Magic Formula Investing

2015-09-21T21:59:00.000-07:00

We all love autumn don’t we? It’s that special time of year when the weather begins to get discernibly cooler and the nights noticeably longer.

Autumn heralds the transition into the cold, dark and desolate winter months, and the natural world puts on a final flurry of amazing activity before slowing down until the warmer sunshine of spring returns.

And the UK is no exception, boasting some world-class wildlife spectacles.

So if you're not too hot on autumn, here are ten fantastic reasons why you should be.

Fungal forays

After the warmth of summer and dampness of autumn there is an explosion of mushrooms and toadstools happening right across the country, from woodland floors to decaying logs and meadows. What we see on our fungal forays are the fruiting bodies preparing to release their spores that give rise to the next generation of ecological recyclers.

Fungi are quite different to both plants and animals and have their own kingdom. Here in the UK there could be as many as 15,000 species, with a great diversity in size, colour and shape. However, many of these are extremely poisonous and should only be identified with a reliable guide, or better still, an expert guided walk which will help you get the most from this seasonal highlight. Find a fungal foray with the Wildlife Trusts.

Misty mornings

One of the perks of the cooling temperatures, longer nights and increased moisture in the air is a walk in the countryside on a misty autumnal morning. The UK has some stunning fields, parks and open spaces just ripe for an early morning excursion. So there’s no excuse for not heading out before the sun has had time to burn off all the lovely mist! Visit one of the UK’s 15 National Parks early one morning – your early rise will be worth it.

Dazzling displays

The pulsating clouds of hundreds of thousands of starlings all swirling and turning in jaw-dropping unison can only be described as an ‘awesome wildlife spectacle’. These murmurations happen during autumn and winter over fields, woodlands and reedbeds as they seek out their communal roosting site for the night and so are best viewed just before dusk.

Why do they put on this magnificent display? It’s certainly not just for our delight; it’s thought that starlings gather together for protection from predators, as it is harder to pick out individuals from within an amorphous, hypnotising cloud. They may also congregate to keep warm at night and pass information about good feeding sites. There are great places for spectacular views throughout the country, including Brighton Pier of all places. Find out where to experience a starling murmuration near you with the RSPB.

Some stars may travel across the Universe, perhaps with aliens in tow

2015-09-20T21:55:00.000-07:00

The stillness of the night sky is deceiving. Because of the sheer vastness of space, stars appear unmoving like celestial fixtures. In actuality, though, they're zipping through the cosmos - some at ridiculously high speeds: thousands, and even tens of thousands of kilometres per second.

That's roughly 100,000 times faster than the speediest train and 1,000 times faster than the fastest spacecraft that's ever flown. That's fast enough for a few spins around Earth in the time it takes to put on your socks. The point is, that's fast.

Some astrophysicists have suggested that, in principle, stars could go even faster - even as fast as light. Such stars may even harbour planets, prompting speculation that they could serve as intergalactic transport for alien life.

But you don't need to speculate to find stars rocketing out of our own Milky Way Galaxy. A speed of a thousand or so kilometres per second is already fast enough to send a star hurtling toward the lonesome expanse. These hypervelocity stars, as they're called, were only discovered about 10 years ago. So far, astronomers have found a total of about two dozen leaving the Milky Way. And they're trying to find more.

Sam Warburton: Wales have 'fantastic' World Cup chance

2015-09-19T21:51:00.000-07:00

Wales are strong enough to bounce back from the loss of Leigh Halfpenny and Rhys Webb and still challenge for the World Cup, says captain Sam Warburton.

Full-back Halfpenny and scrum-half Webb, both 26, are out of the tournament with injury, replaced by Eli Walker and Mike Phillips respectively.

Warburton says their absences are a blow, but not a fatal one.

"We've still got an absolutely fantastic chance to win the World Cup," said the 26-year-old.

He added: "If we want to be a side that wins the World Cup, it's got to be more than a 15 man team, it's a squad effort.

"So it's not a life or death situation."

Warburton says having prop Samson Lee and back-three player Liam Williams back fit can help counter the blows of losing Toulon's Halfpenny and Ospreys' Webb.

"It won't be difficult to get morale back up," said the Cardiff Blues player.

"There's no time to waste now, you can't dwell on these things especially with the positive injury news that Samson Lee and Liam Williams will both be coming back to full fitness in time for the World Cup, that will definitely lift the squad as well."

Warburton, who missed the final Test of the 2013 British and Irish Lions series with a shoulder injury, said he felt for Webb and Halfpenny.

"Rhys hasn't been to a World Cup, he'll have to wait another four years for that opportunity so it's the timing of it which is the most difficult thing," he added.

"I don't think any player can go through a 10-year career now without having to go under the knife, that's just the way rugby is nowadays, but it's the timing before the World Cup that's what makes it very cruel."

Players can fill big boots

The loss of main goal kicker Halfpenny is considered a major blow for Wales, but the captain believes they have a good back-up in the shape of fly-half Dan Biggar.

"Leigh will be a massive loss for any side in world rugby," he said.

"But to have Dan Bigger, who's been having high percentages for the Ospreys in the last seven or eight years, is a great replacement.

"And from a scrum-half point of view to have Mike Phillips coming in - a British Lion with 80 or 90 caps, in his third World Cup and a very popular guy around the squad - you probably couldn't have a better replacement."

Tour of Britain: Elia Viviani wins stage three as Petr Vakoc crashes

2015-09-18T21:47:00.000-07:00

Team Sky's Elia Viviani won his second stage of the Tour of Britain as Petr Vakoc crashed in stage three to hand the yellow jersey to Juan Jose Lobato.

Italian Viviani, 26, won in a sprint finish in Kelso, Scotland, despite having no team-mates to lead him out.

Viviani, a stage winner at this year's Giro d'Italia, had already taken the first stage of the one-week race.

Czech Vakoc of Etixx-Quick Step crashed towards the end of the 216km route from Cockermouth.

That allowed Spanish Movistar rider Lobato to move into the overall lead, 10 seconds ahead of Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagen.

Britain's Owain Doull finished in the sprint group to keep within 14 seconds of the overall lead.

The 22-year-old Welshman is riding with Team Wiggins, the outfit set up by 2012 Tour de France winner Sir Bradley Wiggins, who is using the Tour of Britain as preparations for his European Track Championships and Rio 2016 campaigns.

Wiggins himself came in 72nd and is 23mins 47secs off the leader.

The race finishes on Sunday, 13 September with a multiple-lap circuit around central London.

Analysis from BBC Sport's Matt Slater

"After two up-and-down days, Tuesday's northward ride to Kelso always looked like it might provide some respite in terms of difficulty but, as is increasingly the case at the modern Tour of Britain, that respite is relative.

"With the best of the British scene desperate to impress against the big guns of the World Tour, the racing this week has been far from straightforward and today was no exception.

"Yes, Team Sky's Elia Viviani won a second bunch sprint in three days, but it took a huge effort from his team-mate Ian Stannard to reel in a determined group of breakaway riders, and even then the Italian profited from World Tour rivals Lotto-Soudal making a mess of the finale.

"But the real loser on the day was Monday's winner, young Czech rider Petr Vakoc, who crashed to lose his race lead, injuring his hand in the process.

"To make matters worse, his Etixx-Quick-Step team-mate Mark Cavendish was delayed by the pile-up, too, and rolled in three minutes behind Viviani looking very disgruntled."

Stage three result:

1. Elia Viviani (Ita/Team Sky) 5 hours 8 minutes 18 seconds

2. Juan Jose Lobato (Spa/Movistar) Same time

3. Matteo Trentin (Ita/Etixx-Quick Step

4. Holst Enger (Nor/IAM)

5. Jens Debusschere (Bel/Lotto-Soudal)

6. Owain Doull (GB/Team Wiggins)

7. Alberto Bettiol (Ita/Cannondale-Garmin)

8. Graham Briggs (GB/JLT-Condor)

9. Alex Peters (GB/Great Britain Cycling Team)

10. Wouter Poels (Ned/Team Sky)

Selected others:

72. Sir Bradley Wiggins (GB/Team Wiggins) +1min 20secs

88. Mark Cavendish (GB/Etixx-Quick Step) +2mins 51secs

General classification after stage three:

1. Juan Jose Lobato (Spa/Movistar) 13 hours 37 minutes 4 seconds

2. Boasson Hagen (Nor/MTN-Qhubeka) +10secs

3. Floris Gerts (Ned/BMC) +12secs

4. Wouter Poels (Ned/Team Sky) +13secs

5. Dylan van Baarle (Ned/Cannondale-Garmin) Same time

6. Owain Doull (GB/Team Wiggins) +14secs

7. Graham Briggs (GB/JLT-Condor) Same time

8. Rasmus Guldhammer (Den/Cult Energy Pro Cycling)

9. Matteo Trentin (Ita/Etixx-Quick Step) +18secs

10. Serge Pauwels (Bel/MTN-Qhubeka) +20secs

Selected others:

65. Mark Cavendish (GB/Etixx-Quick Step) +21mins 52secs

92. Sir Bradley Wiggins (GB/team Wiggins) +23mins 47secs

US Open: Marin Cilic beats Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to reach semis

2015-09-17T21:43:00.000-07:00

Defending US Open champion Marin Cilic withstood a rousing Jo-Wilfried Tsonga fightback to win a fifth-set decider and reach the semi-finals in New York.

Croatia's Cilic, 26, looked to be on course for a straightforward victory after taking the first two sets.

But Frenchman Tsonga was rejuvenated after receiving treatment to his knee and levelled up against the ninth seed.

Cilic, himself with a strapped-up right ankle, recovered to win 6-4 6-4 3-6 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 in three hours 58 minutes.

The world number nine, who claimed his first career Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows last year, had squandered three match points in the fourth set before allowing 19th seed Tsonga to win a tie-break and take it to a decider.

"That was a big mental fight after that fourth set. It got physical towards the end. It was very hot," said Cilic, who will face the winner of Tuesday night's quarter-final between Novak Djokovic and Feliciano Lopez.

Vinci into new territory

Italian Roberta Vinci reached her first Grand Slam semi-final by beating France's Kristina Mladenovic.

World number 43 Vinci, 32, triumphed against her fellow unseeded opponent 6-3 5-7 6-4 in sweltering conditions.

She will face Serena Williams in the last four after the top seed won 6-2 1-6 6-3 against older sister Venus.

Mladenovic struggled with the 34C temperatures on Arthur Ashe Stadium and received treatment in the second set.

The 22-year-old world number 40 had just survived two break points to lead 5-4 before needing treatment from her trainer, who used ice to try and cool her down.

She went on to take the second set, but looked exhausted as Vinci responded to close out the match, with the vital break coming in a 10-deuce game at 3-3.

Brad Haddin: Australia wicketkeeper retires from Tests

2015-09-17T21:39:00.000-07:00

Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin has retired from Test cricket.

Haddin, 37, who stopped playing one-day international matches earlier this year, lost his place to Peter Nevill during Australia's 3-2 Ashes defeat by England in July.

He will also stop playing for his domestic state team New South Wales, but will continue in the Twenty20 Big Bash League for the Sydney Sixers.

"I've enjoyed the 17 years and am comfortable with my decision," he said.

"I've had a privileged run, but I lost the hunger on the Ashes tour. It was an easy decision to retire."

Haddin, first capped in 2001 in an ODI, played 66 Tests, 126 one-day internationals and 34 Twenty20s for his country.

He is the fourth Australian to retire in the wake of the Ashes defeat following captain Michael Clarke, Chris Rogers and Shane Watson, with the latter still available for limited-overs cricket.

Having had to wait until the age of 30 to make his Test debut because of Adam Gilchrist's prowess, Haddin played a starring role in Australia's 5-0 Ashes triumph in 2013-14, scoring 493 runs at 61.62.

He helped Australia win the World Cup in March, before announcing hisretirement from ODIs in May.

He played in the first Ashes Test match defeat by England in Cardiff in July, but missed the second Test at Lord's to spend time with his ill daughter Mia.

Having made himself available for the third Test, Australia's selectors chose to stick with Nevill, drawing criticism from former players including Shane Warne and Ricky Ponting.

Haddin then flew home for family reasons before the fifth Test at The Oval.

Premier League: Is the loan system being abused by clubs?

2015-09-17T21:37:00.000-07:00

League spend during the summer transfer window, another statistic caught the eye from a club that was relatively prudent.

Chelsea's net outlay amounted to £38m - the fourth-highest in the Premier League - but Nathaniel Chalobah's move to Napoli took the number of Blues players out on loan to 33.

The club are not breaking any rules, and it is a pattern repeated across Europe, with Juventus reportedly owning an additional 58 players not in their first-team squad.

Chelsea's tally could rise even further with the emergency loan window - which opens on Wednesday - giving Football League clubs the chance to sign players for between 28 and 93 days.

Clubs can only register a squad of 25 players for the Premier League - and some have been accused of "abusing" the system by stockpiling talent to the detriment of rivals and the players themselves.

So why does a club recruit players in this way and what are the consequences?

What's the motive?

Clubs might not like this analogy, but it can help to think of players in terms of property belonging to a landlord.

If you can afford to own 58 players rather than 25 and no-one is stopping you farming them out, it might make financial sense to do so, especially as big clubs aim to comply with Uefa's Financial Fair Play rules which cap spending in relation to income.

The hope is such players will improve and eventually reach the first team, as Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois did. He was bought for £5m from Genk in 2011, sent on loan to Atletico Madrid for three seasons, and broke into the Chelsea side last season.

Even if they don't, the club may hope that a player's value will increase as he matures. Chelsea sent Romelu Lukaku on loan to West Brom and Everton before making a £10m profit on him when he was sold to the Toffees in 2014.

Best of all for the club bean-counters is the fact the loan club will usually pick up the tab for the player's wages.

"We don't send players out because we are trying to recover money, we send them because we want them to play and develop," Chelsea technical director Michael Emenalo has said.

"We felt it is better for players at 18-21 to go on loan somewhere where they get visibility and good competition."

Former Tottenham and Liverpool director of football Damien Comolli also believes clubs have players' best interests at heart, giving them the opportunity to play at a higher level than the current under-21 league, which has drawn criticism for its lack of competitiveness.

Comolli told BBC Sport: "I think Chelsea act in good faith, that they are concerned with the progress of young players. The number of players on loan is amazing, but for me there is no foul play."

Is the system fair?

Chelsea are not the only club to loan players out in this manner, but with great wealth at their disposal, they are certainly more efficient than other Premier League clubs.

Manchester City enjoy similar financial backing to the west London team, yet despite spending a record £160m in this window, they have 14 players on loan, including two who have agreed permanent deals for next season.

Liverpool have 15 players on loan, while Arsenal weigh in with 12, having extended Carl Jenkinson's contract before loaning him back to West Ham for another season. Manchester United only have six players being paid elsewhere this season.

James Taylor century helps England beat Australia in third ODI

2015-09-17T21:34:00.000-07:00

James Taylor's maiden one-day international century helped England keep the series alive as they beat Australia by 93 runs at Old Trafford.

Jason Roy made 63 before Taylor anchored the England innings with 101, adding 119 with captain Eoin Morgan (62) as they posted 300-8.

After Aaron Finch fell for 53, Australia were bowled out for 207 in 44 overs as off-spinner Moeen Ali took 3-32 and leg-spinner Adil Rashid 2-41.

Australia lead the series 2-1.

Taylor, who scored 42 before he hit his first boundary and struck only five in his innings, reached three figures in the penultimate over and fell with four balls remaining.

It would have been the highest successful ODI run chase at Old Trafford if Australia had made it - but the hosts looked in control as soon as leg-spinner Rashid took the crucial wickets of Finch and captain Steve Smith.

The James Taylor rollercoaster

Taylor's stop-start ODI career took another turn with a deserved maiden hundred - but it will be interesting to see where he fits into the England side in the long term.

Having played in under-strength England sides sent to Ireland for one-off games and captaining one such team this year after being shunted up and down the order during England's calamitous World Cup campaign, Taylor has had to wait patiently for his chance.

After he carried the drinks against New Zealand earlier in the summer,the decision to rest Joe Root for this series opened the door for Taylor again - and he has wedged his foot into that door with scores of 49, 43 and 101 at first wicket down.

Despite that long wait for a boundary, the Nottinghamshire right-hander paced his innings well, running hard between the wickets for 40 overs without appearing to tire, and, though he needed to rebuild twice after losing Roy and Morgan, Taylor was never panicked into playing a false shot.

But when Root returns, England face a battle to squeeze 12 players into 11 unless they drop an all-rounder - so Taylor's uneven ride may not have finished just yet.

2015-09-17T21:30:00.000-07:00

Wayne Rooney made history by breaking Sir Bobby Charlton's all-time England goalscoring record in the Euro 2016 qualifier against Switzerland at Wembley.

England captain Rooney equalled Charlton's tally of 49 with a penalty in the victory against San Marino on Saturday that ensured a place in France next summer.

And he was on the spot again late on in Tuesday's match against the Swiss for goal number 50 to erase a record that has stood for 45 years.

It looked like Rooney might be made to wait until England's meeting with Estonia at Wembley next month as Switzerland frustrated Roy Hodgson's side until their resistance was eventually broken.

England substitute Harry Kane pierced the deadlock with a crisp finish after 67 minutes and Rooney rewrote the record books with a thunderous penalty six minutes from time, earning a standing ovation from the Wembley gallery.

It ensured his side completed eight wins out of eight, securing top spot in Group E.

Rooney's moment of glory

A roar of anticipation swept around Wembley as soon as Italian referee Gianluca Rocchi pointed to the spot after Raheem Sterling had been fouled.

Rooney picked up the ball with the weight of expectation and history on his shoulders, but responded with an emphatic right-footed penalty that gave Swiss keeper Yann Sommer no chance, even though he got a hand to it.

As he celebrated the crowd of 75,751 inside Wembley - joined by manager Hodgson and his backroom team - rose to acclaim the 29-year-old as he was engulfed by team-mates. Even the travelling Swiss fans generously recognised the significance of the moment. History had been made.

US Open: Serena Williams beats sister Venus to reach semi-finals

2015-09-16T21:26:00.000-07:00

Serena Williams overcame her sister Venus at the US Open to move within two victories of her first calendar Grand Slam.

The world number one held her nerve to win 6-2 1-6 6-3 and reach the semi-finals in New York.

Serena, 33, will play unseeded Italian Roberta Vinci in the last four on Thursday.

The American could become the first player to win all four majors in the same year since Steffi Graf in 1988.

Venus, 35, was playing in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the first time since 2010, but threatened to derail her sister's grand ambitions.

The 23rd seed battled back to force a final set, only to see younger sister Serena capitalise on an early service break and claim her 33rd straight win at the Slams.

Sisters take centre stage

The Williams sisters had played each other 26 times on the professional circuit, but their 27th contest was as highly anticipated as any.

Serena might already hold all four Slam titles, but her bid to win them all in the same year has elevated tennis in the US sporting headlines.

A lengthy preceding match meant Tuesday's night session was delayed, and expectancy rose outside Arthur Ashe Stadium as 23,000 spectators waited to take their seats for the night session.

The early excitement was tempered by Serena's excellent start, but Venus gave a reminder of why she is a seven-time major champion by taking it to a final set.

"She's the toughest player I've ever played in my life and the best person," said Serena.

"It's going against your best friend and the greatest competitor, for me, in women's tennis, so it was really difficult for me today."

Venus said: "Losing isn't fun, but probably the most gratifying part is I'm still very excited to see Serena have an opportunity to win the four majors."

Screaming Serena clinical in decider

The six-time champion began and ended the match in clinical fashion, dropping to her knees and screaming "Come on!" as she earned a match point and moments later firing down an ace.

After the first 33 minutes, Serena had succeeded in bringing a hush over the huge stadium as she began to dismantle her sister's game.

Venus came out swinging but her younger sister made the breakthrough at 3-2, and would hit 15 winners and just two errors in a high-class opening set.

Pope Francis pops out of Vatican to buy new glasses

2015-09-15T21:22:00.000-07:00

Pope Francis drew crowds for an unusual reason on Thursday - after slipping out of the Vatican to visit an optician.

While the optician normally delivers new glasses to the Vatican, Pope Francis insisted on travelling to the shop in central Rome this time.

Large crowds gathered outside the shop as he spent an hour inside, at the end of which he insisted on paying.

Pope Francis has reportedly expressed regret at not being able to walk freely on Rome's streets.

The Pope was accompanied by an assistant, a bodyguard and several police officers on his visit.

A German tourist, Daniel Soehe, said he had failed to see Pope Francis in the Vatican earlier in the day, but then spotted him in the optician's shop.

"I told my father, 'Hey, that was better than going to St Peter's dome: Seeing the Pope in a shop trying on new glasses'," he told the Associated Press news agency.

While archbishop of Buenos Aires, he was often seen travelling on public transport or walking through the city.

In a profile in National Geographic magazine this month, Pope Francis is quoted as saying: "You know how often I've wanted to go walking through the streets of Rome - because in Buenos Aires, I liked to go for a walk in the city.

"I really liked to do that. In this sense, I feel a little penned in."

The 21-year-old building India's largest hotel network

2015-09-14T21:19:00.000-07:00

One night, 18-year-old Ritesh Agarwal was locked out of his apartment in Delhi. It was an unfortunate minor incident that was to change his life.

Forced to check into a hotel he found himself in a situation he had already experienced several times while travelling in India.

"The receptionist was sleeping," he says.

"Sockets did not work in the room, mattresses were torn apart, the bathroom was leaking, and at the end they wouldn't let me pay by card."

"I felt if this was my problem, this had to be a problem for many travellers. Why can't India have a good standard of hotel rooms at a reasonable price?''

Four years later, at the age of 21, Mr Agarwal is now the founder and chief executive of Oyo Rooms - a network of 2,200 hotels operating in 100 cities across India - with monthly revenues of $3.5m (£2.3m) and 1,500 employees.

The firm works with unbranded hotels to improve their facilities and train staff, rebrands them with its own name, and from then on takes a percentage of the hotel's revenues.

The owner of the hotel benefits from a higher occupancy rate, thanks to Oyo's branding.

And as part of the business, Mr Agarwal has also developed an app, which guests can use to book rooms, get directions to the hotel, and once they have arrived, to use the hotels amenities, for example to order room service.

Tough journey

Despite such rapid growth, he says the early days were "extremely difficult".

"No one would believe that this could be a technology business in the future," he says.

But some people did believe in him. A similar idea - which eventually evolved into Oyo Rooms - won him a coveted Thiel Fellowship - a programme sponsored by PayPal co-creator and early Facebook investor Peter Thiel - which pays for 20 teenagers each year to stop studying and try to set up a business instead.

He used the funding from the fellowship to start the business.

Why does Gaelic make people so angry?

2015-09-13T21:12:00.000-07:00

What's it called - Cumbernauld? OK, but what does it mean?

The standard definition comes from the Gaelic "Comar nan Allt" - "the coming together of the waters".

A 32ft Andy Scott sculpture of a woman framed by arcs of water even brings the meaning to life every day for drivers on the M80.

Simple enough you might think, but how about putting the Gaelic on the signpost? Now that's a whole other kettle of fish.

Or should that be mermaids? Or indeed maighdeanan mhara? But why do people get so angry about Gaelic?

Mostly it seems to be a question of money and relevance. A lot of people see Gaelic as not just a minority language but an irrelevant remnant of Scottish history.

Unless of course you're a hillwalker, where the mountains of Scotland are literally alive to the sound of Gaelic place names.

Census figures from 2011 put the actual number of speakers at 58,000, with 87,000 people claiming to have some knowledge of the language.

And on the benefits side, Highlands and Islands Enterprise research suggests the use of Gaelic has the potential to generate up to £148.5m a year for the economy and tourism.

Meanwhile, the Scottish government also reports an increase in children entering Gaelic medium education.

But it's this disparity between the comparative low level of understanding and the very visible presence on some rail, road and official signage that gets people going.

The signpost debate erupts online in various forms from time to time and the question of the cost and benefits comes up again and again.

Conservative MSP Jackson Carlaw recently tweeted his ire over the investment in signs. Indeed the inconsistency over which towns and stations may get a Gaelic translation can be baffling.

The Scottish government sets out plans to promote respect for thevisibility of and recognition of Gaelic.

A Scottish government spokesperson said: "We do not recognise these figures. The Scottish government spent £28.48m on Gaelic in 2014-15 - this includes £6.53m for education and £4m on school infrastructure projects.

"Transport Scotland invested over £2m between 2003 and 2010 (around £285,000 annually) introducing bilingual signs on roads leading to west coast ferry ports and through Gaelic speaking communities. This compares to £4.8bn invested through local authorities to deliver Scottish education in 2013-14."

Meanwhile, the debate rages - and will rage on:

Queen Street or Sràid na Banrighinn?

An Gearasdan or Fort William?

Dingwall or Inbhirpheofharain?

A-mach or Exit?

Pollokshields West or Pollokshields an Iar?

Whichever way, I guess every cause needs a celebrity backer, and Gaelic TV station BBC Alba may have found one in Stan Collymore, albeit he is speaking the universal language of football.

Russia: Government mobile app to help alcoholics

2015-09-12T21:09:00.000-07:00

The Russian government is trying to tackle the country's notoriously high alcoholism rate with the launch of a free mobile app.

The app will provide information for "people battling addictions that are very hard to fight" in order to help them to stay clean, says Yevgeny Bryun, the health ministry's leading narcotics official. He tells the M24 news website that it will offer details of nearby support meetings for recovering alcoholics and drug addicts, medical advice on keeping the problem under control, and access to online radio programmes run by Alcoholics Anonymous.

The app should be up and running next year, but Mr Bryun says other resources are already being made available, including a new radio network for rehabilitation clinics, where "specialists and alcoholics will talk about recovering".

Experts are lining up in support of the plan, which they see as a serious attempt to tackle what Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has called Russia's drinking-culture "national disaster". "Information technology can play a very important role here, as you can't change these patients with pills," Dr Oleg Zykov, a leading Moscow drugs specialist, tells M24.

Russian men are estimated to drink about 70% more pure alcoholthan their American counterparts, and United Nations figures suggest alcohol was the main culprit in 30% of all deaths in Russia in 2012. Government incentives, penalties and price hikes seem to be making little difference. But the ideas keep on coming. In Moscow, a pilot scheme will see the city's health department issue certificates to people who stay clean, and the head of Russia's anti-drugs service has evensuggested devoting a television channel to helping people beat their addictions.

S Korea: Incoming-only mobile phones for barracks

2015-09-12T21:07:00.000-07:00

More than 44,000 mobile phones are being distributed to South Korea's military personnel - but they can only receive calls.

The phones are being given to members of all four branches of Korea's armed forces - the army, navy, air force and marines - to make it easier for them to stay in touch with friends and family while in their barracks,the Chosun Ilbo website reports. At the moment, urgent private calls have to be taken through an administration office.

Due to defence ministry budget restrictions, the scheme was initially only going to apply to barracks in remote areas or on the front line, the report notes. But after telecoms company LG Uplus stepped in to fund the cost of the handsets and the network maintenance, the number was increased to 44,686 phones, covering every one of the military's barracks. The company reportedly agreed to foot the bill after hearing that some patriotic conscripts delayed their discharge from military service until recent cross-border tensions with North Korea eased.

Until now, mobile phones have been deemed a security issue and have been forbidden to members of South Korea's armed forces, meaning a reliance on the dwindling number of public payphones in the country. Using the one-way phones will only be allowed during free time in the evening and before a 22:00 curfew. But perhaps to avoid service personnel waiting in vain for their phones to ring, they'll also be able to send certain preset text messages, such as: "Please call me today." The ministry says the scheme will "help ease anxiety" for both soldiers and their families.

Pope Francis makes it easier for Catholics to remarry

2015-09-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

Pope Francis has unveiled reforms intended to make it easier for Roman Catholics to get annulments and remarry within the Church.

Catholicism does not recognise divorce and teaches marriage is a lifelong commitment.

In order to separate, Catholics must have their marriage annulled by showing it was flawed from the outset.

The radical reforms allow access to procedures free of charge and fast-track decisions.

Until now the procedures have been seen as arcane, expensive and bureaucratic.

Catholics seeking an annulment previously needed approval from two Church tribunals. The reforms will reduce this to one and remove the requirement of automatic appeal. An appeal will still be possible if one of the parties requests it.

The new fast-track procedure will allow bishops to grant annulments directly if both spouses request it.

Because annulment procedures are complicated, couples normally require experts to guide them through, meaning that gaining one can be expensive.

Without an annulment, Catholics who divorce and marry again are considered adulterers and are not allowed to receive communion.

Last year, the Pope set up a commission of church lawyers and clerical experts to look at how to streamline the procedure.

Writing about the changes, Pope Francis said it was unfair that spouses should be "long oppressed by darkness of doubt" over whether their marriages could be annulled.

Caroline Wyatt, BBC Religious Affairs Correspondent

It was a pope's refusal to grant King Henry VIII an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon in the 16th Century that led to England's break with Rome and the creation of the Church of England, with the monarch as defender of the faith.

In the intervening centuries, the process of obtaining an annulment for ordinary Catholics has remained a lengthy and costly one.

The move by Pope Francis to simplify and streamline the process has come to fruition unusually quickly for the Vatican.

It's only a year since he set up a commission of Church lawyers to look at reforms to the process.

While they're not expected to change Catholic teaching on divorce, they are likely to make it easier for estranged couples to prove that their marriage was invalid from the beginning.

Turkey's pro-Kurdish HDP party offices attacked in Ankara

2015-09-11T20:58:00.000-07:00

A crowd has attacked the headquarters of Turkey's pro-Kurdish HDP party, amid rising violence between Turkish forces and the militant Kurdish PKK group.

Pictures from the scene appeared to show the HDP building in the capital, Ankara, on fire.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has appealed for calm.

Earlier, Turkish ground forces crossed into Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish militants for the first time since a ceasefire with the PKK two years ago.

Turkish warplanes also launched a wave of air strikes on bases of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) in northern Iraq.

Nationalists staged rallies across Turkey on Tuesday, hours after 14 police officers were killed in a suspected PKK bomb attack on a minibus in the east of the country.

The bombing came a day after another militant attack on the Turkish military killed 16 soldiers.

Newspaper attacked

HDP (Peoples' Democratic Party) lawmaker Garo Paylan told Reuters news agency that hundreds of protesters had attacked the building in Ankara.

"Police are just watching, he said. "What's being broken there is our hope of living together."

HDP offices in at least six other Turkish cities were reported to have been attacked and images on social media appeared to show those in the southern resort city of Alanya also on fire.

In Istanbul, pro-government protesters again attacked the offices of the Hurriyet newspaper, smashing windows. An angry crowd had stormed the building on Sunday accusing the newspaper of misquoting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a TV interview.

Mr Davutoglu took to Twitter to denounce the attacks.

"It is unacceptable to damage media institutions, political party buildings and the property of our civilian citizens," he said.

"I invite all my citizens with hearts full of love for the country to calm, embrace one another, and to have confidence in the state."

HDP leaders have accused Mr Davutoglu's governing AK Party (AKP) of stoking unrest to drum up nationalist support ahead of elections on 1 November.

The HDP entered parliament for the first time in June elections and its 14% share of the vote deprived the AKP of a parliamentary majority.

The surge in violence follows the collapse of a ceasefire in July between the Turkish army and the PKK.

The truce, which began in 2013, unravelled after a suicide bombing by suspected Islamic State militants near the border with Syria. The attack led to mutual recriminations between Kurdish groups and Turkey.

Earlier on Tuesday, Turkey's Dogan news agency said two special forces units, supported by warplanes, had entered northern Iraq and attacked two groups of militants.

Migrant crisis: Are world powers failing to act?

2015-09-10T20:55:00.000-07:00

The biggest powers in the world were not able to find a way to stop the war in Syria when it broke out in 2011.

More than four years on, a whole new set of challenges is coming from Syria, and other countries in the Middle East and Africa. And the world's biggest powers are struggling once again to find answers that work.

The new crisis is about refugees. The European Union is discovering, belatedly, that it is impossible to avoid the consequences of a range of wars and civil conflicts right next door.

Some Western politicians, and journalists, are taking proper notice for the first time of a refugee crisis that has been a huge concern for Syria's neighbours since the war started.

The difference now is that refugees, in big and increasing numbers, are trying to get to the richest countries in Europe.

The EU is discovering that the Mediterranean is an inadequate moat. Eventually a response will be found to handle this summer's refugees.

Yarmouk example

But the fundamental reason why they will continue to come is still there.

And that is war in Syria, in Libya, in Iraq and Yemen. Violence, instability and chaos make lives miserable, dangerous and short across a broad swathe of the Middle East and Africa. It is not surprising that people want to get out.

Some may not have their lives threatened directly, but they want to leave before the worst happens.

People do not leave their homes lightly. They flee, and sometimes take dreadful risks at the hands of people smugglers, because the alternatives are so much worse.

I walked through the ruins of Yarmouk, one of the most fiercely contested battlegrounds in Damascus, only a few miles from the centre of the city.

Yarmouk used to be a Palestinian refugee camp for families who had fled or been driven from their homes when Israel won its independence war in 1948.

Over the last three years in Damascus I have spent nights watching Yarmouk being pounded. On the day I was there, it was quiet and eerie.

The Syrian army and Palestinian fighting groups control roughly half of Yarmouk. All the civilians who lived there have gone. Some are in shelters nearby. Some are trying to get to Europe.

Street after street was in ruins. Every building was damaged, not just by artillery but by thousands of rounds that were fired in street fighting.

Migrant crisis: Who does the EU send back?

2015-09-09T20:54:00.000-07:00

For months now Europeans have been witnessing chaotic scenes of migrants pouring into Greece, Italy and Central Europe.

The EU is playing catch-up, struggling to co-ordinate asylum policy between 28 member states.

But it is a sensitive issue, affecting sovereignty and national relations with diaspora communities, such as Afghans in the UK, or Algerians in France.

The UK and Ireland opted out of most EU asylum policy, sticking to their own rules.

The focus now is on a mechanism to distribute new asylum seekers across the EU - but countries are arguing over that.

Many will qualify as refugees - especially those who fled Syria, Afghanistan or other conflict areas. A refugee is someone fleeing war or persecution, with a right to international protection.

But how many failed asylum seekers are sent back by EU countries? Is there any EU-wide pattern on asylum?

Identity checks

In 2015 the largest migrant groups in Europe by nationality are Syrians, followed by Afghans, then migrants from Eritrea, Nigeria and Somalia.

War and human rights abuses have plagued all those countries, so many of those asylum seekers count as refugees.

But each case is different - some will find it harder than others to prove their refugee credentials.

Many lack passports or other ID, having risked their lives in the Mediterranean and Balkans, abused and exploited by criminal gangs.

Establishing nationality can be a long process - and those decisions can be disputed by countries asked to take migrants back.

Many migrants reaching the EU from sub-Saharan Africa or the western Balkans fail to get asylum, as they are classed as economic migrants.

One of the incentives for irregular migrants is the fact that fewer than half of failed asylum seekers are actually expelled.

In 2013 the EU sent back just 39% of those refused asylum, the EU Commission says in its European Agenda on Migration.

Another stumbling block is that agreements with non-EU countries on asylum returns are quite patchy.

Many readmission agreements have been negotiated, for example with Pakistan and Bangladesh. But the EU has no such deal with China or Algeria.

And the Cotonou Agreement, obliging sub-Saharan African countries to take back failed asylum seekers, has not stopped a huge exodus of economic migrants from there. The Commission admits that the EU must offer more aid, to facilitate more migrant returns to Africa.

There are also plans to widen the mandate of Frontex, the EU border agency, so that it can help send migrants back.

The Paris school occupied by hundreds of migrants

2015-09-08T20:49:00.001-07:00

The unauthorised occupation by migrants of a Paris secondary school is focusing minds on how the country will cope if the current inrush of asylum seekers accelerates.

The Lycee Jean Quarre in the multi-ethnic 19th arrondissement was taken over at the beginning of August. Today it houses around 300 asylum seekers and economic migrants mainly from Sudan, Afghanistan and Eritrea. These are people who before were sleeping rough or in tents on the street.

The place is not exactly salubrious. The school had actually been decommissioned and was sitting empty. The building is in the main sound, but there are dripping ceilings and the electricity cuts out intermittently.

The migrants sleep on mattresses about 20 to a room. They do their best to keep it clean, but it is bare and dingy. Outside in the yard, the young men play basketball, football and cricket.

Calais route 'dangerous'

Tanguy Lyonnet of the collective La Chapelle en Lutte (The Struggle of La Chapelle) told me that there was a big turnover at the school. Few stay long.

"Some people move out to better accommodation provided by the official associations. Others want to move north - to Calais. But this we strongly advise against," he says.

Why? "Because the camp there is not safe; and because people get killed trying to cross to the UK."

This is interesting because it shows how the people who advise the migrants are unwittingly pursuing British policy by discouraging people from taking the Calais route.

"But we are not doing it to help the British government," Mr Lyonnet makes clear. "We are doing it because it is what is best for the migrants."

Few of the people at the lycee speak any English. Fewer speak French, though lessons are being given. One group of Sudanese men was poring rather sadly over an exercise book full of conjugated verbs.

What struck me most though was how unenthused people were by their experience in France. A lot appeared to have bought into the "Home of Human Rights" idea of France, and now felt somewhat disabused.

A Sudanese man said: "I actually wanted to come to France, because I always liked the idea of France. But now I am here I have changed my mind."

For the city authorities, the school occupation was an embarrassment that they cleverly dispelled by claiming it was their idea all along. There is clearly no love lost between the politicians at City Hall and the activists on the ground who helped in the takeover.

But now it is a fait accompli, Paris says it will turn the school into a semi-permanent migrant centre. Money will be spent making the building more liveable.

"Our policy is to be pragmatic and humanist," the city's deputy mayor Dominique Versini told me.

"So far I would say we have succeeded, but how things will be in three, four or six months - who can say? The problem is still ahead of us."

New Jersey man arrested and charged with conspiring to support ISIS

2015-08-11T21:46:00.001-07:00

WASHINGTON – A former New Jersey resident has been arrested and charged with allegedly conspiring and attempting to provide support to the Islamic State, the U.S. Department of Justice said Monday.

Nader Saadeh, 20, a former Rutherford, N.J., resident, was expected to appear before a federal judge Monday afternoon.

The charges against Saadeh stem from an FBI investigation into a group of individuals from the New Jersey-New York area. Saadeh is the sixth man to be arrested in the two-state sting. His brother, Alaa Saadeh, was arrested on June 29.

Federal investigators say Saadeh sent “electronic messages” between 2012 and 2013 that expressed his anger and hatred for the United States. At that time, he also expressed interest in forming “a small army” that would include his friends. He also, reportedly, posted images of the black and white ISIS flag on his Facebook page in 2014.

According to an informant working with the FBI, Saadeh told friends in April 2015 that he was preparing to travel overseas. It was around that same time authorities say Saadeh became a “radicalized supporter” of ISIS and expressed solidarity with those behind the terror attacks in Paris. In that attack, 12 people were killed at the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical magazine that published controversial cartoons about the prophet Muhammad.

The investigation into Saadeh started when a friend, identified as “individual 1” in court documents, contacted the FBI and expressed concern that Saadeh, his brother and their friends were planning a trip overseas where they might join a terror group.

Individual 1 told investigators that Saadeh’s interest in ISIS as well as his “adoption of stringent religious behavior” coincided with other statements he made in support of ISIS.

Investigators say they also obtained emails from April 2015 that were sent to Saadeh by family members, including one from his mother, begging her son not to join the terror group.

A third New Jersey resident, Samuel Rahamin Topaz, was arrested on June 17, 2015. Topaz was also charged with conspiring to provide material support to ISIS.

In a post-arrest interview, Alaa Saadeh, told authorities his brother Nader and Topaz watched ISIS propaganda videos together and discussed going overseas to join the group.

Saadeh, a dual U.S.-Jordanian national, got on a May 5 flight from New York to Amman, Jordan. He was detained upon arrival, though it was not immediately clear when he was returned to the United States.

If Saadeh is found guilty, he could face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Executions likely go on despite strong Supreme Court dissent

2015-08-10T21:48:00.000-07:00

Wherever their summer travels have taken them, Supreme Court justices probably will weigh in on Texas' plans to execute two death row inmates in the week ahead.

If past practice is any guide, the court is much more likely to allow the lethal-injection executions to proceed than to halt them.

Opponents of the death penalty took heart when Justices Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg made the case against capital punishment in late June as arbitrary, prone to mistakes and time-consuming. Even if death penalty opponents eventually succeed, the timeline for abolition probably will be measured in years, not months.

That's because Breyer, joined by Ginsburg, was writing in dissent in a case involving death row inmates in Oklahoma, and five sitting justices, a majority of the court, believe "it is settled that capital punishment is constitutional," as Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his opinion for the court in that same case.

Texas has scheduled back-to-back executions Wednesday and Thursday for Daniel Lee Lopez and Tracy Lane Beatty.

Lopez was convicted of running over a Texas police officer with his car during a high-speed chase. Lopez' lawyer already has asked the court to stop the execution.

Beatty strangled his 62-year-old mother, then stole her car and drained her bank accounts. He has an appeal pending in lower courts and could also end up at the Supreme Court.

The justices rarely issue last-minute reprieves to death-row inmates. Even after Breyer's opinion calling for a re-examination of capital punishment by the Supreme Court, no justice publicly backed a Missouri inmate's plea to halt his execution to allow the court to take up the constitutionality of the death penalty.

Similarly, the three Oklahoma inmates who lost their high court case now face execution in September and October and want the justices to reconsider the decision from June in light of Breyer's dissent. The court almost never does that.

The heightened attention on the death penalty comes amid declining use of capital punishment in the United States, and a sharp drop in the number of death penalty prosecutions.

The 18 executions that have taken place so far this year have been carried out in just five states -- Texas, Missouri, Georgia, Florida and Oklahoma. Nine of those were in Texas. Twelve states with the death penalty have not had an execution in more than five years. That list includes California and Pennsylvania, which between them have more than 900 death row inmates.

The relatively small number of states that actively seek to carry out death sentences underscores what Ginsburg characterized in late July as "the luck of the draw."

"If you happen to commit a crime in one county in Louisiana, the chances you will get the death penalty are very high. On the other hand, if you commit the same deed in Minnesota, the chances are almost nil," she said at a Duke University law school event in Washington.

Texas is far and away the leader in carrying out executions, but it too has seen a drop in the number of new inmates on its death row. No new death sentences have been imposed in Texas this year, said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center.

Geographic disparity was among several defects Breyer and Ginsburg identified in June. Another is the length of time many inmates spend living under a sentence of death, which Breyer had previously suggested also might be a violation of the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Six of the 18 men who have been executed in 2015 spent at least 20 years on death row, including one who served 31 years before his execution.

Yet for all the systemic problems opponents of capital punishment can cite, they also have to reckon with what death penalty opponent Michael Meltsner called the "world of brutality and the awful capacity of people to commit violent crimes." One example: The Justice Department, which has otherwise advocated for criminal justice reforms during the Obama administration, won a death sentence in the case of convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

"When awful things happen, people don't think about the costs and benefits. They react to circumstances. There is an ambivalence that has tracked the death penalty debate for many years," said Meltsner, a Northeastern University law professor and experienced civil rights lawyer.

Among the questions surrounding the possibility that the Supreme Court would take up the constitutionality of the death penalty is the makeup of the court itself.

With four justices in their late 70s or early 80s, the next president might have the chance to fill several vacancies and could change the court's direction.

"Obviously, the composition of the court matters greatly and the biggest unknown variable about the life of the American death penalty is the presidential election of 2016. My expected time frame for constitutional abolition varies greatly based on the result," said Jordan Steiker, a University of Texas law professor.

It took Breyer and Ginsburg more than 20 years on the Supreme Court to voice their doubt about capital punishment. Justices Harry Blackmun and John Paul Stevens likewise spoke out at the very end of their time on the court.

Steiker said he thinks Breyer's dissent will serve as a road map for death penalty lawyers and future justices who may not feel constrained to wait before grappling with executions.

"It was invigorating to those who'd like to see constitutional abolition," he said. "The arguments not new, but they had not been marshaled as effectively by a justice until this opinion."

Why the Fox Debate is taking hits from Donald Trump's fans

2015-08-09T21:49:00.000-07:00

The attacks by Donald Trump and his followers on the Fox News debate have raised a really important question:

What, exactly, is the role of moderators in a presidential debate?

Or to take a broader view: What is the role of journalists, period?

Many in the mainstream media, including such luminaries as Katie Couric, Andrea Mitchell and Jeff Greenfield, have praised the tough questioning by Megyn Kelly, Bret Baier and Chris Wallace. Perhaps most striking was this piece by liberal New York Times columnist Frank Bruni:

“They took each of the 10 Republicans onstage to task. They held each of them to account. They made each address the most prominent blemishes on his record, the most profound apprehensions that voters feel about him, the greatest vulnerability that he has.

“It was riveting. It was admirable. It compels me to write a cluster of words I never imagined writing: hooray for Fox News.”

But many conservative commentators, led by Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin, have criticized Fox over the debate. What’s telling is that some portion of the Fox audience, at least according to Twitter and Facebook, is also unhappy.

Now some of these are fierce Trump partisans who are ticked when anyone challenges him on anything. Others were disappointed with the overall tone of the Cleveland event.

“The only reason Fox had high ratings was because of TRUMP and he’s the very one they tried to tear down. Thanks for Trump for your ratings, it sure wasn’t the so-called journalists,” one person said.

Another wrote that “those questions were inappropriate and vicious by Fox.”

These were offset by many others who praised the moderators’ performance, but let’s look at what some found “vicious.”

Trump was asked whether he would pledge to support the GOP nominee (after raising the potential for an independent bid in numerous interviews); about his own derogatory words about women; why he once supported single-payer health care; his evidence that Mexico is sending rapists into the United States; the Iran nuclear deal, and why he once supported abortion rights.

Jeb Bush was asked what he would say to families of those who died in “your brother’s war.” Scott Walker was asked about flip-flopping on immigration. Ben Carson was asked about his political inexperience. Marco Rubio was asked if abortion should be allowed in cases of rape and incest. And on and on.

These were aggressive questions, no doubt about it. They were painstakingly framed to elicit substantive answers from the candidates.

How would some of these detractors have reacted if the same sort of debate questions had been asked of Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley? (We won’t get to find out, as the DNC has not awarded Fox one of its six debates.)

In other words, are the critics upset because they think the Fox anchors tried to put the Republican candidates on the defensive?

Of course, critics sometimes shout the loudest, and social media give them a big megaphone. But the 24 million Americans who watched--those are World Series numbers, even if many tuned in for the Trump Show--saw the candidates having to hit major-league pitching, not giving a scripted speech or appearing in a paid commercial.

It’s fine to criticize the moderators of any debate, and it’s fine to criticize Fox. But some of these cries of “I’ll never watch Fox again” seem disproportionate for a debate that was highly praised by most journalists.

Anchors are supposed to be tough in interviews and at debates, and not just to produce “good television.”

Provocative debate questions are nothing new. In 1988, CNN’s Bernard Shaw began by asking Michael Dukakis whether he would support the death penalty if his wife was raped and murdered. Dukakis’ impassive response sealed his fate.

In 2012, CNN’s John King began by asking Newt Gingrich about an ex-wife’s account that he was having an affair and asked her for an open marriage. Gingrich thundered against “the destructive, vicious nature of much of the news media.”

The great interviewers like Tim Russert, who was a Democratic operative before joining NBC, know full well about pressing the pols. Russert said in 2007 that the founder of “Meet the Press,” Lawrence Spivak, once told him that “that the job of the host is to learn as much as you can about your guest’s positions and take the other side.”

Having watched Megyn, Bret and Chris spend hours preparing for the debate, I know they took great pains to be fair. In fashioning a question about a story that Fox had just broken, Baier made sure to say the candidates on stage might not be aware of it so there would be no implication that they were just uninformed.

The team was led by Bill Sammon, the Washington managing editor, and there were no dictates from on high. Unfortunately, some liberal outlets insist on arguing that Fox was pursuing some kind of crusade.

The left-wing Talking Points Memo, for instance, accused Fox of a “Trump-bashing agenda”:

“Fox News’ purpose in the main 10-candidate event was made plain with the first question: an in-your-face spotlight on Donald Trump’s refusal to promise not to run as an independent candidate. And the relentless pounding of Trump—on his bankruptcies, his past support for single-payer health care and abortion rights, his ‘specific evidence’ for claiming Mexico has dispatched criminals to the U.S. (slurs about immigrants by other candidates didn’t come up) and even his sexist tweets-—continued right on through to Frank Luntz’s post-debate focus group, designed to show how much damage Trump had sustained.”

Did Luntz control what his focus-group members would say? And is there a suggestion that Trump shouldn’t have been asked about his past liberal positions, or whether he’d rule out a third-party run?

Buzzfeed put it this way:

“The sharp change in tone marks a drastic shift for Fox, which has intentionally boosted Trump’s bid for weeks.”

Not true. It’s a big place. Some commentators have been sympathetic to Trump, while others—such as Charles Krauthammer and Jonah Goldberg, both of whom have felt the Trumpian wrath—have been slamming him.

Buzzfeed admits that “Fox News isn’t the only outlet that has succumbed to Trump-mania. The entire media has fallen under the spell.” Then why single out Fox?

The question of how much coverage to give Donald Trump is an important one. And television journalists shouldn’t get a pass for the way they handle candidates. We're all fair game.

But I can tell you from first-hand observation that Fox’s Cleveland team had one goal: to pin down all 10 presidential contenders on that stage.

Sanders Trumps Hillary

2015-08-08T21:50:00.000-07:00

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Buzz Cut:

• Sanders Trumps Hillary

• 2016 GOP Power Index: Carly climbs on knockout debate

• Trump expands attacks

• Power Play: Hayes takes his five

• To be or not to be: wait, what was the question?

SANDERS TRUMPS HILLARY

Hillary Clinton is to lay out her plan today for free college at government schools. It’s noteworthy that Clinton claims her plan costs exactly half – $350 billion – of what Bernie Sanders’ proposal.

The posture here is that Clinton is the candidate who has the same goals as Sanders – in this case, making college a right, like primary and secondary education – but can attain them in a more responsible way. Her message to the party is that free college isn’t free to taxpayers, aka voters, and support for outlandish measures will be a killer come next fall. Her call to her party base: Be reasonable, people.

Good luck with that.

In a party that is in the process of disowning its father and in which even socialist Sanders gets silenced by liberal activists, the idea that Clinton can squelch the populist uprising with some triangulation (definitely scalene in nature) is as ridiculous as the thought that Jeb Bush could shoo Donald Trump out of the GOP race with a white paper on border security.

As Glenn Reynolds observed, the inability of the political establishment – left and right (insofar as they are different) – to cope with the current political moment has become painfully obvious.

If Sanders can pack nearly 30,000 souls into a Portland, Ore. arena it’s fair to say that he is doing even better than Trump into harnessing the outrage that animates voters, particularly older, white ones, who believe that America is truly at the abyss. And remember that both Trump and Sanders share the view that a conspiracy between business and politics is at the core of the problem.

It may be Portlandia, but still…

The biggest difference between the Democrats and the Republicans, or between Clinton and Bush, if you prefer, is that on the GOP side there are lots and lots and lots of viable alternatives. As Thursday’s debate showed, Republicans have plenty of credible choices with reasonable electoral paths.

Clinton touts $350B college affordability plan, faces stiff opposition

2015-08-07T21:54:00.000-07:00

Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton announced a $350 billion plan Monday to make college more affordable, calling for a “new college compact” designed to reduce the growing burden of student debt.

However, the plan faces a difficult sell to both liberal Democrats and Republicans, possibly not going far enough for the Democrats' liberal wing, while turning off Republicans with a high price tag and increased federal intervention.

Clinton announced the plan at a town hall meeting at Exeter High School in New Hampshire, telling gathered supporters: "It’s ambitious but we should be ambitious."

The campaign accompanied the announcement with a campaign video that featured a number of students struggling with student debt telling their stories.

"I want every parent to know his or her child can get a college degree," Clinton said. "That’s the country I want to help build."

The plan aims to ensure that students can attend a 4-year public college without taking out loans, as well as making community college tuition-free, while also pushing states to reinvest in higher education and pushing schools to reduce costs and raise graduation rates.

The plan’s cornerstone is a $200 billion federal incentive system that would encourage states to expand spending in higher education and cut student costs. States that guarantee “no-loan” tuition at four-year public schools and free community college tuition would be eligible for federal money.

Military veterans, lower-income students and those who complete a national service program, like AmeriCorps, would go to school for free, although others would still incur costs for their schooling and living expenses at four-year public universities.

"For many students, it would translate into debt-free tuition," Carmel Martin, executive vice president for policy at the Center for American Progress, who advised Clinton on the plan, told The Associated Press. "It will depend on the student circumstances and the institution they are going to."

Those now repaying loans would be able to refinance their outstanding debt at lower rates, a change the Clinton campaign claims will save an average of $2,000 for 25 million borrowers over the life of a loan. Clinton’s plan would also expand income-based repayment programs and allow every student borrower to enroll in a plan capping their payments at 10 percent of their income and would forgive remaining debt after 20 years.

"We will make sure that debt won’t hold anyone back. For millions of Americans who have debt my plan will give them the chance to refinance at lower interest rates," Clinton said. "If you can refinance your car loan, you should be able to refinance your student loans."

Clinton’s campaign said the plan would be paid for by capping itemized tax deductions for wealthy families at 28 percent.

Although Clinton’s plan may be an effort to satisfy a key demand of the Democrats' liberal wing, the plan doesn’t go as far as others seeking the 2016 nomination. Fellow 2016 hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has called for the elimination of tuition and fees entirely for public universities, funded by taxing hedge funds, investment houses and other Wall Street firms. Many party activists and left-wing politicians have made “debt free college” for all a litmus test for the primaries, with Clinton’s plan falling just short of that test.

Minutes before Clinton’s speech, Sanders tweeted his call for the U.S. to “revolutionize” its higher education system and for free tuition at public colleges and universities.