatched to the high school, he said.ALSO:Judge allows no-fly list challenge to proceedJustin Bieber charges: DUI, resisting arrest; admits smoking potBiggest storm surge in decades brings monster waves to Hawaii Privacy Policy Columbine High School University of Oklahoma: No sign of shooting, but an all-too-common drill Colorado school faces accusation that it could have prevented shooting

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Statehouse schedule changed -A A +A By Rich Bauer, Managing Editor Wednesday, February 27, 2008 at 12:00 am At least in recent times, Tuesday has been a day when a number of school or tour groups wanted to visit the Vandalia Statehouse. Unfortunately, Tuesday is one of two days that the Statehouse has been closed. That will change this Saturday, when a new schedule for the Statehouse goes into effect. Jennifer Tirey, acting director of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, which administers the Statehouse, announced on Monday that the old state capitol will now be open Tuesday through Saturday.

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Arctic air eases its grip on much of the USThe Lowell SunUpdated: 01/08/2014 07:26:38 AM ESTA New York City pedestrian covers up against single-digit temperatures, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2014. The high is expected to be 10 degrees. But wind chills will make it feel more like minus 10. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) (Bebeto Matthews)ATLANTA (AP) -- An arctic blast eased its grip on much of the U.S. on Wednesday, with winds calming and the weather warming slightly a day after temperature records -- some more than a century-old -- shattered up and down the Eastern Seaboard. In Atlanta, where a record low of 6 degrees hit early Tuesday, fountains froze over, a 200-foot Ferris wheel shut down and Southerners had to dig out winter coats, hats and gloves they almost never have to use. It shouldn't take too long to thaw out, though. The forecast Wednesday was sunny and 42 degrees. In the Midwest and East, where brutal polar air has lingered over the past few days, temperatures climbed but were still expected to be below freezing. In Indianapolis, Timolyn Johnson-Fitzgerald returned to her home after spending the night in a shelter with her three children because they lost power to their apartment. The water lines were working, but much of the food she bought in preparation for the storm was ruined from a combination of thawing and then freezing during the outage. "All my eggs were cracked, the cheese and milk was frozen. And the ice cream had melted and then refroze. It's crazy, but we're just glad to be back home," she said. On Tuesday, the mercury plunged into the single digits and teens from Boston and New York to Atlanta, Birmingham, Nashville and Little Rock -- places where many people don't know the first thing about extreme cold.Advertisement "I didn't think the South got this cold," said Marty Williams, a homeless man, originally from Chicago, who took shelter at a church in Atlanta. "That was the main reason for me to come down from up North, from the cold, to get away from all that stuff." The cold turned deadly for some: Authorities reported at least 21 cold-related deaths across the country since Sunday, including seven in Illinois and six in Indiana. At least five people died after collapsing while shoveling snow, while several victims were identified as homeless people who either refused shelter or didn't make it to a warm haven soon enough. In Missouri on Monday, a 1-year-old boy was killed when the car he was riding in struck a snow plow, and a 20-year-old woman was killed in a separate crash after her car slid on ice and into the path of a tractor-trailer. In a phenomenon that forecasters said is actually not all that unusual, all 50 states saw freezing temperatures at some point Tuesday. That included Hawaii, where it was 18 degrees atop Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano. It was 1 degree in Reading, Pa., and 2 in Trenton, N.J. New York City plummeted to 4 degrees; the old record for the date was 6, set in 1896. "It's brutal out here," said Spunkiy Jon, who took a break from her sanitation job in New York to smoke a cigarette in the cab of a garbage truck. "Your fingers freeze off after three minutes, your cheeks feel as if you're going to get windburn, and you work as quick as you can." Farther south, Birmingham, Ala., dipped to a low of 7, four degrees colder than the old mark, set in 1970. Huntsville, Ala., dropped to 5, Nashville, Tenn., got down to 2, and Little Rock, Ark., fell to 9. Charlotte, N.C., reached 6 degrees, breaking the 12-degree record that had stood since 1884. The big chill started in the Midwest over the weekend, caused by a kink in the "polar vortex," the strong winds that circulate around the North Pole. The icy air covered about half the country by Tuesday, but it was moving north, returning more normal and warmer weather to most of the country. This weekend, it was expected to be in the 50s in New York and even higher in places farther south along the Eastern Seaboard. The deep freeze dragged on in the Midwest. More than 500 Amtrak passengers were stranded overnight on three Chicago-bound trains that were stopped by blowing and drifting snow in Illinois. Food ran low, but the heat stayed on. On Tuesday, many schools and day care centers across the eastern half of the U.S. were closed and officials opened shelters for the homeless and anyone else who needed a warm place. With the bitter cold slowing baggage handling and aircraft refueling, airlines canceled more than 2,000 flights in the U.S., bringing the four-day total to more than 11,000. The Lower 48 states, when averaged out, reached a low of 13.8 degrees overnight Monday, according to calculations by Ryan Maue of Weather Bell Analytics. An estimated 190 million people in the U.S. were subjected to the polar vortex's icy blast. Still, farmers worried about their crops. Diane Cordeau of Kai-Kai Farm in Indiantown, Fla., about 90 miles north of Miami, had to pick her squash and tomatoes Monday to beat the freeze but said her leafy vegetables, such as kale, will be sweeter and tastier because of the cold. "I'm the queen of lettuce around here, so the colder the better," said Cordeau, whose farm serves high-end restaurants that request specific produce or organic vegetables. PJM Interconnection, which operates the power grid that serves more than 61 million people in the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and South, asked users to conserve electricity because of the cold, especially in the morning and late afternoon. Across the South, the Tennessee Valley Authority said power demand in the morning reached the second-highest winter peak in the history of the Depression-era utility. Temperatures averaged 4 degrees across the utility's seven-state region. In South Carolina, a large utility used 15-minute rolling blackouts to handle demand, but there were no reports of widespread outages in the South. Natural gas demand in the U.S. set a record Tuesday, eclipsing the mark set a day earlier, according to Jack Weixel, director of energy analysis at Bentek Energy. ------ Associated Press writers Steve Karnowski and Amy Forliti in Minneapolis; David Dishneau in Hagerstown, Md.; Brett Zongker in Washington, D.C.; Brett Barrouquere in Louisville, Ky.; Melissa Nelson-Gabriel in Pensacola, Fla.; Suzette Laboy in Indiantown, Fla.; Verena Dobnik in New York; and Kelly P. Kissel in Little Rock, Ark., contributed to this report.Print Email Font ResizeReturn to Top Welcome to your discussion forum: Sign in with a Disqus account or your social networking account for your comment to be posted immediately, provided it meets the guidelines. (READ HOW.)

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DOT's Foxx Names Two Marine Highways marinelink U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx Secretary Foxx Designates Two New Marine Highways. U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has designated two new Marine Highways. The Occoquan, Potomac, and Anacostia Rivers make up the “M-495 Marine Highway Crossing,” and is sponsored by the Northern Virginia Regional Commission and This marine highway connects ports in the District of Columbia, Northern Virginia, and Maryland for passenger services. The upper Missouri River is designated as the “M-29 Marine Highway Connector,” and is sponsored by the Port Authority of Kansas City, Missouri. It connects the upper Missouri River between Kansas City, Missouri, and Sioux City, Iowa. A marine highway is a designated route for transporting cargo on water, reducing pollution and congestion on roads. Since 2009, the Department of Transportation has designated 21 Marine Highway routes, and invested $130 million in projects supporting Marine Highway services. In addition to highlighting the role waterways play in moving freight throughout the region, designated Marine Highways receive preferential treatment for any future federal assistance from the Department or MARAD. Contact: Kim Strong – Tel: 202-366-5807 The MN 100: Apply Now The August 2016 edition of MarineNews, the leading voice in the North American workboat market, will feature 100 leaders and innovators, including workboat owners and operators, Bouchard: New Logo and Website Bouchard Transportation Co., Inc., an independently-owned oceangoing petroleum barge company, has introduced a new corporate logo and announced plans to launch Government Update

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Significant strike hits al-Qaida chief Dwight B. Shepard | dshepard@repub.com Remember the war on terror? It began, of course, both in action and in word, after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001. We had been targeted by an enemy unlike any we had ever known before, and the battle against the lawless terrorists would follow suit. So said President Bush in the early days of the war on terror. But that seems so long ago now. Nearly seven and a half years without another attack on our soil. An endless presidential campaign that focused on seemingly everything but the war on terror. the continued economic malaise that has gripped the nation. But now comes news that on New Year's Day, two top al-Qaida figures were killed inside Pakistan by missiles fired from unmanned aerial drones covering the region. We trust that they remembered the war on terror, if only for a fraction of a second before the rockets struck. And we trust that their compatriots, upon learning of the deaths of their leaders, had to wonder who would be next. We hope they find out soon. Much of the citizenry here in the United States may have largely forgotten the war on terror. But our nation's military commanders and service members remember well who they are fighting. And what they are fighting for. Killed by Hellfire missiles fired from Predator aircraft controlled by the CIA were a Kenyan citizen who went by the name Usama al-Kini, and his Kenyan lieutenant, Sheik Ahmed Salim Swedan. Al-Kini was believed to be the chief al-Qaida officer in Pakistan, where lawlessness has been ruling the day. While the war on terror has slipped from many people's radar screens, the two top al-Qaida operatives showed up clear and center beneath the Predator's bull's eye. Thankfully, not everyone has forgotten that there's a war on. Comments Opinion resources Archive: Editorials from The Republican

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« Business / In Brief • May 11... Business / In Brief • May 9,...» Business / In Brief • May 10, 2013 * Hawaii May 10, 2013 From The Maui News and its news services Save | $1.1M for Hawaii health centers HONOLULU - Hawaii's community health centers can receive about $1.1 million from the federal government to help uninsured residents enroll in health insurance coverage under the Affordable Health Care Act. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Thursday that funds are being made available to help 14 health centers in Hawaii enroll uninsured individuals in the national health care insurance program. The secretary said community health centers in the state provide care to 144,427 people and are well-positioned to support enrollment efforts. About $150 million is available for community health centers nationwide to help people sign up for the program. **** Health exchange offers outreach cash HONOLULU - Hawaii's health insurance exchange is offering grants to help people learn about and sign up for plans offered under President Barack Obama's new federal health care law. Hawaii Health Connector officials said Thursday that the exchange is looking for marketplace assisters to give personal help on each island. They'll help individuals and small-business owners with plan options, enrollment and learning about tax implications and costs. Hawaii Health Connector spokeswoman Rose Hughes says the goal is to simplify the process for small-business owners, so they can provide insurance for employees and take advantage of tax credits. The grants for organizations and individuals will be awarded for one year starting July 1. They'll support up to 10 full-time jobs and up to 20 part-time jobs. © Copyright 2016 From The Maui News and its news services. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Richard E. “Rick” Andrews, Jr. ... Jerry Dwayne Nichols ... Afton Michael Jacks ... Richard E. “Rick” Andrews, Jr. ... Jerry Dwayne Nichols ... Afton Michael Jacks ... Schweich visits Moberly Comment By DREW VAN DYKEMMI Editor By DREW VAN DYKEMMI Editor Missouri State Auditor Tom Schweich visited Moberly last night (Tuesday, April 23).Schweich was the dinner speaker for the Randolph County Pachyderms Club, who met for dining and fellowship at Nelly’s Restaurant. Schweich had been schedule to speak at an RCPC function twice prior, it was noted; however, both times, weather had prevented him from doing so. Tuesday night, light rain began to form into sleet over Moberly as Schweich started his speech.“I think they’re going to have to start calling me ‘Frosty Schweich,’” he joked to the crowd.Schweich’s speech consisted of him pointing out the changes he had made since taking office in 2011, noting several revealing audits he had done on different entities, answering questions from the crowd, and asking for support in the 2014 election (where, for the first time since 1990, he said, there will only be one state office on the ballot).“Our job is to make sure taxpayer dollars are not mis-spent,” he said. “People stealing your money are not wanting to leave a trail.”Because of this, Schweich said, he formed a “rapid response” team, which can, with immediacy, go out and check records and get to the bottom of called-in complaints. The program has been used twice in his tenure, Schweich said: once to uncover a St. Louis school district’s attendance fraud, and another time to discover a clerk in Pineville stealing over $20,000.“We don’t use it a lot,” he said. “But when we do, it is very effective.”Schweich also noted that his auditorial department created the “citizen summary” sheet that goes along with each audit now, for “non-accounting persons” to be able to quickly read through the results of any audit in a simple, concise manner. Schweich also implemented a grading system that accompanies his audits, from “poor” to “excellent.”“We very rarely give out an ‘excellent,’” he said. His office also does follow-up audits on entities who receive a “fair” or “poor” rating on initial audits, to see whether steps are being taken to improve the way in which business is being conducted.“Most of my public service career has been spent on the law enforcement side,” Schweich said. “I want to find the people who steal first.”Embezzlement, massive waste, and lying or over-inflating performance statistics are all key areas that Schweich said he is focussed upon. He has also together his system so that the public can get the most accurate information possible.“I’ve [also] put a large priority on auditing school districts,” Schweich said. He noted locally that the Mexico, Mo. school district was “one of the best-run school district [he has] ever audited.”Page 2 of 2 - “I think the wealthy [school districts] should be [audited] too,” Schweich said. He promised to audit one large, fund-abundant school each year that he is auditor.During the question-answer portion of the meeting, Schweich responded to questioning about Governor Jay Nixon’s airplane use by saying that a more “thorough analysis” of such would be coming out in the near future.“We audited the Department of Revenue,” he said, when asked about the recent happenings with said state office, pertaining to the giving of conceal and carry information to the federal government.“All that scanning equipment was installed right after we left,” Schweich said. However, the department’s grade on his most recent audit is cause for a follow-up audit coming soon.“I go in with no preconceptions,” Schweich said, in regards to doing his job. “All I want to do is put out what’s happening. There’s plenty of smoke. I’ll tell you if there’s fire.“I love coming to Moberly,” he said. “My mother’s from Brunswick.”Schweich took pictures with members of the club, as well as several Juniors from Moberly High School who will be attending Missouri Girls and Boys State this summer prior to his speech. Follow the Q&A portion of the meeting, he informed the crowd gathered that he would be leaving, in an attempt to avoid the harsh weather.

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Drunk driver admits alcohol played role in wreck A tow truck operator stopped by the yard one night and found an older man crawling out from under the locked tow yard fence. He had a pile of stuff on the outside of the gate including a trailer hitch and jumper cables. The man told the tow truck operator he had permission to get those items from his vehicle and that he was supposed to bring the tow company his title. The tow truck operator explained to the man that there was a process for that and that he should be doing so during normal business hours and not crawling underneath the gate.The tow truck operator told the man to stay put and went to call about this supposed permission.But the man took off on a bike with a trailer carrying the items.The tow truck driver did not follow him because there was not much he could do. He figured they would know during business hours who the person was and if he in fact had permission.He described the suspect to police as a man in his late 60’s who looked like Santa Claus.When push comes to shove A man called police to report that his girlfriend had pushed him out of a moving vehicle.He said they had been out drinking and on the way home they got into an argument. He said he told his girlfriend that he wanted to get out of the car but she would not stop. He then explained to police that since she would not stop he jumped out of the car when it started to slow down. She kept driving and went on home,. but then called him over and over again. Police went to the house to question the woman. They found her sitting in the car which was parked in the driveway.When they approached the car she rolled down the window and started crying hysterically. The officer asked her if she was okay and she told them no.She had a hard time catching her breath but was able to tell officers that her boyfriend punched her in the face.The officer asked where and she pointed to her face, but her lips and facial features were not swollen or bleeding.The officer asked her if she needed EMS and she refused, but added that she had anxiety problems.The officer then told her to slow down and catch her breath. He explained that he was going to ask her a series of yes or no questions. The first was if her boyfriend intentionally punched her in the face. And she responded that he did not.She said he was reaching for the shifter to put it into neutral and he accidently hit her in the face.In further questioning by another officer, the boyfriend denied having any physical contact with the girlfriend.The officers then asked her if she had any bags inside her boyfriend’s house. She said she had two bags. The boyfriend was brought back to the house and he allowed an officer to go inside and get the girlfriend’s belongings.But because she had been drinking the officers told her they could not let her drive.She contacted a friend to come and get her but that friend was not in the area and could not come and pick her up. The officer then agreed to give her a ride home.Further arguments were avoided by the girlfriend leaving and the case was closed with no charges being pressed.Log jam Two neighbors were disputing over a log and could not resolve their differences, resulting in the police being called. The female neighbor told police that she had placed a large log on the front left side of her property to prevent wood chips from floating onto her lawn from her neighbor’s lawn when it rains.She said her neighbor keeps moving the log. After about the sixth time the neighbor moved the log, she placed a note on the log that stated if he moved the log one more time she would call police. The male neighbor responded by saying if she would just move the log back three inches he would not move the log again. Police were unable to contact the log-moving neighbor because he was out of town. The female agreed to call officers back when he came home so they could mediate the situation.I didn’t do anything A man drove to a local fire station to report a disturbance that took place. Officers arrived and took his statement. He said that a 17-year-old kid asked him to buy him cigarettes while he was at the gas station, but the complainant told the kid no. The kid then became angry and started yelling and cursing at him. The complainant said the kid told him he was “strapped.”And then the kid threatened to beat the complainant up.Officers called for a second unit and began patrolling the area looking for the kid.He was spotted walking down the sidewalk. An officer shined his spotlight on the kid and another got out of the patrol car with his gun drawn at his side. He gave the kid verbal demands to stop walking. That’s when the report said the kid turned around and started walking toward officers in an aggressive manner.The kid started yelling and cussing at officers, according to the report, and said, “I didn’t do anything wrong.”The officer told the kid to stop and get on the ground, but the kid kept walking. As he got closer to the officer, the officer put his hand out to create a distance and the kid walked right into the officer’s hand with his chest. After that the officer backed up and told him to sit on the ground, which the kid did.The officers explained the reason for the call and asked the kid if he had any weapons on him. He said he did not and consented to a search. No weapons were found. The kid admitted to going to the gas station to buy cigarettes. The clerk would not sell him any so he asked the customer. When the customer said no that is when the argument ensued. The kid said he never said he was strapped.The complainant said he wanted a report done, but did not want to press any charges.Can’t remember Police were dispatched to a one vehicle collision at the on-ramp to the bridge. A car had run into the wall. The driver was being seen by EMS and appeared to have busted out some teeth because he was bleeding profusely from his mouth.Police smelled alcohol on his breath and noticed he was unsteady on his feet, according to the police report.He told officers he had no idea how he got into the accident. He said he was just trying to get home.However, he lives in Mount Pleasant and was driving into downtown Charleston, the report said.The officer informed the man of this and he responded that he didn’t know why.He admitted to drinking at a local bar and the officer asked him if the amount of alcohol he drank had anything to do with the collision.He said he did not think so.EMS were worried about the man having a head injury so they took him to the hospital.The officer told him that based on the circumstances he would be charged with DUI.The officers took a SLED kit to the hospital to have a urine sample taken as evidence of his alcohol intake.At that point the driver admitted to the officer that the alcohol he drank contributed to the accident and, according to the report, he asked if anybody got hurt.The officer told him he was the only one involved in the accident and the driver was relieved because he said, he couldn’t remember what happened.The driver was admitted to the hospital with a broken jaw and charged with DUI.Help Police were sent to a man’s house by dispatch who said they got a call from a person who just simply kept yelling help into the phone. And then hung up. They tried to call the man back but got no answer. Police arrived, and the house was locked but they could hear a man inside yelling for help.EMS, consisting of a male and a female arrived and told officer’s where a hidden key was. It turns out they were very familiar with this man. They went inside the home to find the man perfectly fine. He told them he was not sure why he called them other than he was not feeling well.He was unable to say what was wrong other than asking EMS to bring him to bed.When they asked him who the president was and what month it was he was unable to answer.Then the female EMS asked him what she could do to help him he said, “Give me a kiss.” She declined.The man said he did not want to go to the hospital but EMS felt like he needed to go. They believed he was not of sound mind and judgement and there was no one in the house to take care of him and no one to contact.They added that they had responded to this man’s house earlier that day because he had fallen out of his wheelchair. They are also sent to the man’s home on a daily basis now to assist him.He was taken into emergency custody and taken to the hospital. The doctor there believed him to be okay, just intoxicated.Adult Protective Services took over the case at that point.The Police Blotter is intended to be an informative and/or humorous column written from police reports obtained from the Mount Pleasant Police Department. Many of the stories come from the initial incident reports and, occasionally, supplemental reports. Generally, cases have not been adjudicated at the time of publication. See more columns at www.MoultrieNews.com. Latest Videos

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http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Search-continues-for-Falcon-Lake-victim-683546.php Search continues for Falcon Lake victim Officials say their efforts have been hindered by the international boundary. A McAllen man is believed to have been shot dead by drug cartel operatives while on the Mexican side of the reservoir. By Lynn Brezosky Published 11:49 am, Friday, October 1, 2010 BROWNSVILLE - State game wardens Friday continued searching for a 30-year-old McAllen man believed shot dead by drug cartel operatives after he and his wife rode their personal watercraft into the Mexican side of the international Falcon Lake reservoir. Texas Parks and Wildlife spokesman Mike Cox said the agency dispatched two 21-foot boats shortly after David Michael Hartley's wife, Tiffany, escaped a spray of bullets Thursday and reported the incident to U.S. law enforcement. He said the same boats were out again today looking for both Hartley and his missing personal watercraft. Tiffany Hartley, 29, told Zapata County sheriff's officials she'd tried in vain to pull her husband's limp body back to U.S. shores but was forced to return without him amid a continuing barrage of gunfire. She said her husband had been shot through the head and that she thought he was dead. The search was hindered by the international boundary, said Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez, head of the lead agency in the case. Late Thursday, he said he had only dim hopes Hartley would be found. State agencies urged visitors to the vast Rio Grande reservoir not to go into Mexican waters, repeating a warning issued in May that boaters were being shaken down by pirates armed with AK-47s and AR-15 rifles and seeking drugs and cash. Cox said five incidents have been reported on the lake since the end of April. On Aug. 31, he said, somebody approached a Texas fisherman in Texas waters in a small boat marked "game wardin" with duct-taped letters on the side of the boat. The fisherman caught the misspelling, smelled trouble and quickly retreated, he said. "That shows the level of brazenness, that they would try to pretend to be a game warden," Cox said. "Obviously, our guys are all going to be in uniform and have lights and be readily recognized as law enforcement. The guy did exactly right to get the heck out of Dodge." Gonzalez said that the Hartleys were tourists enjoying what may have been a last spin on the lake before returning to Colorado. He said the couple had lived for about 21/2 years in Reynosa, where David worked for CalfFrac Well Services, an oil field service company based in Calgary, Alberta. They moved to McAllen about five months ago and were preparing to leave the region altogether due to a downturn in the oil industry. Falcon Lake is long and remote, extending about 60 miles through largely private U.S. and Mexican ranchland. It is a known site for exchanging packages of drugs and is said to be under control of the Zetas, a ruthless drug gang staging an insurgency against the Gulf Cartel. State Rep. Aaron Peña, D-Edinburg, said an attack in U.S. waters had "international ramifications" and should serve as a wakeup call to lawmakers pondering cuts to Texas Parks and Wildlife. Gov. Rick Perry again railed against the federal government for what he says is a failure to secure the U.S.-Mexico border. "I have been pushing not only this administration but previous administrations, but it's really become substantially worse in the last 18 months with the drug cartels having almost free rein," he said after an address to the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. "We've got to have a federal government who does their job of securing the border, putting the troops on the ground and using the technologies that we've got available. They're just ... They're failures at it right now."

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Local nonprofit celebrates a year of making special friends Published: Monday, Oct. 14, 2013 6:00 a.m.�CDT • Updated: Monday, Oct. 14, 2013 6:37 p.m.�CDT WHEATON –�For more than a year, local nonprofit Connection of Friends has been giving those with special needs the chance to meet new people. The nonprofit was started last October by Sarah Donnelly, a Wheaton mother of two children with autism. The inspiration came after a long conversation in the summer of 2011 with her parents, Ginny and Terry Kline.“We were in Sarah’s kitchen, and it was sort of a down day for Sarah. She had obviously been thinking about the future,” Ginny said.Donnelly said she was worried about her children and what opportunities they might have – especially after they aged out of federally-mandated school programs at age 22.“She was concerned about [her oldest daughter] Emma, what she might be able to do and feel important doing and feel comfortable doing,” Ginny said. “And we had no answers whatsoever.”Later that week, the family heard about an organization in Wilmette called Our Place of New Trier. It offered programs for people of all ages with special needs and emphasized building friendships and social skills.“As grandparents of special needs kids, we knew that down the road they would be facing this issue,” Terry said. “There are some options that are available to special needs teenagers and adults, but we felt there might be something a little different.”By the end of the year, the family had filed paperwork to start their own nonprofit to provide services similar to the Wilmette group’s in and around Wheaton.Now, a year after opening, Connection of Friends has two full-time staff members with backgrounds in special needs, five part time staff, 13 regular volunteers and 30 program participants.The nonprofit offers three hour blocks of programming from 12 to 3 p.m. on weekdays. These include an array of different activities for people ages 16 to 55 with special needs.“Everything is embedded in socialization. For three hours, special needs adults can come here and learn how to make friends and keep friends,” Donnelly said. “It’s programming that is meaningful and engaging.”Diane Wheeler said that her daughter Jessica, 17, has attended Connection of Friends since its founding. Though Jessica is involved in activities at Wheaton North High School and the Western DuPage Special Recreation Association, giving her the opportunity to simply have friends and be a “typical teen” has meant a lot for her and for the family, Wheeler said.“As a parent with a child with special needs, we become their caregiver or become their social life if we want them to be actively engaged in something,” she said. Wheeler said that because of the parent and grandparents behind the scenes at Connection of Friends, the nonprofit sees things “from a different perspective.”Nita Newing’s daughter Cheryl is one of the group’s older participants at 46 and has been involved in the program for a month. Newing said that while Cheryl leads a busy social life, having a small and personal community to interact with on a consistent basis has offered a “wonderful atmosphere.”“The world is harsh and hard enough without adding to it,” she said. “So I’m just tickled that she’s in a situation that’s safe and caring and compassionate and loving.” DuPage Habitat for Humanity to host annual golf tournamentMay 24, 2016 - 1:20 pm Wheaton Fire Department receives pet oxygen mask kit donationsMay 24, 2016 - 6:56 am Wheaton names Fourth of July Parade grand marshalMay 21, 2016 - 9:58 pm

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Print Email Font ResizeMembers named to train station advisory groupNashoba PublishingPosted: 07/18/2014 07:27:20 AM EDTAYER -- The Ayer Train Station Advisory Committee has selected three representatives to meet with the government agencies, and state and local government officials who are approving and implementing the parking facility planned for the Ayer commuter rail station. The representatives are Jeremy Callahan, Patrick Hughes and Kathleen O'Connor. Carolyn McCreary and Harry Zane are alternates. All five are residents. O'Connor is also a daily rail commuter from Ayer. In Mid-June, the Ayer Board of Selectmen voted to authorize three representatives of ATSAC to attend planning and implementation meetings for the planned commuter rail project, which has received $3.2 million in federal and state construction funds. ATSAC will strive to expedite the implementation process and serve as a conduit among selectmen, residents of Ayer and commuters. The group will provide updates on the status of the project and work to ensure that that the facility is compatible with the character of the surrounding community, and meets resident and commuter expectations. Planning and Implementation meetings for the project may include representatives of the Montachusett Area Regional Transit Authority (MART), the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), and the BOS, as well as relevant federal and state officials. ATSAC will report to the BOS on a regular basis. The project was one of the recommendations in the town of Ayer's 2005 Comprehensive Plan update.Advertisement Planning for the facility moved forward again as the focus of a 2007 town-wide workshop (called a "charette"), which was organized by a BOS-appointed parking task force and attended by some 80 residents. Four different citizen teams presented design and location scenarios. Following the consensus of the charette, the task force made recommendations for a downtown commuter parking facility to the BOS, which approved them in May of 2007, as did residents at Ayer's Annual Town Meeting. McCreary, a former selectman, was the task force chair. Hughes and Zane were also members of the task force; Callahan is a current member of the Ayer Planning Board with a degree in urban planning; and O'Connor is a daily commuter into Boston, and a former congressional aide who holds a degree in urban and environmental policy. The formation of ATSAC followed recent complaints by commuters and residents about a lack of transparency and lengthy implementation delays on the project.Print Email Font ResizeReturn to Top RELATED

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Officials say U.S. commandos capture al Qaeda leader in Libya, also raid Somalia | New Hampshire Contact us Officials say U.S. commandos capture al Qaeda leader in Libya, also raid Somalia By Mark Hosenball and Phil StewartReuters WASHINGTON - U.S. forces launched raids in Libya and Somalia on Saturday, two weeks after the deadly Islamist attack on a Nairobi shopping mall, capturing a top al Qaeda figure wanted for the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, U.S. officials said.Senior al Qaeda figure Anas al Liby was seized in the raid in Libya, but no militant was captured in the raid on the Somali town of Barawe, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.Liby, believed to be 49, has been under U.S. indictment for his alleged role in the East Africa embassy bombings that killed 224 people.The U.S. government has also been offering a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture, under the State Department's Rewards for Justice program.CNN reported in September last year that Liby had been seen in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. It quoted Western intelligence sources as saying there was concern that he may have been tasked with establishing an al Qaeda network in Libya.That CNN report quoted counterterrorism analysts as saying that Liby may not have been apprehended then because of the delicate security situation in much of the country, where former jihadists hold sway. It quoted one intelligence source as saying that Liby appeared to have arrived in Libya in the spring of 2011, during the country's civil war.The Pentagon confirmed U.S. military personnel had been involved in an operation against what it called "a known al Shabaab terrorist," in Somalia, but gave no more details.One U.S. official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the al Shabaab leader targeted in the operation was neither captured nor killed.U.S. officials did not identify the target. They said U.S. forces, trying to avoid civilian casualties, disengaged after inflicting some al Shabaab casualties. They said no U.S. personnel were wounded or killed in the operation, which one U.S. source said was carried out by a Navy SEAL team.Somalia firefightThe New York Times quoted witnesses as saying that the firefight lasted more than an hour, with helicopters called in for air support.The Times report quoted a spokesman for al Shabaab as saying that one of its fighters had been killed in an exchange of gunfire but that the group had beaten back the assault.The paper quoted said a senior Somali government official as saying that the government "was pre-informed about the attack."It quoted an unnammed unnamed U.S. security official as saying that the Barawe raid was planned a week and a half ago."It was prompted by the Westgate attack," he added, referring to a militant assault on a Nairobi shopping mall two weeks ago in which at least 67 people were killed.Earlier, al Shabaab militants said British and Turkish special forces had raided Barawe overnight, killing a rebel fighter, but that a British officer had also been killed and others wounded.Britain's Defence Ministry said it was not aware of any such British involvement. A Turkish Foreign Ministry official also denied any Turkish part in such an action.A Somali intelligence official said the target of the raid at Barawe was a Chechen commander, who had been wounded and his guard killed. Police said a total of seven people were killed.Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, spokesman for al Shabaab's military operations, told Reuters that foreign forces had landed on the beach at Barawe, about 180 km (110 miles) south of Mogadishu, and launched an assault that drew gunfire from rebel fighters in one of the militia's coastal bases.Residents said fighting erupted at about 3 a.m. (midnight GMT). "We were awoken by heavy gunfire last night, we thought an al Shabaab base at the beach was captured," Sumira Nur, a mother of four, told Reuters from Barawe on Saturday."We also heard sounds of shells, but we do not know where they landed."In 2009, helicopter-borne U.S. special forces killed senior al Qaeda militant Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan in a raid in southern Somalia. Nabhan was suspected of building the bomb that killed 15 people at an Israeli-owned hotel on the Kenyan coast in 2002.The United States has used drones to kill fighters in Somalia in the past. In January 2012, members of the elite U.S. Navy SEALs rescued two aid workers after killing their nine kidnappers.Shabaab leader Ahmed Godane, also known as Mukhtar Abu al-Zubayr, has described the Nairobi mall attack as retaliation for Kenya's incursion in October 2011 into southern Somalia to crush the insurgents. It has raised concern in the West over the operations of Shabaab in the region...

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Trenton budget presentation gets mixed reviews from council trenton council.JPG Trenton City Council, with Council President Kathy McBride at center, listen as members of the public discuss police layoffs in Trenton on Thursday, August 18, 2011. (Andrew Miller/For The Times) Jenna Pizzi | For NJ.com TRENTON — A $2 million increase in the city’s total budget will be reflected in the tax bills sent out to city residents this quarter, as the tax levy is going up 2 percent, according to a presentation from the city’s budget officer tonight. The budget will be introduced to council during its meeting Thursday. The budget includes $22.86 million in state aid approved by the state Department of Community Affairs in late January, according to Elana Chan, city budget officer. As promised, the state gave 90 percent of the aid appropriated for last year’s budget, she said, allowing the city to move forward and approve a final budget for the 2014 fiscal year, which ends in June. The state aid accounts for just more than 12 percent of the total city budget. To cover the entire $75.8 million total municipal tax levy, the total tax rate will increase by 9 cents to $3.84. For a home valued at $100,000, there will be a $90 municipal tax increase, Chan said. Some council members were upset by the budget and said they would continue to look for savings before it goes for a final vote. “I have to go through it and see what I can find,” said Councilman Zachary Chester, who was shaking his head as Chan made the presentation. Budget Committee Chairwoman Marge Caldwell-Wilson said there are some places for further reductions, but because overtime has been much more than anticipated, it will be difficult to do much cost cutting. “We are bare bones, absolutely bare bones,” she said. Chan said the police and fire overtime are already over budget by 3 percent and public works also has accrued large overtime costs because of the many snow storms this winter. “We are seeing between $300,000 and $350,000 in overtime each payroll,” Chan said. She said she added a conservative estimate of $3 million to the $5.7 million already appropriated for overtime. “We really have to look at how to better control the situation,” she said. Chan said she also has added $150,000 to the budget to pay for the purchase of more road salt. The city also is anticipating an increase in the workers compensation budget, which rose by $843,851. Chan said the increase can be attributed to claims from police Detectives Jimmy Letts and Edgar Rios who were wounded in a shoot-out this summer. Chan was able to add $307,000 to the city’s anticipated revenues because of construction code and owner registration fees that were increased by ordinance this year. Councilwoman Phyllis Holly-Ward raised a concern that the department of administration’s budget increased by nearly $200,000 this year, which Chan attributed to positions which were added. Chan said although council members voted last June to limit funding for the position of Nathaniel Jones Jr, he is still being paid. Jones, the embattled former director of the city’s municipal court, was brought on by Business Administrator Sam Hutchinson more than a year ago at an annual salary of $105,384 to serve as an attorney in his office. Jones’ salary funding was supposed to end in January, based on the council vote. Hutchinson has previously said Jones will assist in labor relations matters. Jones, originally appointed by Mayor Tony Mack, had been placed on administrative leave from his post as court director after officials learned that he had pleaded guilty to a second-degree assault charge in Maryland in 2009. Hutchinson declined to comment about Jones’ salary, saying it was a personnel matter. “Choosing not to fund a position and wanting to terminate a position — that is a personnel matter,” Hutchinson said. Holly Ward said because Jones’ salary was supposed to stop in January, any paycheck he has received since is “stealing” more money from the city. She said she hopes to discuss the matter in a closed session and will continue to make cuts to the budget so that there is no money for the department to move around to find a way to pay Jones. Contact Jenna Pizzi at jpizzi@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5717. On mobile or desktop: • Like Times of Trenton on Facebook • Follow @TimesofTrenton on Twitter

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You are hereNews › In The Media › One Woman’s Data Trail Diary One Woman’s Data Trail Diary Scott Shane New York Times Fri, 08/31/2012 View the original piece As part of The Agenda, The Times’s look at major issues facing the next administration, we have been examining the trade-offs, more than a decade after the Sept. 11 attacks, between security and privacy and civil liberties. Some readers have written in about the electronic data trail that all of us leave as we go about our lives, using the Internet and carrying smartphones. Heidi Boghosian, a New Yorker and author of a book on surveillance scheduled for publication next year, “Spying on Democracy: A Short History of Government/Corporate Collusion in the Technology Age,” agreed to try to document her own data trail on one recent day. Her account, below, is nothing extraordinary – and that’s the point. It is impossible to live in urban, wired America without leaving clues about ourselves, our movements and our views everywhere. And it is all but impossible to be certain who is looking at the resulting data or video and how much of it is accessible to federal, state or local government. Ms. Boghosian is executive director of the National Lawyers Guild, a group of self-described radical lawyers and law students founded in 1937, and between her day job and her book research, she thinks far more than most people about surveillance and privacy. But the exercise of documenting her day was nonetheless informative, she said. “Definitely, for me, going through the process reinforced my sense of the role corporations play in our daily lives,” she said. “And I don’t think most people realize the extent to which corporations cooperate in turning over personal information to the government.” Share Identi.ca

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Elizabeth Dancy Cheatwood, New Orleans Debutante Coterie, 2010-2011 Times-Picayune Staff Elizabeth Dancy Cheatwood, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Clifton Cheatwood, nee Cynthia Morrison Cheatwood, of Mandeville, was graduated from The Brandon Hall School in Atlanta, Ga., where she was active in acting and technical theater, helping the school win three first-place awards in the Georgia State Thespian Society competition. Elizabeth Dancy Cheatwood. She also was a member of the National Honor Society and the Georgia Thespian Society; was a science fair winner all the years she was at the school; and received the presidential, citizenship and headmaster's awards. She has taken mission trips to Mexico, and been involved in community service projects and with Outward Bound. An alumna of Auburn University, where she studied veterinary medicine and was active in sailing and karate, she will be a junior this fall at Oglethorpe University, where she transferred to study theater. She will minor in photography. Her hobbies include photography, equestrian competition, fishing and clay-shooting. She has been employed at veterinary clinics. Elizabeth plans to work in theater, specifically the Georgia Shakespeare Theatre, and hopes to one day perform on Broadway. Entertainment News updates Get the latest entertainment news from around New Orleans.

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New TV Series Highlights Black Missing Persons Listen· 14:00 New TV Series Highlights Black Missing Persons February 8, 201212:00 PM ET Heard on Tell Me More NPR Staff TV One's new series Find Our Missing sheds light on the cases of people of color who have disappeared. Courtesy of TV One A new show on TV One puts a spotlight on missing people of color. The network, which caters to an African-American audience, hopes Find Our Missing "will put names and faces to people of color — young and old — who have disappeared without a trace," according to the website. What's implicit in this description is that reports on missing people of color are hard to find in mainstream media, which often highlight the cases of young white women who have disappeared. "I can't explain why that happens," says actress S. Epatha Merkerson, "other than that there's apathy about persons of color who are missing." Merkerson, who is most famous for her role as NYPD Lt. Anita Van Buren on the show Law & Order, agreed to host the new TV One series to bring about a call to action. She tells Michel Martin, host of NPR's Tell Me More, "It's so imperative that this information be given a national forum." i Tamika Huston was 24 when she went missing in 2004. Her body was found a year and a half after her disappearance. Media Coverage Derrica Wilson agrees. She's a police investigator who co-founded the nonprofit Black and Missing Foundation, which is working with the show as it highlights specific cases from across the country. Wilson recalls that the family of Tamika Huston struggled for coverage when the 24-year-old went missing from Spartanburg, S.C., in May 2004, while Lori Hacking's disappearance made headlines months later, as did Natalee Holloway's the following year. While blacks account for less than 13 percent of the population, they account for more than 30 percent of missing people, according to the FBI. Wilson says more needs to be done to bring these cases to light. Wilson says her organization is making headway on educating people about keeping their loved ones safe, while also helping to solve cases by bringing them to a national audience. "Media coverage is very vital in the safe recovery of missing persons," she says. "If we can put out that profile of this missing person, the chances of a reunion with their family members are greater."

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Campaign ID: 277474 | Creative: bar1_button_inyt_usd_4L9UF -- 413757 | Page: www.nytimes.com/archive/article/weekinreview / Targeted Page: www.nytimes.com/archive/article | Position: Bar1 Ideas & Trends: Be Not Proud; The System Dances With Death Last July, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who has provided pivotal votes upholding death sentences during her two decades on the United States Supreme Court, said she was troubled by the number of innocent people found on death row. Nearly all had lost their appeals to higher courts, meaning that the judiciary had found that the system worked just fine. ''The availability of DNA testing for death-row inmates may partially alleviate this concern,'' Justice O'Connor said in a speech to the Minnesota Women Lawyers that was transcribed by The Associated Press. She noted that a number of states with capital punishment did not offer the tests, and added: ''Evidence is only available for testing in a relatively small number of cases.'' Justice O'Connor also said she was disturbed by the uneven quality of defense lawyers appointed to represent the poor at capital trials. The Illinois commission did not dwell on the execution of terrible criminals of the John Wayne Gacy ilk, though it did report on the near-catastrophes of executing innocence people like Mr. Porter. Basically, it sought fairness. Between two poles, one marked Gacy, the other marked Porter, is the run of the American death row: criminals who have killed, and unlike most murderers, wind up being sentenced to die. For every John Wayne Gacy, scores of other murderers almost arbitrarily face death, rather than prison time, for their crimes. Across this landscape of human and spiritual ruin, the commission looked at a number of by-now familiar questions, like how the race and gender of a victim tilts penalty decisions; the ways in which a county border also becomes the boundary between a life sentence or death; the relevance of age, mental or actual, to moral culpability; the difficulty of insuring competent defense counsel; and what bearing brutally abusive childhoods should have on the fate of brutal criminals. Given the complexity of these problems, the commission said its prescriptions were bound to be expensive and cumbersome, but they were not intended as a poison pill for capital punishment. Michael Waller, the state's attorney for Lake County, Ill., and a member of the commission who supports capital punishment, said that the reform efforts of the panelists were in earnest. But he worried that death penalty abolitionists would use their work to choke off the punishment. ''Their goal is to have the death penalty repealed, not to make it workable,'' Mr. Waller said. AS the commission released its 207-page report calling for overhaul of the state's capital punishment system last week, Mr. Turow counted himself in the narrow majority calling for the abolition of the death penalty -- not because it is morally wrong, but because it is practically impossible. ''As I dealt with this issue for the last two years on a systemic basis, I just couldn't find any way to rationalize who gets executed and who doesn't,'' he said last week. ''My own conclusion is I just don't see how this can be fairly administered.'' Photos: Gov. George Ryan of Illinois, right, announcing the findings of his capital punishment commission at a press conference in Chicago on April 15. (Associated Press)(pg. 14); On death row at Florida State Prison in 1989, an inmate peeked from his cell. (Associated Press)(pg. 1) < Previous Page campaign: nyt2014_edu_propensity_cookie_dropper -- 256873, creative: nyt2015_edu_personalized_isEDU_cookie_dropper -- 401071, page: www.nytimes.com/archive/article/weekinreview, targetedPage: www.nytimes.com/archive/article, position: Inv1

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Sub Navigation Rumour Has It... Madonna faces legal stink over perfume logo (+video) 12:00 PM Thursday May 10, 2012 Madonna at the launch of her new perfume, Truth or Dare. Photo / AP Pop matriarch Madonna's new perfume may be hitting all the right notes with her fans, but for one Australian artist, it's a bit of a stinker. Madge recently hopped on the celebrity fragrance bandwagon with the launch of her first-ever, 15-years-in-the-making fragrance, Truth or Dare. "This is finally the time that I developed a fragrance that I liked the smell of," the MDNA singer announced at the perfume's launch last month. Sydney-based artist RJ Williams would disagree. Williams is reportedly taking legal action against her Madgesty, claiming the distinctive "M" symbol on the perfume's bottle and packaging bears a striking resemblance to his own artwork. Check out a side-by-side comparison of the two logos here, courtesy of the Huffington Post. Williams claims he's been using his "M' design in paintings and clothing for eight years. He claims to have had the logo trademarked last year, and views the perfume logo as a breach of copyright. "Friends from all over the world have been calling me upon seeing the Truth or Dare by Madonna campaign to express their disgust and support," Williams told Australia's The Sunday Telegraph. "It's about my integrity as an artist," he added. "I do not think it should be able to be used by a giant cosmetics company." Continued below.Related Content Piers Morgan continues Madonna feud with TV ban Madonna's mash-up reignites Gaga feud (+video) Album review: Madonna, MDNA (+video) Williams says that he has sent a letter to Madonna's manager, Guy Oseary, asking the singer to stop using the symbol. He also demands a cut of sales of the perfume so far, as well as payment for future use of the logo. The artist recently appeared on Aussie TV show Sunrise to elaborate on his claims. Check out his brief interview below: It's not the first time the singer's perfume has attracted controversy. A 30-second black-and-white ad for the scent was deemed too raunchy for US television earlier this month. A source the New York Post's Page Six: "ABC viewed the ad [and] came back with a list of changes. They say they want her bra digitally made bigger, and to extend higher to cover more of her chest, and her corset longer to cover more of her bottom. ABC also wants to cut another suggestive scene where Madonna writhes around." ABC declared it would only air the perfume ad after 9pm, even after the edits. "I don't understand. It was perfectly innocent," Madge said of the ad. "I just touch my cleavage once or something. I think it's dreamy and sensual, and I think it perfectly conveys the feeling I'm trying to evoke with the perfume. It's a perfume for a woman." Talk about a storm in a C cup. Check out the ad below: There's been no word as yet from the singer's camp regarding the artist's claims. - Blogger Bites Back Read more by Myrddin Gwynedd Email Myrddin Gwynedd Place the salt reduced chicken stock, coconut milk, Thai red curry paste and tomato paste…

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Sub NavigationBusinessSmall BusinessAround NZEconomyGlobal TradeRetail TradeIndustriesPropertyProperty NewsBusinesses for SaleHerald Commercial PropertyPersonal FinanceWork LifeOur ExpertsDeloitte 200Toolbox Grant Bradley Aviation, tourism and energy writer for the Business Herald Emirates fleet less fuel-hungry 5:30 AM Friday Sep 6, 2013 Consumption up but litres per passenger drop on switch to more efficient planes Emirates' fleet is on average six years old against an industry average of 11.7 years. Photo / Greg Bowker Emirates has increased fuel consumption across its fast-growing fleet by almost 16 per cent over the past year, but says its efficiency per passenger is improving and is now markedly better than the industry average. The airline says its planes on average used 4.07 litres per group of 100 passengers over 1km in the 2012-13 year, a 1 per cent improvement on 12 months earlier. "This incremental improvement is attributed to the introduction of new, more efficient aircraft," the Emirates Group's annual environment report says. Its freighters used 7.6 per cent less fuel per tonne of cargo than they did last year due to the introduction of new fuel-efficient planes and the expiry of wet lease contracts for less fuel-efficient freighters. Emirates' total fuel efficiency was 15.7 per cent better than the International Air Transport Association's industry average. Airlines produce an estimated 2 per cent of total global carbon dioxide emissions and are under pressure to cut them, especially from the European Union which wants to impose bigger pollution levies. According to the Air Transport Action Group, a not-for-profit industry body, about 80 per cent of emissions within the aviation sector come from aircraft flying 1500km or more, for which there is no practical alternative mode of transport. Last year, planes emitted 689 million tonnes of carbon dioxide and, according to the Emirates environment report, the airline was responsible for about 22.4 million tonnes of those. Total fuel use by Emirates' 197-strong fleet was just over 7.1 million tonnes. The airline says fuel efficiency is affected by aircraft and engine type, maintenance processes such as engine washing, and operational practices such as how quickly it can get to cruise mode. Its fleet is on average six years old against the IATA average of 11.7 years. During the reporting period, Emirates retired or cancelled the leases of six aircraft and took delivery of 34 aircraft. The airline is also flying more efficient routes. After co-ordinating with 34 countries, Emirates flight operations is saving more than 4200 tonnes of fuel and 13,200 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year, thanks to a programme which has opened up 25 new airways structures across the African continent for the airline's South American operations. In the past financial year, the company posted a US$845 million ($1071 million) net profit, up 34 per cent from the previous year. The group's revenue reached US$21.1 billion, an increase of 17 per cent. The Emirates figures came as the European Union agreed to limit the scope of its carbon curbs on airlines. The council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation has agreed to have tools in place by 2016, needed to develop a global market-based measure to reduce greenhouse gases. The outcome is weaker than what was sought by the 28-nation EU, whose move to include international flights in its carbon market as of last year sparked opposition by countries including the United States and Russia. - NZ Herald Read more by Grant Bradley Email Grant Bradley

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Roman Catholic bishop of Harrisburg dies suddenly McFadden PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Bishop Joseph McFadden, who led the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg for the past three years, died unexpectedly Thursday after feeling ill, church officials said. He was 65. McFadden had been in his native Philadelphia attending a meeting of the Catholic Bishops of Pennsylvania. Officials said he awoke feeling ill and was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. A cause of death has not yet been announced. McFadden was appointed the 10th bishop of Harrisburg in June 2010 and installed two months later. The diocese serves about 250,000 Catholics in 15 counties in central Pennsylvania. Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput expressed shock and sadness in a statement released Thursday morning. He praised McFadden for his dedication to the church and for using “new forms of media to proclaim the message of the Gospel.” “His service in our state capital was instrumental in fostering the teachings of the church in the public square,” Chaput said. U.S. Sen. Bob Casey called McFadden “a forceful advocate, an effective leader and a much beloved shepherd for the people of Harrisburg, Philadelphia and all of Pennsylvania.” “I join the Diocese of Harrisburg in mourning the passing of a good man,” Casey said. McFadden’s funeral is scheduled for Wednesday following several days of services, church officials said. His body will be received at St. Patrick Cathedral in Harrisburg Sunday evening and will lie in state until Tuesday evening. The funeral will be held at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church in Harrisburg. Burial will be at Holy Cross Cemetery. All services are open to the public. McFadden was born in Philadelphia May 22, 1947, and grew up there with his parents, brother and two sisters. He attended Catholic schools and later graduated from Saint Joseph’s University in the city. McFadden entered the seminary in 1976 and was ordained a priest in 1981. The following year, he was appointed administrative secretary to Philadelphia Cardinal John Krol, a position he held until 1993. During that time, he was named an honorary prelate to Pope John Paul II, with the title of monsignor. He was named by Philadelphia Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua as the first president of Cardinal O’Hara High School in Springfield in 1993. Eight years later, he became pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Downingtown, where he served until being named auxiliary bishop of Philadelphia in 2004. Diocesan officials in Harrisburg have eight days to elect an administrator who will oversee daily operations until a new bishop is appointed by Pope Francis.

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Son del Centro Benefit Show This Friday! Gabriel San Roman Thursday, August 11, 2011 at 8:50 a.m. By Gabriel San Roman Son del Centro's roots date back almost ten years now when high school-aged youth began exploring the rich Mexican musical tradition of son jarocho. Five years ago, the group's efforts came to fruition in the form of their first album Mi Jarana es mi Fusil. Son del Centro owes its accomplishments, which include performances in Veracruz, Mexico, on the stage of the House of Blues in Chicago, to a community-based project started in 2002 out of Santa Ana's El Centro Cultural de Mexico. As the longtime nonprofit's occupancy of the Knight's of Pythias building on the corner of Fifth and Broadway will end next month at the behest of the property owners, the son jarocho group returns to a familiar role in a new context, performing benefit shows for the community organization that birthed them now in its time of need. If not for the eviction drama, this Friday's show would have taken on a different form. "Two years ago we held our first Encuentro de Jaraneros in Santa Ana," says Ana Siria Urzua of Son del Centro. "Our intention was to host one every two years." The need to find a new space, continue classes at the cultural center and plan for packing up diverted energy away from the ambitious endeavor this summer. But the show still goes on, even if in scaled-down form. With the focus of helping the Centro in its current predicament as well as continuing the work of its transnational projects, Son del Centro will be performing with special invited musicians from Veracruz and Los Angeles. The event will take place at a nearby union hall as opposed to the community center itself. "We wanted to get a bigger space," says longtime member Pedro Lopez of the venue choice." We have a more urgent call out to the people who are in solidarity with El Centro and we want to be able to accommodate them." Those who attend can help out not only by the suggested donation at the door, but also by entering a raffle to win a jarana, the stringed instrument central to the rhythm of son jarocho. Food, drinks and artesania will be sold to help out the cause as well.For Son del Centro, the upcoming fundraiser is nothing new, even if a sense of urgency underpins it. "We've never been a group with a function outside of Centro," Lopez says. "Whatever we make is 100% to the benefit of the community space." The invited musicians are helping out as well. Los Utrera, comprised of a well-known family within the genre, are providing some of the arts and crafts from Veracruz and Andres Flores, a respected percussionist formerly of Chuchumbé Upcoming Events , will be an in-residence teacher at the Centro from August until the date the premises are to be vacated. Urzua herself was once a student of the free instructional music classes years ago before going on to become a teacher. She noted there were concerns expressed by all those young and old who spend their Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings, respectively, at the Centro learning how to play son jarocho music about where and how they will continue on as the specter of eviction looms. For a tradition that has proven resilient over the span of centuries in Mexico, there is no worry, however, that the music will fade away in Santa Ana, even if the organization finds itself in a period of spatial purgatory. "El Centro is about learning and expressing our culture," Urzua says. "The spirit will remain alive in the expression and rhythm of the people." Son del Centro performs with Andres Flores, Los Utrera and Cambalache at Plumbers and Steamfitters Local Union #582, 3904 W. First Street, Santa Ana. Fri. 7-11 p.m. $10 suggested donation Contact: Gabriel San Roman @gsanroman2 Blink-182 Saves Irvine's Final Weenie Roast

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OHCHR > English > News and Events > Secure housing for millions remains a global challenge Secure housing for millions remains a global challengeFor the millions of people facing forced evictions and displacement, access to secure and adequate housing continues to be a challenge. According to the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, it is estimated that more than 18 million people were evicted from their homes between 1998 and 2008. Every year, 15 million people have also found themselves displaced due to development projects. “We are in the grip of a global tenure insecurity crisis,” says Raquel Rolnik, Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, in her report presented during the 22nd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. “Access to secure housing and land is a prerequisite for human dignity and an adequate standard of living, yet many millions of people live under the daily threat of eviction, or in an ambiguous situation where their tenure status can be challenged by authorities or private actors at any time,” says Rolnik. Land tenure, as Rolnik explains in her report, is the relationship among people, as individuals or groups, with respect to land. As a cornerstone of the right to adequate housing, the goal of security of tenure is to ensure the enjoyment by individuals of a secure home and enable them to live in security, peace and dignity. “Recognition and protection of security of tenure is one of the most compelling challenges of today’s world and is fundamental to preventing the most egregious forms of eviction, displacement, and homelessness,” says Rolnik. Displacement can be caused by development projects, natural disasters and conflicts. According to the report, by the end of 2011, about 26 million people became homeless due to armed conflicts, violence or human rights violations, while 15 million people were displaced because of natural disasters. Drought and climate change, as well as land speculation and land grabbing, are major causes of migration from rural areas to cities where access to housing and land is limited, especially for the poorest population. People often settle in inadequate housing, with insecure tenure arrangements. It is projected that 67 per cent of the world’s population will be urban by 2050. In many cities, Rolnik explains, the majority of the world’s population resides in self-made and unplanned settlements, referred to as slums. According to the United Nations Settlements Programme (UN Habitat), it is estimated that 828 million people were living in slums in 2010. People living in slums are most visible in this global tenure insecurity crisis. However, there are many other individuals and groups affected by tenure insecurity. These range from refugees, people living with HIV, and the poor, to nomadic communities, groups affected by caste-based discrimination and indigenous peoples. Women are particularly at risk because they often have to depend on a man to gain access to housing. Even individual property owners can be insecure, as the recent mortgage and financial crises have shown in different countries. In her report, Rolnik described the complexity of this issue both in terms of practice and in international human rights law. During the past decade, some improvements have been made which have resulted in protection of various forms of tenure. However, while people already have a right to secure adequate housing, there is an urgent need for more analysis on how this right can be recognized, protected, and realized. “Much work remains to be done to harmonize law with practice,” she says. 2013 marks the 20th anniversary of the World Conference on Human Rights, which led to the adoption of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action and the establishment of a High Commissioner for Human Rights. Its creation gave a new impetus to therecognition of human rights principles which has seen fundamental progress in the promotion and protection of human rights. Since its creation in 2000, the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing has advanced the promotion and protection of the main elements of the right to adequate housing, including legal security of tenure. It has also resulted in increased attention to the obligations States have with respect to individuals and groups, as well as areas of concern , such as development-based eviction and displacement, and post-conflict and post-disaster reconstruction. Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living Study on Security of Tenure Forced Evictions

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Inspiration Cool Job: Babysitting Seals in Seattle Wildlife photographer Robin Lindsey, 61, has become a nanny of Seattle's waterfront, taking care of just-weaned (and totally tuckered-out) seal pups. By Chris Gray Faust Photo: Courtesy of Robin Lindsey Spanky rested along West Seattle's shore for about nine weeks under Lindsey's watchful eye. On seals and shut-eye "Seals can't swim all day and night like whales—they need to rest. When pups are exhausted and can't swim any farther, they come up to the beach to 'haul out,' but if it's crowded with people picnicking and playing Frisbee, they have nowhere to go. So it's key for people to share the shore." On discovering her passion "I was having lunch with friends on Seattle's Alki Beach in 2007 when I saw a mob of maybe 200 people crowding around this baby seal. The next morning, I returned to the beach to see if the pup would be back, and lo and behold, there he was. I named him Spud, and every morning for a week, he popped his head out of the water at 6:08 like clockwork. I didn't know a thing about marine mammals, but after that, I had to help protect them. I cofounded a volunteer nonprofit, Seal Sitters, and now it's a 24/7 commitment." On scouring the shore "I want to find a pup before a person or an off-leash dog does—I call it a preemptive strike. During the height of pupping season here, July through October, I'm checking beaches by daylight. As soon as I spot a seal, I set up a barrier to give it a safe haven." (Lindsey also enlists volunteers who educate beachgoers about the pups' needs.) On making friends "It's an amazing thing to earn a wild animal's trust. We had Spanky, who hauled out for 60 days straight. And I'll always remember Queen Latifah. Usually the pups are struggling, but like her namesake, she was healthy, beautiful, and robust." More Inspirational Women Meet the doctor whose office is Mount Everest 7 women transforming the world The first female comic book artist to draw Batman From the August 2013 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine

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More Layoffs loom in mining sectorDerek Sankey, The Calgary Herald 08.12.2012While the industry is bracing itself for a round of job losses, mining companies say the future of the sector is bright.Ward Perrin/file / Postmedia NewsShareAdjustCommentPrint B.C., Alberta vie for skilled labour Irish tradespeople looking for jobs in Canada Wanted: 100,000 workers in next decade Twenty per cent of mining companies in Canada have already begun laying off employees this summer in a sector that has taken a recent beating in the markets.The good news for existing workers is that employment appears to be getting more stable, with 76 per cent of the 140 mining executives surveyed not considering any further layoffs in 2012, according to a new report."What you're seeing now in the market is (mining) companies are taking a wait-and-see approach," says Andrew Pollard, president and chief executive of the Mining Recruitment Group in Vancouver.Firms in the mining sector have been scaling back on their exploration and development plans (80 per cent) and reducing overhead costs (71 per cent), according to the survey Pollard's company released recently."There are a lot of unknowns, (but) the fundamentals of the industry are quite sound over the long term," says Pollard, noting 82 per cent of executives are bullish over a three-year period, despite short-term caution."They're riding out the markets hoping things will return sooner than later," he adds.Sixty per cent of those surveyed do not expect to recruit in the next six months, however a generation skills gap exists for geologists with mid-level experience of 15 to 30 years under their belt.Elmer Stewart, president and chief executive of Calgary-based metals company Copper Fox Metals, says there was a period when students avoided going into the sector, leaving a dearth of talent in a key demographic."You have a crop of younger graduates coming out with five to ten years' experience, but you don't have the people with 30-plus years experience," Stewart says. "New grads coming out are starting at a relatively good salary, but they need the field experience."Junior exploration companies are suffering the most, says Pollard. They'rethe ones relying almost exclusively on investment financing, which has dried up in recent months.A report last month from the TSX showed financing dollars raised through venturecapital companies - a key source of financing for junior mining firms - was down 57 per cent, while all sources of financing combined were down 28 per cent.Pollard's survey showed about 60 per cent of mining companies have enough cash on the books to last more than nine months.Despite the cautious tone of the sector, key workers that can fill that mid-level range will continue to be in demand.During the 1980s and 1990s, many workers decided to go into oilsands mining for the oil-and-gas industry instead of the targeting the traditional metals and minerals mining sector.Pollard isn't yet seeing that trend materialize again under current market conditions. Most skilled professionals are focusing their careers on specific commodities, such as diamond exploration, uranium or precious metals. Others target geographic locations.Mentoring will play a key role in successful mining companies' future strategies, as part of a bigger focus on overall succession planning. Pollard advises workers in the sector to broaden their skill sets as much as possible, rounding out their experience and keeping up to date with professional training.The situation in the Canadian mining sector hasn't gotten too dire. Pollard says he's not seeing any significant mine closures."This time around, what I'm noticing is a much more passive approach," says Pollard. "They might not be planning on recruiting as much but, at the same time, they're not making the same deep cuts they were making three or four years ago."Stewart's company, Copper Fox, has only two fulltime employees. It relies almost solely on contractors, including the executive team and workers out in the field.The $480-million company (measured by market capitalization) prefers to offer its workers the flexibility of working on a contract basis at projects like its Shaft Creek location.He says the industry has been on a constant rollercoaster ride over the last 30 years."From 1997 to about 2004, you couldn't find a job in this business if you tried," says Stewart.Then as markets boomed prior to the recession, labour supply dried up."For the last few years in this business, it's been very difficult to get your hands on good people," he says.Today, professionals who have jobs in this sector are busy during the peak summer work season. Stewart is in the middle of it now."We have no time off in the summer," he says "It never stops." xShareLayoffs loom in mining sector

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Beyoncé’s publicist called out for asking website to remove ‘unflattering’ pics By Brian Adams | Posted: February 7, 2013 After BuzzFeed published a collection of photos from Beyoncé’s halftime performance at the Super Bowl, the mega-popular website reportedly got a call from the singer’s publicist, Yvette Noel-Schure, requesting that a few “unflattering” photos be replaced. Noel-Schure followed up with an email citing the specific snapshots, and BuzzFeed published the email, which said in part: “Thanks for taking my call. As discussed, there are some unflattering photos on your current feed that we are respectfully asking you to change. I am certain you will be able to find some better photos.” She then listed the “worst” pictures; BuzzFeed re-posted those pics. The story about Beyoncé’s publicist was picked up by a number of other websites worldwide that echoed the headline: The photos Beyoncé’s publicist doesn’t want you to see. Requests aren’t news—no matter how popular they are The press will publish what it wants. If the words came out of your mouth or took place near a camera, you can expect it to appear in print or online. However, part of our job is brand management and sometimes that means image control. The photos in question show Beyoncé making odd faces—they could be construed as “gurning”—and it’s understandable that a simple request could be made to replace them. Of course, that doesn’t mean the media outlet has to do it. We don’t know whether the telephone request was pleasant. If this was revenge on behalf of the reporter, he should include the initial tone of the phone call, otherwise the email reads just fine. Before you dismiss the image management of a celebrity like Beyoncé, just consider what she has been up to lately. In just the past few weeks she “sang” at the presidential inauguration, sparked headlines with her silence following that event, demonstrated the perfect response to smack talk at an NFL press conference, performed at the Super Bowl Halftime Show, and announced her worldwide tour. It has been a carefully choreographed parade of events. Along the way I was awed by her ability to own the news when nothing that she was doing was necessarily newsworthy. So as someone who spoke out against spotlighting Beyoncé’s lip synching moment at the inauguration when real news was taking place around the world, why does this catch my attention? Because requests aren’t news. Why BuzzFeed chose to publish this story is understandable, after all it garnered more than 6,000 “likes,” 71 comments, and nearly 400,000 page views. I get it—it is BuzzFeed after all. But it’s exactly this type of “reporting” that creates a divide between publicists and the media. Brian Adams consults with nonprofits, including Komera Project, regarding communications strategy. Brian was previously senior director of communications at United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley and the head of media and community relations for the MSPCA-Angell.

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Barclays Center greenmarket is a success by Aug 07, 2013 | 692 views | 0 | 14 | | The Barclays Center now hosts a weekly greenmarkets every Wednesday on the Flatbush Avenue side of the arena from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. until November 27. The first modern-day greenmarket in Brooklyn was in 1977 at the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues, just blocks from where residents can now buy fresh fruits and vegetables today. “We are thrilled to return to the original site of the greenmarket in Brooklyn,” said Michael Hurwitz, director of Greenmarket, a GrowNYC program. “The energy that Barclays Center brings to Brooklyn will elevate this market and all it has to offer the community. This market is home to vendors selling fresh fish, honey, baked goods, vegetables, herbs, and fruit from all over the tri-state area. Ashley Cotton of Forest City Ratner said that due to the recent success and community involvement in the greenmarket, there would be a discussion about bringing it back next year.“Barclays Center is an ideal location because of the number of bus and subway routes available for patrons,” said Regina Cahill, president of the North Flatbush Avenue Business Improvement District. “This new market will be a great asset to our community.”“It’s an honor to sell Rick’s Picks here, less than a half-mile from where my recipes were developed in a one-bedroom apartment in Prospect Heights,” said Rick Field of his popular line of pickled products. “I can walk to work.” Residents weigh in on traffic study St. Francis-bound Ford has history on his mind Group takes community on tour of Ridgewood Reservoir

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Print Email Font ResizeEarl Sweatshirt so ready to release new albumBy Chris Talbott, Associated PressPosted: 07/15/2013 04:40:37 PM EDTFILE - This May 26, 2013 file photo shows Earl Sweatshirt performing at The Sasquatch! Music Festival in George, Wash.(Photo by John Davisson/Invision/AP, File) (John Davisson)Like pretty much every day for the last year, a fan came up to Earl Sweatshirt late last week at the Walgreens and asked the Los Angeles rapper when his new album will finally be out. Earl did something unusual. He told the fan the truth: Aug. 20. "And I just walked out real mysterious," he joked. One of rap's most enigmatic stars has begun to reveal more details about his major label debut, "Doris," and he couldn't be more excited to let people in on the secret. That's because the truth is he just wants the album out. As soon as possible. He'd release it now if he could. Three years after his debut mix tape, "Earl," was released for free on the Odd Future website, introducing one of the most exciting young voices in the game, the rapper whose real name is Thebe Kgositsile is finally ready to drop another set of songs. One problem after another has led to multiple delays. He lost one particularly complicated song when a drive containing all the tracks crashed, and just let the ether take it rather than try to recapture the lightning. He wrote and recorded another track for the album, but then all the printing for the physical release had to be tossed because of an error that left the covers too grainy and dark to be read. And don't forget the bout of pneumonia that forced him to cancel his Bonnaroo performance and a tour in Europe. Bad things "just kept happening," Kgositsile said. "But now the date's out, so it's coming out then. So whatever the (expletive) happens along the way, it's coming Aug. 20. You have no idea. That wasn't even the in-depth description. That was just (expletive) ridiculous. After a certain point it just became really disheartening."Advertisement He tweeted the release date and track list Friday and revealed in a phone interview that he worked with Pharrell Williams, RZA, Christian Rich, Bad Bad Not Good, The Alchemist, Michael Uzowuru and Odd Future pal Tyler, The Creator. He wasn't yet willing to match songs to producers or reveal any more details. Asked what else he might share, he said: "It's a great way to stay in shape." Kgositsile will begin performing again this week. He kicks things off Monday at an unnamed Lower East Side location in New York for the "vitaminwater and The FADER present uncapped" summer series of performances by rising artists. Only 50 fans who apply through the social media of Kgositsile and the sponsors will gain entry. Videos will go up Tuesday at The FADER and vitaminwater YouTube page. Then Wednesday he'll join good friend Mac Miller on his Space Migration Tour in Connecticut. Debuting music on the road will help the time pass as he waits for Aug. 20. "I just want to put it out in a way that will be beneficial and will hopefully get some (expletive) sold," Kgositsile said. "But ultimately I just want people to hear it. Whatever. I want this album off my chest."Print Email Font ResizeReturn to Top Welcome to your discussion forum: Click the login link below to sign in with or to set up a Disqus account or to access your social networking account. When you do, your comment should be posted immediately, provided it meets the guidelines. (What are the guidelines?.) Report abuse by flagging a comment (mouse over the comment). Comments made here are the sole responsibility of the person posting them; these comments do not reflect the opinion of The Brattleboro Reformer. So keep it civil.

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Register Home»Browse by Publisher»Freedom House Freedom of the Press 2012 - Chad Publisher Freedom House, Freedom of the Press 2012 - Chad, 21 November 2012, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/50af4d1428.html [accessed 25 May 2016] DisclaimerThis is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. 2012 Scores Press Status: Not FreePress Freedom Score: 75Legal Environment: 23Political Environment: 31Economic Environment: 21 Chad's constitution allows for freedom of expression, but authorities have routinely used threats and legal provisions to censor critical reporting. A 2008 press law, Decree No. 5, increased the maximum penalty for false news and defamation to three years in prison, and the maximum penalty for insulting the president to five years. Also in 2008, the High Council of Communication (HCC), Chad's media regulatory body, banned reporting on the activities of rebels and any other information that could harm national unity. Law No. 17 of 2010 removed Decree No. 5's prison sentences, but introduced sentences of six months to a year in prison and fines for inciting racial or ethnic hatred and "condoning violence." Defendants bear the burden of proof in defamation cases and face a prejudiced judicial process. The previous two years' lull in the legal harassment of the press and a slight shift away from draconian legal penalties continued in 2011. However, officials periodically threatened to shut down newspapers or fine journalists for "irresponsible" reporting. Newspapers criticized the government during 2011 without incurring violence against their journalists. However, reporters and publishers risked harassment, especially from the authorities, when publishing critical articles, and many practiced self-censorship to avoid reprisals. Impunity remains the norm for perpetrators of harassment against journalists. The ruling and opposition parties agreed on a requirement that radio stations provide equal coverage for all candidates during the legislative and presidential elections in 2011, but the stations lacked the will or capacity to implement it in practice. While private newspapers circulate freely in the capital, they have little impact on the largely rural and illiterate population. The state-run Chad Press Agency is the only news service in the country. Permission from the prosecutor's office, the HCC, and the Ministry of Commerce is required to establish a newspaper. The only television station is state owned, but the government does not interfere with the reception of foreign channels. Radio is the primary means of mass communication, and licenses are granted by the HCC, which is considered to be greatly influenced by the government. The licensing fee for commercial radio stations remains prohibitively high at five million CFA francs ($11,000) per year. The HCC is also said to monitor and control radio content. There are over a dozen private and community-run stations on the air, many of which are owned by religious organizations. Internews recently built three community radio stations in the eastern region of the country, which has been flooded by Darfuri refugees and displaced Chadians, in order to address vital or taboo topics such as gender-based violence, security, water distribution, and food rations. Advertising is scarce, but it is the main source of revenue for media outlets, as government subsidies and other alternatives are even less reliable. In 2011, 1.9 percent of Chadians accessed the internet. There are no reports that the government restricts internet access, but the internet infrastructure remains government owned. Copyright notice: © Freedom House, Inc. · All Rights Reserved

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2004-08-06 / Columnists From the Editor’s Desk By Howard Schwach As both a student and teacher of American history, I have great regard for the U.S. Constitution. It is unarguably the greatest document ever written by flawed men to govern other flawed men and women. As a wise old gentleman once said, however, the Constitution is not a suicide pact. Let’s take a look at the actual document for a moment. The First Amendment is the most famous of the original ten – The Bill of Rights. Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. That’s the biggie – the amendment quoted most often by those who want to limit the right of government to safeguard its citizens. Look at what it says. “the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” The Founding Fathers wanted to insure that citizens had the right to protest the actions of its government by peaceably assembling to petition for a change in the government’s direction. The fact that they inserted the word “peaceably” into the document implies that there had to be a mechanism that government could employ to insure the peaceful aspect of the redress of grievances. In our case, the New York City Police Department is that mechanism. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that people have the right to enter a sensitive zone, such as a public building, a place where government officials are gathering, an event that draws thousands of people, without being checked. In fact, the Constitution says nothing at all – not one word – about privacy rights. But, you say, you forget the Fourth Amendment. Let’s take a look at what it says. “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and on warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the places to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” Now, you might say that the Fourth Amendment prohibits the police from searching anybody, nevertheless those protesters entering the protest areas, but the operative word here, I believe, is “reasonable.” What was reasonable in 1786 is obviously not what is reasonable today. When Federal Judge Robert Sweet wrote his first decision on allowing the NYPD to check the bags of those coming onto the protest area, he was a strict constructionist, saying that the police had to have probable cause for the search of each person as if the information had to come on that specific person and not a general cause. That has now been modified to allow a more general probable cause. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) doesn’t like that very much. As the protector of the Constitution, the ACLU’s position is that the police should never search anybody unless the cop has personally seen somebody commit a crime. That is ridiculous. It would be hard for any reasonable person to argue that the attacks on the World Trade Center, coupled with the more recent threats on New York City and with the success of the terrorists in changing the outcome of the Spanish elections are not a serious probable cause that a terrorist threat could take place in or around the area of the Republican National Convention, particularly with the President and Vice President in attendance. The ACLU, however, makes that argument, saying that the rights of the protestors would be diminished by being searched for bombs and weapons. It is not a popular argument, except among those who want the Constitution to be a suicide pact. Making the argument that a strict standard of probable cause must be present for police to act has already impacted life here in Rockaway. On Saturday night, there were two large parties in Rockaway. The “Function At The Junction,” which is partially sponsored by The Wave, and Family Night at the city housing project called by most, “The 40’s.” When the two groups mingled, probably more than 1,000 party-goers altogether, there was a recipe for disaster because at least one of those people had a gun and decided to use it indiscriminately on the crowd. Sources say that that he was a gang member, either from the Bloods or the Crips. Others say that it was the same old battle between to local housing projects that precipitated the shooting. Which gang or which housing project the shooter was from hardly mattered, especially to the family of the one man who was killed and the other five, all teenagers, who were wounded. The question of which group the shooter belongs to matters less than how he got the gun he used to do the shooting. There was a time, not so long ago, that taking guns off the street was a priority for the NYPD. They had special units that focused on illegal weapons and cops were proactive in taking guns off the street. That ended when there were some tragic accidents in which innocent people were killed or injured. The ACLU and minority groups screamed about Gestapo tactics and the special units were disbanded. Cops were told not to search anybody unless they actually saw a weapon on their person. That is a stupid rule. I was a teacher for 30 years. I could literally walk into a room and sense that there was going to be a problem, a fight, an argument. It comes with the territory. The same is true of experienced cops. They can tell by a certain walk, by a bulge in a pocket or by a shirt worn loose. They know. At one time, they could stop and search that person and, more often than not, they would find a weapon and that weapon would be taken off the street. To my mind, the cop’s perception is enough probable cause for a search. That is no longer true and more weapons are on the street than every before. The community wants to be safe, but it does not want cops hassling its young men. It can’t have it both ways. The less that police can be proactive, the more guns there will be on the street and the more incidents such as Saturday’s. It all goes back to the Constitution. It was written more than 200 years ago by brilliant, albeit flawed men who wanted nothing more than to preserve the new Democracy that it had formed in 1776 and had brought through the crucible of the Revolutionary War. It has been ‘modified” many time by activist Supreme Courts, notably the Warren Court in the 1950’s. It was never meant to be a document that would allow the nation to be destroyed by a small bunch of religious terrorists and do-gooder’s who cannot see the reality of life. Return to top

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Wednesday, 11 October 2006 00:00 Haywood seeks bids on historic courthouse renovation The Haywood County commissioners are soliciting construction bids for the long-awaited renovation of the historic courthouse in downtown Waynesville. While other counties have abandoned their historic courthouses for new county office buildings, Haywood County is opting to remodel the historic courthouse to serve county functions. Keeping the building in use is seen as the best way to ensure it does not fall into disrepair from neglect and remains a focal point in the community. The building will be modernized to accommodate computer systems needed in today’s world, as well as bring the air, electrical and plumbing up to date. A comprehensive analysis of county departments and the space each needs will dictate the lay-out of rooms within the building. An elevator will also be added to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act. Rather than tear up the building’s insides, however, a vertical column containing an elevator will be added to the backside of the building and will compliment the historic architecture as much as can be hoped for. The project also includes an historic restoration of the grand courtroom, known for its majestic arched windows and stone fresco of Lady Justice and the Ten Commandments above the judge’s bench. A second floor balcony was once part of the historic courtroom, but was enclosed over the years for office space. It will be restored as a balcony. The county commissioners plan to hold their regular commissioner meetings in the historic courtroom. It will also be used for various civic meetings. “The public will be encouraged to use that beautiful room,” said Commissioner Mary Ann Enloe. “It is going to be absolutely gorgeous.” The plan also calls for a public courtyard and gathering place between the historic courthouse and new justice center, including a small amphitheater. Dirt will be hauled in to create a natural bowl to accommodate amphitheater style seating facing Main Street. It will be located toward the back of the property closest to the parking deck. The courtyard and amphitheater will be tackled if there is enough money left over.

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So it turns out that the daughter of a good friend of someone in my family graduated from Rindge and Latin with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. He was a really sweet guy, she says (or she told someone who told someone who told me), but “terrified” of his older brother. Public radio host Robin Young had a nephew in that class; the photo below was taken at a graduation party at her house. It also turns out that the son of someone my wife works with goes to UMass Dartmouth. He knew Dzhokar as someone who sold pot around campus. A friend visited that campus with his daughter since the bombings, and was told Dzhokar liked to watch cartoons with a bunch of students on Sunday nights, and was seen in the room on a Sunday in March when a “Family Guy” episode featured a fantasy involving two bombs at the Boston Marathon finish line. I’m sure a lot of people have similar stories linking them to the Cambridge brothers who brought destruction to Boston. Cambridge isn’t Saudi Arabia or Yemen. It’s easier for us to know people who lived among us, and easy to feel like we know them. The more we know, the harder it is to see these young men as soldiers in some evil anti-American conspiracy. The New York Times has an extensively reported story on Tamerlan’s life, dreams and disappointments.� There are lots of details that have yet to come out, including e-mails, phone conversations, etc. People are looking hard for someone to blame for Tamerlan’s “self-radicalization.” Maybe they’ll come up with something, but so far, all I’ve seen of the research into the lives of Tamarlan and Dzhokhar makes them easier to relate to — and harder to understand.

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Abergavenny family band back together again AN ABERGAVENNY family band that performs live music at céilidhs held a reunion performance after 12 years apart. The Jay Family Band, consisting of four members, started playing in the area 24 years ago but stopped due to family members moving away. But the band – consisting of husband and wife Tony and Hilary Jay, 65 and 61, and their sons Peter, 28, and Eddy, 36, – returned on New Year’s Eve to entertain more than 50 people in Abergavenny with their live music. A céilidh is a traditional Gaelic social gathering, which involves playing Gaelic folk music that encourages people to dance. Mrs Jay is a caller, which means she calls the dances, while Eddy plays accordion, Peter plays trombone and bass and Tony plays rhythm guitar. “It went really well,” said Mrs Jay. “There were 50 people there so it was really successful and there was a great atmosphere in the room. “A céilidh is great as for most of the dances you don’t need a partner, you can just get up and dance. “We had some great feedback and everyone enjoyed it, which is great as it is a specialised type of international dancing. “It was great to be back and it felt really special. We’re definitely going to do more gigs in the future now.” Due to it being a special occasion, there were also a couple of new additions to the band for the evening. Eddy’s partner, Fiona Barrow, joined for a one-off performance as a violinist. Both Miss Barrow and Eddy Jay have played music all over the world but were invited to play again locally with the family for the celebration. Experienced Cardiff caller Pat Adams also led party dances at the beginning of the evening. “Fiona loved it,” added Mrs Jay. “She wants to do it again. Her violin sang out and she had a lot of positive feedback from everyone there. “Our son suggested we start the band so we thought it was a good thing to do and it worked out really well.

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Dave Chappelle on ‘Letterman’: Left ‘Chappelle’s Show’ Over Money, Envies Jay Z Actor and comedian acknowledges financial motives ahead of Radio City Music Hall residency Marc Hogan CREDIT: PHOTO BY CHAD BUCHANAN/GETTY IMAGES Dave Chappelle is back, and he’s cagily — almost mystically — beginning to open up about why he was ever gone in the first place. On June 18, the former star of Comedy Central’s Chappelle’s Show kicks off a series of performances at New York’s Radio City Music Hall, where he’ll be joined from June 24 to 26 by the Roots, Erykah Badu, Janelle Monáe, and more. Last night on Late Night With David Letterman, the actor and comedian brilliantly deflected the host’s questions about why he suddenly left Chappelle’s Show in 2005. And when Chappelle did answer, it was in the form of a quasi-parable about money. “I don’t talk about it,” Chappelle said of his departure in a preview clip from the interview. “Listen, here it is: Technically, I never quit. I’m seven years late for work.” In the full interview, David Letterman kept pressing. And Chappelle, well — for a taste, here he is when asked if his departure was mysterious: “I don’t know if it was mysterious or not mysterious. It was like living in the corner of perception and reality. You know what I mean? It’s a weird place to be. When everyone though Wesley Snipes was in jail, I saw him at a party.” Finally, Chappelle pointed to financial reasons for his decision to get out of Dodge during production of the show’s third season. “I look at it like this: I’m at a restaurant with my wife — it’s a nice restaurant and we’re eating dinner,” he told Letterman. “I look across the room and see this guy eating dinner and I say, ‘You see this guy across the room? He has $100 million, and we’re eating the same entree.’ Okay, fine, I don’t have $50 million or whatever it was. Let’s say I have $10 million in the bank — the difference in lifestyle is miniscule. The only difference between having $10 million and $50 million is an astounding $40 million. Of course I would like to have that money.” Understandably, Chappelle expressed ambivalence about the amount he must’ve given up when he walked away. After recycling his recent stand-up line that still having integrity means he can “make my kids some integrity sandwiches,” he explained: “It’s a very complicated answer because I felt a variety of ways over the last years. Whenever there’s something I’d like to have that I could have afford but I can’t now, then I’m upset about it. But then when I see a guy who goes to a job that’s time consuming and he doesn’t have free time to do things I get to do, then I feel good about it.” Chappelle did acknowledge that if he had more money, he “might be a happier person.” And he put in terms of a certain Shawn Carter. “Sometimes I listen to a Jay Z record and starts making me feel bad about some of the choices I’ve made,” Prince’s muse said. “This guy has had more fun on two songs than I’ve had over the last 10 years.” Now, if only the Skrillex crowd-surfer could help figure out where Mos Def has been keeping himself these days (both have spent media-averse time in South Africa). Watch the full interview below. SPIN’s 40 Greatest Comedy Albums of All Time dave chappelle, David Letterman, Music News 0 Foo Fighters Close Out Last ‘Letterman’ with ‘Everlong’ Eddie Vedder Kicks Off Letterman’s Last Week With ‘Better Man’ Tom Waits Pays Tribute to Departing David Letterman on New Song First Aid Kit Treat ‘Letterman’ to Nostalgic Cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘America’ Future Islands Make Glorious ‘Letterman’ Return and Release New Song

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IVGID finalizes job announcement for GM position ALL | <b>File photo</b>IVGID Board of Trustees member Jim Smith, seen here at the Jan. 9 board meeting, and chairman Bruce Simonian have been working with district staff the past few weeks to finalize the job description. « Related Media INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. - The finalized job description for IVGID general manager includes requirements for candidates to have a four-year bachelor's degree and a minimum of 10 years of increasingly responsible experience, while demanding the new leader become a resident of the district.The 7-page description, obtained late Friday by the North Lake Tahoe Bonanza, lists the job's salary range as $100,000 to $200,000. According to a timeline the Incline Village General Improvement District Board of Trustees adopted at its Jan. 30 meeting, the job will officially be posted on Thursday, Feb. 14, on the district's website at www.ivgid.org. The job posting period ends March 15.According to a draft timeline presented in the Jan. 30 meeting's agenda packet, the final description was expected be ready for board adoption at its meeting this Wednesday, Feb. 13. The meeting was canceled on Friday, however, due to a lack of agenda items.At the Jan. 30 meeting, trustees voted to submit individual edits to the original 3-page description to IVGID Director of Human Resources Dee Carey. Once changes were added, Carey met with trustees Jim Smith and Bruce Simonian and board clerk Susan Herron to draft the final description."The responsibility of the finalization of the job description was tasked to Chairman Simonian and Trustee Smith by the IVGID Board of Trustees (on) January 30, 2013; no further action was required by the IVGID Board of Trustees," Herron said in a press release Tuesday.The trustees received a copy of the description as an informational item at the end of last week. According to the updated timeline - which is available on the front page of www.ivgid.org - trustees will determine by the March 25 meeting whether to move forward with candidates who respond to the job posting. If it does, various interviews and screenings would conclude with the board making a final recommendation for a new GM sometime in May.If none of the initial candidates are deemed sufficient, the board may then vote on whether to hire an executive search firm at its April 10 meeting."The process for the hiring of the district's general manager has been thoughtful and it began with the timeline which is available at ivgid.org," Tuesday's press release reads. "...The clear goal has always been and will continue to be to find the best candidate for this position. ... It is the commitment of the IVGID Board of Trustees and the entire district staff to find the most qualified candidate who shares their passion for our community to be the next general manager."Aside from the IVGID website, the job announcement will also be published in the North Lake Tahoe Bonanza, in the district's Public Works newsletter, as advertisements with Jobs Available, Inc., and www.icma.org, and on various other popular employment websites. Join the Conversation Tahoe Daily Tribune Updated Feb 13, 2013 07:29PM Published Feb 11, 2013 02:18PM Copyright 2013 Tahoe Daily Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Mobile Site

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Asiana pilot culture to blame: report - Taipei Times Fri, Dec 13, 2013 - Page 7　News List Asiana pilot culture to blame: report CRASH PROBE:An apparent lack of communication in the cockpit and confusion about the Boeing 777’s elaborate computer systems are being investigated AP, WASHINGTON The investigation into the crash-landing of an Asiana Airlines flight at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in the US in summer last year has highlighted problems with cockpit culture and the trainee pilot’s lack of confidence in his ability to safely land the Boeing 777.Documents released during a US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) hearing on Wednesday revealed that pilot Lee Kangkuk harbored fears about landing safely, while relying on manual controls and a visual approach, but did not express them to his fellow crew members because he did not want to fail his training mission and embarrass himself.The top official at the NTSB, which is probing the July 6 crash that killed three people and injured more than 200, said the agency is examining an apparent lack of communication in the cockpit and signs of confusion among the pilots about the jetliner’s elaborate computer systems.Junior officers’ reluctance to speak up has been an issue in past accidents, though industry training has tried to emphasize that safety should come first.“It’s never one thing. It’s always several hazards coming together with a catastrophic result,” said Tom Anthony, director of the aviation safety program at the University of Southern California.“Airlines will be forced to examine cockpit culture,” he said.Asiana Air officials declined to discuss cockpit culture or any confusion about the jet’s computer controls. However, in a statement they expressed “sorrow for the loss of life and the injuries sustained in the accident” and said they are “taking the steps necessary to ensure that such an accident never happens again.” Lee, a veteran pilot undergoing training on the wide-body Boeing 777, told investigators he had been “very concerned” about attempting a visual approach without instrument landing aids, which were turned off because of runway construction. However, he said he did not speak up because others had been safely landing at SFO under the same conditions. As a result, he said “he could not say he could not do the visual approach.” Another Asiana pilot who had recently flown with Lee told investigators he was not sure if he was making normal progress. He said Lee, who had less than 45 hours in the Boeing 777 jet, did not perform well during a trip two days before the accident and he was “not well organized or prepared,” the investigative report said.During its approach, Asiana Flight 214 flew in too low and too slow, then clipped a seawall, breaking off part of its tail. Neither Lee nor an instructor pilot in the cockpit had said anything when the first officer raised concerns four times about the plane’s rapid descent.NTSB chairman Deborah Hersman said the agency has not yet determined the cause of the crash. So far, the investigation has not found any mechanical problems, although testing is ongoing, NTSB investigator Bill English said.

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Beware of old pitfalls in new New Deal George Will, Washington Post Columnist GEORGE WILLWashington Post ColumnistSaturday, November 29, 2008 3:30am WASHINGTON — Early in what became the Great Depression, John Maynard Keynes was asked if anything similar had ever happened. "Yes," he replied, "it was called the Dark Ages and it lasted 400 years." It did take 25 years, until November 1954, for the Dow to return to the peak it reached in September 1929. So caution is sensible concerning calls for a new New Deal. Related News/Archive Dockery: Beware the education train Sunday's letters: Beware the dangers of fracking Editorial: Beware of false claims at farmers markets The assumption is that the New Deal vanquished the Depression. Intelligent, informed people differ about why the Depression lasted so long. But people whose recipe for recovery today is another New Deal should remember that America's biggest industrial collapse occurred in 1937, eight years after the 1929 stock market crash and nearly five years into the New Deal. In 1939, after a decade of frantic federal spending — President Herbert Hoover increased it more than 50 percent between 1929 and the inauguration of Franklin Roosevelt — unemployment was 17.2 percent. "I say after eight years of this administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started," lamented Henry Morgenthau, FDR's Treasury secretary. Unemployment declined when America began selling materials to nations engaged in a war America would soon join. In The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression, Amity Shlaes argues that government policies, beyond the Federal Reserve's tight money, deepened and prolonged the Depression. The policies included encouraging strong unions and wages higher than lagging productivity justified, on the theory that workers' spending would be stimulative. Instead, corporate profits — prerequisites for job-creating investments — were excessively drained into labor expenses that left many workers priced out of the market. In a 2004 paper, Harold L. Cole of UCLA and Lee E. Ohanian of UCLA and the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis argued that the Depression would have ended in 1936, rather than in 1943, were it not for policies that magnified the power of labor and encouraged the cartelization of industries. These policies expressed the New Deal premise that the Depression was caused by excessive competition that first reduced prices and wages, and then employment and consumer demand. Ohanian argues that "much of the depth of the Depression" is explained by Hoover's policy — a precursor of the New Deal mentality — of pressuring businesses to keep nominal wages fixed. Furthermore, Hoover's 1932 increase in the top income tax rate, from 25 percent to 63 percent, was unhelpful. And FDR's hyperkinetic New Deal created uncertainties that paralyzed private sector decisionmaking. Which sounds familiar. Bear Stearns? Broker a merger. Lehman Brothers? Death sentence. The $700-billion is for cleaning up toxic assets? Maybe not. Writes Russell Roberts of George Mason University: "By acting without rhyme or reason, politicians have destroyed the rules of the game. There is no reason to invest, no reason to take risk, no reason to be prudent, no reason to look for buyers if your firm is failing. Everything is up in the air and as a result, the only prudent policy is to wait and see what the government will do next. The frenetic efforts of FDR had the same impact: Net investment was negative through much of the 1930s." Barack Obama says the next stimulus should deliver a "jolt." His adviser Austan Goolsbee says it must be big enough to "startle the thing into submission." Their theory is that the crisis is largely psychological, requiring shock treatment. But shocks from government have been plentiful. Unfortunately, one thing government can do quickly and efficiently — distribute checks — could fail to stimulate because Americans might do with the money what they have been rightly criticized for not doing nearly enough: save it. Because individual consumption is 70 percent of economic activity, St. Augustine's prayer ("Give me chastity and continence, but not yet") is echoed today: Make Americans thrifty, but not now. Obama's "rescue plan for the middle class" includes a tax credit for businesses "for each new employee they hire" in America over the next two years. The assumption is that businesses will create jobs that would not have been created without the subsidy. If so, the subsidy will suffuse the economy with inefficiencies — labor costs not justified by value added. Here we go again? A new New Deal would vindicate pessimists who say that history is not one damn thing after another, it is the same damn thing over and over. George Will's e-mail address is georgewill@washpost.com. © Washington Post Writers Group Beware of old pitfalls in new New Deal 11/29/08 [Last modified: Saturday, November 29, 2008 7:47pm] Copyright: For copyright information, please check with the distributor of this item, Washington Post Columnist.

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UK to attack al-Qa’eda pirates Image 1 of 2 The Royal Navy is hoping to crack down on pirate activity off the Horn of Africa. Al-Qa'eda is said to dominate the lucrative trade Image 1 of 2 Map of the Horn of Africa By Damien McElroy Britain has launched a drive for an international accord granting the Royal Navy and Western warships rights to enter Somali territorial waters in pursuit of pirate gangs linked to al-Qa’eda. Pirate activity has soared off the Horn of Africa this year with the emergence of highly sophisticated gangs that use fast patrol boats, launched from “mother ships” to board cargo vessels in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean. The lucrative multi-million-dollar kidnap and ransom trade, which is dominated by al-Qa’eda, according to terrorism experts, threatens to disrupt international shipping lanes used to carry cargo from the Far East to Europe. A meeting in London of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the United Nations’ watchdog of the seas, is to consider a resolution today instructing Somalia’s interim government to drop its legal right to block foreign navies from entering its waters. Related Articles Pirates fear the lash of sharia law The six names that could reveal a pirate's skeleton hiding in your cupboard Navy man turns trawler into £6m pirate ship Saudi Arabia arrests over 100 terror suspects A declaration would pave the way for Royal Navy vessels to rescue ships held for ransom in Somali coves or pursue pirates involved in attacks on ships in international waters. A spokesman for the regional naval command in Bahrain said that passage of the IMO resolution would be an important step to “help deter piracy off the coast of Somalia”. There have been 26 attacks or attempted boardings by pirates so far this year, up from a handful in 2006. Somalia has been plagued by civil war. It has seen a succession of weak, temporary administrations run by warlords or hard-line Islamic factions sympathetic to al-Qa’eda, unrecognised by the international community and with little remit on the coastline. Pirates used the haven provided by Somalia’s lack of leadership to defy 46 warships from 20 countries in the international coalition centred around America’s Bahrain-based 5th fleet. “Piracy has become a lucrative business based on ransom demands and cargo theft inside Somali territory,” said Cdre Keith Winstanley, the deputy commander of the coalition. “It has not been possible to suppress it because vessels pirated, sometimes a long way off the coast, are held somewhere in the vicinity of the Somali coast.” It is a murky situation and even the figure of 26 reported incidents is thought to vastly underestimate the extent of the problem. While vast sums of money are involved - ransoms can exceed £500,000 — Cdre Winstanley said that official concern had been expressed over intelligence reports that little of the money filtered down to the Somali regions. “Piracy and terrorism is a difficult picture to build,” he said. “The extent of money diverted to terrorism is not known, but I don’t see evidence that the money is going into houses, schools and jobs onshore.” Complicating the picture for the navies involved is a human wave of refugees on the move out of the Somali capital, Mogadishu. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that 200,000 have fled fighting in the last month, many of whom are ready to pay $150 (£75) to be smuggled across the Gulf of Aden. “It’s very seasonal, depending on the trade winds, but right now conditions are very favourable,” said Peter Kessler, a spokesman for UNHCR. “These vessels loaded with people cross the trade route but don’t even dock in the harbours. They unload the passengers at sea.” The crowded waters are an ideal haven for al-Qa’eda operatives crossing between training camps on both sides of the Gulf. “The scale of the threat has changed since the physical penetration of the region by al-Qa’eda,” said Rohan Gunaratna, a terrorism expert at Nanyang Technology University in Singapore. “With large Somali communities in Europe, it is critically important that those on the move through this area are visible to Western intelligence.” David Nordell, the chief executive of New Global Markets, a specialist consultancy on terrorist financing, said: “Terror in piracy is ultimately aimed at building up to offences like the next USS Cole [a suicide attack off Yemen in 2000] or hitting an oil tanker.” A pelican feeding frenzy Ultra Orthodox Jewish wedding Migrants cross Macedonia border

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TransgenderCampaign 2016Hillary ClintonDonald Trump2nd Amend. 1.6M 429K 31.8K 15.8K Business Kathleen Sebelius to Resign as Head of HHS Apr. 10, 2014 6:46pm Becket Adams 945 Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, April 10, 2014 (AP) Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has resigned from the Obama administration, a move that comes just months after Americans started signing up for health insurance coverage under Obamacare. President Barack Obama accepted her resignation earlier this week and will nominate the Office of Management and Budget’s Sylvia Matthews Burwell, 48, as the next head of the HHS, the New York Times reported. “The president wants to make sure we have a proven manager and relentless implementer in the job over there, which is why he is going to nominate Sylvia,” said White House chief of staff Denis McDonough, according to the Times. As one of the longest-serving members of Obama’s cabinet, with nearly five years under her belt, Sebelius, 65, was one of the chief architects of the Affordable Care Act, helping to pass the law through Congress in 2010 and contributing to its various mandates. However, after the disastrous launch of the healthcare.gov website in October 2013, Sebelius’ relationship with the Obama White House reportedly became strained as top administration officials scrambled for answers to what quickly became a national embarrassment. Joined by a handful of aides, Obama blamed HHS for supposedly failing to provide his cabinet with better information on the status of the website’s health prior to its launch. But the president ignored repeated and increasingly loud calls for Sebelius’ firing and instead tapped Office of Management and Budget director Jeffrey Zients to get the website in halfway working order. Many of the site’s glitches were eventually worked out, but not before Sebelius began to shrink from the public eye. Recall that when the president took a “victory lap” in the Rose Garden earlier this month and announced that roughly 7.1 million Americans had signed up for health insurance through the online exchanges, Sebelius was not present at his side. McDonough said Sebelius approached the president last month to discuss her future in his administration. “What was clear is that she thought that it was time to transition the leadership to somebody else,” he said. “She’s made clear in other comments publicly that she recognizes that she takes a lot of the incoming. She does hope — all of us hope — that we can get beyond the partisan sniping.” The White House maintains that Sebelius’ sudden departure was her choice and that she was not forced out. Although she weathered months of questions and criticism from both her employer and critics over the disastrous implementation of the Affordable Care Act, she said she hopes her exit will ignite a new era of bipartisan cooperation in the nation’s capital. “If I could take something along with me,” she said, according to the Times, it would be “all the animosity. If that could just leave with me, and we could get to a new chapter, that would be terrific.” But Sebelius’ departure will likely set the stage for a series of contentious confirmation hearings for Burwell as Republicans and Democrats continue to battle over the controversial health care law going into the fall midterm elections. Follow Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) on Twitter This post has been updated. Related:Barack Obama,DHS,Kathleen Sebelius,Obamacare Back to TheBlaze »

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Region digs in, awaits major blow Stonington Department of Public Works employees Nate Miceli and Danny Oliverio fill sandbags Friday at the DPW garage on Elm Street in Stonington Borough in preparation for the potentially severe storm forecast to hit the area early next week. See related stories on F1, F4 and E4, and go to www.theday.com to view a photo gallery. By Izaskun E. Larra�eta and JC Reindl, Day Staff Writers The only certainty is that no one is entirely certain what Hurricane Sandy is going to do, or even whether it will be a hurricane by its expected arrival time in southern New England late Monday night into early Tuesday.Tom Kines, an AccuWeather senior meteorologist, said Friday all eyes are on Sandy as it moves northward, evidently aiming for the New Jersey shore late Monday.But while the storm remains on track for the main impacts to be felt on Monday and Tuesday, this region could begin seeing high wind gusts from the large storm as early as late Sunday, Joey Picca, meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said Friday evening. The storm's large size means it will affect a large area of the Northeast, he added."Significant impacts will be felt up there," Picca said, referring to New London County. These could include high waves on Long Island Sound, coastal and inland flooding from storm surges, and 3 to 6 inches of rainfall, he added.Sandy barreled through the Bahamas early Friday and killed 29 people in the Caribbean.If forecasters are correct, Tuesday morning in Connecticut will be wet and messy, affecting mostly heavily populated areas."At that point, I don't think it matters whether it's a hurricane," Kines said. "The winds will reach 60 miles per hour, and it will be destructive."Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and representatives of utility and phone companies said at a press conference in Hartford Friday that Connecticut is better prepared for a big storm than it was a year ago, but some power outages remain likely."We're planning and preparing as if this storm will have a significant impact on the state," Malloy said at the joint news conference outside his office in the Capitol. "Everyone has learned lessons from the last storm."The governor's office said Malloy plans to partially activate the state's Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at 8 a.m. today and expects it will go to full activation at 8 a.m. Sunday.Malloy said the state could begin experiencing early effects of the storm by Sunday night.Once it hits, the storm could linger for 36 hours, and communities should brace for a minimum of 7 inches of rainwater and perhaps as much as 14 inches, authorities said.Connecticut Light & Power, after reaching out to midwestern utilities, is aiming to have 2,000 backup linemen in the state by Sunday to reinforce the normal crew of 400, utility spokesmen said.Bill Quinlan, CL&P's senior vice president of emergency preparedness, said the utility accomplished twice as much tree-trimming this year as in 2011, when falling limbs cut power to hundreds of thousands of customers during Tropical Storm Irene and the freak October snowstorm.More cellphone towers across the state have since been upgraded with longer-lasting batteries and backup generators, he said.High tide, warmer watersDavid Stark, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said that during Monday's full moon the tide will be higher than usual. High tide in Stonington will occur around 9:30 p.m. Monday, and Stark said if that coincides with the storm surge, it could cause extensive coastal flooding and beach erosion.Stark downplayed any comparison to the so-called Perfect Storm of 1991, which struck off the coast of New England when an oceanic tropical storm merged with a nor'easter. "No two storms are alike," he said. "You can't compare them. You should be prepared for what's going to happen and be safe within the current weather expectations."Water temperatures are currently in the low 60s but they would normally be around the upper 50s in late October. Some meteorologists are saying that will produce more water vapor and thus heavy rain. Hurricanes gain strength in warmer waters.But Dan Hofmann, a meteorologist at the NWS, doesn't think the higher temperatures will play much of a role. "We think that when it gets to your area it will be transitioning from a hurricane," he said.In August 2011, Tropical Storm Irene left thousands without electrical power for days. A snowstorm two months later also took the state by surprise as it toppled trees and again left hundreds of thousands of customers in the dark."What we learned from the past storms is that when we get high winds there will be extensive power outages and it won't be for a day or two — it could be weeks," said Kines, of AccuWeather.Malloy urged residents to stock up on food, water and batteries over the weekend and top off their vehicles' fuel tanks. It would also be smart to have cash on hand should power outages cripple credit card reading machines, he said.The governor suggested that residents sign up for the state's free emergency text message alerts by going to www.ct.gov/ctalert. Later on, residents may call 211 for information on the nearest storm shelters."If you live near a senior citizen, I'm asking that you please check up on them and see if there's anything you can do to help them prepare for the storm or to recover from it," Malloy said.i.larraneta@theday.comj.reindl@theday.comDay staff writer Judy Benson contributed to this report. Special Report: Hurricane Sandy Pawcatuck residents don't want CL&P to trim, cut trees School cancellations, shelters and town-by-town information Town-by-town storm preparations - Oct. 27 State removes docks in advance of storm

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Amistad's trip to Puerto Rico during hurricane season angers lawmaker Two months ago, when she learned that the schooner Amistad planned to sail to Puerto Rico for the filming of an NBC miniseries, state Rep. Diana Urban thought she had extracted a promise from a high-ranking state Department of Economic Development official that the ship would not make the trip until after hurricane season ends late this year.Urban, who has been pushing state officials to account for how Amistad America has spent the more than $8 million in state taxpayer money it has received, is worried about the risk to the state's investment in the ship since its bowsprit recently needed costly repairs.Urban said DECD deputy Kip Bergstrom told her that the state had a memorandum of understanding with Amistad America that the ship would not go to Puerto Rico until later this year.But last week, Urban learned the ship had already departed for Puerto Rico after Amistad America Executive Director Hanifa Washington declined an invitation to have the schooner attend the Taste of Mystic event Sept. 6-8.An angry Urban is now questioning why Bergstrom told her there was a memorandum of understanding and would get it to her, when one did not exist."I don't like to be jerked around. Their story has now changed," she said. "I just regret I didn't get it in writing."Bergstrom said Monday that when he spoke to Urban in June there appeared to be a change in the schedule so that the four months of filming, initially set to start in September, would not have begun until December.But, he said, that changed when the film company, Northeast Entertainment, decided to stay with the original contracted schedule, which runs from September to December.Amistad America is being paid $250,000 for use of the ship to film an NBC miniseries about the pirate Blackbeard starring John Malkovich.Washington said Monday that the Amistad departed New Haven on July 30 and is now in Bermuda. It is slated to arrive in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the first week in September and will then move to the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, which she said has a protected harbor with two sets of breakwaters and solid piers capable of holding naval ships 50 times the size and weight of Amistad."This location will provide maximum security and safety for the vessel for the duration of the filming," which she said will run through January.After the filming, the Amistad is scheduled to sail back up the Eastern Seaboard with stops in ports including Key West, Savannah, Charleston, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and New Haven while hosting a 10-week program for Connecticut and New England youth.Washington said next summer the ship will be involved in four months of programming in and around Connecticut, something it could not do this year because of the film contract.Urban has successfully pushed the state to investigate how the organization, under former executive director Greg Belanger, spent the $8 million it received from the state over the past 15 years. Amistad America also is seeking to regain its nonprofit status, which it lost after failing to file tax returns for three consecutive years. At times, the organization has struggled to find money to keep operating.Urban said that if Amistad America could not get out of the contract, DECD should have told her that. She added she understands the organization needs the revenue from the filming."I'm not out to destroy the Amistad. That's not my point. But I want accountability," she said.j.wojtas@theday.com Amistad America to discuss new partnership at New London press conference

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LATEST NEWS Driver of motorized cart transported by Life Star after collision in Stonington Juvenile arrested following threat against Kelly Middle School Morgan masts to be reinstalled in Seaport ceremony Mystic - Mystic Seaport shipyard workers will reinstall the masts on the whaling ship Charles W. Morgan during a ceremony Thursday at 10 a.m.The world's last surviving wooden whaling ship is nearing the end of a five-year restoration. Next year, the 172-year-old ship is slated to embark on a voyage to visit historic ports around New England.During Thursday's ceremony, three symbolic coins will be placed under the base of masts for good luck, according to maritime tradition.The three coins are a 1841 U.S. silver dollar to represent the year the Morgan was first launched, a 1941 U.S. silver half dollar to signify the year the ship arrived at Mystic Seaport and a 2013 U.S. silver dollar symbolizing the current restoration."Each coin represents a milestone in the Morgan's important story. The ship has survived arctic ice, fire, hurricanes, and more on her 37 voyages spanning the globe. We hope these coins will continue to protect her as she embarks on what may be the most important mission of her career: carrying a cargo of knowledge to celebrate America's maritime heritage," said Steve White, president of Mystic Seaport.The coins will replace the three coins that were removed when the previous masts were taken out in 2008. They were a 1908 Barber silver half dollar, an Eisenhower silver dollar dating from 1971-1977 (corrosion made it impossible to read the specific year), and a 1997 U.S. silver dollar. Each coin signifies a mast replacement during the Morgan's career.The foremast will be "stepped" or installed on Thursday while the main and mizzen masts are scheduled to be stepped on Oct. 31. Whaling ship Charles W. Morgan restores mast with silver half dollar under base for luck

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[04/15/08 - 04:06 PM]Tougher in Alaska, a New Weekly Series on History, Premieres on Thursday, May 8 at 10 PM ET/PTHost Geo Beach, who has lived in Alaska for more than 25 years, is "on a quest to find out what it really takes to survive and thrive in Alaska." [via press release from The History Channel] Throughout history, Alaskans have had to fight for survival. Even now, everything is STILL Tougher in Alaska � the last American frontier. A New Weekly Series on History � Premieres on Thursday, May 8 at 10 pm ET/PT Geo Beach travels to extreme locations in this giant state, from wind-swept Arctic tundra to rugged coastal mountains � mining for gold, fishing for salmon, and tackling other tough, uniquely Alaskan activities. NEW YORK, APRIL 15, 2008 � Everything is tougher in Alaska. From earning a living to burying the dead, everyday life here has always been shaped by severe weather, rugged terrain and vast distances between communities. The people who call Alaska home have a long history of overcoming adversity and adapting to their extreme environment. Host Geo Beach, who has lived in Alaska for more than 25 years, is on a quest to find out what it really takes to survive and thrive in Alaska. The new series TOUGHER IN ALASKA premieres Thursday, May 8, 2008 at 10pm ET/PT on History �. It wouldn't be a tough show without a tough host, and TOUGHER IN ALASKA host Geo Beach is just that. Since moving to Alaska, Geo has worked as a logger, firefighter and medic, and commercial fisherman � including winter crabbing on the Bering Sea. He knows his way around oil spills and industrial kitchens, construction sites and law enforcement. Like most Alaskans, Geo has endured plenty of waves, winds and blizzards while living here. Armed with his own experience and the centuries of Alaskan tradition, Geo reveals the guts, self-reliance, ingenuity and technology it takes to survive and prosper in this challenging land considered America's last frontier. Each episode of TOUGHER IN ALASKA charts an expedition through the far-flung corners of the huge Alaskan state � from the tops of mountains to the depths of the Bering Sea. It investigates unique aspects of life in Alaska, looks at how Alaskan pioneers got things done in the past, and explores how they overcome harsh conditions to get things done today. Along the way, we meet a lot of plucky Alaskans � all following in the footsteps of the great explorers who originally survived and thrived in the extreme environment. The first week of TOUGHER IN ALASKA (May 8) finds Geo hunting for gold in the great Alaskan wilderness, something people have been doing since the 1870s, when the promise of gold first lured men north to Alaska. Today, with the cost of gold skyrocketing, the race is on once again and Geo joins in on the chase. He'll see how individual prospectors around the state use ingenious techniques (including a giant underwater vacuum) to get the gold out, and he'll join a team of hard rock miners in the frontier mining town of Wiseman as they blast through 250 feet of rock in the hopes of hitting the mother lode. TOUGHER IN ALASKA: GOLD MINING premieres May 8 at 10 pm ET/PT. In future episodes, Geo tackles different, demanding adventures and locations � vividly illustrating how living in Alaska is just plain harder than it is in the Lower 48. Other topics covered include: Railroading...Roads...Forces of Nature... Garbage... Salvaging... Fairbanks Winter...Disconnected...Policing... and Frozen Freeway. In these episodes, Geo struggles against bitter winter weather to keep the electricity flowing to Alaska's second largest city, triggers a �controlled� avalanche, and tempts fate in one of the most active seismic zones in the world. As always, Alaska dishes up lots of real work, risks, and excitement. The new series TOUGHER IN ALASKA is produced for History by Moore Huntley Productions. Executive Producer for History is Carl H. Lindahl. Executive Producer is David Huntley. The official mini-site for the TOUGHER IN ALASKA series, www.history.com/tougher-in-alaska, will feature images and video, including our host Geo Beach, who will share insights about the Alaskan lifestyle and daily activities in the last American frontier. The site will also include interactive maps, history content on Alaska, and background information to supplement the programs. A teaser page with on-air promos will launch first, followed by the official mini-site on April 23. History� and History HD� are the leading destinations for revealing, award-winning, original non-fiction series and event-driven specials that connects history with viewers in an informative, immersive and entertaining manner across multiple platforms. Programming covers a diverse variety of historical genres ranging from military history to contemporary history, technology to natural history, as well as science, archaeology and pop culture. Among the networks program offerings are hit series such as Ax Men, Battle 360, The Universe, Cities of The Underworld and Ice Road Truckers, as well as acclaimed specials including King, Life After People, 1968 With Tom Brokaw, Lost Book of Nostradamus, Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed and Sherman's March. History has earned four Peabody Awards, three Primetime Emmy� Awards, 10 News & Documentary Emmy� Awards and received the prestigious Governor's Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the network's Save Our History� campaign dedicated to historic preservation and history education. Take A Veteran to School Day is the network's latest initiative connecting America's schools and communities with veterans from all wars. History's website, located at www.History.com, is the definitive historical online source that delivers entertaining and informative content featuring broadband video, interactive timelines, maps, games podcasts and more. [april 2008] S · TOUGHER IN ALASKA (HISTORY)

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Postal rush is on The lines at the Lancaster post office on Main Street stretched past the vestibule and out the front door on Monday afternoon. Those waiting in line were part of what has been called the busiest day of the year for the U.S. Postal Service. Across the country, the average daily mail volume increased by 40 percent on Monday, according to the U.S. Postal Service. “Bring on the rush – we are ready to deliver,” said Patrick Donahoe, the postal service’s deputy postmaster general and chief operating officer. Click here to read more... County to fund analysis of IL development As part of its plans to resolve problems at the stalled Edenmoor development in Indian Land, Lancaster County Council will provide funding for an engineering study of the property. Council will spend up to $14,800 in engineering assistance for the McNair Law Firm, the county’s attorney, in its ongoing analysis of the Edenmoor property. The decision came after council met in closed session Dec. 7. Click here to read more... Pinnacle promoting houses at Edgewater lots Living on the river doesn’t have to be expensive. Just ask Molinda Goforth, Realtor for Pinnacle Homes, which is selling lots in the Edgewater development along the Catawba River in western Lancaster County. Pinnacle Homes is set to construct about 200 custom homes in Edgewater, by builders Ben Russell and Crystal Hollingsworth. Goforth lives in the community herself in Pinnacle Homes’ model home. Thieves target cars parked at restaurants ’Tis the season for crimes of opportunity, officers warn. With shoppers making their way from store to store, and local store parking lots packed with cars, crooks can find easy targets for their crimes. In the past couple months, many cars have been broken into at restaurant parking lots along S.C. 9 Bypass, said Lancaster Police Department Capt. Harlean Howard. Paying it backward As the fog lifted early Monday morning, Lynn Dabney pulled around the Chick-Fil-A drive-through for her daily cup of unsweetened iced tea. And just like every morning, she had her money out and was ready to pay, but today was a little different. A good Samaritan in front of Dabney had already paid for her meal and added a chicken biscuit to her order. Dabney sat in shock, eyes wide, as Chick-Fil-A employee Nikki Helms told her the news. Four Lancaster families will roll out a yuletide carpet Sunday for the Lancaster Garden Club’s 23rd annual Christmas Tour of Homes. Here is a brief glimpse at what you can see. Ballard focuses on comfort When it comes to opening the doors of his home Sunday, Realtor Casey Ballard said hopes the decorations at Meadow Drive will pass muster. “The time has really slipped up on us and it’s here,” Ballard said. “I guess I’m about as ready as I’ll ever be.” Raincoat makes me a toy soldier Up here in Maryland, the cold winds are scattering the remaining oak and maple leaves across the back of the house. And wouldn’t you know it, we’re fresh out of hamburger buns, colas and frozen French fries. But we were at a point of no return, having thawed out hamburger patties. Click here to read more... More than $7,000 donated to Christmas Basket Fund Donations have surged past $7,000 for the annual Ward Faulkenberry Memorial Christmas Basket Fund. The Christmas Basket Fund, which helps buy grocery store gift cards for needy families in Lancaster County, collected $4,467 in its third week, for a total of $7,087. Elaine Adkins, executive director of HOPE in Lancaster, which is organizing the fund for the second straight year, said donations more than doubled from the previous week. Click here to read more... Kershaw officials invite public to check out new Town Hall KERSHAW – Town of Kershaw staff have moved into the new Town Hall on South Hampton Street, and now they are inviting the community to come have a look. The town will hold an open house at the Town Hall, 113 S. Hampton St., from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Town Administrator Tony Starnes and other administrative staff moved into their new digs on Wednesday. As with any new building, there are bugs to be worked out. One child at a time It’s hard for LaDonna Mann to remember what life was like before she learned about the plight of thousands of orphans in the African nation of Kenya. As curator of the JAARS Museum of the Alphabet in Waxhaw, Mann spends her days informing the public about the varied histories of alphabets and languages. But she experienced another language firsthand several years ago while living with her late husband Bill in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. Click here to read more...

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Your browser does not support iframes. Read a digital copy of the latest edition of The Lancaster News online. Opinion Make sure you know candidates... There are only 59 days left until the Nov. 2 elections. Are you happy with everything that is going on in your town and state? Are all of your ideas, principals and values met? You have some time left to go to see and hear candidates and listen to what they stand for. It is time we man up and take ownership for the terrible mess our great country is in. It is our own fault. This terrible situation didn’t happen overnight. Democratic Party inclusive for more... In his letter to the editor, Charles Bundy compared and contrasted the openness of the S.C. Republican Party toward African-Americans to the openness of the S.C. Democratic Party to this same group. I must respond to that letter because from my experience there is nothing to contrast and compare. Laborers driving force behind... Tomorrow is Labor Day. For many workers (those lucky enough to have jobs), it’s a holiday. But not so much for those who provide law enforcement and emergency medical services. Schools and government offices are also closed. It’s summer’s last hurrah. The extended weekend means cookouts, picnics and last-minute getaways. Wright makes world more beautiful Take a ride down Meeting Street. Drive slowly as you approach Market Street. Look right at the back and side yard of the house on that corner. I don’t know who lives there, but I have taken notice of the yard in my times passing. It brightens my day. I am assuming a gentleman lives there as he is the only one I have seen outside. He has taken an unnoticed spot and turned it into an interesting lovely garden that shows creativity and imagination. Candidate seeks to revamp City... My name is Derek Smith and I am running for City Council District 5. Many of you do not know me, so I wanted to take a few minutes to introduce myself. I was born and raised in Lancaster. I graduated from Lancaster High School and also graduated from the University of South Carolina at Lancaster. Living in the area for all this time has given me a unique opportunity to see and learn our community and also recognize the problems I want to address as a council member. What has Congressman does for us... I just read with great interest how a few people think that someone who has been in Congress for 27 years should go back. If John Spratt hasn’t accomplished his goals by now, it is time to retire. I worked for 18 years for a U.S. congressman in Pennsylvania and we scheduled monthly town meetings in all parts of our district. Newspaper should give fair and... I wholeheartedly agree with The Lancaster News staff when they state that voters must educate themselves about the candidates running for the mayor’s race. In doing so, I caution readers not to use the newspaper’s Our View section as its primary source of information due to the unbalanced slant that it occasionally places on issues. If the staff and writers are unwilling and unable to write a fair and unbalanced view, it is in my opinion, that they should do more in-depth coverage of the story and keep their thoughts and views to themselves. TEA Party has true values at heart A while back signs with former President George W. Bush’s face on them saying, “Do you miss me yet?” started to appear. Yes, I miss Bush, as much as I’ll miss a second term of Obama’s kindergarten, Marxist economics. Are you kidding me? For the last hundred years, presidents, Congress, of both parties, and the Supreme Court have denuded our Constitution. Old jail is priceless in historic... We’re worried about the old jail. It’s got a sagging roof that could collapse. How soon and how much damage that could cause is another question. And we’re not sure what the answer is, because, frankly, we’ve heard some conflicting information. When we first learned about the problem in June, Lancaster County Administrator Steve Willis said the county’s Emergency Operations Center was moved out of the building after a structural engineer noted that the roof was sinking and could collapse. School bells will ring tomorrow It’s hard to believe that summer is nearly over for Lancaster County schoolchildren. While autumn doesn’t officially arrive until next month, Monday morning thousands of local students will say goodbye to the carefree days of summer and return to the classroom. This week, teachers began getting their rooms ready for their new students. Their planning and preparation will pay off as they welcome students back. Many students will be sporting new clothes and shoes and carrying new lunch boxes and backpacks full of new school supplies. Spratt's commitment is to... I would like to respond to the letter, “S.C. needs Spratt.” For the record, U.S. Sen. John Spratt’s opponent in the coming election is Mick Mulvaney. To characterize Mr. Mulvaney as towing the party line or being a puppet to the Republican message is laughable when compared to the party voting record of Mr. Spratt. The Congressional voting record for Mr. Spratt provides ample documentation regarding his commitment to Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats. He votes the party line more than 95 percent of the time. 83 percent of Mulvaney's... This letter is in response to an article on the second-quarter finance reports of U.S. Congressman John Spratt and his challenger, S.C. Sen. Mick Mulvaney, as reported in The Lancaster News (July 23) and Carolina Gateway (July 28). The piece quoted several Mulvaney releases in which he painted himself as the favorite and the most supported by local residents. Neither paper, it appears, fact-checked his statements, though campaign finance reports are readily available from the Federal Election Commission at http://www.fec.gov/disclosure.shtml. We are often too quick to judge... I would like to extend my deepest sympathy to little Jaylen Jackson’s family. Arlene Harris, you and your daughter have endured a profound loss of your precious granddaughter and daughter. My heart aches for you. I am hopeful that in the time since your loss that you have experienced support and love from most in our community. I pray that you can heal from the additional hurtful things that your family has recently been subjected to. Literacy program deserves... I am writing this letter to inform the people in Lancaster and South Carolina of some of the finest people in our county. I know the economy is in turmoil. I know jobs are being lost daily. But the adult education and literacy program should never be put at stake. The Lancaster program is one of the best and most appreciated of its kind. The staff and teachers are blessed. They go above and beyond their call of duty. Council was right to deny code... County Council did the right thing July 27 when it refused to amend the county’s building codes after a developer interested in building a gas station near the new Walmart in Indian Land sought a change. The developer evidently had a problem with the code that says commercial buildings in certain parts of the Panhandle can’t have prefabricated metal on more than 25 percent of the structure. Duke left legacy for all of us to... The recent death of Dr. Bill Duke, a retired physician, leaves a void in our community, but a great legacy to follow. Duke practiced medicine for nearly 40 years in Lancaster until retiring about 14 years ago. During that span, he touched and save countless lives in his dedication to his profession and his patients. “He was very committed to what he did,” said his son, John Duke. “His care for people – that was the way he thought he could give back to the community.” Say no to sale of alcohol on Sunday... I knew it was just a matter of time after they changed one blue law before that someone would want alcohol sales here on Sunday. I was 100 percent right. Someone has started a signature petition to try and get a referendum put on the ballot. If she is successful, I hope the residents of this great county will say no. Lancaster is just fine without alcohol sales on Sunday. Libertarianism will add to our... For about the last 30 years the Republican Party has increasingly brought libertarian philosophy into their platforms and plans for the United States. While many of us may applaud some of the certain aspects of this ideology, in its larger context and application to state and local life it may surprise you as to its very destructive elements. These applications of libertarian philosophy can add to the current massive problems for our country: Spratt understands needs of South... I just want to give extra kudos to U.S. Rep. John Spratt for receiving the Distinguished American Award from the Nation’s Capital Chapter of the Air Force Association. He is truly deserving of this honor. Over the years, Congressman Spratt has been a dedicated supporter of South Carolina’s military bases. He worked diligently to secure more than $100 million in building projects for Shaw and helped the base remain a viable force in our state. Congressman Spratt has also helped local National Guard units obtain the Army’s top-notch artillery system. Stimulus program working? As many of you may recall, about this time last year the S.C. Senate had just closed the book on our debate over the first round of federal stimulus money. Now, with a year’s worth of information, we can start to assess its effectiveness. Looking back, I had three concerns: u Would the money come with too many strings attached? u How much would it actually benefit job creation? u Would the stimulus have any adverse affects?

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Search HomeU.S. NewsPoliticsImmigrationConstitutionCongressCrimeHealthcareForeign PolicyWorld NewsEuropeNorth AmericaAsiaAfricaAustraliaSouth AmericaEconomyCommentaryMarketsSectorsEconomicsSci/TechEnergyEnvironmentComputersSpaceCultureFaith and MoralsFamilyEducationBiographyHistoryOpinion/ReviewsMoviesBooksOpinionAmerican PrinciplesFreedom IndexSubscribeDonate Saturday, 27 April 2013 Europol in the United States — Beginning of an EU-U.S. Police Merger? Written by William F. Jasper Europol, the burgeoning police and intelligence agency of the European Union, has many people in Europe concerned about its continuously expanding mission and powers (see here and here). Now the agency appears to be getting ready to extend its reach into the United States in new ways, as part of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) being promoted by President Obama and a powerful coalition (see here and here ) of Wall Street one-worlders and globalist corporate executives. On April 16, the Delegation of the European Union to the United States and Europol welcomed more than 140 members of the U.S. and European law enforcement communities for an in-depth discussion of transatlantic cooperation on law enforcement in Washington, D.C. According to the EU delegation’s press release on the event, the conference topics covered would include “cyber crime, terrorism, and crimes related to intellectual property rights.” “As globalization intensifies, we have to recognize that crime has also become increasingly multinational, multifaceted, innovative and disruptive, and not in a good way,” EU Ambassador to the United States Joao Vale de Almeida said during his introduction. “The onus is on us, the EU and the U.S., public and law enforcement officials, to ensure that as we prepare to deepen our economic ties [through a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership], we adapt effectively to this transformation. We also need to consider how to align our law enforcement resources to ensure that as we open up the opportunity for businesses and working families, we also keep criminal interests in check.” Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Jane Holl Lute reinforced the EU-U.S. convergence theme. She said, “Working together, we have already begun to see how we can transform the way in which we protect our nations, and our citizens, against the shared threats that we face. Whether those threats are from terrorists, cyber criminals, or those who seek to steal intellectual property ... the cooperation between our law enforcement agencies, governments, and our nations have never been stronger, and its impact has never been greater.” (A video recording of the conference can be viewed on You Tube here.) The sparse reportage of this important development in EU-U.S. relations left unmentioned the fact that Europol, like so many of the EU’s institutions, has incrementally taken on increased powers, with the European Commission always citing some crisis or exigency allegedly requiring more centralized police authority. The EU’s steady erosion of the independence and sovereignty of its member states is not occurring by chance. As The New American has previously reported in many articles (see articles listed below), the architects of the Common Market (as the EU was known in one of its earliest incarnations) insisted from the start that the “project” would never evolve into a central government or in any way compromise the sovereignty of the nations involved. All the while, the same designers — as their correspondence and private speeches and communications show — were working assiduously to create a supranational federal government that would completely override the nation states of Europe. With the conclusion of the Lisbon Treaty, the people of the European Union were tricked, bribed, browbeaten, and cajoled into jettisoning almost every remaining vestige of sovereignty. EU Ambassador to the U.S. Joao Vale de Almeida (quoted above) has been a key functionary in this subversion of sovereignty, including assisting in negotiating the deceptive and subversive Lisbon Treaty. As we reported earlier this week, many of the most influential people in the U.S. government and foreign policy and economic establishments are completely in tune with this subversive process. Our article “CFR Applauds European Union’s ‘Real Subversion of Sovereignty’” links to a video of a recent panel discussion at which top members of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) explicitly acknowledge and applaud the fact that “there’s real subversion of sovereignty by the EU that works.” It is not surprising then to see the CFR well represented at this recent Europol conference. Among those attending the conference for the United States — and speaking at it — were: • Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano (CFR) • Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Jane Holl Lute (CFR) • Director of the Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, Washington Institute for Near East Policy Matthew Levitt (CFR) “Eroding Sovereignty Piece by Piece” In 1974, CFR member Richard N. Gardner penned a signal article in the CFR journal Foreign Affairs entitled "The Hard Road to World Order." Since hopes for "instant world government" under the United Nations had proven illusory, he wrote, the best hope for building "the house of world order" lay in a longrange "end run around national sovereignty, eroding it piece by piece." This could best be done, he noted, on an ad hoc basis with treaties and international "arrangements" — on environment, trade, security, etc. — that could later be brought within "the central institutions of the U.N. system." Gardner, now a professor emeritus of law at Columbia University, served in ambassadorial and diplomatic posts for Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, and Clinton. The Council on Foreign Relations has been pursuing that end-run strategy around national sovereignty — through both Republican and Democrat administrations — for many decades now. In a 2006 op-ed entitled “State sovereignty must be altered in globalized era,” CFR President Richard Haass argued that “in the age of globalization, states should give up some sovereignty to world bodies.” The CFR chief claimed that “sovereignty is not only becoming weaker in reality, but that it needs to become weaker.” Haass and his fellow one-worlders in the CFR globalist cabal are now pushing to destroy U.S. sovereignty in the same way that the EU has all but completely destroyed the national sovereignty of its member states. The primary vehicle currently being promoted by the CFR and the Obama administration to entangle the United States in the EU project is the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). President Obama is calling on Congress to give him “fast track” Trade Promotion Authority that would enable him to push the TTIP through Congress with little or no debate and no amendments. The War on Sovereignty Obama Pushing Trans-Atlantic Union with EU Transatlantic Two-Step Learning a Lesson From the EU EU-U.S. Integration: Unattractive Union Target: World Government 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. « Internet Tax Bill Draws Strange Alliances True the Vote National Summit — 2013 »

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North-East mother loses High Court fight to get inquiry into soldier son's death in Iraq Cpl Paul Long / Matt Westcott, Assistant News Editor / @mattwecho A NORTH-East mother whose son was killed by an armed mob in Iraq has lost a High Court bid for a new independent inquiry into his death. Corporal Paul Long, 24, and other Royal Military Police (RMP) officers were sent to a police station in Majar-al-Kabir in south east Iraq to meet local police they had been tasked to develop when the station was surrounded and attacked. At a recent High Court hearing, his mother Patricia Long stared at a photograph of her smiling son she was holding in her lap while judges in London were told he died on June 24 2003 with five Royal Military Police colleagues. In denying her bid, the High Court judges said all they could decide was whether Mrs Long was owed a "right in law" to have another investigation. They said: "We find she does not have such a right. We have held that the right of a soldier under Article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights to have his life protected by law does not include a right to be safeguarded from human error, including negligent error, in the conduct of military operations which result in the risk of death on active service being greater than it would otherwise have been." Michael Fordham QC, for Mrs Long, who is from Hebburn, Tyne and Wear, had argued that all the formal inquiries so far, including an inquest, failed to get to the bottom of how mistakes that led to the deaths were made, and who was responsible for them. The six Red Caps had been sent to the police station without an Iridium phone, which might have enabled them to call for help, said Mr Fordham. This was despite a clear order that all patrols should be equipped with the phone.

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Benicia observes Veterans Day with events Sunday, today By By Irma Widjojo/Times-Herald staff writer, Published By Times Herald BENICIA - Veterans Day began early in Benicia. About 30 people attended a ceremony to honor the nation's veterans Sunday afternoon at the Veteran's Memorial Hall. The Veteran's Appreciation Ceremony is a two-day event hosted by the hall, American Legion Post 101, Veterans of Foreign War Post 3928 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Ladies Auxiliary Post 3928. The two-hour ceremony Sunday began at noon, featuring patriotic music selections by the Diablo Valley Regional Concert Band, and guest speaker Darren Hicks, a Navy SEAL veteran. Hicks, a SEAL operator from 1997 to 2006, gave a presentation on the history and background of the special team. The Lafayette man now is the president of a family business, Hicks Professional Group, and focuses on providing veterans with hiring services and programs. With thousands of U.S. military members expected to return in the next few years, Hicks said it's important for companies to realize the importance of hiring these individuals. "The challenge is for the organizations to recognize the value that they are getting from hiring veterans, the character that the veterans are bringing in," Hicks told the Times-Herald. "(Veterans) are not the ones who need to change, they don't need to try to fit somewhere else." He added that veterans bring a set of positive characteristics that could be beneficial for companies, such as discipline, commitment to a team, problem solving skills and lack of entitlement. Hicks also said he's noticed more organizations being more open to hiring veterans in the recent years. "And they are doing it for the right reasons," he said. He said Veterans Day is a good opportunity to remind everyone that "we need to make everyday Veterans Day and a good time to reflect on who didn't make it home." Organizer Oren Rae said it's a day to thank those who had fought, or are still fighting for the country's freedom. Rae is the VFW Post 3928 senior vice commander and U.S. Army sergeant major, still on active duty. The event will continue today with a free breakfast and barbecue for veterans. The public is welcome to join for any amount of donation. Breakfast will be served at 7:30 until about 10 a.m., followed by a barbecue at about 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. It will also serve as an open house for the hall, and there will be activities for the public, including darts, shuffleboard and pool. The hall is at 1150 First St., Benicia. Contact staff writer Irma Widjojo at (707) 553-6835 or iwidjojo@timesheraldonline.com. Follow her on Twitter@IrmaVTH

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Sth African mogul returns with luxury hotel | The Network Journal Sth African mogul returns with luxury hotel By: CLARE NULLIS Monday, April 6, 2009 African and Caribbean South Africa's prodigal son Sol Kerzner, who left at the end of the apartheid era to build up his international hotel and casino empire, has returned home in style.Kerzner made his name with Sun City, the extravagant apartheid-era playground for South Africa's rich in the "homeland" of Bophuthatswana. He was criticized for violating sanctions against South Africa for staging international events there.Now, after a long, absence, he's back. Hoping to buck the global gloom, Kerzner has opened his latest luxury One & Only hotel in Cape Town's world famous harbor, edged by the glistening waters of the Atlantic and overlooked by mighty Table Mountain.Such is the pulling power of the man that former South African president Nelson Mandela attended a private luncheon Friday after overnighting at the resort with his wife, Graca Machel.Hollywood stars including Clint Eastwood, Robert De Niro, Matt Damon and Sharon Stone graced the red carpet, nibbled on lobster and sushi prepared by star chefs Gordon Ramsay and Nobu Matsuhisa, and danced to the jazz of greats like Hugh Masekela at a lavish opening bash attended by 400 guests late Thursday.Kerzner put the cost of the festivities at 10 million rands ($1 million) — a trifle compared to the $20 million party and firework spectacular at last year's opening of his Atlantis resort in Dubai. He said it was worth every penny to launch the 1 billion rand ($100 million) development — his first big business venture in South Africa since 1992."I think this hotel is going to raise the bar for the hotel industry in South Africa," the ebullient chairman of Kerzner International told The Associated Press in an interview.Kerzner hopes the fabulously wealthy will combine a stay at his resort with luxury safaris and is looking especially keenly toward visitors from the Middle East.Although the economic downturn has put other development projects on hold and forced layoffs at his flagship Atlantis resort in the Bahamas, the hotel mogul says occupancy rates in the super-luxury hotels have proved more resilient than in mid-priced hotels. He is determinedly optimistic."When you build these hotels, you look at how you are going to do in the medium term and in the medium term, it's going to be sensational," Kerzner told The AP.Situated on the Waterfront — one of the country's top tourist attractions — the hotel is built around two artificial islands, with a huge swimming pool fringed by palm trees, and two restaurants operated by celebrity chefs Ramsay and Matsuhisa, stocked with 6,000 different wines.The cheapest room starts at 5,500 rands ($550) a night in low season, with the presidential suite goes for 50,500 rands ($5,000) in the peak Christmas period.Kerzner became known in the late 1970s for building hotels and casinos in apartheid "homelands" — poor black enclaves described as "self-ruled" states by the white racist government — to bypass a ban on gambling in South Africa.He was criticized for violating international cultural and sporting sanctions against South Africa by staging international golf tournaments — even a Miss World pageant — and was dogged by allegations of bribery. But his business thrived.In 1992 he opened a fantasy resort, Lost City, in the Sun City gambling resort, and in 1994 left South Africa for commercial legal reasons and focused on building up his casino and hotel empire in the United States, the Bahamas and other countries.Kerzner declared himself "very happy and excited" to be back in South Africa — a view echoed by the stars who have become a trademark of Kerzner hotel launches.Damon raved about the views as he posed for photographs with former South African rugby captain Francois Pienaar — the man he is portraying in a film directed by Clint Eastwood about post-apartheid South Africa. The film stars Morgan Freeman, who was also present, as Mandela.De Niro put Kerzner's popularity with the stars down to persistence."He's tireless in his schmoozing with celebrities," said De Niro. Asked if he felt used, he smiled and shrugged: "That's OK."Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. View the discussion thread. Related Articles Royal Caribbean Re-Establishes Stop in Haiti, Deems it Safe Insider Conference for U.S. SMEs on South Africa’s ICT and Renewable Energy Sectors TRANSFAST Celebrates Nigeria's Independence Day Calls on Troops to Lay Down Arms

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Coping with fish kill October 15, 2002 11:00 pm Thomas Williams, 10, said 20 members of his family just returned from Klamath Falls where they joined a protest last week against the Bureau of Reclamation for reducing water flows. (Stephen M. Corley/ The Daily Triplicate).By Laura BrownTriplicate staff writerThe effects of the die-off of fall-run chinook, coho and steelhead has reverberated throughout the fishing- and tourist-based economy of the town of Klamath. At Margaret Keating School, where 70 percent of the student body is Native American, the anger and confusion over why the fish died is echoing through the classrooms.In Mr. Nicholson's fourth- and fifth-grade class, students are eager to share their thoughts and feelings about the fish kill that claimed an estimated 30,000 fish, primarily chinook salmon, in the Klamath River last month."My mom has been telling me that farmers have been taking lots of water and my family doesn't like that. We don't like to go down there (the river) anymore because it stinks," said Amber Gensaw, 10, who lives above the river with her family.Jim McQuillen, the principal of Margaret Keating School and a Yurok tribal member, said that fishing is synonymous with the cultural identity of the Yurok people who have lived and fished on the Klamath River since "the beginning of time." He said many view the fish kill as an attack against their culture.The fall run of salmon is an important source of food for the dinner table as well as a source of income for many Yurok families. For families who are struggling to pay the rent, the closure of the tribal fisheries comes at the worst time of the year. Students who worked the river or in local businesses to save money for school clothes and shoes are going without this year."We have many families currently stressed due to high unemployment. The fish kill has added to these families' situations," said McQuillen.For many of these children, the river is their playground. Fishing the river by their relatives' sides since they were old enough to walk, they know the life cycle and needs of a salmon better than most adults. They know that fish need cold water to thrive and that if they don't get to their spawning grounds, there won't be fish in years to come. They also know that the coho salmon could potentially become endangered.In the classroom, teachers – some of whom are Yurok – have been listening to the concerns of the children.William Einman, a first- and second-grade teacher, said he wasn't sure how to approach the subject with his 7- and 8-year-old students. During story time, when a dog dies in a book read by Einman, many students raised the issue of the fish kill themselves. "The kids are definitely aware of it. It's on their minds," said Einman.Kindergarten teacher, Elsie Wilder, a Yurok tribal member said she is usually busy canning salmon for winter storage this time of year. In her life, she has watched the decline of the candlefish, a once-abundant staple of the Yurok tribe. She is afraid salmon will disappear within her son's generation."My concern is that if we're not able to subsistence fish, my culture is leaving. Fish are a huge part of our culture. A lot of people eat beef, we eat salmon, deer and elk that way," said Wilder. This week the topic of discussion in Wilder's class is the smell of the river. "Everybody here eats fish. They're all affected. It's not just the Yurok kids."Keeping up with current events is part of the sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade curriculum in Becky George's classroom, and recently her students' local surroundings have been making headlines."There's a lot of anger. There are a lot of feelings that things could have been prevented and the powers-that-be are not sympathetic to the needs of our community. That's their home. It's the lifeblood of the area," said George.Now George's classroom is asking what they can do to help. There are plans to write letters to government officials.Thomas Williams, 10, said 20 members of his family just returned from Klamath Falls, Ore., where they joined a protest last week against the Bureau of Reclamation for reducing river flows. He said he usually goes to the river during the summer months with his dad and sister to catch fish. Williams said the fish kill is "bad because that's usually how our family makes a living."Morgan Clayburn has a solution that is a reflection of his family's views."I think they should just get rid of the dam and move the farmers somewhere else."

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Heavyweight newspaper up for sale | New Hampshire Contact us Heavyweight newspaper up for sale By BILL SMITHNew Hampshire Union Leader The parent company of the Nashua Telegraph has put the newspaper and several weekly papers in New Hampshire up for sale, the firm's president has confirmed."It is a family-owned business and and the family has decided to exit the business," said Andrew Bickford, president of Independent Publications of Bryn Mayr, Pa. "The company will be discontinued altogether."Privately held Independent is controlled by members of the family of the late William McLean, who died in 2011. It owns some two dozen titles.In addition to The Telegraph, Independent Publications' holdings in New Hampshire includes the Bedford Journal, the Hollis Brookline Journal, the Merrimack Journal and Milford Cabinet.Publishing assets of another company owned by IPI, McLean Communications Inc., based in Manchester, were sold to Yankee Publishing Inc. of Dublin on Friday. McLean publishes New Hampshire Business Review, New Hampshire Magazine, New Hampshire Home and Parenting New Hampshire. Yankee is a family publishing business that produces some of New England's most well-known titles."I'm very excited to add them to our business, which for a longest time was just Yankee Magazine and the Old Farmer's Almanac," said Jamie Trowbridge, president of Yankee Publishing. "They're going to stay as McLean Communications, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yankee."Trowbridge said Yankee is not pursuing purchase of the newspapers.Bickford said Independent Publications expects to employ the services of a newspaper broker to handle the sale of its publications."We intend to," Bickford said. "This is a process that is just getting underway,"Two years ago, the Telegraph shut down the presses at its Hudson facility and outsourced its printing work. Since January 2011, the paper has been printed by Seacoast Media Group, which owns the Portsmouth Herald. The move reportedly resulted in the layoff of 40 employees in the newspaper's press and mail rooms.The Telegraph quoted its publisher, Terrence Williams, as saying the company will continue to publish its daily and weekly papers while a buyer is sought.According to the Alliance for Audited Media, an industry group that tracks newspaper circulation, the Telegraph had an average paid print circulation of 15,376 for its daily paper and 20,579 on Sunday for the six-month period ending Sept 30.It also has 1,059 digital subscribers to its daily edition and 1,066 on Sunday.The McLean family interests have owned the Telegraph for 45 years, the paper said.Bickford said there is no timetable for consummation of the sale of Independent Publications' New Hampshire properties."It's a very measured process," he said.billsmith@unionleader.com..

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Cambodian Government Sues Opposition Newspaper FILE - People read newspapers at a street side stand in central Phnom Penh. Cambodian Political Parties Remain Deadlocked The Cambodian government is seeking legal action against Moneaksekar Khmer, the country's only remaining opposition newspaper, claiming it defamed the military in an article it published last month. Government spokesman Phai Siphan said the suit was filed in military court after the paper's editor-in-chief failed to reply to other messages from the government. “My office had sent all documents to [the] ministry of defense and the ministry has their own procedure and lawyer to send the case to the military court to work on in order to protect our interest and rights.” The newspaper published an article last month [Nov. 13], in which opposition party Vice President Kem Sokha was quoted as saying “election fraud” and the subsequent deployment of the armed forces had “robbed victory from the Cambodian people.” The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party has disputed the results of July's parliamentary election, saying it was denied victory due to widespread vote rigging. The government has denied the charge. Dam Sith, an opposition lawmaker who oversees Moneaksekar Khmer, said the newspaper has neither reported anything false nor violated its code of ethics. He added the legal action is a “new style of threat” against the publication. “If there is legal action, as Mr. Phai Siphan says, then it is a restriction of media freedom, a threat against the freedom of expression of the people. And it’s against the constitution, it’s against the rights of the people, and a restriction of the expression of truth.” Moneaksekar Khmer has long been critical of the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, and has faced a number of lawsuits and been suspended from publishing in the past. This report was produced in collaboration with the VOA Khmer service.

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HRW Asks for Support for Arrested Children in Somalia Kenyan Military: al-Shabab Armory Crushed in Key Somali Town 4 Journalists Killed in Somalia in 24 Hours Suicide Bombers Kill at Least 15 at Mogadishu Restaurant Mohammed Yusuf NAIROBI— Human Rights Watch (HRW) is calling on the Somali government to give three children arrested in Mogadishu Wednesday, for working with the al-Qaida-linked group al-Shabab, a fair trial and psychological support. The group also is calling on the government to stop using some of these children as informers. After two suicide attacks, one targeting the newly elected president and the other targeting a restaurant in Mogadishu this month, Somali government forces have started carrying out searches of al-Shabab cells in Mogadishu that are still inflicting casualties on civilians and African Union and Somali military forces. Door-to-door searches are proving very dangerous for security officials as they try to secure the capital despite al-Shabab withdrawing from Mogadishu more than a year ago. On Wednesday, government forces arrested three teenage boys in Yaqshid district accused of planting Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs.) Security officials displayed the explosives and the school children to the local media. The Somali officials said they will hand over the youngsters to police and they will later be arraigned in court. With al-Shabab's ranks dwindling, due to tension and in-fighting, a Human Rights Watch report released in February noted the militant group has increasingly recruited children to strengthen its numbers. Families and children that resist the recruitment drive face severe consequences and even death. Laetitia Bader, a Human Rights Watch researcher, says the new government has to look for ways to integrate these children back into society. "One thing we called on TFG [the Transitional Federal Somali government] and have continued to do so is that the detention of children should be the measure of last resort so really what needs to be priority for the current Somali authority is to basically make sure that these children are rehabilitated, reintegrated and imprisoning them would need to be the measure of last resort," she said. The rights group is calling on the government to allow children to have access to legal assistance and psychological support while their trial is under way. According to Bader, the Washington-based Human Rights Watch has expressed real worry about some of these detained children being used as informers by the government. "It does seem that in the past some of the children which have alleged to be with al-Shabab that have been picked up by now what was the former Transitional Federal Government were actually being used by the security forces as informers and this is something we are very concerned about and continue to be concerned about and it needs to be very clear the government should not be using any children that they come across as informers," she said. As the government promises to continue with the flushing out of al-Shabab remnants in bullet-riddled Mogadishu, the Somali authorities will have to decide what they will do with hundreds of young children forcibly recruited by al-Shabab.

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> Metro > The District D.C. Official Helps People Understand One Another New Law Requires Agencies To Translate and Interpret By Mary Beth Sheridan Sunday, December 19, 2004; Page C05 When she was growing up, Aryan Rodriguez was struck by some people's response when her grandparents struggled with English. THEY SPOKE LOUDER. Aryan Rodriguez, the District's language-access director, is coordinating efforts by city agencies to break down language barriers. She says she has been impressed by agency directors' willingness to make changes. (Melina Mara -- The Washington Post) _____D.C. Government_____ • D.C. Landmark Disappears in a Cloud of Dust (The Washington Post, Dec 19, 2004) • One Guarantee Sparked Larger Baseball Battle (The Washington Post, Dec 19, 2004) • Officer Guilty of Assault in D.C. Stop (The Washington Post, Dec 18, 2004) • D.C. Gang Leader Blames System for Crime (The Washington Post, Dec 18, 2004) • More Stories Free E-mail Newsletters Today's Headlines & ColumnistsSee a Sample | Sign Up Now Breaking News AlertsSee a Sample | Sign Up Now "I never understood that -- if you speak louder, they'd be able to understand you better," she said. Now Rodriguez is seeking a better way to help people who aren't fluent. As the District's language-access director, she is coordinating efforts by city agencies to comply with a new law requiring them to provide interpreters and translations of vital documents. Rodriguez, who took charge of the new post in August, said she has been impressed by agency directors' willingness to make changes. "They've looked at it as, 'There's no other choice but to do this, especially with how diverse the Washington area is getting,' " said Rodriguez, who is originally from Puerto Rico. The number of D.C. residents with limited English proficiency grew from about 30,000 to 38,000 in a decade, according to the 2000 Census. They make up about 7 percent of the population. The Language Access Act, which became law in April, requires nearly two dozen city agencies to take steps to ensure that such residents have equal access to services. The agencies must have translators and provide official materials in Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Amharic, an Ethiopian language. Rodriguez, 26, is used to moving between cultures. An Air Force brat, she grew up in Puerto Rico, Ohio, Alabama, Germany and Maryland. She has an aunt who is an immigration lawyer as well as an uncle who is an immigration judge. "It's been in the family a long time," she said of her interest in people from other places. Since graduating from the University of Maryland in 2000 with degrees in government and communications, Rodriguez has been working in the city's Office of Human Rights, which oversees implementation of the new law. Rodriguez has spent much of her time working with the eight agencies in the first group required to comply with the law. They include the police department, public schools, fire and emergency services and several health and human services agencies. All agencies must be in compliance by October 2006. The eight agencies have completed assessments of their efforts and named language-access coordinators. Vital documents for the agencies have all been translated into at least five languages, Rodriguez said. One of her challenges going forward will be to create standard practices for agencies that have very different missions, she said. An even bigger issue is to come up with the money for implementing those practices. "Resources is a huge challenge," she said. The new law came with a $300,000 budget in its first year, enough to hire Rodriguez and an assistant and translate some documents. Agencies must shoulder most of the expense for additional staff or programs. Denise Gilman of the Language Access Coalition, an alliance of pro-immigrant groups that pressed for the new law, said members initially were concerned about Rodriguez's limited experience in government. "However, I have to say that we have really been pleased and pleasantly surprised by the vigor with which she has taken on this role. She has really just jumped in there and organized the process and pushed agencies to the limit," said Gilman, who works for the Washington Lawyers Committee. Eugenio Arene, another member of the coalition, agreed that Rodriguez has been effective. "My impression is that she has passion and willingness to have a strong coalition" with community groups, he said. "I am not concerned about her that much, but about the political will from the city administrators on down" to hire more Latinos and ensure compliance with the law, said Arene, executive director of the Council of Latino Agencies. Rodriguez tries to compensate for her youth with energy. Asked about her hobbies, she acknowledged that she is a workaholic. "My hobby is to ensure this program goes in the right direction," she said.

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» Follow Business On: » This Story:Read +|Talk +| Comments Japan tsunami spares major economic zones For Social Programs, Long-Awaited Boost By Michael A. Fletcher The economic stimulus package dramatically ramps up spending for a broad array of social programs for needy Americans in a way not seen since the launch of the Great Society programs. This StoryPolitically, Stimulus Battle Has Just BegunObama Aides Cite Bipartisan SuccessFor Social Programs, Long-Awaited BoostTuesday, Feb. 17, 11 a.m. ET: Post Politics HourView All Items in This StoryView Only Top Items in This Story "We are seeing a paradigm shift," said Paul L. Posner, a former Government Accountability Office official who teaches at George Mason University. The bill includes billions in new money for food stamps, expanded child care and services for the homeless. It funds long-sought increases in education funding for low-income and special education students, new refundable tax credits for low-income workers, stepped-up job training, expanded health-care coverage, and an increase of $100 a month in unemployment insurance. All of the new spending is temporary, with most of it slated to end after two years. And given the nation's bleak budgetary outlook, even many supporters of the programs say there will be no option but to roll back the increases once the immediate economic crisis passes. At the same time, many of the new initiatives dovetail with the policy goals of President Obama and congressional Democrats, who have talked about the need to rebalance the nation's economy so more benefits flow to middle- and low-income Americans, whose incomes have stagnated. Some analysts think the increases will prove politically difficult to pare back once the initial round of funding expires, and they see the stimulus package as part economic shock treatment, part social policy transformation. The White House says Obama plans to sign the stimulus into law tomorrow during a visit to Denver. All the final numbers related to social spending have yet to be compiled from the 1,100-page bill, but analysts say this much is clear: The measure promises unprecedented increases in support for social programs, many of which have not seen significant funding boosts for decades. And the outlays promise to expand the role of the federal government in the nation's economy -- at least in the short term. Obama and his administration have defended the moves as necessary to counter the steep economic downturn. With the nation shedding jobs at a rate of 600,000 a month, they say the social spending in the stimulus will help the economy by cushioning the blow felt by the most vulnerable citizens. They say it will also encourage spending by unemployed and low-income people while expanding opportunities for education and job training, which should, in turn, save and create jobs at the state and local levels. "This plan will ensure that Americans who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own can receive greater unemployment benefits and continue their health-care coverage," Obama said at a news conference last week. "We will also provide a $2,500 tax credit to folks who are struggling to pay the cost of their college tuition, and [$800] worth of badly needed tax relief to working- and middle-class families. These steps will put more money in the pockets of those Americans who are most likely to spend it, and that will help break the cycle and get our economy moving." Advocates for low-income people agree. Sharon Parrott, director of the welfare reform and income support division of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said aid to people who are struggling "is the best stimulus" because they are all but certain to spend it quickly. Still, she said, it would be impossible for the level of funding for the broad range of social programs in the stimulus to continue beyond the two-year timeline in the legislation. "Even if something would be overall good policy, it needs to be in the budget, and you need to pay for it," she said. "There are real budget constraints that prevent that going forward." Danielle Ewen, director of child care and early education policy at the Center for Law and Social Policy, called the stimulus's social spending essential to helping lower-income Americans regain their economic bearings. "It is about getting people to work and making sure they can afford basic things to keep their families safe and secure," she said. But some critics see the stimulus package as a Trojan horse that will provide historic funding increases to many programs in a way that will prove politically difficult to stop once the nation emerges from its economic tailspin. » This Story:Read +|Talk +| Comments • Politically, Stimulus Battle Has Just Begun• Obama Aides Cite Bipartisan Success• For Social Programs, Long-Awaited Boost• Tuesday, Feb. 17, 11 a.m. ET: Post Politics Hour

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Dead Man Travels Unnoticed for Half a Day By: AP edited by Marguerite Jordan Email Posted: Fri 10:31 PM, Apr 27, 2007 By: AP edited by Marguerite Jordan Email Home / Article April 2710:30pm JAKARTA, Indonesia - A dead passenger traveled unnoticed for at least half a day on an executive passenger train, an Indonesian newspaper reported Friday. Anxious family members found the body of Edy Haryanto, 55, sitting in a locked lavatory on Thursday afternoon, more than a day after he had boarded with a group of friends in the central Javanese town of Tegal, the Warta Kota newspaper reported. His family became worried when Haryanto didn't get out at the station in Jakarta at the end of the 6-hour journey and his cell phone went unanswered. The body traveled back and forth between Tegal and Jakarta before a janitor told the family he had been unable to clean one lavatory because the door was locked, the report said. The cause of the death was not immediately clear, but Haryanto had recently suffered a stroke, it said. Dina Nurhandayani, the man's 29-year-old daughter, said she planned to file a complaint of negligence with the state-owned train company PT Kereta Api Indonesia. Artifact found in sinkhole near Tallahassee dates back over 14,000 years National News From The Associated Press Anti-Trump protests turn violent outside New Mexico rally

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On January 12, 2010, Haiti was struck by a powerful earthquake that left more than 220,000 people dead, 300,000 injured and millions displaced. Between January and April 2010, WFP provided emergency food assistance through general food distributions to some 4 million Haitians in Port-au-Prince and earthquake-affected areas. A year and a half after the catastrophe, WFP supports the Haitian government’s plan for recovery and development by improving access to food for the most vulnerable. School meals, nutrition and job creation initiatives are the agency’s main activities in Haiti. WFP is also contributing to agricultural rehabilitation and increasing its local purchases to boost food production in the country. Access to sufficient quantities of nutritious food remains an issue for millions of Haitians. Food insecurity in the areas directly affected by the earthquake has dropped but levels are still higher than they were prior to the earthquake. Nationally, between 2.5 and 3.3 million Haitians, or about a third of the population is estimated to be food insecure. Haiti is a food deficit country. It relies heavily on imported food – 50 percent of national requirements are imported. Food prices have been rising since the end of 2010. In a country where approximately half of the population lives with less than $1 a day and three quarters have less than $2 per day, this increase has led to an overall loss of purchasing power for the majority of Haitians. WFP is using its three main programmes – school meals, nutrition and cash and food for work- to alleviate the impact of rising food prices on the most vulnerable. Over the years, natural disasters have intensified Haiti's plight. Every year between June and November, the hurricane season brings with it fears of more devastating storms. In October 2010, as the country was still trying to recovery from January's earthquake, a cholera epidemic broke out and efforts are still underway to contain the disease. WFP has been present in Haiti since 1969. Despite the world’s generosity, WFP still urgently needs contributions to continue its activities in Haiti. WFP and its partners are assisting victims of the earthquake and vulnerable Haitians with programmes supporting the Government’s Action Plan for National Recovery and Development in Haiti. School Meals Programme When a new school year started in October 2010, WFP increased its support of the Government’s National School Meals Programme. Everyday, more than a million children in the country’s ten departments receive a hot nutritious meal at school. “Sometimes, we don’t have enough food at home, it’s good to know that my child will find something good to eat at school”, said Etienne Olguy, the father of a girl studying in a 4th grade class. As one Port-au-Prince school principal put it, the school meals programme is essential because “if the students don’t eat, they can’t see, they can’t hear, they can’t learn”. Another WFP priority is to increase the quantity of food purchased locally and used in the school meals program. This is done in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture. Begun in 2010, a pilot project provides schools with cooking stoves fueled by briquettes made of recycled paper and cardboard. This initiative reduces charcoal consumption in the country. Cash and Food for Work In collaboration with the government and partners, WFP expanded its employment programme by hiring workers paid in food, cash or a combination of both. Shortly after the earthquake, thousands of Haitians were hired to clean canals and ditches to prevent flooding during the rainy season. They also started tackling the huge task facing the country: removing rubble from the earthquake, a crucial step to allow people to start rebuilding their communities. Projects financed by WFP all have one thing in common: they help Haitians provide food for their families. They also give people opportunities to improve their communities and reduce the country’s vulnerability to natural disasters. Working in close coordination with the Haitian government, local authorities, NGOs and UN agencies, cash and food for work activities include but are not limited to rubble removal, watershed management and agricultural rehabilitation. Immediately after the earthquake, it was difficult to measure the impact of the catastrophe on children under 5 and on pregnant and lactating women. There was a risk that malnutrition rates could explode. Working with its partners, WFP decided to tackle this problem by adopting an innovative strategy based on prevention and treatment. Blanket distributions of fortified foods designed to combat malnutrition were organized. An independent study done with the support of the Ministry of Health demonstrated that this approach helped Haiti avoid a nutritional crisis in the aftermath of the earthquake. More than a year later, nutrition interventions are ongoing. Pregnant and lactating women, as well as children under 5 receive fortified foods, such as fortified peanut paste and corn soya blend, along with oil and sugar, to treat malnutrition. HIV/ Tuberculosis WFP is providing food assistance to Haitians affected by HIV/ tuberculosis as well as their family members. Because of Haiti’s vulnerability to natural disasters, WFP is working closely with the Haitian Directorate of Civil Protection to ensure the country is ready to respond to emergencies. Again this year, food is pre-positioned in the most vulnerable areas across the country. Prepositioning is important because when Haiti is hit by torrential rains, many roads can become impassable. With stocks already in place, WFP will be able to reach the population quickly.

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Brightest minds working on getting F-35 fighter jet to Royal International Air Tattoo this weekend / Megan Archer, Chief reporter / meganjarcher AVIATION fans have been left in suspense over whether a highly anticipated fighter jet will be flying at this weekend’s Air Tattoo. Managers of the Lockheed Martin F-35 programme had originally planned for the aircraft to fly at the Royal International Air Tattoo in Fairford this weekend. RIAT organisers have been celebrating ever since they secured the F-35 Lightning II’s visit, as this is the first time the fighter jet has ever left the USA. RIAT chief executive Tim Prince said it was something organisers had been trying to pin down for years. However, after a recent engine fire, US officials decided to stop flying the jet until mechanics could better understand the problem. Despite managers saying they have the brightest minds working on getting the aircraft back in the sky, aviation fans have been left in doubt over whether they will get to enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime display. “The F-35 will be housed here for the airshow, away from the public,” said F-35 programme general manager Lorraine Martin. “We are scheduled to fly at RIAT but it is dependent on return to flight. “Visitors will still be able to see the full scale F-35 model, see the techno zone and meet the pilots." The jet has never once been seen outside the US, yet its first international visit will be made to RAF Fairford. It has been dubbed "the fighter of the future" and boasts supersonic speed, radar-evading stealth and extreme agility. “The UK is a very special partner to the US government in militaries,” added Lorraine. “It seemed very appropriate that its international debut was between the US and the UK. “For us, coming to the air show is exciting. The Marine Corps is going operational a year from now so this is sort of a mini test to make sure that it flies well in the future.” F-35 B pilot Peter Wilson, or Wizzer, opened up about what was so truly special about the F-35. “It really is a unique aircraft. It can transform into a bit of a beasty when it’s up in the air,” he said. “It’s just the best plane I’ve ever flown and has 27 doors, just think of that when you see it flying. Everything is automatic and it’s like an IPad, you just need to touch it.” Peter went on to say it was even like he could talk to the aircraft, thanks to a brand new helmet display which lets pilots see immense detail on the visor of their helmets. “It’s very cool. There’s even a camera underneath the plane, so when you look down you can see what’s going on under you. It’s like the plane is invisible.” Managers could not confirm, during a special media event at RAF Fairford today, whether the F-35 would be flying at RIAT but said they were working as hard as possible to make it happen. The Air Tattoo begins on Friday at RAF Fairford, with a special Red Arrows Pit Day. Visit airtattoo.com for more.

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Hot Button MomsEveryday Behind The Scenes Victims In Bus Crash Belonged To Tightknit Group By: ap Posted: Thu 5:57 AM, Oct 03, 2013 / Article DANDRIDGE, Tenn. (AP) -- For months, a tight-knit group of seniors at a North Carolina church had been looking forward to the road trip. It was a tradition for them to attend the annual Fall Jubilee in Gatlinburg, Tenn., a three-day event featuring gospel singers and speakers. But on the way back to Statesville, N.C., on Wednesday, the church bus carrying the members blew a tire, veered across a highway median and crashed into a sport utility vehicle and tractor-trailer in a fiery wreck that killed eight people. Fourteen other people were hurt in the accident in northeastern Tennessee, including two who were in critical condition. Front Street Baptist Church members are still waiting for more details. But many said they are worried. None of the victims have been identified.

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Justice Department confirms CAIR terror ties Posted By Art Moore On 03/15/2010 @ 10:23 pm In Front Page | Comments Disabled The Department of Justice has presented evidence to four inquiring Congress members to support the agency’s belief that the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations was founded as a front group in the U.S. for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. A letter last month from Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich responded to a request by Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., and three of her House counterterrorism-caucus colleagues to reveal why CAIR was listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation case in Texas, the largest terror-finance case in U.S. history. Get the book that exposed CAIR from the inside out, autographed, from WND’s Superstore! Weich presented trial transcripts and an exhibit that “demonstrated a relationship among CAIR, individual CAIR founders, and the Palestine Committee. Evidence was also introduced that demonstrated a relationship between the Palestine Committee and Hamas, which was designated as a terrorist organization in 1995.” The other signatories of the letter with Myrick were Reps. John Shadegg, R-Ariz., Trent Franks, R-Ariz., and Paul Broun, R-Ga. Weich’s letter affirms letters the FBI sent last April to Sens. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla., explaining the bureau’s decision to suspend all formal contacts with CAIR. Evidence presented at the Holy Land Foundation trial, the FBI said, “demonstrated a relationship among CAIR, individual CAIR founders (including its current President Emeritus and its Executive Director) and the Palestine Committee.” The trial established that the Palestine Committee was formed by the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood, the movement that spawned al-Qaida, Hamas and most of the major jihadist groups of the 20th century. The Brotherhood, formed in the 1920s after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, states its aim is to establish Islamic law throughout the world. The letter from Myrick and her colleagues was prompted by the WND Books’ expose “Muslim Mafia,” which presents firsthand evidence of CAIR’s connection to the Brotherhood and its role as a front to spread Islam in the U.S. Weich pointed the Congress members to two excerpts of Holy Land Foundation trial testimony from FBI Special Agent Lara Burns regarding conversations by members of the Muslim Brotherhood about CAIR’s formation. One transcript is from a wiretap of a 1993 meeting in Philadelphia in which Hamas supporters sought to establish Muslim organizations in the U.S. “whose Islamic hue is not very conspicuous.” Holy Land Foundation President Shukri Abu Baker said, according to the transcript: “And let’s not hoist a large Islamic flag, and let’s not be barbaric-talking. We will remain a front so that if the thing happens, we will benefit from the new happenings instead of having all of our organizations classified and exposed.” Burns also describes an exhibit that shows CAIR, just weeks after its creation, listed on a July 30, 1994, meeting agenda for the Palestine Committee. Burns said it was the first time CAIR’s name appeared in internal Palestine Committee records seized by the FBI. The Holy Land Foundation trial ended in 2007 with a deadlocked jury, but the retrial in 2008 resulted in guilty verdicts on 108 counts. CAIR petitioned the court to have its name removed from the list of unindicted co-conspirators but was denied last year. Weich told the Congress members he also was aware of their Nov. 23 letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller “concerning a request for an investigation into the possible illegalities of CAIR.” The assistant attorney general said he had been “assured that the information has been assigned to appropriate FBI entities for additional review.” A federal grand jury is investigating CAIR for possible violation of laws that ban financial dealings with terrorist groups or countries under U.S. sanctions, according to a filing in the Muslim organization’s lawsuit against a co-author of “Muslim Mafia” and his son. A letter attached to the filing, signed by Lynn Haaland, assistant U.S. attorney for the National Security Section in Washington, referenced CAIR’s possible violations of 50 U.S.C. sections 1701-1706, which are part of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Under the 1977 act, which empowers presidents to deal with extraordinary threats during peacetime, President George W. Bush signed an executive order 12 days after the 9/11 attacks that blocked property and barred transactions with anyone who commits, threatens to commit or supports terrorism. CAIR is suing “Muslim Mafia” co-author P. David Gaubatz and his son, Chris, for recovering 12,000 pages of incriminating CAIR documents meant for a shredder. Myrick and her House colleagues also have formally asked the House sergeant at arms to investigate evidence from “Muslim Mafia” that CAIR has conspired to plant interns inside Congress targeting sensitive security-related committees. IMPORTANT NOTE: The CAIR legal attack on WND’s author is far from over. WND needs your help in supporting the defense of “Muslim Mafia” co-author P. David Gaubatz, as well as his investigator son Chris, against CAIR’s lawsuit. Already, the book’s revelations have led to formal congressional demands for three different federal investigations of CAIR. In the meantime, however, someone has to defend these two courageous investigators who have, at great personal risk, revealed so much about this dangerous group. Although WND has procured the best First Amendment attorneys in the country for their defense, we can’t do it without your help. Please donate to WND’s Legal Defense Fund now. Related offers: Get “Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That’s Conspiring to Islamize America,” autographed, from WND’s Superstore. Article printed from WND: http://www.wnd.com URL to article: http://www.wnd.com/2010/03/128107/ Click here to print. © Copyright 1997-2013. All Rights Reserved. WND.com.

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A Survivor's Story: Jaclyn SmithThe former Charlie's Angels star opens up about her battle with breast cancer Jennifer Conrad Charles BushAdvertisement - Continue Reading BelowRecently seen on Bravo's hairstylist reality competition, Shear Genius, actress Jaclyn Smith's extensive career includes pioneering the concept of a celebrity clothing line with her Kmart collections, numerous TV shows and movies—even shampoo commercials. Now, she wants you to know about a cause that hits close to home: Strength in Knowing, a support website and program for women with breast cancer. Most Popular You found out you had stage 1 breast cancer about five years ago. How were you diagnosed? I went in for my yearly mammogram, thinking everything was going to be fine. I didn't feel a lump. They saw something suspicious, but said it didn't look like cancer. Then the biopsy results came back and they said, "Well, it's breast cancer." What went through your head when you got the diagnosis? Fear invaded my whole being because I hadn't educated myself. I was ready to boom—go into surgery. There is that moment when your world stops spinning and you think, "Wow, I have two kids." My first question was, "Am I going to be here for my kids?" And my doctor said, "Ninety-eight percent you're going to be here, so don't worry. We got this early." Early detection is the key to a good prognosis. That's why women need their yearly mammograms and they need to see their doctor regularly. What treatment did you undergo? I did a lumpectomy with radiation. But let me tell you something, if a mastectomy was what was called for, I would have had it like that. I'm not about my breasts; I'm just about good health, OK. I'm not afraid of doing what I need to do to stay here. I really don't understand women who are in denial, who don't want to go for a mammogram. I think it's stupidity. Sorry. I have no patience for that. Why did you want to be part of the Strength in Knowing campaign? I was lucky because I had girlfriends who had been through breast cancer and a supportive family. But Strength in Knowing will connect women to other women and to information. They can visit the website daily and feel like there's someone there. That's important because, hey, it's pretty traumatic when something like this happens. And attitude is important. You can't say, "Poor me," "Why me?" or "Why did this happen to me?" You need to say, "Life is to be enjoyed. It's to be embraced. It's a gift." What do you wish women knew about breast cancer? Eighty percent of breast cancer cases are in women 50 and over—just being female and older puts you at risk. Some women get to that point in their life and they think, I have no family history of the disease, this isn't going to touch me. But the majority of cases are in women who don't have a family history. I had no family history, and I thought, I'm great, I feel good, nothing's going cuckoo in my body. You don't always know. How does it feel knowing you've had a successful line at Kmart since the mid-'80s? I'm thrilled, because 20 years speaks for itself. We accomplished what we set out to do: give fashionable clothes at affordable prices. I'm also doing a home collection because I have a passion for antiques. I've tried to put together things that look eclectic— maybe you've purchased this at one time and maybe that was your grandmother's—and can be brought together to look like there's a history to it. It's not at Kmart, but jaclynsmith.com will connect you to all the stores. You were the host of Shear Genius, a reality competition for aspiring hairdressers. What was that like? I loved doing that. Hair's been a part of my history. My first acting job was a Breck commercial. When they came to me about this show, I thought, "Reality. I don't like it." I love Project Runway and, like that show, this was really about talent, and it wasn't sensational. I learned a lot about hair. I thought I knew about hair, but there's always more. What's the best hair tip you got from the show? You must understand the texture of your hair before you choose a style. Because if not, you're going to be a slave to it, and who has time? Me, for instance, I have curly hair. With bangs and straight, long hair, I'd be blowing it out all the time. [At this point, her hairdresser, Gad Cohen, who's sitting in on the interview, weighs in: "What's also really important is the person who's wearing the hair. You're not only looking at her face shape and texture, but also at her silhouette. It's more sculptural. If a woman is big, you don't want to give her short hair."] How do you keep a healthy work and life balance? Family is always first. Even though my kids are older—my son is 25 and my daughter is 21—I still like to sit down and have dinner with them as much as I can. I de-stress with my family, just at home pruning roses, cutting, working in the garden. What's three things do you always keep in the fridge? Milk, because I have oatmeal and cereal every day. And blueberries every day. And carrots: I mix up a juice every other day—carrot, apple, celery. What's the last thing you do before you go to bed at night? Say my prayers. That's the truth. breast cancerYour Breast Cancer Protection Guide7 Tips to Finding the Right Size Bra Every Time20 Things You Should Know About Breast Cancer The Truth About Latinas and Skin Cancer The Link Between Cancer and Heart Disease10 Ways to Protect Against Breast Cancer More From Lifestyle

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Costa Concordia: Wrecked cruise ship floating again, but victim still missing Barbie Latza Nadeau, Catherine E. Shoichet and Erin McLaughlin, CNN 8:31 AM, Jul 14, 2014 The long-awaited operation to refloat the cruise liner Costa Concordia began on July 14, 2014. RTV, NBC Newschannel GIGLIO, Italy (CNN) -- The last time anyone saw Russel Rebello alive, he was near the stern of the Costa Concordia, helping passengers into rescue boats.But the 33-year-old waiter from India never escaped the doomed cruise ship. And he's the only victim of the 2012 shipwreck whose remains haven't been found. Investigators hope that could change soon. On Monday morning, salvage crews began the arduous task of trying to refloat the ship so they can move it to the Italian port of Genoa to be dismantled.By midday Monday, the ship was floating again, Costa Crociere CEO Michael Thamm said.It's been more than two and a half years since the ship ran aground off Italy's Giglio Island with more than 4,200 passengers aboard, killing 32 people in a disaster that drew global attention.And it's been 10 months since salvage teams rolled the 114,000-ton vessel off the rocks in one of the most complex shipwreck recovery efforts ever undertaken.But there's still more work to be done."We are not at the end, but we are at a critical moment," Giglio Mayor Sergio Ortelli told reporters.For the past 10 months, engineers have been hard at work, attaching metal boxes to either side of the ship.After draining water from the boxes, they had to pump compressed air into its place to get the ship to float.It was a dangerous and tricky procedure. The ship is rotting, and there's a real risk the bottom of it could give way.By lunchtime Monday, the ship had been moved 20 meters (about 66 feet) as part of an initial 30-meter shift to the east. After 30 meters, divers will begin attaching more chains and cables to help reinforce the bottom.Then the full refloat begins, lifting the Concordia, deck by deck, clearing any debris along the way.CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau said the 20-meter shift had taken place earlier than planned and had already dramatically changed the appearance of the wreck from land."There is no break, it's a 24-hour process, but the fact that they are ahead of schedule means this could go fast," she said.Once the ship is completely floated, it will be towed -- slowly and carefully -- 240 kilometers (150 miles) to Genoa.Officials say it's likely the towing process won't start for days, due to port restrictions. It will take five to six days for the ship to reach Genoa, officials said.Thamm called the operation "the most daunting salvage ever attempted on a ship of its size."He added that the cost of the project has already exceeded 1 billion euros -- and that doesn't include the refloat, the anticipated transport to Genova or the dismantling.Since the wreck two years ago, 24 metric tons of debris -- including furniture, dishes, food, personal effects and ship parts -- have been recovered from the seabed.While salvage crews continue efforts to deal with the wreckage, Francesco Schettino, the ship's captain, is on trial on charges of manslaughter, causing a maritime disaster and abandoning ship with passengers still on board. He denies wrongdoing.Search teams thought they had found Rebello's remains last October. But the body divers found turned out to be Maria Grazia Trecarichi, a Sicilian who had been on the cruise to celebrate her 50th birthday with her 17-year-old daughter, who survived.Journalist Barbie Latza Nadeau reported from Giglio. CNN's Erin McLaughlin reported from London, and CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet reported from Atlanta.The-CNN-Wire ™ & © 2014 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved. Swedish court denies Assange hearing request German far-right angry at soccer team's photos Ukrainian pilot Savchenko freed, flown to Kiev Egypt hires 2 firms to find black boxes

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$8k/Day will make goal! Give to NPR Illinois today. $63,404 to go to $400,000 goal. Avoid OVERDRIVE in June. Obama Says U.S. And South Korea Stand Firm Against Pyongyang By Scott Neuman May 7, 2013 ShareTwitter Facebook Google+ Email President Obama and South Korean President Park Geun-hye after a news conference at the White House on Tuesday. Originally published on May 7, 2013 2:35 pm President Obama says the United States and South Korea are determined to stand firm against North Korean threats and that the days of Pyongyang manufacturing a crisis to get international concessions "are over." In a joint news conference with South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday, Obama said the two leaders "very much share the view that we are going to maintain a strong deterrent" against North Korea. "We're not going to reward provocative behavior, but we remain open to the prospect of North Korea taking a peaceful path," he said. "So far, at least, we haven't seen actions on the part of the North Koreans that would indicate they're prepared to move in a different direction," he added. He said he's never spoken directly to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, whose actions seem to be leading his country to a dead end. Obama's talks with newly installed President Park show that the North has "failed again" to drive a wedge between Washington and Seoul, he said. The president spoke of the "deep friendship" and the "great alliance" between the two countries. Park's visit, her first abroad since becoming president in February, marks the 60th anniversary of the U.S.-South Korean alliance and comes amid ramped up rhetoric from North Korea, including threats to attack South Korea and the United States with nuclear missiles. As we reported Monday, however, North Korea appears to have moved two medium-range missiles off launch standby in the country's east — a move that could signal a toning down of tensions.Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. View the discussion thread. © 2016 NPR Illinois

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2 men found dead at private hunting club Men believed killed by carbon monoxide ROME, Ga. - Investigators in Gordon County, Ga. said two men found dead in a camper trailer parked at a private hunting club appear to have been killed by carbon monoxide.A family member discovered the bodies of 64-year-old James Lee Asher of Acworth and 53-year-old David Wayne Johnson, of Cartersville, on Sunday.Sheriff Mitch Ralston said there were no signs of foul play and the deaths appear to be a tragic accident.

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NSA Leaker Sets Sights On South America, But Why Ecuador? By Audie Cornish Transcript AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: The U.S. continues its cat and mouse game with the man who confessed to leaking NSA secrets, Edward Snowden. After spending the last few weeks in Hong Kong, Snowden caught a plane to Moscow this weekend, and he's believed to still be in Russia. But his exact whereabouts are uncertain. The U.S. has urged Russia not to let Snowden leave. Today, officials from Ecuador said Snowden has applied for asylum there. It's the same nation that's been providing cover for WikiLeaks' founder, Julian Assange, at its London embassy for more than a year. So what makes Ecuador so appealing for these high-profile self-professed whistle-blowers? For more, we turn to South America correspondent for The Washington Post, Juan Forero. He joins us now from Bogota, Colombia. And, Juan, first of all, why Ecuador? JUAN FORERO, BYLINE: Well, I think it's because Ecuador has a leader, Rafael Correa, who is not shy about tussling with the United States and criticizing the United States. And, of course, a year ago, he gave Julian Assange, the leader of WikiLeaks, he gave him sanctuary in the embassy of Ecuador in London. And now, comes this. I don't think it was very surprising, actually. CORNISH: So then, remind us a little bit more about President Correa, sort of what position he's tried to assume in Latin America. FORERO: Well, President Correa is a leftist populist. He was educated in the United States. But he belongs to a line of leftist leaders in Latin America, which include leaders from Bolivia, from Venezuela, from Cuba and from Nicaragua, which tried to build a bulwark against the United States and frequently criticizing United States on all kinds of things. Now, Correa was sort of in the shadows in the sense that for many years, the guy who really was leading all this was the bombastic leader of Venezuela, who was Hugo Chavez, but he died in March. And so now, people are wondering whether Rafael Correa in Ecuador is now picking up the mantle here. CORNISH: So what does Ecuador stand to gain by granting Snowden asylum? FORERO: I think part of it is that Ecuador in a sense wants to have a bigger role. I mean, it's a tiny country in South America. And really, you rarely hear about it. But here is a chance to say, you know, we are here. You know, we exist and we are a player, and we can deliver a blow to the United States. I think part of it is that. Part of it is also that Ecuador has come under very sharp criticism from the United States, from press freedom groups, from the Organization of American States and so forth for its own restrictions against the press and against freedom of speech in its country. And so this is a way of saying: Hey, look, we actually protect freedom of speech and that's why we're protecting people like Julian Assange and, now, Edward Snowden. CORNISH: Now, Ecuador's foreign minister said today that his country will base its decision about Snowden's asylum on principles and human rights, not on its interests with other countries, i.e. the U.S. But if Ecuador does grant Snowden asylum, what does it stand to lose as far as its relationship with the U.S.? FORERO: It could be a big loss. Ecuador has a preferential trade agreement with the United States. It's very rare. It's the only South American country that has one of these. And what happens is Ecuador can export a range of different products to United States, tariff-free. And so it's almost like a free-trade agreement except it's a one-way trade agreement. Ecuador is the one that benefits. Now, that trade agreement is up for renewal in July. We'll have to see what the U.S. Congress says. CORNISH: And, Juan, you're speaking with us from Bogota, Colombia, but I understand you're headed soon to Ecuador. And do you get the sense that there is any popular support there for Edward Snowden or if people even know who Edward Snowden is? FORERO: Well, I think that people there who I've been speaking to have said that, you know, part of this also is this is a way to solidify support. Now, Correa is quite popular and the economy is doing well and so forth, but there are pockets of resistance to him. There are people out there who are critical. And when you go up against the United States, that kind of brings people together, you know? Here is a little country and on the other end is United States, the biggest superpower. And so I think that will certainly be something that will get support for him, and not just from people who are already supportive of his government but people who maybe are on the fence or may be even critical and so forth. It kind of also depends a little bit on how the United States reacts. For instance, if the United States does do away with those trade preferences, well, people will say: Look at how this big bully is going after our little country and our workers. CORNISH: Juan Forero is South America correspondent for The Washington Post. Juan, thank you for talking with us. FORERO: Thank you. It's been a pleasure. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.Related Program: All Things Considered on WXPRView the discussion thread. © 2016 WXPR

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City | Doodle owner in negotiations for lease on new property Doodle owner in negotiations for lease on new property Patrick Lee Feb 15, 2008 If storefronts were feathers, Yankee Doodle Coffee Shop might soon have a new one to stick into its hat. Yankee Doodle owner Rick Beckwith said Thursday that he and “a core group of alumni” are currently negotiating the details of a lease on a new location, although he declined to comment on details of the deal. The development comes after just over two weeks of increasingly heated exchanges between Beckwith and the landlord of his Broadway location, concerning the causes of the Doodle’s Jan. 28 closing. “We are going to re-open again,” Beckwith said. “It is so touching to see how people have reached out to help the Doodle.” Beckwith had previously cited the support received from alumni and some of his loyal customers since the closing as his main motivation for seeking to resuscitate this hallmark “greasy spoon.” Within a day of the closing, a group of alumni was on the phone with Beckwith to figure out how to “save the Doodle.” Since then, students have rallied on Facebook, alumni have started a fundraising drive and a fife and drum band has played outside the perpetually locked door of the diner. Richard Gould ’68 ARC ’72, who said his architecture firm is advising Beckwith in the selection and design of the diner’s location, emphasized the shortened hours of the Doodle as a key contributor to its financial troubles. Gould cited the Doodle’s maladapted business plan as an equally crucial factor in the Doodle’s financial woes as its abnormally high rent. “The Doodle used to be open until 11 o’clock when I was there. It was the go-to place for Berkeley, Davenport and Saybrook colleges,” he said. “I’ve probably eaten more at the Doodle than the dining hall. [Beckwith’s] economic plan — his business plan — has not worked for well over five years, probably 10 years. He needs a bigger place.” But that was 40 years ago. Today, few students could say the same. Currently, there is no timeline set for the Doodle’s complete exit from its current location, and Iannuzzi is not pushing a specific deadline, he said. Iannuzzi said he has been in cordial contact with Beckwith to loosely discuss various logistical aspects of the moving-out process. But he said they have not yet breached the topic of the remaining debt the Doodle owes the landlords, though Iannuzzi made clear his negotiations will be directly with Beckwith and no one else. “Really, the only person that I’m dealing with — and the only two responsible parties — is us, as the landlord, and Rick,” he said. “It’s a matter of resolving the things that need to be resolved, and everybody just moving on gracefully.” Although outward tensions seem to have calmed since Tyco’s retraction of its two-month grace period last week, public sentiment in support of the Doodle is still steady, as evidenced by the continued growth of online “Save the Doodle” efforts. Phillip McKee ’94, a Beckwith family friend and Doodle advocate, wrote in an e-mail that Iannuzzi is no longer allowing Beckwith access to the former Doodle location and “is now refusing to allow us access to that property and is instead consulting an attorney to try and seize that property … Their claim to the property stems from their continued insistence on collecting fees and penalties from the Doodle that were in their old lease agreement.” After learning of these allegations, Iannuzzi countered that Beckwith had been on the property Wednesday night. The only items Beckwith wanted to take with him, Iannuzzi said, were two signs and the cigarette machine, which Iannuzzi requested he remove by next Tuesday. In terms of the attorney, Iannuzzi fully rejected the notion of any further legal involvement on his part. Beckwith and his new advisors are in the process of developing a revised business plan. Given the business structure under which the Doodle operated, its 12 stools worked eight-and-a-half hours a day, from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Under Lewis Beckwith Sr., the Doodle was open until 11 p.m., sometimes later, and his larger staff — Gould said he had a payroll of 18 people — allowed him to maintain longer hours. “He was getting squeezed on the rent, no question about it,” Gould said. “[But] 12 seats don’t work anymore … it’s just a reality.” Beckwith cited “economic considerations” in his closing note posted to the door of the Doodle, referring not only to the general hardship of the times but also to his specific inability to keep up with rent payments. In fact, the seemingly abrupt closing of the Doodle happened under threat of eviction from the landlords. As began about a year ago, Beckwith had not been staying on track with the rent and Iannuzzi was forced to pull an eviction notice in the face of increasing late fees, Iannuzzi said. Last year, Beckwith paid back his debts, so Iannuzzi did not go through with the eviction, Iannuzzi said. “It was the second time that there was an eviction notice … When you’re not paying your rent for several months … you need to pay your rent, or decide you can’t — but you can’t just continue to be there and collect your customers,” Iannuzzi said. “It became no more than a tenant-landlord relationship.” Upon finding out he had until the first of February to pay off the debt, Beckwith decided to close the Doodle on Jan. 28, giving himself a few days to start moving things out. The University is still committed to helping the New Haven institution find a new site. It has offered its cooperation in helping to identify a suitable property for the Doodle’s relocation, said Clarence Zachery, director of finance for University Properties. He said Beckwith and his advisers are “doing their due diligence,” drawing up a list of specific needs so the University can draw up a list of potential locations. “They’ve bounced some ideas, but we’re not going to respond to those ideas until they … give us a list of what they need and want, and we’ll give them a list of things that fit their criteria, and see if it does work for them,” Zachery said. “We told them to take as much time as you need, we’re not going anywhere — [Yale has] been here for 300-plus years.” “Save the Doodle” organizers said all of the new locations being considered charge significantly lower rent fees than the per-square-foot rate of its former Broadway space, and are also more modern and adhere to current building codes. As of Tuesday, $4,538 had been garnered through various fundraising efforts.

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Short Videos Jim Morrison Says to Millions: "Girl, We Couldn't Get Much Higher" Tuesday, September 17: 5 p.m. Posted by Rock Hall Fan photo of the Doors collection at the Rock Hall, shared using hashtag #rockhallsatisfaction In addition to the Jim Morrison–led call to arms “Break On Through (To the Other Side),” the Doors self-titled debut album included “Light My Fire.” Penned by guitarist Robby Krieger in his first songwriting attempt, the song catapulted the group to stardom, topping the charts for three weeks during the Summer of Love. For purposes of AM-radio airplay, the single version of “Light My Fire” was edited from its nearly seven-minute album sprawl to just under three minutes. With the Doors quickly gaining a loyal following – and notoriety owing largely to the charismatic if untrammeled personality of Morrison – the group were booked as a musical guest on The Ed Sullivan Show airing September 17, 1967. It didn't go as the producers had hoped, as the resulting episode followed keyboardist Ray Manzarek's assessment of the mid Sixties: "the battle was between the hip and the non- hip, the heads and the straights, the psychedelics and the squares – and that was basically the battle – the establishment against the hippies." Scheduled to perform their Number One hit "Light My Fire" before millions on the same show that had helped make the likes of Elvis Presley and the Beatles household names in America, the Doors arrived at CBS' Studio 50 to rehearse on the afternoon of September 17. All seemed well, but a producer visited the band's dressing room informing Morrison that the lyric "Girl, we couldn't get much higher" from "Light My Fire" would need to be changed for the family friendly variety show, which couldn't condone such suggestion of drug use during a broadcast. The group capitulated, though the gentlemen's agreement wouldn't stick. As the last act of the evening, the Doors were beamed out to TV audiences around the United States following an introduction by Sullivan: "Now, The Doors: here they are with their newest hit record, 'People are Strange.'" With their first song finished, the group transitioned into "Light My Fire." In a moment of unbridled rock and roll defiance, a brooding, black leather–clad Morrison deliberately – and repeatedly – articulated "Girl, we couldn't get much higher," while the band showcased the depth of their musicianship, particularly Mazarek's keyboard dexterity. The Doors were summarily banned from ever again appearing on Sullivan, to which Morrison was reported to have cheekily responded to with "Hey, man, we just did the Ed Sullivan Show." Can you imagine Jim Morrison as a cub scout? The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is home to a collection of rare artifacts spanning the Doors' career, including Morrison's boy cub scout uniform circa 1950. The collection also includes instruments played by Ray Manzarek and Robby Kreiger, as well as riveting letters exchanged between the Florida Probation and Parole Commission and Admiral Morrison, Jim's father, in 1970, following Morrison's conviction in Miami. Categories: Inductee, Today in Rock, Inside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame, Tags: live, rock, This is where we will post insights from Rock Hall staff and guest writers about exhibits, events, concerts and more with an emphasis on lesser known facets of the Rock Hall. Consider this your backstage pass. - - Comments

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Eco-terrorism and the Trial of the Century Robert Amon In case you hadn’t noticed, 12 young people (average age 33) have been charged with arson and conspiracy to commit arson in several Western states. The 83-page indictment was handed down by a federal grand jury in Oregon, and it must be important because the story made the front page of the Western edition of the New York Times. Above the crease. In commenting on their arrests (some are being held without bail), Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI chief Robert Mueller played the "domestic eco-terrorism" card before the media, often dropping the "eco" part. Arson, terrorism or not, is, of course, a crime, a serious crime of which the dozen have only been accused. Fire scares people. It would scare me, if I were in one. But a bunch of unarmed treehuggers torching some trucks and buildings (including a ski-resort restaurant at Vail and a holding corral for wild mustangs) at night, after making certain that no two-leggeds or four-leggeds were anywhere close, is not, it seems to me, something I would compare to taking out the Oklahoma City Federal Building during working hours. The 12, by the way (shades of the Dirty Dozen?) are now 11. Bill Rodgers of Prescott, Ariz., managed to take his life with a plastic bag while in custody. One of his several suicide notes, the one addressed to "my friends and supporters," reads: "… Certain human cultures have been waging war against the Earth for millennia. I choose to fight on the side of bears, mountain lions, skunks, bats, saguaros, cliff rose and all things wild — I am just the most recent casualty in that war. But tonight I have made a jailbreak. I am returning home to the Earth, to the place of my origins." Poignant, but an admission of guilt? Unless you’ve ever been in the federal-indictment wringer (I was, after protesting the logging of old growth during the 1990s) don’t jump to any conclusions. Bill was a gentle man, an explorer of caves, a bookstore owner and decidedly nonviolent. Was he an arsonist in his spare time? I’ve been attending enviro-gatherings for more than 20 years, and mostly I’ve been with urban, hike-oriented, letter-writing, good-hearted folks who initially are reserved about venturing their views but who, after a glass of wine, can get, well, radical. As one after another tells of personal loss of a favorite place on public lands we all own — forests, wetlands, streams and such — their eyes get misty; then they get angry, as they recall what has been taken. And not just in the West, but in New York and New Jersey, Michigan and Florida. Everybody wants to tell their story. After a while, as they get madder and madder, the person stuck with moderating the discussion has to close it off or close the bar. Many of us are a hair-trigger away from walking Bill’s walk. Let me quote a few lines from that federal indictment where it names the Evil Eleven, though Rodgers, the dead guy, continues to appear as an "unindicted co-conspirator." This is odd, since he’d been declared dead a month before the indictment was made public. As Dave Barry would say, I am not making this up. But on to those quotes: "In discussing their actions among themselves, certain of the defendants and others used code words, code names and nicknames." "Certain of the defendants and others dressed in dark clothing, wore masks and gloves, and otherwise disguised their appearance." "Certain of the defendants and others acted as ‘lookouts" to ensure secrecy as the crimes were carried out." Is anybody but me thinking Boston Tea Party? And almost every count — and there are 65 of them — names the person or persons, followed by the phrase "and other person(s) known to the Grand Jury." In other words, a plant, or plants. Is this surprising? The FBI does it all the time. They do it in drug busts; they did it to EarthFirst in 1989, thanks to infiltration via love, or what seemed like love. We don’t have law enforcement; we set up stings. What to do? You could opt to abandon the country immediately. Or, you could stand up for the Earnest Eleven at the five-week trial set to start in Eugene, Ore., on Oct. 31. This may not be the Trial of the Century, but then again, it’s a young century. We could set the bar. Robert Amon, who is usually called Uncle Ramon, is a former insurance salesman turned treehugger. He lives on an old Forest Service bus here, there, and everywhere.

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News Sports Opinion Columns Lifestyles Sections Portraits Extras CU Ads Classifieds Jobs Contact Us Local News « Mayfield man seeks to keep a... O-E voters OK school merger...» Fort Plain OKs measure to stop ‘nuisance’ problems By ARTHUR CLEVELAND , Save | FORT PLAIN - Village officials have approved a law to help stop people who make a "nuisance" of themselves. Fort Plain Police Chief Robert Thomas III said the main reason for the law - which establishes a "nuisance abatement program" - is the fact some homes are subject to repeat police visits, due to problems such as domestic issues or noise violations. "This is about [repeat offenders] taxing village resources," Thomas said. Officials are waiting for state approval to fully enact the law. The law, which was adopted by the Village Board on Nov. 19, says "The Board of Trustees finds that the quality of life for many residents of the Village of Fort Plain is threatened by the deterioration of some properties as well as by certain activities and patterns of behaviors engaged in by individuals living in close proximity to their homes." According to the law: "The village shall prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the violations have occurred." Evidence of a violation includes citations and orders issued by the code enforcement officer, police reports, execution of search warrants and arrests or convictions under local, state or federal laws. The law includes points for certain violations of penal law or village codes. For example, violations of state penal law involving marijuana or controlled substances, loitering and disorderly conduct are valued at six points. Once a certain amount of points are earned, Thomas or the enforcement officer in charge at the time would be required to notify the property's owner or occupant. Those accused can request a hearing with the officer within 10 days of notification. If the charge is not handled in 30 days, it may go to the Town of Minden Court. If a nuisance is confirmed, the offender can be required to vacate all or part of the building, close up the property for up to six months, suspend licenses or permits for up to six months if tied to the buildings, or pay a $1,000 fine. Thomas also stated that if brought up, the problems could be fixed and a court date could be avoided. Jail time and additional fees are also possible. Thomas said that this law would prevent problems from "creeping in and staying in." "Personally, I believe this is a law that should be in effect everywhere," Thomas said. Thomas said that the new law is the first of its nature for the village and will go into effect as soon as state approval is given. "We're waiting for them to send us back their notification," Thomas said. © Copyright 2016 The Leader Herald. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Mason and Remy Hemmy Bull Photos Float Trip Pics Bull Float Trip Double Your Paycheck Luke Bryan FIRST 5 ROWS! Buds N' Bulls Keith Urban Mash Up #1 For New Country in St. Louis Death Toll Rises To 13 In Naval Yard Shooting Posted September 16th, 2013 @ 8:10am [Click here to see photos from the scene] UPDATE: 4:42 (Washington, DC) -- Washington, DC Mayor Vincent Gray is calling the deadly mass shooting at the DC Navy Yard this morning a "horrific tragedy." Gray said police are still looking for another suspect to determine if he was involved in the shooting that left at least 13 people dead. Gray said terrorism is not suspected, but hasn't been ruled out. Gray said no one should be in the area of the Navy Yard until law enforcement officials give the all-clear. Names of the victims are not being released at this time. Police Chief Cathy Lanier called the crime scene "active." An FBI official says the man who opened fire at the DC Navy Yard this morning was 34-year-old civilian contractor Aaron Alexis. The "Washington Post" says Alexis had an assault rifle and a handgun in his possession when he opened fire. UPDATE: 3:27 PM (Washington, DC) -- The Fort Worth man suspected to be the person responsible for the mass shooting at the Washington Navy Yard has a criminal past. Aaron Alexis was arrested in 2010 by Fort Worth police for firing a weapon within city limits. Tarrant County prosecutors never filed charges against Alexis. Authorities don't know why the 34-year-old allegedly opened fire on the Navy Yard. Police are looking for another suspect. UPDATE 3:08 PM: (Washington, DC) -- The suspected shooter in the Washington Navy Yard is a civilian contractor from Texas. Multiple reports say Aaron Alexis of Fort Worth has been identified as the man who killed at least 12 people and injured more this morning. No motive has been released and police are looking for another suspect. UPDATE: 2:19 PM (Washington, DC) -- Washington, DC Mayor Vincent Gray says at least 12 people are dead in a Navy facility shooting today. At least one shooter was killed, but police are still working to determine if there were others involved. DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier says they're still working to find a motive. It's believed two other possible gunmen are on the loose. An active search is ongoing for additional shooters who were dressed in military-style uniforms. Lanier says it's too early to determine whether the shooters are members of the military. The Navy Yard remains on lockdown with a roughly two-mile perimeter set up around the property. Several people are reported injured. UPDATE: 12:29 PM (Washington, DC) -- Washington, DC Mayor Vincent Gray says officials are still trying to determine how many fatalities are the result of a mass shooting this morning at the massive U.S. Navy Yard. Police Chief Cathy Lanier says one shooter is dead, and multiple people were killed. Lanier says there may be two additional shooters "out there" who have not been taken into custody. One is a white male, and another is a black male. Lanier says both potential shooters are wearing military-style uniforms, but they're not part of the military. UPDATE 12:08 PM: (Washington, DC) -- CBS News is reporting at least six people are dead in the shooting rampage at the Washington, DC Navy Yard. Three have been taken to MedStar Washington Medical Center with severe injuries, but they're expected to pull through. A Navy official says at least one shooter is dead. There were reports of a second shooter. UPDATE: (Washington, DC) -- Two suspects are reportedly "down" in this morning's mass shooting at a Washington, DC Naval facility. The "Washington Post" reports they've been killed along with four victims in the gunfire. At least eight people are wounded. There had been previous conflicting reports on the number of suspects. Nearby schools are on lockdown. Original Story: (Washington, DC) -- Several injuries are confirmed in a shooting at the massive U.S. Navy Yard in Washington, DC. A statement from the Navy notes "reports of fatalities. The "Washington Post" reports two of the victims are police officers. Toughly three thousand people who work at the sweeping facility continue sheltering in place as police scour the area for a male gunman. The shooting occurred at the facility's Naval Sea Systems Command headquarters. There is a massive law enforcement response including Washington, DC police and the FBI. A wide area around the base has been cordoned off in southeast Washington. President Obama is getting regular briefings on the incident from his chief homeland security adviser and a deputy chief of staff. The Navy Yard houses the Naval Sea Systems Command headquarters, which is involved in overseeing the engineering, purchasing, building and maintenance of ships, submarines and combat systems. Photo of victim being airlifted. (via @washingtonpost) pic.twitter.com/YiWD3uc5tn — Michelle Fields (@MichelleFields) September 16, 2013 Click here for the latest information

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« Douglas seeks fourth term as... Elk Lake preserve protected...» State seals land deal Most of Essex County chain of lakes tract will open to public in October January 4, 2013 Save | New York state now owns the 18,294-acre Essex Chain of Lakes tract in the central Adirondacks. The state closed on the purchase of the property from The Nature Conservancy on Dec. 21 for $12,389,319.52, according to a deed filed in the Essex County Clerk's Office in Elizabethtown. It's the first phase in the state's five-year, $48 million plan to buy 69,000 acres of former Finch, Pruyn and Co. timberlands - a deal announced in August by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. "It's very exciting for us to carry forward the governor's vision here, and we're honored to be part of this great conservation success," said Mike Carr, executive director of The Nature Conservancy's Adirondack Chapter. Article Photos The confluence of the Hudson River, at right, and the Cedar River, bottom, is on the 18,300-acre Essex Chain of Lakes tract in the towns of Minerva and Newcomb. The state purchased the tract from The Nature Conservancy in late December.(Photo — Carl Heilman II, courtesy of the Adirondack Chapter of The Nature Conservancy) Located in the towns of Minerva and Newcomb, the Essex Chain of Lakes parcel includes thousands of acres of forest, 11 lakes and ponds, 14.7 miles of Hudson River shoreline and 8.5 miles of Cedar River shoreline. The tract has been in private lands since before the Civil War. Until the fall, the public won't be able to access most of the parcel, including the Essex Chain of Lakes and the east shore of the Hudson River. That's because a pair of hunting clubs - the Gooley Club and the Polaris Club - have exclusive leases to a combined 11,600 acres in the tract. Those areas will remain off limits to the public until the clubs' leases run out on Sept. 30 of this year, Carr said. After that, the clubs will have exclusive rights to one-acre envelopes surrounding their camps until 2018, when they have to vacate the property and remove their camps. State Department of Environmental Conservation spokeswoman Emily DeSantis said in an email that the state plans to open up the unleased parts of the property to the public this spring. In the meantime, DeSantis said DEC is working on a draft public access and state land classification proposal for the entire tract. She said it will be submitted soon to the state Adirondack Park Agency. "The APA plans to release a draft land classification plan for the tract in the coming months," DeSantis wrote. "A public comment period will begin once the draft plan is released and public hearings will be held before the final recommendations are sent to the Governor for approval." The question of how much public access should be allowed in the Essex Chain tract has been generating a lot of debate lately. The Park's environmental groups want to see the Essex Chain become wilderness, which would limit motorized access to the property. Sportsmen's groups and local officials want to see road access to the Essex Chain maintained and would prefer a less restrictive wild forest designation. TNC hasn't taken a position in the debate, but its deal with the state includes an easement that grants the towns of Minerva and Newcomb rights to interior roads that access a pair of gravel pits on the property. The gravel pits will be available to maintain roads on the parcel although the access will be subject to the property's classification and DEC approval. There's also a clause in the deal that conveys rights for floatplane access to First and Pine lakes to the towns. Carr said maintaining floatplane access on the tract was something they heard "loud and clear" from sportsmen and people in the neighboring communities. "We're most excited about people getting out and experiencing these new lands and waters, telling their own stories and seeing some of the economic benefit," Carr said. "As these lands become permanently open to the public, people will be more willing to invest in related business, we hope, as visitors come from all over the world to see these places." Minerva Supervisor Sue Montgomery-Corey said town officials are optimistic that the deal will benefit the local economy. "We believe there will be benefits," she said. "We believe we'll see more canoers, hikers, potentially snowmobilers and possibly a more year-round benefit, and I think that would be a good thing. We'd certainly welcome outfitters and restaurants and other types of businesses, and I think there will be opportunities we haven't even thought of." Corey also said she'd like to see opportunities for the disabled and senior citizens to access the property, which she visited for the first time last year. "What an extraordinary place. It was stunning," Corey said. "I look forward to going back again. I'm really glad the state has stepped up to make sure the property will be something the public will have access to." The state is under contract to purchase the remaining former Finch, Pruyn parcels over the next five years. Those properties include the 11,950-acre McIntyre Works parcel, the 22,081-acre Boreas Ponds tract, and a tract containing OK Slip Falls, one of the tallest waterfalls in the state, among several others. Carr said the next phase of the acquisition will hinge on the funding stream for the state's Environmental Protection Fund. "When they signal what they have left statewide in that fund, we will look to the list of tracts that need to be sold, package them together and offer them to the state," he said. --- Contact Chris Knight at 891-2600 ext. 24 or cknight@adirondackdailyenterprise.com © Copyright 2016 Adirondack Daily Enterprise. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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News/Opinion‹‹ Aug 19 - 25, 2010 ››PRINT | EMAIL | PERMALINKOdds & EndsBy Devin D. O’LearyDateline: Turkey—An overly enthusiastic bridegroom who decided to mark his wedding with a little celebratory gunfire ended up riddling the wedding party with bullets and killing three of his own relatives. The unnamed groom was attempting to shoot bullets into the air with an AK-47 at a ceremony in Akcagoze, in southeastern Gaziantep province. Unfortunately, the man struck his own father and two of his aunts, all of whom later died in the hospital. Eight other wedding guests, including children, were struck by the gunfire as well. The groom was arrested by local police. Turkish police have tried, in recent years, to crack down on the traditional custom of wedding gunfire by imposing harsher penalties. Dateline: England—According to a report in the U.K. daily Telegraph, a motorist traveling at more than 100 miles an hour tried to blame his speedy commute on dyslexia. Matthew Cook, 40, was recently spotted weaving in and out of traffic as he sped along the A27 highway between Falmer and Hollingbury in East Sussex. A concerned driver called police and officers soon clocked Cook doing 103 mph in a 60 mph zone. “He told the police officer that he did not understand the speed dial because he was suffering from dyslexia,” prosecutor John Marsden Lynch said in Hove Crown Court earlier this month. Cook admitted to a single charge of dangerous driving. Judge Christopher Morris-Coole said he was “skeptical’ about Cook’s explanation and banned him from driving for three years.Dateline: Florida—A fresh-out-of-jail burglar, caught in the same house he burglarized last year, says he was only there to deliver a “thank you” note. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports that 39-year-old Gerald Maxwell was arrested at the home on Tuesday, Aug. 10. Maxwell reportedly told police, “I was going back there to leave a thank you note because I’m the guy who burglarized this place last year. I just got out of jail.” According to the Sarasota Police Department, Maxwell has been arrested eight times for burglaries in the area since November 2006. Arrest reports state that Maxwell pried open a window at the home and crept inside, triggering a motion-sensing alarm. Two responding officers surrounded the residence and ordered Maxwell out. Inside the home, investigators found a pile of jewelry and a crack pipe. Despite the insistence he was only there to thank the homeowner for his previous robbery, Maxwell was arrested and charged with burglary and possession of drug paraphernalia—as well as four counts of probation violation.Dateline: North Carolina—A Tennessee man who survived a major car crash with no injuries was struck and killed by another vehicle after wandering into oncoming traffic while looking for his phone. North Carolina State Highway Patrol Sgt. D.B. Conley told Morganton’s News Herald that 41-year-old John Franklin of Kingsport, Tenn., was traveling east around 3 a.m. on Aug. 18 when he ran off the road, struck a guardrail and flipped his vehicle on Interstate 40 near mile marker 98. A truck driver stopped to assist Franklin, who miraculously emerged from his overturned vehicle with hardly a scratch. Franklin told the truck driver he needed to find his cell phone, which apparently went missing in the accident. Franklin then walked into the eastbound lanes of I-40 and was immediately struck by a 1999 Ford F-150 pickup truck. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The district attorney has yet to determine if charges will be filed against the driver of the pickup.Dateline: Washington—Snohomish County’s The Herald newspaper reports that an Everett man has been jailed on a $1 million bail after police say he threatened a nurse who laughed at his plans to name his newborn baby after late mob boss John Gotti. John Keinath, 39, allegedly told the nurse at Stevens Hospital, “I’m going to put a cord around your neck, strangle you until you die, throw you in a ditch, and no one will ever know who did it.” The nurse apparently thought Keinath was joking when he told her he was naming his son John Gotti. He wasn’t. On Aug. 9, Keinath was jailed in lieu of $1 million bail by Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Cowsert. Keinath is an ex-con with felony convictions for a drive-by shooting and beating someone with a pipe. He also has a record of domestic violence and car chases with police. Prosecutors say Keinath spent the last several months evading police and trying to trick people at the hospital into providing the name of the nurse who laughed at him. Keinath was arrested at gunpoint in early August after a chase with police and U.S. Marshals. He’s also being investigated for a “softball-sized” amount of methamphetamine police recovered during the hunt. Compiled by Devin D. O'Leary. E-mail your weird news to devin@alibi.com. View desktop version

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HomeNewsBusinessSportsA&ELifestylesOpinionReal EstateCarsJobs HomeNewsBusinessSportsA&ELifestylesOpinionReal EstateCarsJobs Southwest Next Door.History RevivedPrairie And Cemetery May Rest In PeaceNovember 22, 1998|By S.R. Carroll. Special to the Tribune.Bill Gunderson recalls tall prairie grass surrounding the old headstones at St. Stephen's Cemetery, which he visited in his youth. It's a pleasant memory, he said. The remote little graveyard just north of St. Charles Road in Carol Stream was peaceful, quaint and historically fascinating.But a little more than a year ago, on a bicycle ride on the Great Western Trail, Gunderson passed the cemetery and was shocked and saddened to see its condition. The beautiful prairie there had deteriorated from lack of burning; undesirable trees, as well as non-native buckthorn and weeds, had invaded it.Gunderson, 34, who lives in Wheaton and grew up in Carol Stream, has been interested in prairie stewardship since seeing his first prairie in 1992. After making a few phone calls, he discovered that two Wheaton members of the local Audubon Society, Richard Claus and Henrietta Tweedie, had been trying to restore the prairie but needed help. Gunderson volunteered, never guessing how wrapped up he would eventually get in the project."I thought it would be cutting some weeds," he said. "I had no idea I would get so involved in history. I have become an expert on the cemetery."In the mid 1850s, Gunderson said, Daniel Kelly had a farm near the intersection of what is now Schmale and St. Charles Roads in Milton Township. Others came to live nearby, and the small settlement was named Gretna. The Roman Catholic Church, as well as others, thought a railroad would go through and bring even more people, so they organized St. Stephen's Parish in 1852 and built a church in 1882. However, a successful railroad line never materialized, the town of Gretna faded into a footnote in history books, the church burned down, and the parish was moved to St. Michael's in Wheaton.People continued to be buried in the little cemetery next to the church until 1911, however. There are many pioneers buried there, perhaps even Revolutionary and Civil War veterans.When Gunderson first visited the graveyard in the 1970s, it was still pretty much intact. But over the years, vandals toppled, defaced, even stole headstones, as well as dug ruts in the turf with four-wheel-drive vehicles and scattered litter and empty beer cans. One grave was even partially dug up.Claus and Tweedie, who had been active in the Audubon Society, raised money to fence the prairie. The Joliet Diocese still owns the land, but Gunderson is working with Milton Township to help take over maintenance and security."We're in the midst of finishing up negotiations," said Herb Kruse, Milton Township supervisor. "We're also doing a survey to find out who is buried there and where everybody is.""Many of the people who are buried there still have relatives here. The Dieters, the Muehlfelts, the Starks, they still live in the area," said Don Sender, a caseworker for Milton Township who is checking names on a survey of the graves done as a Wheaton North High School student project in 1968 against old census records.He has nothing but praise for the work Gunderson has done at the cemetery so far."He has been kind enough to go out there and lead an effort to clean it up," Sender said. "He has done quite a bit as far as just stabilizing some of the prairie grasses and getting rid of the weeds."The two-acre cemetery, bordered by an industrial park on three sides and the bike trail on another, is only one-third graveyard, and that section is mowed. A section where the church once stood is being restored by Gunderson and his group as prairie, but another section where people were never buried is a natural prairie remnant, meaning that the dirt there has never been disturbed, a rarity today."This is a historical and ecological relic," said Robert Betz of Clarendon Hills, professor emeritus of biology at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago and known in prairie circles as "Mr. Prairie" for his interest in and dedication to restoring prairies in Illinois. He launched and did much of the work on the prairie restoration at Fermilab in Batavia."There are at least 60 species of prairie plants in the (cemetery)," Betz said. "It's a real gem and worthy of preservation. This is the original vegetation that the prairie farmers saw when they first came here. You're looking at the real thing."Gunderson is doing a good job on the restoration, Betz said.Richard Claus agreed. "I wish there were more people like him," he said.Gunderson has had help from some of his friends but says he would like help from others. He would like a large informational sign with photographs on the edge of the trail explaining the history of St. Stephen's and Gretna as well as providing information on the prairie. In lieu of that, he has put up a mailbox containing photocopies of a story he wrote about restoring the cemetery for the summer 1998 edition of the Illinois Prairie Path Newsletter.1 | 2 | Next Related LinksRelated Articles20 Groups Expected In Earth Day EventApril 16, 1990Local Birds On Audubon AgendaApril 16, 2000Free Prairie Tour Will Take In The Buds Of SummerJune 25, 1999Work At Prairie Is For The BirdsOctober 8, 1995This Excursion Should Satisfy Any Yen For FenOctober 1, 1995Find More Stories AboutWheatonPrairieTerms of ServicePrivacy PolicyIndex by DateIndex by Keywordwww.chicagotribune.comConnectLike us on FacebookFollow us on Twitter

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YOU ARE HERE: LAT Home→Collections→InvestigationsLos Angeles Agency Role Examined in Child's CareProbe is begun into Family Services' work with the family of a 3-month-old who died.January 07, 2005|Rachana Rathi | Times Staff Writer A Los Angeles County inspector general is investigating the Department of Children and Family Services' handling of a case involving a 3-month-old boy and his mother, who had a history of child abuse and was charged this week with her son's death.Latunga Nate Starks, 32, is accused of putting her son, Michael Kelvin Thompson, inside a washing machine Monday night before setting fire to their South Los Angeles residence. The county coroner has not determined the cause of death."I will be looking at the death of the child to determine if systemic changes are necessary to the Department of Children and Family Services," said Michael Watrobski, the county's acting children's services inspector general.Watrobski, who serves as an independent watchdog for the Board of Supervisors, said his office automatically investigated the deaths of children who have had prior contact with the county's protective services."I just want to make sure the department did everything they should have done," Watrobski said. "If not, then maybe we can improve the system to ensure that similar deaths don't happen in the future."In 1994, Starks was convicted of one count of child abuse and sentenced to eight years in prison. According to court records, she used the burning head of a mop to set her 8-month-old daughter's diaper on fire, as well as the pajamas of a 2-year-old neighbor boy. Both children suffered severe burns, and Starks' daughter was taken from her.Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke said Thursday that Starks was part of the "Compton Project," a county initiative aimed at keeping families together and keeping children out of foster care. Starks and her child, who was born on Oct. 9, lived with the baby's grandmother, Althea Andrews, at her house on West 109th Street.Burke said that county social workers called a child safety conference last fall and drew up a family plan in which Andrews had agreed to take care of the infant.The plan also called for the baby's father, Michael Thompson, to move out and attend domestic violence prevention classes and anger management counseling.In an earlier interview, Andrews said she never signed any guardianship papers but said that she wanted the child to stay with her. "I didn't want the baby to go to the system," she said.At some point, however, Burke said that there had been a determination made to remove the child from the house. But she declined to elaborate."Obviously something wrong happened here, and they're investigating it to find out what went wrong," she said."There were so many different agencies involved in this. The determination had been made that the child should be removed," she said.Burke has asked representatives from Children and Family Services to address the Board of Supervisors on the case at the panel's meeting on Tuesday.Starks, who is being held on $1-million bail, is scheduled to appear for a court hearing on Jan. 20.*Times staff writer Jack Leonard contributed to this report. MORE:Seizure Led to FloJo's DeathHis 104 scores make his caseRestaurant review: South Beverly GrillBrutal Murder by Teen-Age Girls Adds to Britons' ShockComaneci Confirms Suicide Attempt, Magazine SaysAdvertisement FROM THE ARCHIVESMan Held in Car Salesman's DeathSeptember 8, 2005Teenage Girl Convicted for Role in Actor's KillingMarch 17, 2004RFK Kin's Ex-Tutor Testifies in Girl's Unsolved '75 KillingAugust 5, 1998A Growing Faith--and OutrageMarch 10, 1998Suspect in Killing of Son Faced Prior ChargeMarch 5, 1998MORE STORIES ABOUTInvestigationsMurdersLos AngelesChild AbuseCopyright 2016 Los Angeles TimesTerms of Service|Privacy Policy|Index by Date|Index by Keyword

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Barry Manilow To Headline 'Capitol Fourth' Concert In D.C.Barry Manilow, country group Alabama and KC and the Sunshine Band will perform for the annual "Capitol Fourth" concert on the National Mall with the National Symphony Orchestra.Actor Bradley Whitford To Host 'Capitol Fourth' ConcertActor Bradley Whitford will be the host for the annual July Fourth concert on the National Mall.Country Group Alabama To Join July 4 DC Concert With ManilowCountry music group Alabama and singers Hunter Hayes, Nicole Scherzinger and Meghan Linsey from "The Voice" are joining the lineup for the Independence Day celebration on the National Mall, along with headliner Barry Manilow.Barry Manilow To Perform On National Mall For July 4thBarry Manilow will headline this year's Independence Day celebration on the National Mall, performing July 4 with the National Symphony Orchestra and other musicians.Friday, Dec. 5, 2014Coffee With Barry Manilow; People Are Talking about the 42nd Annual Mayor's Christmas Parade.Barry Manilow Joins Star Lineup For July 4th In D.C.Barry Manilow will join stars from Broadway, "American Idol" and composer John Williams for this year's July Fourth celebration on the National Mall.Barry Manilow Donates New Piano To Benefit Baltimore SchoolsBarry Manilow donated a Yamaha piano to launch a local instrument drive for Baltimore City public schools.Barry Manilow To Perform At 1st Mariner Arena In SeptemberBarry Manilow will be performing at the 1st Mariner Arena on Saturday, Sept. 15 at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6, 2011Marty and Don had "Coffee With" Barry Manilow. They talked about atrial fibrillation. For People Are Talking, Ron Matz was talking about the Under Armour Running Festival. Wednesday, May 25, 2011Marty and Don talked to entertainer Barry Manilow about his new CD, "15 Minutes." In People Are Talking, Ron Matz was at the Inner Harbor talking about the Pride of Baltimore II heading to the Great Lakes.

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Rapper, reality-TV star charged in fight at casino By Dana Thompson on February 25, 2012 at 7:41 PM Associated Press MASHANTUCKET, Conn.— Rapper and reality-TV star Jim Jones was arrested Saturday in a brawl that broke out after a party hosted by Sean “Diddy” Combs at the Foxwoods Resort Casino, police said. A total of five people were charged in the fight that started after 2 a.m. in the foyer of the MGM Grand casino, where Combs headlined a “platinum party” as part of a 20th anniversary celebration for Foxwoods. A state police detective was treated for minor injuries at a hospital and was released, police said. Jones, a hip-hop artist and actor whose “We Fly High” was one of 2007’s top-selling rap tracks, was charged with resisting arrest for an alleged assault on an officer and breach of peace, state police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance said. The other four people arrested faced charges including inciting to riot. Vance said he was not certain how the altercation began. Jones said on Twitter that he posted $40,000 bail, adding later Saturday: “This is gettin blown way out of proportion.” An attorney who has represented Jones in the past did not immediately respond to a message on Saturday seeking comment. In October, Jones pleaded guilty to driving his Bentley with a suspended license in New York and was fined $200. In 2009, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge for punching one of R&B star Ne-Yo’s friends in a dust-up at a Louis Vuitton boutique. He was sentenced to time served — the few hours he was in custody after turning himself in to police. The 35-year-old rapper, born Joseph Jones, is one of the Diplomats, a Harlem-based rap crew. Besides “We Fly High,” his hits include “Pop Champagne.” He released a new album, “Capo,” in April. He also has a T-shirt line. He recently starred with his girlfriend, Chrissy Lampkin, in the latest season of VH1’s “Love and Hip Hop,” and in 2009 he was featured in “Hip-Hop Monologues: Inside the Life and Mind of Jim Jones,” a play about his life on the road and on the streets. Categories: Celebs in trouble, Music, Reality, Television Tags: Celebs in trouble | Music | Reality TV Dana Thompson View Comments Blog Search

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Lauryn Hill opens up about prison life By dailydish@sfgate.com (Daily Dish) on July 22, 2013 at 12:55 PM Kena Betancur/Getty Images Incarcerated R&B star Lauryn Hill has spoken out for the first time since she checked into jail earlier this month, revealing she has received a “warm reception” from her fellow inmates. The former “Fugees” singer was sentenced to three months behind bars after pleading guilty to three charges of failing to file her tax returns between 2005 and 2007. She began her sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut on July 8, and on Saturday, a friend of the star took to her tumblr.com page to tell fans Hill is “doing well” in jail. The pal also includes a personal note from the musician which reads, “I have known since very young to look for the purpose and lesson in everything, including the trials. Although it has taken some adjustment, I cannot deny the favor I have encountered while in here, and general warm reception from a community of people who despite their circumstances, have found unique ways to make the best of them. “Thank you for the letters of concern and well wishes that I receive in the mail every day. Although I may not be able to write everyone back (sic), please know that they have been received, read, acknowledged, and appreciated.” After completing her stint behind bars, Hill will spend a further three months under house arrest and nine months on supervised release. She has also taken steps to rectify her financial problems – earlier this year she paid off more than $900,000 in back taxes to settle her debts. Categories: General Tags: Lauryn Hill View Comments Blog Search

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Connect With Us: Steven A. Cook From the Potomac to the Euphrates Cook examines developments in the Middle East and their resonance in Washington. Turkey: Rescue Me Steven A. Cook May 13, 2013 A man checks an apartment on a damaged building at the site of a blast in the town of Reyhanli in Hatay province, near the Turkish-Syrian border, May 13, 2013 (Umit Bektas/Courtesy Reuters). Share The Turkish government’s tepid response to the car bombings in Reyhanli last Friday should help bring to a merciful end the prevailing meme in Washington that Ankara is poised to lead the Middle East. Rather than providing leadership and a source of stability in the region, Turkey is now a party to regional conflicts, especially the civil war in Syria. It is true that Turkey did not necessarily seek the position that it now finds itself in, but the mismatch between its grand ambitions and Ankara’s capacity to provide order to the Middle East contributed mightily to its problems. Despite all the talk of models and rising to the level of U.S. traditional allies in Europe—code for the United Kingdom and France—over the last few years, Turkey, like a variety of other countries in the region, needs rescuing. In what seems like Cold War redux, Washington and Moscow are stepping in to do what they can to prevent the Syrian conflict from engulfing the region. Although Washington and Ankara have shared interests in Syria and other regional hotspots, the United States and Russia are likely to pursue a political solution to the Syrian civil war—Turkey’s most pressing foreign (and suddenly domestic) policy problem that is consistent with its interests. Since the summer of 2011 after trying in vain to persuade Bashar al Assad to reform and negotiate—two things the Syrian leader was never going to do—the Turkish leadership has consistently called for Assad’s ouster and the end of the regime he leads. It is a principled position, but not one that is likely to serve Ankara well if the United States and Russia preside over a political solution in Syria that includes regime figures, if not members of Assad’s inner circle. Although Erdogan remains a popular figure among the Syrian opposition, leaving former regime players in place will likely complicate Ankara’s efforts to be a player in post-Assad Syria. Some observers have suggested that the Turks (as well as the Saudis and Qataris) would be able to “kiss and make-up” with the regime holdovers or even Assad should he prevail, but this is a profound misreading of Erdogan who does not forgive and forget easily. Just ask Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Iraq’s leader, Nouri Kamal al Maliki. It would be extremely difficult for Erdogan to be magnanimous toward Assad or his supporters after 80,000 Syrians have died and a staggering ten percent of Syria’s population has been displaced, including anywhere from 322,845 refugees(at the time of writing) who have found safe haven in Turkey. In addition, before Friday’s bombing Assad has killed approximately nineteen Turks, dropped ordinance on Turkish territory, allegedly shot down a Turkish surveillance jet operating in international waters, and is believed to be behind the Reyhanli bombings with forty-six dead and at least one-hundred injured. And yet, with the exception of the artillery barrages in October 2012, the Turks have let Assad get away with these provocations. Turkey is in the worst of all possible positions: Unable to corral the opposition; at odds with its ostensible partners, Riyadh and Doha; it has become a party to Syria’s civil war, but is unable to respond to Bashar al Assad’s periodic taunts because Erdogan’s Syria policy is generally unpopular in Turkey. With all of Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s eloquence about history endowing Turkey with special responsibilities in the region, the caution associated with Ataturk’s “Peace at Home, Peace in the World” still makes sense to many Turks. One could argue that much of what has befallen Turkey in Syria is not of Ankara’s own doing, which is partly true, but it still was not supposed to be this way. Turkey, with the 16th largest economy in the world, has historical and cultural legacies in the region that were assets, a political and economic system that is attractive to Arabs, and its use of soft-power galore was going to be a regional problem solver and economic engine, making it another Turkish century in the Middle East and in the process relieving the United States of some of the burdens it has carried in the last six decades. Yet here we are, heading to Geneva or some other anodyne place for a peace conference under the auspices of Washington and Moscow. At best, Prime Minister Erdogan and the Justice and Development Party leadership will emerge from this episode with egg on their faces but with enough of their position intact to help implement whatever solution (if one materializes) the big powers coerce out of the players in Syria’s tragedy. At worst, it will reveal once again the hollowness of their aspirations and dependence on great power patrons. The saving grace for Erdogan is that he has no credible domestic political opposition capable of capitalizing on his foreign policy problems—the main opposition Republican People’s Party supports Bashar al Assad. Consequently, Syria may have put only a small dent in Erdogan’s domestic political aura, but it should smash Washington’s incongruent belief in “Turkey’s rise as a regional power.” Posted in Syria, Turkey, U.S. Foreign Policy Post a Comment 3 Comments Posted by mehmetK May 13, 2013 at 3:14 pm Clearly Syria does show the limitations of what Turkey can do in influencing the Syrian civil war but all the Western great powers also find themselves stymied. Undoubtedly these provocations will continue. The one thing that is unlikely to happen is precisely what the Syrian regime wants, i.e. large numbers of Turkish troops involved in an invasion. Most of the country is no longer under the regime’s control and wrapping itself in the flag of Arab nationalism may be one of the last cards left to play. Especially since the “beating heart of Arabism” is increasingly seen as an Iranian enitity with even the Iranians referring to it as their 34th province. There is no appetite for military intervention in Turkey but continued provocations may eventually change public perceptions. Turkey does not have the terror infrastructure that Iran and Syria posess so diplomacy and conventional military responses are the only tools avaliable to Ankara. On the diplomatic front things are indeed moving, even if slowly. Yes, with the US and Russia in the lead but here again, no one in Turkey expected that Ankara would supplant either of these powers. Asto hallow aspirations, one should be careful to note that the soft power aspect of Turkey is what appeals to the Arab countries, not military prowess and certainly not against an already brutalized Arab nation. The soft power equation has not changed much and elements of this continue to grow from Arab tourists to soap operas to Turkish exports and investments in the Arab World as well as Arab investments in Turkey. On the military front, Turkey may not be a paper tiger just yet. Remember that the Turkish Air Force was recalled at the last moment the last time something much less provocative happened. Mr. Cook is an astute observer of the Middle East scene and Turkey but it seems that on this occasion his quick riposte to the events of the last two days might have merited a bit more reflection, especially on what alternative scenariosTurkey might have pursued. Posted by EvilWorm May 17, 2013 at 5:35 pm Turkey! Stop lazing around and pull your weight. NATO is watching and wondering why YOU are a member and not Israel Posted by OMERTA May 19, 2013 at 1:14 am Since 1974, the Turkish army and the present situation is not a difficult military operation ..Through bilateral policies in the Middle East, the Turkish foreign thoroughly lost confidence in Syria .. Turkey is now the leading country in the Middle East to be even stronger, which is talking about, but with the economy and what the army.!! Tracked by Syria’s Sectarian Stalemate & Erdogan’s visit to White House. | YERELCE May 15, 2013 at 1:04 pm Tracked by Turkey’s Erdogan Visits the US: Four Problems That Won’t Be Solved – TIME | News For Web May 16, 2013 at 7:44 pm Tracked by Turkey’s Erdogan Visits the US: Four Problems That Won’t Be Solved – TIME | Custom News Cast May 16, 2013 at 7:48 pm Tracked by Turkey’s Erdogan Visits the US: Four Problems That Won’t Be Solved – TIME | NewsSupplyDaily May 16, 2013 at 8:03 pm Tracked by Turkey’s Erdogan Visits the US: 4 Problems That Won’t Be Solved – TIME | Big E News June 13, 2013 at 3:59 am Tracked by Turkey’s Erdogan Visits the US: 4 Problems That Won’t Be Solved – TIME | World News June 14, 2013 at 10:01 pm Tracked by Turkey’s Erdogan Visits the US: 4 Problems That Won’t Be Solved – TIME | Finance Chit Chat July 9, 2013 at 10:02 am About This BlogFrom the Potomac to the Euphrates examines how debates about Mideast policy in Washington connect to the region, with a special focus on Egypt and Turkey.About the Author Steven A. Cook Eni Enrico Mattei Senior Fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies Tweets by @stevenacook Recent Posts May 20th, 2016 Weekend Reading: The Folly of Iraqi Partition, Turkey’s New Prime Minister, and Geopolitical Shiism Ben Connable contends that persistent arguments to partition Iraq are often incoherent and offer weak solutions. Murat Yetkin profiles Turkey’s… Tunisia: On the Road to Nowhere “The only things [that have] changed are the names of the streets. They used to be [called] November 7, now… Don’t Blame Sykes-Picot for the Middle East’s Mess This article was originally published here on ForeignPolicy.com on Friday, May 13, 2016. Sometime in the 100 years since the Sykes-Picot… Weekend Reading: Beirut’s Elections, Armenian Artisans, and Egyptian Buildings Habib Battah examines the intersection of new and old in Lebanese politics in the context of Beirut’s municipal elections. Nektaria… Syria’s Doctors In late May 1994, I boarded a Pakistan International Airways flight bound for Islamabad with intermediate stops in the Netherlands… Categories Countries of the Middle East (562) Palestinian Authority (34) Gaza (13) West Bank (1) Issues & Topics (287) Coups (13) Defense/Homeland Security (2) Global/Regional Governance (24) Gulf Cooperation Council (9) Opposition Movements (13) U.S. Foreign Policy (107) Weekend Reading (215) Archives Select Month May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 New Books The Hacked World Order by Adam Segal In The Hacked World Order, CFR Senior Fellow Adam Segal shows how governments use the web to wage war and spy on, coerce, and damage each other. More by Micah Zenko Red Team provides an in-depth investigation into the work of red teams, revealing the best practices, most common pitfalls, and most effective applications of these modern-day devil's advocates. More How America Stacks Up by Edward Alden and Rebecca Strauss Through insightful analysis and engaging graphics, How America Stacks Up explores how the United States can keep pace with global economic competition. More New Independent Task Force Reports Working With a Rising India: A Joint Venture for the New Century New CSRs Enhancing U.S. Support for Peace Operations in Africa Williams argues that the status quo for peace operations in untenable and that greater U.S. involvement is necessary to enhance the quality and success of peacekeeping missions. Revising U.S. Grand Strategy Toward China by Robert D. Blackwill and Ashley J. Tellis The authors argue that the United States has responded inadequately to the rise of Chinese power and recommend placing less strategic emphasis on the goal of integrating China into the international system and more on balancing China's rise. U.S. Policy to Counter Nigeria's Boko Haram by John Campbell Campbell evaluates the implications of the Boko Haram insurgency and recommends that the United States support Nigerian efforts to address the drivers of Boko Haram, such as poverty and corruption, and to foster stronger ties with Nigerian civil society. Complete list of Council Special Reports

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http://blogs.wsj.com/dealjournalaustralia/2012/05/22/seafolly-sets-sail-for-st-tropez/ Seafolly Sets Sail For St. Tropez Seafolly’s Peter (R) and Anthony Halas Australian swimwear brand Seafolly is making waves around the world, this week opening a flagship store in St. Tropez to lift its profile in the Northern Hemisphere where it’s stocked by the likes of Nordstrom, Selfridges and Neiman Marcus. Chief Executive Anthony Halas — who in 1998 bought into the company his father Peter Halas founded in 1975 — spoke to Gillian Tan about the company’s growth ambitions and design tweaks for specific markets, including skimpier bottoms in France. The below interview has been edited. WSJ: You’re opening a store in St. Tropez this week, can you elaborate on your offshore expansion plans? Mr. Halas: We’ve grown so much in the Australian market, where we have a 35% market share so we understand that real growth is going to come from overseas from now. Our big focus is in five key markets – U.S., France, Germany, Canada and the U.K – as well as the South East Asian region. The St Tropez store — like our store on Orchard Road in Singapore — is more of a strategic brand building exercise than the main point of growth, as we already supply almost 40 countries in a wholesale capacity. Pure retail only accounts for around 25% of our business. In terms of new flagship stores, we’re looking for the right sites in South East Asia and the United States. WSJ: How do you think you’ll tackle those five markets? Mr. Halas: We’ve got a good base in those markets — we’re a major swimwear supplier to the likes of Anthropologie, House of Fraser and Nordstrom — but it’s about raising consumer awareness and tweaking the products slightly to suit consumer tastes. In markets like Germany we have to add larger sizer and in France, they want skimpier bottoms. In the U.K., consumers are used to buying cheap swimwear from the likes of Marks & Spencer and Debenhams so we need to reeducate them so they see value in paying more for fit and quality from a unique, niche brand. In the U.S., I’ve found their tastes are similar to Australia but from a wholesale perspective, they can set some tough terms and be hard to negotiate with. WSJ: Why do you think some Australian retailers have struggled with the structural shift to online retailing? Mr Halas: I think Australian retailers have been slow on the uptake because when the online retail industry started booming, they got burnt because consumers weren’t ready so they pulled back. Now they’re getting in a little late and jostling for market share which has been snatched by non-traditional retailers. WSJ: What’s Seafolly’s online strategy? Mr. Halas: Internationally, we’re happy supplying third parties and have established partnerships with the likes of ASOS in the U.K., Zappos in the U.S. and Zalando in Germany. In Australia, we’re throwing resources behind direct sales to online consumers which we launched in December 2011, a move that has proven successful. WSJ: Swimwear has to be one of the most seasonally-influenced businesses, what are you doing to combat cash flow fluctuations? Mr. Halas: We’re becoming more balanced as our export exposure grows, so thanks to a bigger northern hemisphere business there are less peaks and troughs in cash flow. Swimwear is totally about the weather, if the weather’s good, sales go up no matter how good or bad the economy is. In Australia, we’ve just come out of one of the worst summers so retail has been quite weak but on a like-for-like basis, we’ll probably be on par with last year’s earnings. We’re also developing non-swimwear products and there’s a big emphasis on the whole resort and lifestyle segment so we’re broadening our range of clothing and accessories. WSJ: Seafolly owns a majority stake in Isola by Megan Gale, will you look to engage in any other strategic spin-off brands? Mr. Halas: Isola was an attractive proposition, it caters to a sophisticated market aged 35 and over, with a higher price point. We’d consider an opportunity if it came up but we’re not looking for anything. We’re constantly working on new designs to protect our own market share and to ensure we continue to have that broad appeal. WSJ: Would you consider involving a strategic investor such as private equity, and what are your thoughts on an IPO? Mr. Halas: Not in the short to medium-term. It’s a family-owned, family-run business that has the capital for the growth we’re targeting. Our annual turnover for the 2011/2012 financial year is A$95 million, so we’re generating sufficient cash flow and have very little debt. I’m not sure we’d be aligned with the short-term interests that some private equity investors might be looking for, this business is about longevity. We’d possibly consider an IPO but not in the next five years. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @WSJAustralia Anthony Halas Marks &amp; Spencer Aurora Considers Dropping Bid For Eureka Energy Investors Hold Tight As Qantas Spreads Its Wings

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South Austin Fire Believed To Be Work Of Arsonist Filed Under: arson, Domestic Dispute, Fire, Lawler Avenue, South Austin, West Side Arson is believed to be to blame for a fire overnight at 1111 N. Lawler Ave. on the city's West Side. (Credit: CBS) CHICAGO (CBS) — Investigators say an early-morning fire in a South Austin neighborhood apartment building might have been the work of an arsonist. Firefighters were called to a three-story building at 1111 N. Lawler Ave. around 1 a.m. Wednesday. The fire was out shortly afterward, but it burned out most of the second floor. Everyone inside escaped safely. A Fire Department investigator on the scene said early Wednesday that the fire looked like an intentional act, and is linked to a domestic dispute. Sandra Price, 42, lives on the third floor and was home with her five children, her 1-year-old grandchild and her husband when the fire started. She said she heard people screaming right before she saw the orange flames. None of her children, who range in age from 13 to 26, were hurt. Price said that she helped a woman move out of the unit where the blaze started earlier Tuesday, and saw her arguing with a boyfriend she had just broken up with. Price said she believes the argument was related to the blaze, and said she saw the same man running away from the building right after the fire started. Price, who was standing outside with her children and grandchild, said she was angry to have been put in danger. They escaped by using a back exit. Some of the building’s residents are likely to be displaced, Curtis said. It was not immediately known how many people lived in the building. Emergency crews received preliminary reports that people may have jumped from the building to escape the flames, but later found no one had jumped, Curtis said. No injuries were reported. The fire investigator said, “We’re working on it,” when asked if there was anyone in custody. The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.

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CEO of Atlanta Bread Co. accused in South African fraud scheme ATLANTA -- The chief executive of one of the nation's largest cafe and bakery chains is accused in a scheme to defraud investors in South Africa, and control of the company has been temporarily shifted to his brother as he fights the charges. Jerry Couvaras, head of the 167-restaurant Atlanta Bread Company, has surrendered his passport and will remain in Johannesburg until the case is resolved, spokeswoman Jane Langley said Friday. He was arrested there last month, but the privately held company did not issue a statement and word of what happened only recently surfaced. In his absence, Couvaras' younger brother, Basil, has been appointed to run the company, though Jerry Couvaras is still president and CEO, the company said. "Jerry's absence is not making it difficult," chief financial officer Alan Sack said in an interview. "This is not a simple business and there are very strong leaders and managers in place." Company spokeswoman Alice Coggin said "it's business as usual here for us." As for Couvaras' fate, Sack said, "I'm distressed and really wish him well through this." South African police confirmed Jerry Couvaras' arrest, but offered only sketchy details about the case. Johannesburg police spokesman Sgt. Sanku Tsunke said Couvaras was arrested by Interpol on March 21 at Johannesburg International Airport as he was trying to return to the United States. He was charged with fraud after some 2,000 South Africans lost $6.5 million in an investment scheme that collapsed either in 1992 or 1993. Tsunke did not have details of the alleged scheme, or why it took so long to come to light. Atlanta Bread Company officials said the charges are unrelated to the company. Couvaras made a brief court appearance on April 1 and was released on $148,000 bail. Under the terms of his release, he is required to turn in his passport and report to Johannesburg police twice a day. He is due back in court June 2. Langley said she believes the charges stem from a decade-old lawsuit that had been settled. She said Couvaras was surprised when he was picked up by authorities in Johannesburg, where he and his family were on vacation. His wife and four children have since returned to Atlanta. "He strongly disagrees with these allegations and he's going to contest it," Langley said. Couvaras' lawyer in Johannesburg, Brian Lebos, could not be reached for comment. The Atlanta Bread Company was founded in Atlanta in 1993 with one restaurant. It quickly grew into a chain with more than 160 restaurants in 24 states with systemwide-revenue last year of $215 million. The company has 5,000 employees, though many of the restaurants are franchise-owned. Couvaras joined the company in 1994 as manager of a Marietta location. He was appointed president and CEO in 1995. Associated Press Alexandra Zavis contributed to this report from Johannesburg, South Africa. http://www.atlantabread.com SOUTH AFRICANS JERRY COUVARAS BRIAN LEBOS BASIL MANAGER OF A MARIETTA LOCATION JOHANNESBURG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT INTERPOL JOHANNESBURG POLICE ALICE COGGIN JUDICIAL EVENT PRESIDENT AND CEO ASSOCIATED PRESS COMPANY SPOKESWOMAN JOHANNESBURG SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER LAWYER SERGEANT USD LAW_CRIME Trending this week:

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More cuts might be needed By Brandon Larrabee Morris News Service Friday, Oct. 3, 2008 Comment Follow Metro ATLANTA --- Cuts to state government might go even deeper, and a sluggish housing market might limit local school districts' ability to pick up the slack, an economist with the University of Georgia said Thursday. Barring withdrawals from the state's reserve fund or some sort of tax increase, "I'm absolutely convinced that the cuts that have been implemented thus far are not going to be enough to balance the budget," said Jeff Humphreys, the director of UGA's Selig Center for Economic Growth. Gov. Sonny Perdue has frozen 6 percent of state funding for most agencies, 2 percent of state aid to local schools and 5 percent of Medicaid spending. He has also asked agencies to submit ideas for reducing their budgets up to 10 percent as he looks to revise the budget for the current fiscal year, which begins June 30, and craft a spending measure for the following spending year. Housing values might not fall during a recession, Mr. Humphreys said, but they would likely remain flat. And publicity about falling property values in other states might prompt more taxpayers to challenge their tax assessments, delaying payments. The economy should begin turning around next year, Mr. Humphreys said, though housing values might take longer to recover. A $7,500 tax credit for first-time homeowners, set to expire July 1, could help the market, though Mr. Humphreys said potential buyers might wait until closer to the deadline to see whether prices will go down. "They don't have to sell a house to buy, so that's high-octane fuel for the housing market," he said. Mr. Humphreys made his comments at the inaugural "State of the State" report for education in Georgia, sponsored by the UGA College of Education and Education Policy and Evaluation Center. College dean Andy Horne said the goal of the conference was to help education leaders deal with some of the challenges education currently faces. "The economy is certainly impacting education," he said, "and the business as usual mode isn't going to work." Reach Brandon Larrabee at (678) 977-3709 or brandon.larrabee@morris.com.

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Puts and Calls: The high political costs of the Gulf oil spill Tom KarolOccasional Political Commentator 937490Gulf oil clean-up: In response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, President Obama imposed a freeze on new offshore-drilling leases until a comprehensive review of the accident can be completed. Obama declined, however, to back away from the his earlier proposal to open vast expanses of water along the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska to oil and natural gas drilling, much of it for the first time. The April 20 explosion on the BP-operated Deepwater Horizon drilling platform about 50 miles off the southeast coast of Louisiana has left an untapped wellhead pouring about 5,000 barrels of oil a day into the Gulf. The Coast Guard estimates that 1.6 million gallons of oil have spilled since the explosion. BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward said in an interview with Reuters that the company would compensate those affected by the spill, but the cost could be $8 billion or more — and the company’s stock price has already dipped 12%. The cost is about $6 million a day now, but will increase. Containing and cleaning up the spill are only the beginning as there will be millions — or even billions — of dollars in lost revenue for fishing, tourism and other industries. Lawsuits have already been filed and the share prices are tumbling for BP, the rig operator Transocean and Cameron International, which made the blowout protectors. The political slick: The White House press office is churning out reports of the administration’s progress while Republicans have tried to brand the oil spill “Obama’s Katrina.” Obama flew to the Gulf on Sunday morning to survey the damage. The administration has had only a few minor foot faults so far. About two weeks before the spill, President Obama publicly stated: “It turns out, by the way, that oil rigs today generally don’t cause spills. They are technologically very advanced.” The Minerals Management Service, a part of the Interior Department that oversees safety on offshore rigs, had inspected the rig numerous times and reported no problems. The blowout preventer had been inspected and approved only 10 days before the accident. Homeland Security waited a week after the spill to declare it “a spill of national significance,” and senior officials have questioned what resources might be useful in containing and cleaning the spill. As an added precaution, the administration has sent lawyers from Justice and EPA to the Gulf as the first wave in dealing with the inevitable “blame game” that will result. The Coast Guard’s response to this newly designated “spill of national significance” will be paid for through the U.S. Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, established under the first President Bush. If this funding runs out, Congress will likely provide more. Climate change legislation: The bi-partisan climate bill from Sens. Graham, Kerry and Lieberman was derailed when Majority Leader Reid pushed it behind immigration. Obama has promised to make climate change a high priority, but public interest and the political will was waning prior to the spill. As a result of the spill concessions to business included in earlier proposals may be harder to obtain; Sen. Bill Nelson has called on the administration to scrap its plan to open new coastal waters for oil and gas exploration. The Senate climate and energy bill has been expected to include measures to boost offshore development — including provisions that give coastal states with new offshore development a generous slice of the leasing and royalty revenue to attract Republican support. The Graham/Kerry/Lieberman bill is still a leading contender. Kerry has asked the EPA to analyze a compromise climate change bill that he hopes to move through the Senate this year. The EPA economic impact analysis will likely take a month or more to complete and the bill would not likely be considered by the Senate until the analysis is done and digested. The Congressional Budget Office is likely to conduct its own analysis, and the oil industry wants the Energy Department’s Energy Information administration to take a look, too. That means that the Senate probably would not even consider the bill until July or later. Buffet defends Goldman: Goldman stock dropped almost 10 percent on reports that the Justice Department opened a criminal investigation of the bank, but one of the world’s richest men, and perhaps the markets’ most respected investor, still likes the company. On Friday, Warren Buffett told Berkshire Hathaway shareholders that Berkshire’s $5 billion of preferred stock in Goldman is a good investment, generating 10 percent interest a year, which includes warrants that can convert the preferred shares into regular stock at $115 a share (about $30 lower than Goldman’s current price). Buffett and Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger praised the bank before a crowd of about 40,000 at an annual shareholder meeting, saying that they’re happy with Goldman’s leadership. Of course, Buffett has much better Goldman interests than you or I could get today. Berkshire Hathaway acquired its Goldman interests in September 2008 as part of the bailout. You say “tomato,” I say “collateralized debt obligations”: It’s no state secret that many of the 535 members of Congress who will end up voting on financial reform are poorly informed on the nuances of more sophisticated investment products and services. Many would have difficulty explaining what derivatives are and how they work. But as Alain Sherter details in a must-read piece for anyone interested in financial reform, even sophisticated minds can look at the same issue and see very different things. In Why Goldman and Congress Aren’t Speaking the Same Language, Sherter illustrates the disagreement, misunderstanding and distrust over what Goldman and other financial services firms do and how they do it. Goldman’s seemingly inexplicable defense is at heart a surprisingly simple claim that it was merely acting as an impartial market maker for the deal, and owed no duty to buyers or sellers to provide additional information. Congress and others cannot fathom that such a duty would not exist. The courts will decide (unless Goldman settles), but this issue highlights how two informed sides can see things in very different ways. As the financial reform bill ambles towards enactment, the need for interpreters is bound to increase. Tags: Barack Obama, Berkshire Hathaway, BP, Business and Finance, Climate change, Congressional Budget Office, Environmental Protection Agency, Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana, Oil, Oil spill, Puts and calls, Warren Buffett Hide Comments

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Would you like to make English your default language on this site? Connect with Diálogo: Argentine Navy’s 'Libertad' Makes Triumphant Return to Sea After spending years docked for fear of being held in foreign ports over Argentina’s outstanding debt, the ship is now sailing the seas freely, carrying a 351-member crew on a journey that will last until November 5th. Colombian Military's Peacetime Campaign Aims to Conquer People's Hearts For General Juan Pablo Rodríguez Barragán, Commander of the Colombian Military Forces, the institutional campaign "We are in the Hearts of Colombians, and That’s Where We Will Stay" carries a very important philosophical meaning. Brazilian and U.S. Navies Work Together in Pre-Olympics Counter-terrorism Training Members of the Brazilian and U.S. Navies worked together to confront a series of fictitious terrorist attacks that were simulated at locations throughout Rio de Janeiro in preparation for the upcoming Olympic Games Military Exchange in El Salvador Highlights Importance of Non-Commissioned Officers From May 10th-12th in San Salvador, senior-level Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) in El Salvador, NCOs from New Hampshire’s National Guard, and representatives from U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) exchanged views and ideas on how to support the role of NCOs in the Armed Forces of El Salvador. Colombian Police Make One of the Largest Cocaine Seizures in Nation's History The interdiction of 9.3 tons of cocaine valued at around $250 million was the result of weeks of surveillance, undercover work, and a coordinated effort involving more than 50 police commandos and aerial support. Colombian National Navy Neutralizes Another Drug-Trafficking Semi-Submersible So far this year, Colombia’s National Navy has seized four semi-submarines that were going to be used to smuggle drugs out of the country. The last vessel was found on May 13th in the town of Candelilla de la Mar in the department of Nariño. Uruguay and Chile Boost Cooperation against Terrorism and Organized Crime Uruguayan Vice Minister of Defense Jorge Menéndez Corte recently met his Chilean counterpart, Undersecretary of Defense Marcos Robledo Hoecker, for the first political and strategic dialogue between Undersecretaries of Defense for the two countries in Santiago, Chile. Armies of Brazil, Colombia, and Peru Conduct Expansive Joint Operation in the Amazon The three Latin American countries are cooperating to combat drug trafficking and illegal mining in the broadest joint operation ever undertaken. Honduras: A United Central America Against Organized Crime is Needed Major General Francisco Isaías Álvarez Urbina, chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Honduran Armed Forces, said his country is working with partner nations to fight organized crime and narco-trafficking. Guatemalan and U.S. Troops Team Up to Provide Health Services to Citizens Guatemalan Troops and the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) are working together to provide medical assistance to 100,000 residents in the highlands of the department of San Marcos. Ecuadorian Armed Forces Thank Colombia for Aid after Earthquake Colombia, along with other regional partner nations, provided quick and effective aid immediately after a deadly earthquake struck Ecuador in mid April. Colombian Army Promotes Programs to Enhance Country’s Agriculture Colombia's National Army and the Ministry of Agriculture have joined forces to develop programs to support the agricultural sector in the country's most vulnerable rural regions. Nicaragua Creates a Unit to Investigate Money Laundering The new Nicaraguan entity will be able to use information provided by casinos, currency exchange and gaming businesses, among others, in addition to accessing confidential information from the people it investigates. (Photo: AFP/Rodrigo Buendía) On June 12, the Nicaraguan Congress approved the Financial Analysis Unit (UAF), an entity with the power to investigate, at its discretion, individuals or firms suspected of money laundering or links to drug trafficking, an official source announced. The law seeks to prevent the “laundering of money, property, and assets originating in illicit activities and the financing of terrorism” in Nicaragua, according to the text passed by 63 of the 91 legislators, the president of Congress, René Núñez, announced. The UAF will serve as a decentralized government agency, under the leadership of a director and a deputy director, who will, however, be named by President Daniel Ortega. The entity will be able to investigate individuals and public and private institutions “that may be linked to money laundering,” report its suspicions to the authorities, and exchange information with authorities outside the country. It will also be able to demand information from the Office of the Superintendent of Banks, microfinance firms, currency exchanges, pawn shops, lenders, money-transfer businesses, casinos, and gaming businesses, and from the police themselves, as well as having access to confidential documents of the individuals it may investigate. According to the law, the officials who exchange information with the UAF must maintain “complete confidentiality about the reports” and investigations. Businesspeople and opposition politicians fear that the administration might use the UAF to investigate the finances of individuals and firms opposed to its ideals. “They can declare the civil death of any businessperson or citizen” who does not support the administration, opposition member of Congress Eliseo Núñez warned. The chair of the Private Enterprise Senior Council, José Aguerri, announced that he will go to court to seek to have the law creating the UAF, which he considered a “terrible signal” for the country, ruled unconstitutional. Do you like this article? *denotes required field 1500 characters remaining (1500 max) E-mail to* Your message/comments Major General Francisco Isaías Álvarez Urbina, chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Honduran... Non-Commissioned Officers Come Together in El Salvador to Exchange Ideas Panama Seizes Highest Volume of Drugs in 15 Years Joint Operation Dismantles Criminal Alliance Between ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán, FARC in Panama Brazil Approves Extradition of Alleged Mexican Drug Trafficker to U.S. More narco news coverage The Inter-American Defense Board Transforms in Face of New Challenges El Salvador: Gang Problem Becoming Regional Threat SOUTHCOM: Human Rights Improve Readiness and Effectiveness of Armed Forces Brazilian Army Appoints First Female Commander of an Operational Military Organization Barbados Creating Lab to Fight Cybercrime Brazil's Strategic Project Proteger will Secure Important Infrastructure FARC weakened and undergoing a severe economic crisis Brazilian Armed Forces Respond to Major Environmental Disaster Rules of Engagement for Favela Occupations Must be Reconsidered play System of Cooperation among the American Air Forces. Produced by Air Force South (AFSOUTH) in partnership with Latin American Air Forces. (03:03) :: Defense Studies :: Military Education :: Reference Links :: Defense Links

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Your Donations NCPR News: Nora Flaherty, Reporter/producer Show 10 50 stories headlines Farmer John Peck, of Peck Homestead Farm in Champion, in Jefferson County, is worried about how steadily rising property taxes are affecting his livelihood. Photo: Joanna Richards Could the two percent ag land tax cap hurt non-farmers? by Nora Flaherty, in Canton, NY Jun 07, 2013 — New York farmers are closely watching the fate of a bill in Albany that would cap assessments of their land at a two percent increase per year. That's compared to the current 10 percent per year. Agricultural land is assessed according to the crops growing on it. And corn and soybean prices have been soaring. But lots of farmers might not see profits from those high prices, and many say they're paying a lot more in taxes, without taking in a lot more money. Go to full article House on County Route 11 in Depauville, NY. The house has since burned down, and photos can be found on the house's page at OABNNY. Photo: Old Abandoned Buildings of Northern New York Watertown man preserves "Old Abandoned Buildings" with web site by Nora Flaherty, in Canton, NY Apr 29, 2013 — We've all driven down the highway in the North Country and been amazed that some structure by the side of the road was still standing. Maybe it used to be a barn, a house, or a gas station, but it's been left to the elements, and these days it's an old abandoned building.For the past eight years, Jefferson County resident and web designer Marc Mosher has been chronicling just such buildings on a web site called "Old Abandoned Buildings of Northern New York" (also known as OABNNY.) He describes the site as a combination of photography, urban exploration, and history. Mosher grew up exploring abandoned buildings with his father, and when he got older he combined that interest with his profession to create OABNNY in 2004. He answered our questions about OABNNY via email. Go to full article TC Boyle. Photo: Spencer Boyle, via TCBoyle.com TC Boyle: Back in Potsdam again by Nora Flaherty, in Canton, NY Apr 24, 2013 — Writer TC Boyle will be at SUNY Potsdam Thursday evening for a reading as part of Potsdam's Lougheed Festival of the Arts. He'll also be introducing student writers on Friday night. After growing up in Westchester County, Boyle graduated from SUNY Potsdam in 1968. Go to full article A homecoming ceremony at Fort Drum. NCPR file photo SUNY-Fort Drum program to train those on the "front lines" with returning soldiers by Nora Flaherty, in Canton, NY Apr 02, 2013 — A new program from SUNY Oswego is looking to train people who work with Fort Drum's soldiers in the basics of mental health and counseling. It's starting with a course that's being taught right now at Fort Drum, "Trauma management and stewardship." Fort Drum is home to the 10th Mountain Division, one of the most heavily deployed units in the US. When those soldiers return home from overseas, they can suffer from a range of physical and mental problems connected to their service, like post-traumatic stress disorder, mental issues associated with bodily injuries, and traumatic brain injuries. Go to full article The Black River Rollers strike a pose. Photo: Nora Flaherty What's so great about roller derby? by Nora Flaherty, in Watertown, NY Mar 18, 2013 — Roller derby has a surprisingly long history: It first emerged as a contact sport in the late 1930s; started broadcasting on TV in the late '40s; and had a bit of a TV revival in the '80s and '90s. The sport as we know it today is mostly an all-female, woman-organized amateur sport. This most recent incarnation got its start in the early 2000s, in Austin, Texas. Go to full article TAUNY Executive Director Jill Breit at the TAUNY Center's Folk Store in Canton. Photo: Nora Flaherty How the North Country can support artists, grow economy by Nora Flaherty, in Canton, NY Canton, NY, Feb 25, 2013 — The North Country's Regional Economic Development Council has been one of the most successful in the state. It's received top awards twice now, for projects that range from renovating an historic building in Port Henry, to making improvements to the Wild Center in Tupper Lake, to treating wastewater in Malone. Several of the projects the state funded aim to improve the North Country's economic outlook through the arts. One of these is "Invisible Factory", a project whose goal is to support regional artisans, and help them make a living from what they do. "Invisible Factory" is a partnership between Traditional Arts in Upstate New York, in Canton, and the Adirondack North Country Association, in Saranac Lake. Nora Flaherty stopped by TAUNY, to learn more about Invisible Factory. Go to full article A tanker trucks transports water for hydrofracking operations in Susquehanna County, Pa. In his letter, Dr. Nirav Shah says some other states didn't seriously study health concerns before allowing hydrofracking. Photo: Marie Cusick NYS fracking health study won't make its deadline by Nora Flaherty, in Canton, NY Rensselaer, NY, Feb 12, 2013 — It looks like the decision on whether to allow large-scale hydraulic fracturing in New York state will probably be delayed. In a letter this afternoon, State Health Commissioner Nirav Shah wrote his department needs more time to investigate fracking's potential health impacts. Shah said that's because the issues they're considering are very complex. Go to full article Elvis definitely still in De Peyster by Nora Flaherty, in De Peyster, NY Tarrytown, NY, Jan 08, 2013 — Today is Elvis Presley's birthday...he was born on this day in 1935. But for some, every day is about celebrating the King.Shirley Gagnon is one such fan. She's the owner of the "Memories of Elvis" museum in De Peyster. The museum got its start as Shirley's personal collection of Elvis memorabilia, but when the collection got too big for Shirley's family home next door, she and her husband bought a mobile home and "Memories of Elvis" was born.The museum opened to the public in 1997, and since then people have come from as far as England to see Shirley's collection of Elvis plates, dolls, clocks, tapestries, and much, much more. Go to full article An Amish farm near Heuvelton, NY. Photo: Karen Johnson-Weiner Old Christmas an old tradition for many Amish in the North Country by Nora Flaherty Jan 02, 2013 — For most of us, Jan. 1 marks the end of the holiday season, whether that's a sad goodbye or a relief. But for some Christians, including many of the Amish people in the North Country, Jan. 6 is another day of celebration: Epiphany, or "Old Christmas." Karen Johnson-Weiner is a professor of linguistic Anthropology at SUNY Potsdam. She's been working with the North County's Amish for years. Go to full article Abby with Charlene Romano, Mary France and Santa (Paul Bizaya). Photo: Nora Flaherty Heard Up North: Santa meets dogs and cats in Ogdensburg by Nora Flaherty Dec 24, 2012 — Getting your kids' pictures taken with Santa Claus has been a longtime holiday ritual for many. In recent years another group has begun vying for Santa's attention--pets--and a picture of an awkward dog or an annoyed looking cat in Father Christmas' lap has become a fairly common site on the mantle.In Ogdensburg on the day after Thanksgiving last year, Amvets Auxiliary post 19 invited people to come out to Tractor Supply with their pets to meet Santa. The event was a benefit for St. Jude Children's research hospital. Nora Flaherty's dog gets nervous in crowds, so she stayed home--but Nora did bring her recorder for this Heard Up North: Go to full article « first « previous 10 11-20 of 186 stories next 10 » last » Nora Flaherty got into public radio kind of by mistake--the local public radio station was in the same building as the office of the Anthropology department at the University of Michigan, where Nora was studying to be a professor. But after a few weeks as an intern, she was convinced she'd stumbled into the right place. Nora became a reporter and on-air host at Michigan Radio, where she did stories on environmental issues, housing, the arts, among other things. Nora moved to New York City in 2005, and became a producer at WFUV. At WFUV, Nora hosted a weekly interview program and reported on the long-term issues faced by September 11th survivors, education, and less serious topics like fairy tales, freak shows and pop music. A serious dog person, Nora loves hanging out with her "pack" (her husband and their dog), cooking, and driving in foreign countries.

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Share this:ShareFacebookTwitterGoogleEmail Arthur makes landfall as Category 2 hurricane July 3, 2014 | 9:48pm Hurricane Arthur over the Atlantic is shown in this photo from the International Space Station and tweeted by European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst Photo: Reuters KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. — A strengthening Hurricane Arthur forced thousands of vacationers on the North Carolina coast to abandon their Independence Day plans while cities farther up the East Coast rescheduled fireworks displays threatened by rain from the storm. Arthur strengthened to a Category 2 hurricane Thursday night, its winds strengthening to 100 mph before it made landfall near the southern end of the Outer Banks. Little change was expected in the storm’s strength Thursday night and Friday, though Arthur was expected to weaken as it travels northward and slings rain along the East Coast. The annual Boston Pops Fourth of July concert and fireworks show were held Thursday night because of potential heavy rain from Arthur, while fireworks displays in New Jersey, Maine and New Hampshire were postponed until later in the weekend. Arthur reached land late Thursday between Cape Lookout and Beaufort, North Carolina, near the southern end of the Outer Banks, a 200-mile string of narrow barrier islands with about 57,000 permanent residents. The islands are susceptible to high winds, rough seas and road-clogging sands, prompting an exodus that began Wednesday night. Among the tourists leaving Hatteras Island were 27-year-old Nichole Specht and 28-year-old Ryan Witman of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The couple started driving at 3:30 a.m. Thursday on North Carolina Highway 12, the only road on and off Hatteras. “We were just saying we were really, really lucky this year that the weather was so great, and then this,” Specht said as she ended a two-week vacation. Many island residents, meanwhile, decided to ride out the powerful storm rather than risk losing access to homes connected to the mainland by a highway prone to washouts. “All the people that I know who live here are staying put,” said Mike Rabe, who planned to stay in his Rodanthe home despite an evacuation order for surrounding Hatteras Island. In the last hours before the hurricane’s approach late Thursday, Lena Lines helped to move furniture from the basement to the first floor of the home she shares with her parents to save it from possible flooding. They live in a complex of canals and sound-front homes in the shadow of a memorial to the Wright Brothers, who made the first powered flight in Kill Devil Hills. If you live in that neighborhood, “it’s undeniable, you’re going to get flooded” during a storm like this, Lines said. Dave Gillis, who does maintenance work at Harris-Teeter grocery stores, was attaching sections of galvanized sheet metal over the glass wall at the entrance of a Kill Devil Hills location just as rain started to fall sporadically at 10:30 pm. “We’re just getting to it,” he said. “We’ve had a pretty busy day.” The departures of vacationers left things “pretty dead” on Hatteras Island during the normally bustling run-up to the Independence Day weekend, Rabe said. He spent Thursday running errands and helping neighbors prepare their homes for the storm. Before the storm hit, tourism officials had expected 250,000 people to travel to the Outer Banks for the holiday weekend. Gov. Pat McCrory sought to strike a balance between a stern warning to vacationers and optimism that part of the busy weekend could be salvaged. “Of course, this holiday weekend, the July 4th weekend, is one of the biggest weekends for coastal tourism in the state, and we anticipate a beautiful weekend after … Hurricane Arthur is out of North Carolina,” he said. Hurricane #Arthur Intermediate advisory 12B issued. Arthur becomes a category two hurricane. http://t.co/xQ8iSgRUHu — Natl Hurricane Ctr (@NHC_Atlantic) July 4, 2014 Arthur, the first named storm of the Atlantic season, prompted a hurricane warning for much of the North Carolina coast. On the Outer Banks’ Ocracoke Island, accessible only by ferry, a voluntary evacuation took place. Among those leaving the island was the Unmussig family of Midlothian, Virginia. They cut their vacation two days short when they left Thursday morning in an SUV towing a trailer filled with bicycles and kayaks. “Our cottage was right on the sound and we didn’t want that back-current surge coming in and flooding us out,” said Donald Unmussig, 50. “I just didn’t want to risk getting caught there. I have to work Monday morning. I didn’t want to be late,” he added. “We just decided to cut the losses and go home and not have to deal with the problems.” Tropical storm warnings were also in effect for coastal areas of Virginia and as far north as Cape Cod, Massachusetts. On the Massachusetts island of Nantucket, no evacuations were planned, but residents who have lived through many a fierce storm said they know better than to totally relax. “I think that for the most part it’s another storm, but you never know what can happen,” said Rocky Fox, who owns the Chicken Box nightclub on the island. “Being the Fourth of July weekend, things seems to be magnified.” Fox said Nantucket residents are used to being prepared. “Mother Nature was upset with us this winter, and she may not be through. We’re on an island. You can never tell what it’s going to do. You prepare for the worst and hope for the best.” Early Friday morning, Arthur was located about 40 miles (60 kilometers) north-northeast of Cape Lookout and about 40 miles west-southwest of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. It was moving northeast at 18 mph (30 kph). Fourth of July, Hurricane Arthur, North Carolina Read Next: 1 killed, 3… 1 killed, 3 injured in… Share this:ShareFacebookTwitterGoogleEmail Share Selection

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Planes Trains & Automobiles De Blasio Insists There’s No ‘Crackdown’ on Subway Pandhandling By Colin Campbell | 03/24/14 12:07pm Bill de Blasio is shaking hands, not panhandling. (Photo: NYC Mayor’s Office) Mayor Bill de Blasio insisted today that any claims of a “crackdown” on panhandling in the city’s subway system are overrated. Asked by WNYC radio show host Brian Lehrer whether the “crackdown on subway panhandling” was “consistent with your vision of how the NYPD should treat poor people who are basically innocent of crimes?” Mr. de Blasio said he wanted “to reframe the question” before answering. Mr. de Blasio then argued that the documented spike in panhandling arrests in the first weeks of his tenure was the result of case-by-case decisions by local police commanders, not a larger shift in policy. “What we’re doing is [where] a particular precinct or particular officer thinks there is aggressive panhandling or anything that violates the law and people’s safety, that’s what we’re addressing,” Mr. de Blasio said on Mr. Lehrer’s show this morning. “We’re certainly doing it on a case-by-case basis,” he continued. “It is consistent with both the notion of protecting public safety and recognizing that we’re trying to build a different relationship between police and community. We’ve obviously done that in a very big way when it comes to stop-and-frisk.” The mayor previously made a similar argument about an increase in jaywalking tickets on the Upper West Side. The New York Times reported earlier this month that panhandling arrests have tripled over the same period last year under the leadership of Mr. de Blasio’s police commissioner, Bill Bratton. “Under the new administration, the police continue to make fewer arrests and write fewer summonses, so the increase in the arrests of peddlers and panhandlers is particularly striking,” the Times noted. Both Mr. de Blasio and Mr. Bratton have championed the “broken windows” theory of policing, which advocates strict enforcement of lower-level quality-of-life violations like vandalism and panhandling in an effort to stave off more serious crime. “We have to go after the small crimes as well as the big crimes,” Mr. de Blasio argued today. Share this:FacebookTwitterGoogleLinkedInPrintEmail Filed under: arrests, Bill Bratton, MTA, News, NYPD, panhandling, politics, radio interviews, subway system, The Brian Lehrer Show, WNYC Comment More from our network

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