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North Carolina Governor Begs Trump To End Shutdown So State Can Use Hurricane Aid

2019-01-09T21:40:00.001-08:00

Hayley Miller © ASSOCIATED PRESS President Donald Trump listens to North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, left, during a presidential visit Sept. 19 to areas impacted by Hurricane Florence. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) on Wednesday implored President Donald Trump to end the partial government shutdown in order to unlock funds meant to help the battered state recover from a destructive hurricane season. The shutdown, which began Dec. 22, poses a significant risk to North Carolina’s farming economy and its ability to rebuild after deadly Hurricane Florence pummeled the state in September, Cooper wrote in a letter to the president. “The people of North Carolina are strong and are working hard to rebuild,” Cooper wrote. “But we are equally determined to hold the federal government to its promise of help.” “During your visit following Hurricane Florence, you promised me the 100 percent support of the federal government in North Carolina’s recovery,” the letter continued. “This shutdown makes that promise harder to keep. Please work with Congressional leaders to end this shutdown so our communities can rebuild quickly and effectively.” Florence left 41 people dead in North Carolina and dumped an estimated 8 trillion gallons of water, flooding homes and businesses across the state. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in September designated $1.68 billion for states impacted by 2018 storms, but hasn’t notified those states about how much funding they will receive, Cooper wrote. Additionally, HUD awarded North Carolina $168 million last April to make state’s flood-prone areas safer, but the state is unable to use those funds until guidance is published in the Federal Register, which cannot happen during a shutdown, the governor added. “The government shutdown is also threatening the livelihood of our farmers, many of whom were swamped by the same hurricane waters that destroyed homes and businesses,” Cooper wrote. “Help from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for hurricane affected farms is unavailable, and farmers hoping to plan for this year’s planting season are running out of time.” North Carolina farmers and livestock producers suffered an estimated $1.1 billion in losses due to Florence, which killed at least 5,500 hogs and 4.1 million chickens and turkeys, the state’s Department of Agriculture announced in September. The weekslong budget impasse centers on Trump’s demand for $5 billion to build his long-promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Several agencies, including the USDA and the Department of Homeland Security, have been affected by the shutdown. About 800,000 federal workers across the country have been furloughed or, if deemed essential, continue to work without pay. The White House did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment. This article originally appeared on HuffPost.

Trump farm bailout money will go to Brazilian-owned meatpacking firm, USDA says Jeff Stein

2019-01-09T19:17:00.003-08:00

Americans Increasingly See The Government Shutdown As Serious Joshua Tree to stay open as park service uses fee revenue amid shutdown © Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House in October. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) U.S. taxpayers will buy about $5 million in pork products from a Brazilian-owned meatpacking firm under President Trump’s bailout program, which was designed to help American farmers hurt by the administration’s trade war, according to documents released Wednesday. JBS, one of the biggest meatpacking companies in the world, will sell 1.8 million pounds of pork products through a Trump bailout program that buys surplus commodities from farmers and ranchers, say records published by the Agricultural Marketing Service, a branch of the Agriculture Department. Subscribe to the Post Most newsletter: Today’s most popular stories on The Washington Post The administration has pitched its $12 billion bailout program as necessary to help farmers weather the long-running trade war with China, but critics have questioned whether funding will also enrich large and foreign-owned firms. The bulk of the program consists of direct cash payments to farmers hurt by the downturn, although those payments have stalled amid the partial government shutdown. Agriculture Department officials announced Tuesday they are extending the deadline for applying for aid under this program by several weeks at a minimum. As part of the bailout, the administration is also buying $1.2 billion in surplus products from farmers, including more than $500 million from pork producers, for distribution to food banks across the country. In November 2018, a Chinese-owned pork firm rescinded its bid for bailout money after a backlash on Capitol Hill over the award. Smithfield Foods, owned by the Chinese conglomerate WH Group, had been awarded $240,000 in pork payments under the bailout program set up to help farmers weather the White House’s trade war with China. Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) criticized the payment, arguing taxpayer money should not go to an international firm. JBS USA, with about 73,000 employees and 44 plants domestically, recorded more meat and poultry sales in the United States than any other company, according to rankings published by the trade journal National Provisioner. The company is owned and controlled by Sao Paulo, Brazil-based JBS SA, which boasts more than 200,000 employees worldwide, according to its website. “Why is USDA rewarding another foreign-owned meatpacker through its meat procurement program after the blowback it received from purchasing pork products from Chinese-owned Smithfield?” asked Tony Corbo, senior lobbyist at Food and Water Watch, which tracks federal agriculture programs. The Agricultural Marketing Service, which is administering the purchase program, said in a statement earlier this year that the products it will buy are “100 [percent] American produced.” Agriculture Department officials previously said qualified vendors who work for the agency, including Smithfield and JBS, would be allowed to make purchases under the program. “USDA only buys American commodities, produced on American farms by American farmers,” a USDA spokesperson said in an email. “Approved vendors who choose to participate in USDA food purchasing programs, regardless of their business structure or domicile, provide direct benefits to U.S. farmers and ranchers.” American Custom Meats, Chicago Meat and Proportion Foods also will sell products to USDA under the bailout program, according to agency documents.

Ocasio-Cortez suggests individual tax rates as high as 70%

2019-01-04T23:03:00.002-08:00

By: Victor Reklaitis

© Getty Images Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez leaves a photo opp with the female Democratic members of the 116th Congress on Friday. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is drawing attention Friday for suggesting that the wealthiest Americans ought to pay a tax rate of as high as 70% in order to fund a “Green New Deal.”

The new Democratic congresswoman from New York noted there is historical precedent for a high tax rate for the super wealthy, as she said the following:

“You look at our tax rates back in the 60s, and when you have a progressive tax rate system, your tax rate, let’s say, from $0 to $75,000 may be 10% or 15%, etc. But once you get to the tippy tops, on your 10-millionth dollar, sometimes you see tax rates as high as 60% or 70%.” — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat

Her remarks came in an interview with Anderson Cooper for the CBS show “60 Minutes.” Excerpts for her appearance have been released, ahead of a full broadcast on Sunday.
“That doesn’t mean all $10 million are taxed at an extremely high rate, but it means that as you climb up this ladder, you should be contributing more,” said the lawmaker, who also got attention this week thanks to a dance video from her college years that went viral.
After Cooper said Ocasio-Cortez’s agenda is “radical” compared to how politics is done now, the congresswoman embraced that word.
“It only has ever been radicals that have changed this country,” she said. “Abraham Lincoln made the radical decision to sign the Emancipation Proclamation. Franklin Delano Roosevelt made the radical decision to embark on establishing programs like Social Security.”
“If that’s what radical means, call me a radical,” Ocasio-Cortez added.
Read more: Ocasio-Cortez slams budget rule pushed by Democratic leaders
The term “Green New Deal” refers to a stimulus program backed by many progressives that intends to address both climate change and economic inequality.
House Democrats on Thursday created a new select committee on climate change, but it has been denounced by environmental activists who want a bolder approach.

You Are More Blessed Than You Realize (Video)

2018-12-29T09:40:00.004-08:00

Read James Mattis’ full resignation letter

2018-12-23T23:09:00.001-08:00

Politics Dec 20, 2018 6:21 PM EST

Defense Secretary James Mattis submitted a letter of resignation to President Donald Trump on Thursday, writing that the president deserves “the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours.”

Trump announced Mattis’ resignation on Twitter, saying that Mattis would retire “with distinction” in February after leading the Department of Defense for two years.

“During Jim’s tenure, tremendous progress has been made, especially with respect to the purchase of new fighting equipment,” Trump said, adding that Mattis “was a great help to me in getting allies and other countries to pay their share of military obligations.”

Trump said he would name a replacement for Mattis soon, but did not offer a timetable.

In his resignation letter, Mattis, a former four-star Marine general, appeared to point to his policy differences with Trump, who has frequently clashed with U.S. allies.

“We must do everything we can to advance an international order that is most conducive to our security, prosperity and values and we are strengthened in this effort by solidarity of our alliances,” Mattis wrote in the letter.

“Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position,” Mattis said.

Mattis joins several other senior administration officials who have recently resigned or announced plans to leave their jobs.

In October, in the run up to the 2018 midterms, UN Ambassador Nikki Haley announced that she would resign. Last week Ryan Zinke resigned as secretary of the Interior Department amid several ethics investigations. Earlier this month Trump announced that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly would resign, and later named Mick Mulvaney, the White House budget director, as his replacement.

https://d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net/static/2018/12/mattis-letter2.pdf#page=1

LeBron James Compares NBA to NFL with Harsh Comments About Owners

2018-12-22T19:08:00.002-08:00

The Lakers superstar unloads on the NFL's power structure, and commends Adam Silver, during an episode of his HBO series

by Cody Benjamin

Just because LeBron James is the face of his league doesn't mean he parses his words when talking about another.
The longtime NBA superstar and Los Angeles Lakers centerpiece invited Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley to talk NFL on a recent episode of his HBO series, "The Shop," and it's safe to say he didn't hold back. A previous clip of the episode showed James critiquing the NFL by comparing it to the NBA.

"The difference between the NBA and the NFL -- the NBA is, like, what we believe he can be, what we believe he can be, the potential," LeBron said. "And the NFL, it's like, what can you do for me this Sunday, or this Monday, or this Thursday? And if you ain't it, we movin' on."

As the Washington Post reported Saturday, however, James actually went much further than that.

"In the NFL, they got a bunch of old white men owning teams and they got that slave mentality," the three-time NBA champion said, per The Post. "And it's like, 'This is my team. You do what the [explicit] I tell y'all to do. Or we get rid of y'all.' I'm so appreciative in our league of our commissioner [Adam Silver]. He doesn't mind us having … a real feeling and to be able to express that. It doesn't even matter if Adam agrees with what we are saying, he at least wants to hear us out. As long as we are doing it in a very educational, non-violent way, then he's absolutely OK with it."
James' words shouldn't be entirely shocking to anyone who followed NFL players' very public dispute with team owners and league rules over social activism and on-field protests in recent years. But they still mark a profound stance for one of sports' biggest names.

James went on to suggest that both the NFL and NBA should acknowledge that it's the players -- not the billionaire owners -- who drive fans to their sports anyway. "The players are who make the ship go," he said. "We make it go. Every Sunday, without Todd Gurley and without Odell Beckham Jr., without those players, those guys, there is no football."

Fox News Analyst Quits, Calling Network a ‘Propaganda Machine’

2018-12-21T23:18:00.004-08:00

Ralph Peters appeared regularly on Fox News and the Fox Business Network after spending more than two decades in the Army, eventually specializing in Russian intelligence.

Image

Ralph Peters appeared regularly on Fox News and the Fox Business Network after spending more than two decades in the Army, eventually specializing in Russian intelligence.

By Michael M. Grynbaum

March 20,2018

- A longtime analyst for Fox News is leaving the network, saying that he could not “in good conscience” remain with an organization that, he argued, “is now wittingly harming our system of government for profit.”

In a searing farewell note sent to colleagues on Tuesday, Ralph Peters, a Fox News strategic analyst and a retired lieutenant colonel in the United States Army, castigated the network for its coverage of President Trump and the rhetoric of its prime-time hosts.

“In my view, Fox has degenerated from providing a legitimate and much-needed outlet for conservative voices to a mere propaganda machine for a destructive and ethically ruinous administration,” Colonel Peters wrote in his message, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times.

“Over my decade with Fox, I long was proud of the association,” he added. “Now I am ashamed.”

Without citing them by name, Colonel Peters, 65, wrote that Fox News’s prime-time anchors “dismiss facts and empirical reality to launch profoundly dishonest assaults on the F.B.I., the Justice Department, the courts, the intelligence community (in which I served) and, not least, a model public servant and genuine war hero such as Robert Mueller.”

I cannot be part of the same organization, even at a remove,” he wrote.

Fox News responded on Tuesday by saying it was “extremely proud of our top-rated prime-time hosts and all of our opinion programming.”

“Ralph Peters is entitled to his opinion despite the fact that he’s choosing to use it as a weapon in order to gain attention,” the network said in a statement.

Colonel Peters, who appeared He said he informed Fox News on March 1 that he did not plan to renew his contract, which expires toward the end of this month. “As a retired military officer,” he said, “I simply could not continue with Fox in good conscience.”

Fox News’s commentary shows, like “Hannity” and “Fox & Friends,” have become stalwart defenders of Mr. Trump and his administration, often criticizing Mr. Mueller, the special counsel, and law enforcement agencies that have been investigating possible ties between the president’s associates and Russian interference into the 2016 election.

Fox News remains the No. 1 cable news network despite recent changes in its prime-time lineup. Since 2017, the conservative pundits Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham have replaced Megyn Kelly, who left for NBC News, and Bill O’Reilly, who was fired after a harassment scandal.

Colonel Peters’s message to his colleagues, which was first reported by BuzzFeed News, included the caveat that not every Fox News host is “a propaganda mouthpiece — some have shown courage.” Colonel Peters also described his respect for colleagues at the Fox Business Network and reporters at Fox News, whom he called “talented professionals in a poisoned environment.”

An author of historical fiction and spy thrillers who writes a regular column in The New York Post, Colonel Peters gained notice in recent weeks after he called for an assault weapons ban in the wake of the school shooting in Parkland, Fla.

The most screwed-up employee perk in America (and the man who just might fix it)

2018-12-15T22:32:00.004-08:00

The Talent Quotient

To woo choosy workers, companies are competing harder than ever to attract and keep top talent. Here’s how they’re doing it.

Natasha Dzhola for Quartz

VITAL SIGNS

The most screwed-up employee perk in America (and the man who just might fix it)

By Elijah WolfsonDecember 10, 2018

The last time Atul Gawande started a company, he named it after a Greek myth.

Ariadne Labs, based in Boston, Massachusetts—where Gawande also works as a surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and teaches at Harvard—has been trying since 2012 to innovate in an area that has historically resisted innovation: healthcare delivery. You may not have heard of Ariadne, but you’ve certainly heard her story. It’s the one about the Labyrinth and the Minotaur.

If you don’t know her name, it’s because most tellings cast Theseus, the prince of Athens who eventually slays the monster, as the hero of the tale. But a closer read makes clear that, really, it’s Ariadne, the princess of Crete and the minotaur’s half-sister, who matters. She falls in love with Theseus, and saves his life by wisely instructing him to take a ball of twine and attach the thread to the labyrinth’s entrance so he can find his way through the maze, and by bravely risking her life to hide his sword so he can retrieve it in time. Theseus kills the minotaur, escapes the labyrinth, and leaves Crete with Ariadne, bound for Athens and marriage.

Explaining his new company’s name and mission in 2013, Gawande told WBUR public radio, “We’re in the simple threads business, to show there are ways out of the labyrinth of healthcare complexity.”

Perhaps the most influential thing the lab has worked on is the development of healthcare checklists, based on Gawande’s hugely influential “safe surgery checklist.” After Gawande’s original checklist was implemented in eight hospitals as part of a study in the mid-2000s, post-surgery death rates in those facilities fell by 50%. Today, the surgery checklist is used all over the world, and Ariadne Labs has attempted to replicate its success by bringing checklists to other areas of healthcare delivery. It’s not a sword cutting off the head of the monster; it’s the twine helping to guide better decision-making.

Another thing that was likely left out the version of the Labyrinth myth you read in grade school: Ariadne and Theseus do not live happily ever after. On their way back to Athens, Theseus abandons Ariadne on the island of Naxos, where she dies, alone, as he sails back home.

Ariadne Labs is far from dead, though Gawande has stepped down from his role of executive director (he’ll remain chairperson of the company), and there are genuine questions about whether simple threads will always work. Many of Ariadne Labs’ recent efforts, including the highly publicized deployment of a World Health Organization-sponsored checklist to reduce deaths among newborns and their mothers in India, have failed.

Gawande, who has been writing and speaking on the problems of the US healthcare system for most of his adult life, has long bemoaned the field’s resistance to innovation. As an influential book author, New Yorker contributor, and public speaker, Gawande has become one of the foremost champions of change in healthcare delivery and policy. His ideas are about to be put to their biggest test yet. In January, three of the biggest and most powerful American companies—the tech juggernaut Amazon, banking giant JPMorgan Chase; and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway holding company—announced they were forming a joint healthcare venture; in June, they chose Gawande to run it.

Kelly Davidson

Atul Gawande, before he was chosen to lead one of the most ambitious healthcare initiatives in recent history.

Nearly six months later, almost nothing is known about Gawande’s plan for his second startup, other than that it will seek to provide the combined 1.2 million employees of its three sponsor companies with better healthcare at a lower cost to the employers than exists now. No one involved in the venture is speaking to the press about it. Emails sent to Gawande directly were rerouted to public relations, and attempts to speak to him by phone and in person were similarly forestalled.

But based on Gawande’s prior work, and on recent trends in employer-sponsored healthcare, it’s not hard to imagine what’s in store for the Amazon/JPM/Berkshire partnership. Despite huge improvements brought on by the 2010 Affordable Care Act, the US still lags far behind other similarly wealthy countries when it comes to healthcare penetration and efficacy. Gawande, who cut his teeth as a member of the Clinton administration’s healthcare reform team, has long been a critic of how care is delivered in the US.

Companies across all sectors, ranging from tech and financial services to retail and manufacturing, have, in the past five years or so, started to tweak their employee health programs to stem the rising costs of healthcare, which impact the bank accounts of both employers and employees. But simultaneously, facing a competitive labor market, more employers are seeing better employee healthcare as a differentiator that can help them recruit and retain the best of the best.

The problem is, the last time employers used healthcare this way, they laid the tracks that led to the very problems with the US system they’re now trying to solve.

Ryan pushes for thousands of Irish visas before leaving office

2018-12-15T22:16:00.004-08:00

By Ted Hesson

© Alex Edelman-Pool/Getty Images Speaker Paul Ryan speaks during the Friends of Ireland luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on March 15. House Speaker Paul Ryan is leaving Congress with a grateful nod to his Irish ancestors.

A bill pushed by Ryan, whose family fled famine-ravaged Ireland in 1851, could provide Irish nationals with thousands of additional U.S. work visas each year.
The legislation cleared the House Nov. 28 on an uncontested voice vote and is increasingly likely to clear the Senate next week, a GOP aide told POLITICO.
But the measure has stirred opposition from the alt-right publication Breitbart, which dubbed the visa program “amnesty for Irish lobbies“ and said it would take jobs away from U.S. college graduates.
The bill would give the Irish access to unused E-3 visas, which currently are available only to Australians in "specialty occupations" that require a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent. In return, Ireland would offer additional work visas to Americans, among other concessions.
“The idea here is that this is going to be reciprocal,” said John Deasy, an Irish special envoy to the U.S. “We think it’s important that the flows in the workplace continue between the two countries.”
A single GOP senator is blocking the legislation, the GOP aide said. That represents apparent progress from earlier this month, when six Republicans had put a hold on the bill, according to an Irish-American news website.
Passage of the Irish visa bill would be an unexpected but not illogical conclusion to Paul Ryan’s speakership. He worked behind the scenes in 2013 and 2014 on a bill to overhaul the legal immigration system, an effort that eventually died under then-Speaker John Boehner.
Ryan maintains close ties with Irish officials, and the 48-year-old Wisconsinite said earlier this year that sometime after his 60th birthday he would like to become the U.S. ambassador to Ireland.
The next opportunity for the visa bill to clear the Senate will be Monday, when lawmakers return to grapple with a spending bill to prevent a partial government shutdown.
Even if the measure clears the Senate, though, it will need the support of President Donald Trump, whose position on the bill is unclear. A White House spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.
The bill would draw from the annual pool of 10,500 work visas in the E-3 program, which was created as part of a 2005 immigration law. Under the measure, Irish nationals would have access to any visas that remained unused by Australians in the preceding fiscal year.
The State Department issued 5,657 E-3 visas to Australians in fiscal year 2017. At that rate, nearly 5,000 visas would remain for Irish professionals.
The Irish government appears willing to offer more than just employment visas to cement the deal, according to a document circulated among Senate offices and obtained by POLITICO.
In addition to reciprocal work permits, the proposal suggests changes to make it easier for qualifying Americans to retire in Ireland.
The document also floats an expansion of academic exchange programs and an extension of a reciprocal “working holiday” visa available to U.S. and Irish nationals ages 18 to 30.
As part of the proposal, U.S. nationals on holiday visas could begin work immediately after entering Ireland, bypassing the current registration process, according to Deasy, the Irish envoy.

Politico

ADT BAIT AND SWITCH....FALSE GUARANTEE ON WEBSITE

2018-11-28T22:37:00.003-08:00

1)    Responded to an ADT promotion of $27.99 for a security system with NO noticeable exceptions
2)    When installing the system & preparing the contract on his Ipad, the salesperson did not advise about landline cost or insurance at $52.99 monthly.
3)    Signed my name on at least seven places and signed my initials to multipage without informing me
4)    Created an automatic payment with my credit card for monthly billing
5)    Did not inform that the first payement would be for two months of $113.
6)    Did not inform that the first payment would come out of my account within a few days of the $109 and $66 payments.
7)    When I tried to cancel, I had to contact them for two days & fax the cancellation notice which cost me $3.
8)    Sent a person out to my home after calling them a 3rd time to cancel & he made additional promises
9)    A person visited my home and who called himself, an escalator” told me he had the power to make deals & do refunds that the people on the phone could not do. He offered to refund all money paid and reduced the monthly payment if I would not cancel. I agreed to that. He gave me a one-page contract for me to sign showing the new rate.
10)    He called in and got the $66 credit. When I asked him about the other refunds, he said he would have to wait until he got back to the office and finished the paperwork before he could issue it.
11)    I called the next morning and said I changed my mind and did not want o to renegotiate the contract. I wanted to cancel but was told I could not believe. My contract was not for 11/15 but rather 11/2. There was no new contract. I was not getting my refund back.
12)    On November 4th after calling them and not being able to cancel the contract, I contacted my credit card company and told them what had happened. I file a dispute for all charges. They have issued me my credit
13)    On today November 20th received a call wanting me to pay the $109, the amount the credit card refunded first.
14)    It appears they are still trying to keep me in the contract. I have filed a complaint with BBB and FTC. I will not be taken advantage of or intimidate. Today’s call was meant to do just that.
The companies, ADT and Defenders, Inc. are refusing to cancel the contract and is trying to make me pay for three years of service and refuses to pickup their equipment. With the six people I have spoken to over the phone, a letter from the above woman and an email from Keshia Smith, none have told the same story including the installer and the escalator who came to my home.

The website:   https://www.protectyourhome.com/
     https://www.protectyourhome.com https://www.protectyourhome.com

States the following guarantee by ADT. Check out the website guarantee:
ADT Money-Back Guarantee
If during the six months following installation ADT is unable to resolve any installation/service-related concern, you may receive a refund of the installation price and all monitoring fees you paid within the first six months. Certain restrictions apply.

UK electricity grid cyber-attack risk is 'off the scale.....Energy industry says current threat coming to the fore because of trend towards decentralised power plants

2017-06-25T15:39:00.005-07:00

Sunday 25 June 2017 12.20 EDT Last modified on Sunday 25 June 2017 17.00 EDT

Concerns over the threat posed by cyber-attacks on power stations and electricity grids is “off the scale” in the UK energy sector, according to a leading industry figure.
No other country in the world has an energy industry as worried about the risk from cyber threats, such as the WannaCry ransomware attack that recently hit the NHS, the former chief of National Grid told the Guardian.

Theresa May’s crackdown on the internet will let terror in the backdoor

There were also a growing number of web-connected devices in energy technology, he added.
One obvious target is the smart meters that are being installed in every home by the end of 2020, to automate meter readings. The Capita-run body set up to handle the data, the DCC, is being treated as critical national infrastructure and the company’s chief technology officer insists the data is safe.
“We don’t hold personal information [on energy supplier customers], we don’t see any form of sensitive data and we are not connected to the internet,” Matt Roderick told a recent industry conference. Holliday’s warning comes as the UK parliament reels from a “sustained and determined” cyber-attack which left MPs unable to access their emails.
Industry trade body Energy UK said there was a central system for logging threats, to help rapidly counter them. “Maintaining the highest level of security against cyber threats is a top priority for the industry,” a spokeswoman said.

Security experts from the National Cyber Security Centre and companies including Siemens also recently attended a summit on cybersecurity and energy infrastructure, hosted by Energy UK and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
The issue is not just a concern for the power sector, but for oil and gas producers too. BP said recently that “we are a target for this activity” when asked by shareholders about how seriously it was taking cybersecurity.
“Cyber is high on the agenda. It is one of the key risks the company identifies,” said Carl-Henric Svanberg, chairman at BP. “We were not affected luckily by this [Wannacry] attack, primarily because everybody had followed procedures of continuous updates.”

Brian Gilvary, chief financial officer at BP, said the firm did not share specific information on the number of attacks it faced. However, he said the company had a strategy of repelling what it could, detecting what got through and then cleansing when cyber-attackers had breached defences.
The World Energy Council, a global network of energy leaders, said cybersecurity in the energy sector had been high on the agenda of a security conference in Munich earlier this year. The issue was also raised in May by the Scottish parliament.

PricewaterhouseCoopers recently found that 65% of UK businesses were “significantly concerned” over cyber risks to energy technology. Three in five businesses would switch energy supplier if they suffered a cyber breach, according to a survey of 500 businesses by the professional services firm.

Girl Pleads With Mother After Castile Killing: 'I Don't Want You to Get Shooted!'

2017-06-21T21:54:00.001-07:00

NBC News

The terrified four-year-old witness to the killing of Philando Castile by a Minnesota cop pleaded with her mother to cooperate with police moments after his death telling her "I don't want you to get shooted," a newly released police video shows.

The video, which came out with a bundle of evidence from the Castile trial, captures the interaction between Diamond Reynolds, Castile's girlfriend, and her daughter as they were held in the back of a squad car shortly after the shooting.

In the heart-wrenching video, a handcuffed Reynolds yells "F---!" — and immediately her young daughter begins to cry begging her mother to "please stop cussing and screaming because I don't want you to get shooted."

The weeping girl then embraces her mother, who tells her to give her a kiss.
"I can keep you safe," says the girl, while wiping away tears from her face.
Related: Authorities Release Police Dashcam Video of Philando Castile Killing
"I can't believe they just did that," Reynolds whispers to herself — to which the girl begins to cry uncontrollably.

Reynolds then attempts to get out of her handcuffs, and the girl again desperately yells for her to be calm, out of fear for her mother's safety.
"No! Please no! I don't want you to get shooted!" she said.
"They're not going to shoot me, I'm already in handcuffs," Reynolds responds in an attempt to pacify the frazzled girl.

The emotional video shines new light on the tragic aftermath of Castile's tragic shooting by Officer Jeronimo Yanez who fired seven bullets into him after he told the officer he had a firearm.
Yanez told investigators and a jury that he believed Castile was reaching for the weapon.
But Reynolds, who live streamed the immediate moments after her boyfriend was shot on Facebook, told authorities that he was only reaching for his wallet.
© Diamond Reynolds, holding her daughter, speaks to a crowd outside the Governor's Mansion on July 7, ... Police Officer Fatally Shoots Black Man During Traffic Stop Near St. Paul She is also heard saying "he's not pulling it out!" in the police dashcam video seconds before the gunfire.

Yanez was acquitted by a jury on charges of manslaughter and dangerous discharge of a firearm — sparking outrage in the community as well as with civil rights organizations across the nation.
Reynolds testified during the trial that she recorded the encounter out of fear for her own life.
"Because I know that the people are not protected by police," Reynolds said, according to NBC Minneapolis affiliate KARE. "I wanted to make sure if I was to die in front of my daughter, someone would know the truth."

It’s June. California Is Still Covered in Snow

2017-06-20T21:41:00.004-07:00

Climate Central

In this photo taken Tuesday, June 6, 2017, Caltrans maintenance worker Paul Jensen removes snow and dirt that is clogging the rotary blower he is operating to clear snow from Highway 120 near near Yosemite National… The summer solstice is just around the corner, but someone forgot to tell California’s snowpack.

After years of wallowing in drought, this winter walloped California’s Sierra Nevada mountains in a major, record-setting way. And while the calendar says summer, winter still has its grips on the granite spine of the Sierras.

NASA Earth Observatory released satellite imagery on Thursday that shows what a difference a year makes. Snowpack is at 170 percent of normal when averaged across the state and some areas are reporting way higher totals than that, according to the California Department of Water Resources. Alpine Meadows, located just west of Lake Tahoe, reported 288 inches of snow on the ground (no, that’s not a typo) as of early June. Deep green hues of healthy vegetation also extend down the Sierra Nevada western slope, another benefit of all that precipitation.

A storm earlier this week even dropped a few inches of fresh powder to freshen up the slopes for ski resorts that have stayed open to accommodate skiers and boarders who have been starved for snow for five years. California, you’ll may recall, was in an epic drought until this winter helped bust it in a big way.

Beyond making skiers happy, the massive amounts of snow at high elevations and rain at low elevations helped fill reservoirs that were dangerously low. In the case of the Oroville Reservoir, all the rain ended up being too much of a good thing and caused a cascade of events that nearly caused the dam holding waters back to collapse.

Only 8 percent of the state remains in comparatively mild drought. At this time last year, 84 percent of the state was in drought, including 21 percent in the worst type of drought tracked by the U.S. Drought Monitor.

But though drought seems like a distant memory looking at the snowy Sierras, Californians shouldn’t forget it. Precipitation (or lack thereof) is a key ingredient for drought, and while climate change isn’t likely to cause a shift in precipitation for the Golden State, it is likely to have an impact on another key drought ingredient: hot temperatures.

Scientists have already shown that hot years are overlapping with dry years more often and that within a few decades, any dry year will also certainly be a hot one in California. Put a few of those hot, dry years together and you’ve got yourself a recipe for another extreme California drought. That means the Golden State should enjoy the good times like 2017, but be ready for a future where drought conditions happen more often unless carbon pollution is cut.

Excessive heat to boil West, Southwest U.S.

2017-06-20T21:37:00.003-07:00

CBS News

Danielle Nottingham 3 days ago

Summer doesn't officially start until Wednesday, but parts of the West and Southwest are already broiling in a triple-digit heat wave.

119 degrees in Furnace Creek, California, 113 in Blue Water, Arizona, 112 in Midland, Texas
It's making conditions even more dangerous for crews battling wildfires.

Temperatures in parts of California are expected to rise as high as 25 degrees above normal.
Sizzling temperatures across the region could break records. And another cause for concern -- air quality. Unhealthy to very unhealthy levels of heat-induced ozone pollution are expected in several inland communities. Excessive heat warnings extend to Nevada , parts of Utah and in Arizona, where over a dozen wildfires are burning around the state. Six firefighters had to be treated for heat-related illness while battling the highline fire in Payson. Temperatures in Phoenix are expected to reach 120 degrees.

The hottest temperatures will arrive in the Southwest Monday and last through the end of next week. In the southern California desert, highs in Death Valley could soar to 127 degrees.

Thousands dead' in DR Congo violence

2017-06-20T21:30:00.002-07:00

Thousands dead' in DR Congo violence

BBC News

© Getty Images The UN has called for an investigation into the violence, which has left millions displaced More than 3,300 people have been killed in the violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Kasai region since last October, the Catholic Church says.

The figure, reported by the Reuters news agency, is from Church sources.

The deaths are the result of clashes between the army and a rebel group, but civilians have also been caught up in the violence.

The UN has reported on the discovery of more than 20 mass graves but has put the death toll so far at about 400.

According to the church, 20 villages have been completely destroyed, half of them by government troops.

The UN Human Rights Council is likely to vote this week on whether to mandate an independent investigation into the violence following what the group's commissioner described as horrific atrocities committed in Kasai province.

The Congolese authorities have said they would reject it.
More than a million people have been displaced in the region in the last year and aid workers say the humanitarian response on the ground has so far been inadequate.

Violence erupted in the once peaceful Kasai region last August, after the death of a local leader during fighting with security forces.

Former escort found guilty of attempted hit man hire

2017-06-20T05:07:00.001-07:00

Associated Press

1 day ago

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A former escort was convicted Friday of trying to hire a hit man to kill her newlywed husband to get control of his money and their town house in a case that was featured on the television show "Cops."

Dalia Dippolito teared up as she turned to look at her sobbing mother when the jury announced its verdict after deliberating for only an hour and a half. She faces up to 20 years in prison when sentenced July 21. Judge Glenn Kelley ordered her held without bail.

Dippolito, 34 and the mother of an infant son, later began sobbing as she sat handcuffed in a corner of the courtroom as bailiffs ordered spectators out. Paramedics were called to the courthouse after she had trouble breathing, but she was later taken to jail. She had been on house arrest for several years.
Her ex-husband, convicted conman Michael Dippolito, issued a statement saying he was "5,000 percent happy" with the verdict. He was referring to a secretly videotaped statement Dalia Dippolito made to an undercover detective posing as a hit man where she said she was "5,000 percent sure" she wanted him murdered.

"The jury could see through the Defense's lies and antics," he said.
Prosecutors Craig Williams and Laura Laurie declined comment. Their boss, Palm Beach State Attorney Dave Aronson, issued a statement saying, "We are pleased that the hard work and perseverance of our prosecutors and staff have led to justice." The three-man, three-woman jury also left without comment.
This was the third trial for Dippolito since her arrest in August 2009. A 2011 conviction and 20-year sentence were thrown out on appeal. A 2016 trial ended with a 3-3 hung jury.

Deputy Neil Cascone holds Dalia Dippolito back as her family reaches out to her as she in taken into custody after being found guilty in her third attempted murder trial, Friday, June 16, 2017 in West Palm Beach, Fla. Dippolito, a former escort was convicted Friday of trying to hire a hit man to kill her newlywed husband to get control of his money and their town house in a case that was featured on the television show "Cops." (Lannis Waters/Palm Beach Post via AP, Pool)

1/11 SLIDES © Lannis Waters/Palm Beach Post via AP, Pool

Defense attorneys Brian Claypool and Craig Rosenfeld said they will appeal the verdict, saying jurors should not have heard secondhand allegations that Dippolito once tried to poison her husband."It is really hard for jurors to get beyond that and really look at the egregious police misconduct that took place," Claypool said.

The guilty verdict validated the prosecution's reversal in strategy. Last year, prosecutors focused heavily on the 23-minute video in which Dippolito tells undercover officer Widy Jean she wanted her husband killed and agreed to pay $7,000. She also discussed various plots before Jean said he would kill her husband at the couple's home, making it look like a botched burglary while she was at the gym.

This time, while the tape remained a key piece of their evidence, prosecutors went back to their 2011 strategy. They also called Michael Dippolito, who testified that his then-wife stole $100,000 from him shortly after they got married in February 2009. He also said someone twice planted drugs in his SUV and called police, which could have landed him back in prison for violating his probation. He thinks it was his wife. He has said previously he met his wife when he hired her for sex. He soon divorced another woman and married her.

According to The Palm Beach Post, prosecutors also read for the jury X-rated text messages Dalia Dippolito exchanged with a now-deceased lover, Mike Stanley, in 2009 after she got married.
She had Stanley impersonate a doctor, to help her hide the $100,000 theft, and later a lawyer, to make her husband wrongly think he had completed probation, prosecutors said, adding that she hoped that if her husband stopped visiting his probation officer, he would be found in violation. In one text message, she rejoiced after persuading her husband to put their town house in her name only; in another, she complained after learning she still couldn't sell it without his signature.

Prosecutors also showed video of her interview with detectives at the police station after being made to believe her husband had been killed. She volunteered potential killers, including her husband's former crime partners, and denied knowing Jean when he was brought before her in handcuffs as the killer.

Claypool and Rosenfeld struck hard at the investigation, accusing the Boynton Beach police of playing to the "Cops" cameras in hopes of becoming famous, rather than doing a professional and thorough investigation. They criticized the department for posting on YouTube minutes after her arrest video of Dippolito being told falsely her husband was dead.

Former Boynton Beach Sgt. Frank Ranzie testified for the defense, saying that as a detective on the case, he had opposed "Cops" filming the investigation because cameras make people, including police officers, behave differently.

He also said his supervisors refused to delay a key meeting between Dippolito and their confidential informant, her sometimes-lover Mohammed Shihadeh, minutes before her rendezvous with Jean when Shihadeh's recording device failed. He called that a major gap in the investigation.

Study reveals "staggering" toll of guns on U.S. kids

2017-06-20T05:01:00.005-07:00

CBS News

Mary Brophy Marcus 1 day ago

© Provided by CBS Interactive Inc.The tragic headlines are all too common: A toddler got his hands on his mother's gun and fatally shot his 2-year-old brother in Colorado earlier this month. Two girls caught in the crossfire were wounded in a shooting during a picnic at a Chicago elementary school on Friday. And out of the glare of the headlines, more teens took their own lives.
Now a new report gives the most complete picture yet of the grim toll gunfire takes on American children every year.

Overall, nearly 1,300 children in the U.S. die in shootings each year and another 5,790 survive gunshot wounds -- from handguns, rifles and shotguns -- according to the study published today in the journal Pediatrics.

The tally makes gunshot wounds the third leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 17 years.
For the report, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed data on injuries and deaths from gunfire in kids ages 0 to 17, compiling information from three national databases that track details such as nonfatal firearm injuries reported by hospital emergency rooms, death certificates connected to gun violence, coroner and medical examiner records, law enforcement reports, as well as details on homicides, assaults, suicides/self-harm, or unintentional injuries linked to guns. They also examined sex, age, race/ethnicity and year of death.
Watch: Chicago kids tell their stories: "Will I live the rest of my life?"
"About 19 children a day die or are medically treated in an emergency department for a gunshot wound in the U.S.," study author Katherine Fowler, a behavioral scientist at the CDC, told CBS News.

More than half (53 percent) of deaths due to guns among children were homicides, she said. More than a third (38 percent) were suicides. Six percent were unintentional shooting deaths.
Boys are especially vulnerable to gun violence, accounting for 82 percent of all child firearm deaths and 84 percent of all non-fatal gun injuries.

"The majority of these children are boys, 13 to 17 years old, and African-American in the case of firearm homicide, and non-Hispanic white and American Indian/Alaska Native in the case of firearm suicide," Fowler said.

African-American children have the highest rates of firearm mortality overall -- 10 times higher than the rate for non-Hispanic white and Asian-American children, according to the report.
When it comes to suicide by gun, rates among young people have climbed significantly since 2007, rising 60 percent, the study found.

In about a third of those cases, the child suffered from a depressed mood, and about a quarter had a clinically diagnosed mental health problem. Twenty-six percent told someone in advance of their intent to die by suicide.

© istockphoto istock-464884181.jpg Death by gun: Top 20 states with highest rates
Other research has found that suicides involving either handguns or long guns are especially prevalent in rural areas.

"The current report's analyses confirm that suicides often occur in response to short-term crises. The availability of a firearm may be especially critical for an impulsive teenager in such moments of crisis," Dr. Eliot W. Nelson of the University of Vermont Children's Hospital, in Burlington, Vermont, wrote in an accompanying editorial in Pediatrics entitled "Confronting the Firearm Injury Plague."
While there have been previous studies on firearm injuries and deaths in children, this report is "the most comprehensive" to date, Fowler said. "It examines overall patterns of firearm-related death and injury, patterns by type of firearm injury -- interpersonal, self-directed, and unintentional -- trends over time, state-level patterns, and circumstances surrounding these deaths."
Dr. Ruth Abaya, assistant professor of pediatrics in the division of Emergency Medicine at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, told CBS News, "The findings were staggering."
But, she added, "Unfortunately, not surprising. Their numbers verified a lot of observations we've seen in regards to gun violence, gun death and unintentional injury to children over the years. It was very telling."

How U.S. gun deaths compare to other countries Many kids spend time in homes with guns, but safety lags

The findings suggest that community-wide initiatives are needed to address the problem, she said.
"I think that the take-home for me is that we're going to need a multi-pronged approach to gun violence prevention in this country for it to be affective," Abaya said.
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has a violence prevention initiative that includes better access to health care -- including mental health care – for children at risk, as well as an anti-bullying program, and screening for mental health issues and firearm access when children come to the emergency room and pediatrician offices.

Although gun-related death rates for children declined gradually between 2006 and 2013, they have risen again over the past two years. Guns accounted for over 10 percent of all deaths among children 17 and younger in 2014 and 2015, Nelson pointed out in the editorial.
Watch: Report: Road rage involving guns on the rise

"An even grimmer picture appears if we extend the age range through the teenage years to age 19, because firearm injury rates rise steeply in late adolescence," he wrote.
And for those who survive, the physical and mental toll may be felt for a lifetime.
"By including a focus on nonfatal firearm injuries treated in emergency rooms, the authors also remind us of the fuller scope of these injuries and the toll they exact," Nelson wrote.
As for possible solutions to the problem, Dr. David Wesson, a pediatric surgeon at Texas Children's Hospital, told CBS News, "This paper gives us areas we can focus our energy on."
Because "firearm injuries are fraught with political overtones," this can be a difficult topic to address, but he suggested that promoting gun safety laws and more widespread use of secure gun storage devices are a few possible approaches.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends doctors ask parents whether they keep a gun in the home, and Nelson agreed that pediatricians "do need to try to engage those gun owners."
"We should be mindful that this message may be off-putting to parents who keep guns for hunting or self-protection, and who are part of a widespread and deeply rooted social gun culture in our country, especially in rural states," he wrote. "Our message on safe gun storage in homes with children is similar to that of gun rights and sport shooting groups.‍"

But, Wesson said, "The more guns there are, the more people die of gunshot injuries."
Fowler, the report author, said that understanding the nature, magnitude and health impact of firearm violence against children is an important first step to finding ways to prevent injuries and deaths of children from firearms. Street outreach and school-based programs, finding ways to address poverty and violence, screening for depression in children, and promoting safe gun storage education to owners are some of the ways communities can begin to address the issue.
The bottom line: "Firearm injuries are preventable," she said.

Thousands dropped from food stamps due to work requirements

2017-05-27T01:51:00.001-07:00

By Craig Schneider - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Posted: 3:12 p.m. Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Thousands of Georgians have lost their food stamps after the state gave them an ultimatum: Get a job or lose your benefits. Is that good news or bad news? Depends who you talk to. Placing work requirements on food stamps has proven controversial across the country, with opinions often divided along political lines. Georgia has been rolling out work requirements for food stamp recipients for over a year. The latest round affected some 12,000 people in 21 counties, several in metro Atlanta, who are considered able-bodied without children.

When the April 1 deadline came around for them to find work, more than half — 7,251 — were dropped from the program, according to state figures released this week. Essentially, the number of recipients spiraled down from 11,779 to 4,528, or a drop of 62 percent. Views on the work mandate vary widely, and intensely. People on the political right see the requirement as a nudge to those who languish on public benefits. But those on the left believe many people who the state deems able-bodied really cannot hold a job due to physical or mental limitations. And they worry these people will suffer without the assistance.
State officials say they plan to expand the work requirements to all 159 counties by 2019, with another 60 coming on board next year.

Bobby Cagle, director of the state Division of Family and Children Services, has said, “The greater good is people being employed, being productive and contributing to the state.”
The two political sides differ even in their view of the people in this category, who the state identifies as able-bodied adults without dependents or ABAWDs.
Brandon Hanick of the progressive activist group Better Georgia believes this population is filled with people with mental health impairments, limited education and borderline physical handicaps. They often lack the wherewithal to prove to a state bureaucracy their inability to meet the work requirements, he said. “It’s cruel,” Hanick said of the work requirements. “We’re talking about one of the most basic needs — the need for food.”

But state Rep. Greg Morris, a Republican from Vidalia, said the precipitous drop in recipients shows the mandate is working. He believes many of these food stamp recipients have become complacent, if not lazy, about finding a job. “This is about protecting taxpayer dollars from abuse, and taking people off the cycle of dependency,” Morris said. The big drop in numbers, he added, “shows how tax dollars are abused when it comes to entitlements.” Food stamps come from federal dollars, but the program here is managed by DFCS. Some 1.6 million Georgians receive food stamps. The number of food stamp recipients deemed able-bodied and without children in Georgia has dropped from 111,000 to 89,500 in a year’s time. That is an uncommon reduction of 21,500 people or 19 percent. Officials say they have no firm reason for the sharp decrease, though they suspect a statewide review of this population may have played a role.

The state began implementing the work requirements in 2016 with Cobb, Gwinnett and Hall counties. The state gave recipients there three months to find a job or training program or lose their benefits. A year later, the number of able-bodied, childless adults in those counties diminished 75 percent from 6,102 to 1,490, according to DFCS figures. The state selects counties with relatively low unemployment rates for the work requirements. But state officials acknowledge the system initially had a problem in classifying who is able-bodied. They discovered that hundreds of people who the state had classified as able-bodied in Cobb, Gwinnett and Hall were actually unable to work. Some lost their food stamps when the work requirements began. Staff have since received additional training.

Georgia’s expansion of the work requirements comes as conservatives nationally push for more welfare-to-work initiatives. All but a handful of states employ work requirements. The mandate is a federal policy, implemented during the welfare reform of the nineties but put on hold during the Great Recession. President Donald Trump’s new budget plan proposed to cut $192 billion from food stamps over a decade. What happens to the people dropped from food stamps? The agency does not track individuals once they leave the program. Officials noted that some may have been reclassified as handicapped. They would still be receiving food stamps but not be required to work. Others may have obtained jobs.

Here again, views on what happens to these people often splits along political affiliations.
Benita Dodd, vice president of the fiscally conservative Georgia Public Policy Foundation, said she believes the work mandate is pushing many into jobs. “It does show that if you give people an incentive to help themselves, they can become productive citizens,” she said.
But Melissa Johnson, a senior policy analyst with the left-leaning Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, has more dire concerns. Food stamps, often the first government assistance sought by people in hard times, are “such a meager benefit,” she said, adding that the average benefit is $129 a month in Georgia. “I believe these time limits are harmful, and they are likely to lead to more hunger and hardship,” Johnson said.

DFCS officials say they have repeatedly reached out to these recipients, offering them help with job searches and training. The agency has a $505,706 contract with Goodwill of North Georgia to help people get training and connections to employers.
“The agency has many services to offer (them), but many have chosen not to respond to multiple notices,” said DFCS spokeswoman Mary Beth Lukich.

April 1 was their deadline for finding work.
January 2017 — 11,779
February — 11,419
March — 11,356
April — 4,528

Entire Indiana Police Department Quits After “Being Told To Do Illegal, Unethical, and Immoral Things”

2017-05-27T01:34:00.005-07:00

Activism Alternative News

May 20, 2017May 20, 2017 manurishi

(countercurrentnews) Entire Indiana Police Department Quits After “Being Told To Do Illegal, Unethical, and Immoral Things”

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – An entire Indiana town has no police officers after every single one walked off the job. The officers blame the Bunker Hill Town Council for the situation.

“We have had issues with the town board and there are some activities there where I felt like they were serving their own agenda,” said former Bunker Hill Town Marshall Michael Thomison.

Thomison served as Town Marshall for four years until Monday night when he and four other officers handed over resignation letters to the council, telling them they have had enough.

“They would not communicate with us or the officers and they kept scaling back,” said Thomison.

In their resignation letters, the officers accuse council members of asking them to “do illegal, unethical, and immoral things.”

They cited examples like asking police to run background checks on other town councilors to find their criminal history. The officers also claim they were threatened when they said no.

Another issue they brought up in the letter was their safety. The officers say they were all forced to share one set of body armor, putting their lives on the line while they were out making arrests and serving warrants.

“I did not want to send someone out there with bad body armor so I would take mine off and provide it to the other officers.

I told them we have to provide this, there is an IC code that explains that and says that the town has to provide that body armor,” said Thomison.

On top of all that, Thomison says his resignation was personal. He was diagnosed with cancer last year, but when he was ready to go back to work in May, Thomison says they would only allow him to work part time. He blames the town councilors and plans to file a lawsuit against them.

“They came at me and said it is costing the town way too much money because of my insurance and they said we are taking you down to part time,” said Thomison.

Thomison and the other officers say they did not want to step down, but feel they had to. For now, the town is relying on outside help as they search for new officers.

“I know that they are scrambling and have contacted some other officers that do not want the position,” said Thomison.

Town Council President Brock Speer says they will release a statement in the near future.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – An entire Indiana town has no police officers after every single one walked off the job. The officers blame the Bunker Hill Town Council for the situation.

Anti-Muslim Extremist Is Training Police In Arizona

2017-05-16T23:18:00.002-07:00

2017-05-04T00:36:00.000-07:00

http://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/sweet-obama-center-design-is-splashy-with-welcoming-streetscape/amp/

Sweet: Obama Center Design is Splashy With Welcoming Streetscape by Lynn Sweet

2017-05-04T00:05:00.001-07:00

This conceptual drawing released Wednesday, May 3, 2017, by the Obama Foundation shows plans for the proposed Obama Presidential Center that will be located in Jackson Park on Chicago's South Side. This view looks from the south with a public plaza that extends into the landscape. The Museum is the tall structure on the site. | Obama Foundation via AP

Over time, the South Side neighborhood and park now named for the seventh president of the U.S., Andrew Jackson, will become better known as Obamaland, anchored by the Obama Presidential Center campus, conceived by the 44th president as a busy hub with space for people to gather, whether from across the globe or around the corner.

Former President Barack Obama unveiled the conceptual plans of his Obama Center at a Wednesday afternoon event engineered to address local concerns that have been long brewing, from planting his center in a historic Frederick Law Olmsted park, to guarantees that jobs and contracts from the project will flow to minorities, to what he will do about crime.
“We are going to be continually in conversations with the community about how we are going to be able to make this work for you,” Obama said at the start of his almost one-hour briefing about the project at the South Shore Cultural Center.
Obama lugged around a five-by-five model of his Obama Center campus on his day trip back to his adopted hometown, first to South Shore for the public event and then downtown to a private dinner hosted by the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, where he showed off the design to an audience of potential donors.

OPINION

We finally know what Obama and former first lady Michelle have in mind for the design of their Center, the first urban presidential compound.
Think of it as an architecturally significant clubhouse complex, where people can hang out, inside or outside, maybe sample a program — or maybe not.
The siting of the campus along Stony Island Avenue is crucial, creating a non-imposing accessible streetscape with many points of entry for people, whether to wander by or come with a purpose.
There will be three main structures in the Obama Center: a brawny high-rise to be the iconic landmark “lantern,” housing a museum and offices, and likely an apartment for the Obamas; a multi-use forum for performances and meetings, and a library.

Above ground, the structures will be woven together with plazas and paths leading people to and from the nearby Museum of Science and Industry, one of Chicago’s leading tourist attractions.
The skins of the structures are to be of stone and glass, but the specific stone or its hew has not yet been revealed.
The boxy museum building looks somewhat like an Apple power adapter, with the glass running down the south face the prongs.
The buildings reflect the Obamas.
Splashy. Tasteful. Sleek. Modern. And certainly not a display of the architect’s vanity.

It is architecture that relates to the adventurous buildings spawned in the last decade on the University of Chicago campus to the west.

The chief architects are the New York husband and wife team of Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, whose chemistry with the Obamas was a significant factor in their selection last year.
But on Wednesday, at the first event where Obama discussed his legacy project with the community, he was on stage with Obama Foundation Vice President for Civic Engagement Michael Strautmanis and the local architect on the design team, Dina Griffin, a Hyde Park resident.

Architect Dina Griffin listens to former President Barack Obama speak about the progress of the Obama Presidential Center during a community event at the South Shore Cultural Center on Wednesday, May 3, 2017, in Chicago. | Joshua Lott/AFP/Getty Images

Also on Wednesday, the Obama Foundation and the National Archives and Records Administration announced a deal — the first of its kind — in which the Foundation will fund the digitization of Obama’s unclassified records. NARA will retain custody of the original paper records, to be stored at another location. Classified records will remain in the Washington, D.C. area.

Obama announced at the South Shore event that the former first couple will donate $2 million to Chicago summer jobs programs. The timing is interesting. That news comes as Obama has been criticized — including by consumer champion Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. — for raking in $400,000 speaking fees on top of a reported $60 million book deal for memoirs the Obamas’ will each write.
The Obama donation will go to two organizations: $1 million to the Chicagoland Workforce Funder Alliance, a program of the Chicago Community Trust, and $1 million to One Summer Chicago 2017, a program run in part out of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s City Hall.
Obama confirmed something that everyone long suspected: Despite a bidding competition, the presidential thumb was on the scale from the start for the University of Chicago’s push for a South Side location.
“Although we had a formal bidding process to determine where the presidential library was going to be, the fact of the matter was it had to be right here on the South Side of Chicago,” Obama said.

In a part of the city that one day will be called Obamaland.

Beer-Drinking Gunman Opens Fire Poolside in San Diego - Media Reports

2017-04-30T21:19:00.000-07:00

(Reporting by Mike Blake in San Diego; Additional reporting and writing by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

Add caption

A man drinking a beer from one hand and brandishing a gun in the other opened fire beside a pool at a San Diego apartment complex on Sunday, wounding several people before being shot dead by police, according to local media accounts.
An apartment complex resident who witnessed part of the incident told television station KFMB-TV, the CBS affiliate in San Diego, that five to seven victims were shot, before the gunman was slain on the scene by police. The condition of the wounded was unknown.
San Diego police were not immediately available to confirm details of the shooting, which was reported to have begun shortly after 6 p.m. local time at the Ja Jolla Crossroads Apartments in the University City section of San Diego.
A Fox News affiliate station reported multiple victims were shot before the gunman was himself shot.
The KFMB eyewitness, who identified himself only as a Crossroads resident named John, said he saw the suspect "sitting, drinking a beer in one hand with a gun out in the other" in the pool area of the apartment complex.
He said he and his wife, a nurse, saw "three people laying on the ground shot" and that he also saw one wounded victim trying to crawl to another to give assistance.
He said two police officers who arrived on the scene confronted the gunman, who exchanged gunfire with police before he was shot. The eyewitness also said some of the victims were taken away in cars to the hospital before fire department personnel or paramedics made it to the scene.

Why people are marching for science: ‘There is no Planet B’

2017-04-23T01:04:00.002-07:00

The Washington Post

Joel Achenbach, Ben Guarino, Sarah Kaplan9 hrs ago

Thousands of people gathered in the rain Saturday on the soggy grounds of the Washington Monument to turn Earth Day into an homage to science. After four hours of speeches and musical performances, they marched down Constitution Avenue to the foot of Capitol Hill, chanting “Build labs, not walls!” and “Hey, Trump, have you heard, you can’t silence every nerd!”

The March for Science began as a notion batted around online on Reddit after the Women’s March on Washington, which was held Jan. 21, the day after President Trump’s inauguration. The idea snowballed after it was endorsed by numerous mainstream science organizations, which vowed that it would not be a partisan event. It eventually became a global phenomenon, held in more than 600 cities on six continents — and cheered on by scientists on a seventh, Antarctica.
“We are at a critical juncture. Science is under attack,” said Cara Santa Maria, a science communicator who is one of several emcees of the four-hour rally that kicked off at 10 a.m. “The very idea of evidence and logic and reason is being threatened by individuals and interests with the power to do real harm.”
She went on: “We’re gathered here today to fight for science. [The crowd cheered.] We’re gathered to fight for education. [Cheer.] To fight for knowledge. [Cheer.] And to fight for planet Earth.” [Cheer.]
She was followed by the musician Questlove, who said “many people” are refusing to follow scientific facts, and he pointed toward the White House. “That guy over there,” he said in a whisper. He waved, said “Hi,” and made a fast gesture with his middle finger that someone not paying close attention might well have missed.
YouTube star Tyler DeWitt took the stage with another pointed message: Experts need to learn how to explain things in a way regular folks can understand.
“Ditch the jargon!” he said. “Make it understandable. Make people care. Talk to them, not at them. We cannot complain about slashed funding if we can’t tell taxpayers why science matters.”

Slide 1 of 24: Demonstrators march to the U.S. Capitol during the March for Science in Washington, U.S., April 22, 2017.

Washington

Demonstrators march to the U.S. Capitol during the March for Science in Washington, U.S., April 22, 2017.

Los Angeles

Two giant electric Humvees lead thousands of people in a march and rally in downtown Los Angeles, part of the nationwide March for Science, taking place Saturday, April 22, 2017. They chanted "Money for science and education, not for wars and climate alteration."

Boston

Demonstrators gather for the March for Science rally on the Common in Boston, April 22, 2017.

Ottawa

A child holds a globe balloon during the March for Science rally on Earth Day at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, on Saturday, April 22, 2017.

Monpelier, Vt.

Demonstrators hold signs at a rally for science on the Statehouse lawn in Montpelier, Vt. on Saturday, April 22, 2017.

Los Angeles

A person in a dinosaur costume joins demonstrators at a rally at Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles, part of the March for Science, Saturday, April 22, 2017.

Seattle

A protestor holds a sign in support of science during the March For Science in Seattle on April 22, 2017.

Berlin

A woman with a poster attends with thousands of demonstrators the March for Science in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Saturday, April 22, 2017. Thousands of people are expected to attend March for Science events around the world to promote the understanding of science and defend it from various attacks, including U.S. government budget cuts.

New York

People walk past Trump International Hotel and Tower during the Earth Day 'March For Science NYC' demonstration to coincide with similar marches globally in Manhattan, New York April 22, 2017.

Denver

Analeigh Belisle of Fort Collins, Colo., holds a sign before a march for science Saturday, April 22, 2017, in Denver. The Mile High City is joining communities around the globe where people are marching to defend scientific work from attacks including U.S. government budget cuts.

Washington

A man stands by a sign that reads "Science and Revolution" at the March for Science event near the Washington Monument in Washington, Saturday, April 22, 2017.

Paris

Protesters hold banners during the March for Science in Paris, France, on 22 April 2017.

Sydney

Protesters hold placards and banners as they participate in the March for Science rally on Earth Day, in central Sydney, Australia April 22, 2017.

Columbus, Ohio

People gather at the Ohio Statehouse to defend science research on Saturday, April 22, 2017, in Columbus, Ohio. People held signs that said "Save Science," ''Science is like magic but real" and "A woman's place is in the lab" as speakers urged attendees to fight back against what they say are mounting attacks on science.

London

A protestor holds a placard as scientists and science enthusiasts participate in the 'March for Science' which celebrates the scientific method, in Westminster, central London on April 22, 2017, Earth Day.

New York

Mary Devine of Levittown, Long Island looks on during the Earth Day 'March For Science NYC' demonstration to coincide with similar marches globally in Manhattan, New York, April 22, 2017.

Berlin

Thousands of demonstrators attend the March for Science in Berlin, Saturday, April 22, 2017.

Rome

Environmentalist activists during the march for science in front of the statue of Giordano Bruno in Campo de Fiori, who was burned in this square because he was considered heretical, on April 22, 2017 in Rome, Italy.

Philadelphia

Brian Patrick Mulligan, of Philadelphia, in his role of Ben Franklin, is seen at the front of the National March for Science, on Earth Day, April 22, 2017, in Philadelphia.

Miami

Marchers carry signs and chant slogans calling for politicians to implement science based policies and celebrate science during a rally on Earth Day, Saturday, April 22, 2017, in Miami.

Madrid

People protest holding banners at the March for Science event in Madrid, Saturday, April 22, 2017.

New York

Protesters line Central Park West during the Earth Day 'March For Science NYC' demonstration to coincide with similar marches globally in Manhattan, New York April 22, 2017.

Sydney

Protesters hold placards and banners as they participate in the March for Science rally on Earth Day, in central Sydney, Australia April 22, 2017.

Stockholm

Demonstrators hold placards during the "March for Science Stockholm" manifestation at Medborgarplatsen square in Stockholm, Sweden April 22, 2107.

24/24 SLIDES

Slideshow by photo services
Cell biologist Lydia Villa-Komaroff, one of the march’s honorary co-chairs, told how she and her colleagues in the 1970s discovered how to make insulin in bacteria, and how that breakthrough was made possible only through basic research funded in the 1950s and 1960s when no one knew if it would lead to anything. “Support for science has been declining for decades. Mr. President, members of the House and Senate, support our future. Invest in science!” she said.
Denis Hayes, co-founder of the first Earth Day in 1970, chose not to dial back his rhetoric, saying the White House “reeks of greed and sleaze and mendacity” and declaring, “America has had 45 presidents, but we have never before had a president who is completely indifferent to the truth. Donald Trump makes Richard Nixon look like Diogenes.”
President Trump issued an Earth Day statement that did not mention the March for Science directly, though seemed to be aware of what was happening within shouting distance of the White House. After pledging to keep the nation’s air and water clean and protect endangered species, the president said:
“Rigorous science is critical to my Administration’s efforts to achieve the twin goals of economic growth and environmental protection. My Administration is committed to advancing scientific research that leads to a better understanding of our environment and of environmental risks. As we do so, we should remember that rigorous science depends not on ideology, but on a spirit of honest inquiry and robust debate.”
At times, the lines to get through the event’s security checkpoints stretched for several blocks. The advanced technologies known as the umbrella and the rain poncho proved useful. The program ran so precisely on schedule, you would think it had been timed with an atomic clock. People danced when Thomas Dolby took the stage to perform his 1982 blockbuster hit “She Blinded Me With Science.”
Some people wore lab coats. Some wore pink, knitted “brain” hats. Sam McCoy, 27, who traveled from North Carolina, carried a homemade sign certain to baffle anyone lacking an understanding of P Values and the null hypothesis. But most of the signs were more straightforward:
— “In peer review we trust.”
— “The oceans are rising, and so are we.”
— “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the precipitate.”
As it happens, the National Math Festival is also in Washington — so there’s an unusual number of people in town who can recite pi to more than five digits.
Some signs jabbed the current occupant of the White House:
— “Hey Trump — Think You Can Stifle Science? Ask Galileo How That Worked Out!”
— “Empirical Data Trumps Imperial Alt-Facts.”
As marchers waited in a glacially moving line for the bag check, and huddled under umbrellas, 60-year-old Cathy Butler implored everyone to join her in a chant.
“Science, not silence! Science, not silence!” she shouted.
A few of the protesters joined in halfheartedly.
Butler sighed.
“I get it! We’re scientists, and we’re all introverted!” she said. “But this is the time that we’re supposed to be loud!”
Butler, a retired engineer and educator from Kennett Square, Pa., said she has been dismayed to see the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back environmental regulations and cut funding for research. Still, she said, she has been trying not to get too political.
“Even people who voted Republican can still get behind clean air for their grandchildren,” she said.
Next to her, 44-year-old Jeffrey C. Jacobs of Herndon, Va., agreed.
“We’re not here for partisanship,” said Jacobs, who runs a science book club. “There are many Republican scientists. Science helps everyone.”
Three federal scientists, approached by a reporter, refused to give their names for fear of repercussions at work.
Another person was dressed as the Muppet “Beaker” and, when interviewed, would say only “Meep.”
Next to Beaker, however, was Erik Molvar, director of the Western Watersheds Project, who had traveled from Wyoming. Molvar is a sage grouse expert who studies the impact of livestock on grouse habitat. Politicians supporting the livestock industry ignore his research into cheatgrass, which is highly flammable and leads to damaging wildfires, he said. “Livestock spread cheatgrass like mosquitoes spread the Zika virus,” he said.
Emily Fink, 28, and Kayla Denson, 29, are biomedical researchers who drove seven hours from Buffalo to attend the march, and they said they fear the Trump administration’s proposed budget cuts will imperil their careers.
“It feels like we’re getting our foot in the door right as the door is closing on us,” Fink said.
Fink brought several copies of her résumé to the march and held up a neon sign that read, “Are you looking for a highly motivated post doc? Ask for CV.” She thought the march might be a good networking opportunity, though so far no one had asked for a résumé.
“I’m a meteoriticist,” said Conel Alexander, 56, as he wrote down his occupation to make sure he spelled it correctly. He studies meteorites and was with a group from the Carnegie Institution for Science. “Most people just think I’m a meteorologist,” he said.
Speaking of meteorology: Favorable weather forecasts took a turn by week’s end, and this turned out to be a soggy Saturday in which periodic showers gave way to heavy late-morning downpours.
But many people present are veterans of protests. Grace Francis, 33, and Ron Frerker, 36, of Washington, said they’ve been to a series of protests since Trump took office. Francis, a former public school teacher who conducts special-education research at George Mason University, said when she heard about the science march she asked her daughters Sage and Eleanor, who are 5 and 3 years old, respectively, if they wanted to go.
“It’s important for them to see that not just our family feels this way,” she said.
The two girls were dressed in koala costumes, and holding signs that read “ DeVos is un-koala-fied” and “everyone deserves a Koala-ity education.”
“What do we feel about schools,” Francis asked Sage.
“Bad,” Sage answered.
“Because everybody deserves to have a . . . ”
“Education.”
“What kind of education?”
“A good one.”

Maryam Zaringhalam and Kelly Fleming, both 28, came with poster board signs they’d made at an event Friday night with the group 500 Women Scientists. Zaringhalam, a molecular biologist, and Fleming, a chemical engineer, had been concerned about the way diversity issues were dealt with by the march organizing committee.
“But I thought, people are going to be taking pictures at the march and this is what I want them to see,” Zaringhalam said. “I want them to see someone who looks like me.”
Zaringhalam is an Iranian American who was in Iran when Trump issued his executive order on immigration. Although she is a U.S. citizen, Zaringhalam worried she would not be allowed back into the country.
At their sign-making event Friday night, a passerby had asked what the women were doing. When they told him, he responded, “You don’t look like scientists.”
“I think he thought he was flirting,” Fleming said, making a face. Zaringhalam came up with the motto for her sign: “This is what a scientist looks like.”
Craig Fryer, 47, marched down Constitution Avenue alongside several of his colleagues from the University of Maryland School of Public Health, all wearing T-shirts that read “Black Scientists Matter.” Fryer, a behavioral scientist who studies substance abuse, carried a sign that proclaimed “Black Scientists Speaking Truth to Power.” He said he and his colleagues are concerned about racial disparities in funding for research.
“We need increased funding, not budget cuts, and we need an equal opportunity to be funded,” Fryer said.
Carol Trosset, 57, an anthropologist at Carleton College, traveled to Washington from Northfield, Minn., having never been to a political rally before. She wore the lab coat — now quite the vintage item — that had belonged to her late mother, who had been a PhD chemist in the 1940s and 1950s.
“I thought, what should I wear? I’ll wear mom’s lab coat,” Trosset said. Her mother was also a naturalist, collecting data at their home in Cincinnati, recording when birds would arrive and flowers would bloom. Trosset has begun analyzing her mother’s data and sees clear signs of a warming climate.
Brooke Hardesty, 16, waited nervously in front of the science tent. She was looking for the other “Science Teens,” fellow high school students who are slated to speak at the rally. From far-flung cities around the country — Hardesty is from Buckeye, Ariz. — they’d previously communicated only through social media and Skype. On Saturday, Hardesty met her fellow nerds for the first time in person.
“I’ve never been around so many other people who are excited about science,” she said.
The teens, chatting awkwardly, discussed who they’re most excited to see — “Bill Nye!” they said in unison — and talked about how surreal this experience has been.
“I’m kind of surprised they let a bunch of teenagers do this,” said Sam Rosenberg, 16, of Poolesville, Md.
“We’re even verified on Twitter!” Hardesty agreed.
The lineup for the rally includes some prominent names in science and environmentalism, including Nye, chief executive of the Planetary Society and an honorary co-chair of the march. But the organizers wanted to erase the stereotype of science as a stodgy enterprise dominated by older white men, and the lineup includes speakers from a broad range of ages, backgrounds and expertise.
They included Taylor Richardson, a 13-year-old aspiring astronaut who raised $17,000 this year to send other girls to see the film “Hidden Figures”; chemist Mary Jo Ondrechen, a member of the Mohawk Nation and chair of the board of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society; and Gallaudet University biologist Caroline Solomon, who is deaf.

“We need more girls in computer science. We need more diversity in computer science,” said speaker Kavya Kopparapu, 16, a student at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and founder of the Girls Computing League.
“In my future career, I don’t want to be known as a girl that happens to be a computer scientist. I want to be known as a computer scientist that happens to be a girl,” she told the crowd.
No politicians were given speaking roles, though some reportedly planned to show up for the march.
Some scientists in recent weeks have said they worried the march would politicize the broader scientific enterprise and signal an alignment with left-leaning ideologies. The march’s website offered an answer to that concern: “In the face of an alarming trend toward discrediting scientific consensus and restricting scientific discovery, we might ask instead: can we afford not to speak out in its defense? There is no Planet B.”
Molly Jung, 29, a doctoral candidate at Johns Hopkins, echoed that view: “It’s time for scientists to get out of the ivory towers and get the message out.”
The Washington march may have been the biggest gathering — organizers received a permit for up to 75,000 people — but there were similar events in more than 600 cities on six continents. Seven researchers in Antarctica went on Twitter to express their support for the march. Thousands of people gathered in Sydney, Australia, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Science advocates went on social media to post bulletins from marches in Austria, England and Malawi, among other places.

Jia Naqvi, Kayla Epstein, Perry Stein, Martine Powers and Taylor Hartz contributed to this report.

Interracial Couple Receives AWFUL Letter, Shuts It Down in Uplifting Way

2015-08-01T22:23:00.004-07:00

Woman's Day

Alexis Hobbs6/4/2015

Most times we open our mailbox, we're met with bills, bills and more bills. But when David Shaw sifted through the mail at Magic City Sweet Ice, the Italian Ice business he owns with his wife, Wani, in Homewood, AL, he was shocked to find this cruel letter staring right back at him:

Quite different from the heartfelt notes you usually get from family members, right? So David decided to share this hateful letter on Facebook. "There was no return address, no name," he told an Alabama news station. "I posted it because there was no way I could communicatewith the person."

And he wanted to publicly express four reasons why the letter was RIDICULOUS.

1) I LOVE my beautiful black wife and everything about her, (most everything about her). Our love for one another is far deeper than skin color.
2) We won't be moving to California, or God willing, anywhere else anytime soon.
3) You got the address wrong
4) Woodlawn?

Plus, there's a drought in California. "That'll put us out of business!" Wani quipped.

Most of the comments on David's post were undeniably supportive of the beautiful couple, though a few people noted that posting the image would further fuel the fire of racism. "Whoever wrote that letter is in the dying minority," Wani said. "We don't deny that past, but we don't relive it. We're part of a generation that knows better. And wants more."We couldn't have said it better ourselves.

[via AL.com]