Monday, August 31, 2015
Walker goes full Forrest Gump, says Canadian border wall is “legitimate issue for us to look at”
Update: Readers who hunger for more mockery of Scott Walker should check out the #CanadaWall tag on twitter. ————————————– Today on Meet the Press, Scott Walker said that a border wall between the United States and Canada is “a legitimate issue for us to look at”. I expect his campaign will tomorrow release a “clarifying” more »
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Walker goes full Forrest Gump, says Canadian border wall is “legitimate issue for us to look at”
Update: Readers who hunger for more mockery of Scott Walker should check out the #CanadaWall tag on twitter. ————————————– Today on Meet the Press, Scott Walker said that a border wall between the United States and Canada is “a legitimate issue for us to look at”. I expect his campaign will tomorrow release a “clarifying” more »
Saturday, August 29, 2015
Trash-Filled Streets Show Why Lebanon Is Telling Its Politicians 'You Stink'
Beirut stinks, and the city's residents are not happy about it.
Trash has been piling up in the streets of the Lebanese capital and surrounding areas for several weeks. Last month, the government closed a massive landfill site which had become dangerously overloaded but failed to come up with an alternative destination for the garb.
While the crisis had been brewing for years, it has become an acute symbol of the government’s dysfunction. Outraged citizens have taken to the street protesting the mounting trash -- and the government crisis.
Lebanon's political system is based on power sharing between the diverse nation's various religious sects, but critics say this has led to a weak government and political cronyism. The country hasn't had a president in over a year, and parliamentary elections have been repeatedly delayed.
Last weekend, some 20,000 people took to the streets, and dozens were injured when police fired water cannons, released tear gas and beat protesters with batons. "The corruption has been around for so long. But the people have also now smelled it," Tarek Sarhan, a 17-year-old supporter of the "You Stink" protests, told The Associated Press.
Take a look at the photos below to see just how overwhelming Lebanon's trash crisis has become.
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Friday, August 28, 2015
A Look Ahead at Next Week’s Jobs Report
The door to a September rte hike is still open. But Federal Reserve Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer made it clear today he will look closely at next week’s jobs report as he ponders the situation. So what might the data show? Jesse Hurwitz, an economist at Barclays, forecasts a 225,000 rise in payrolls and sees […]
Monday, August 24, 2015
IndyCar Driver Justin Wilson In Coma After Crash
LONG POND, Pa. (AP) — IndyCar driver Justin Wilson was in a coma and in critical condition after sustaining a head injury when he was hit by a large piece of debris that broke off a car Sunday in the crash-filled race at Pocono Raceway.
IndyCar released the information on Wilson's condition Sunday night and said he was undergoing further evaluation at Lehigh Valley Health Network Cedar Crest Hospital in Allentown.
The debris broke off Sage Karam's car when Karam spun into the wall. Wilson's car veered left and directly into an interior wall. Wilson was swarmed by the safety crew and airlifted by helicopter.
"It's just a tough one right now," said Michael Andretti, car owner for Wilson and race winner Ryan Hunter-Reay. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Justin right now. We're going to see. Hopefully, he's OK."
IndyCar had a subdued victory lane and Hunter-Reay was not sprayed with the traditional confetti.
The American said his thoughts were only with Wilson, an extremely popular driver in the paddock who speaks on behalf of his peers regarding safety and competition.
"All I know is that he was unconscious, he was not responding and he was airlifted," Hunter-Reay said. "That's all very bad. I'm very worried right now."
The accident was a grim reminder of the dangers of open-wheel racing. Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon died in 2011 after his car became ensnared in a fiery 15-car pileup, flew over another vehicle and landed in a catch at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Wheldon's head hit a post in the fence, and he died instantly.
He was the last fatality in a form of racing that saw drivers Scott Brayton (1996), Tony Renna (2003) and Paul Dana (2006), among others, die after wrecks.
Wilson's wife, Julia, was transported to Pennsylvania from their home in Colorado by IndyCar, while his younger brother, Stefan, was lent Tony Stewart's plane to make the trip from Indianapolis. Stewart, the three-time NASCAR champion and former IndyCar champion, is an Indiana native.
The race resumed after the Karam and Wilson accident with seven laps remaining and Hunter-Reay picked his way through the field. He passed Juan Pablo Montoya, Takuma Sato and then used a bold inside pass of leader Gabby Chaves to take the lead with five to go.
Chaves then appeared to have an engine failure that brought out the caution with three to go. The race ended under yellow.
Hunter-Reay tried to get an update on Wilson before the race resumed, and again before he climbed from his race-winning Honda.
"I thought Justin was OK the whole time, and I thought he was in the ambulance with Sage heading off to get a routine check," Hunter-Reay said.
Josef Newgarden was second and IndyCar points leader Montoya finished third.
Graham Rahal, who was second in the standings at the start of the race, was involved in an early crash. Montoya's cushion went from nine points to 35 with next Sunday's finale in Sonoma set to decide the title.
The finale is worth double points, and six drivers will head to California in contention for the title. Hunter-Reay is mathematically eliminated, but picked up his second win of the season in what's been a disappointing year for Andretti and Honda.
Hunter-Reay was one of many who was discussing safety measures —and not his win — for the open-cockpit series.
"Maybe in the future we can work toward something that resembles a canopy," Hunter-Reay said. "Something that can give us a little bit of protection and still keep the tradition of the sport. Just to be innocent bystander like that and get hit in the head with a nose cone is a scary thought."
The 37-year-old Wilson, a native of Sheffield, England, entered this season without a full-time ride. He latched on with Andretti and was in the sixth of seven scheduled races with the team. The deal was put together right before the season-opening race in March and initially started as just a two-race agreement at Indianapolis.
Sponsorship was found for another five races as the season progressed, and Wilson finished a season-best second earlier this month at Mid-Ohio.
He said after the race that he raced clean and did not take any risks that would have jeopardized eventual race-winner Rahal because Rahal was part of the championship race and Wilson was not.
Wilson broke a bone in his back at Mid-Ohio in 2011. He missed the final six races of the season and wore a back brace for more than two months as he was restricted from any physical activity. The injury kept him out of the season finale at Las Vegas and the race where Wheldon died.
He broke his pelvis and suffered a bruised lung in the 2013 season finale at Fontana.
Wilson said in 2012 his injuries and Wheldon's death did nothing to change his perspective or make him question his career choice.
"I've had the conversation with Julia - this is what we do, and you try to make the best plans if that ever happens," Wilson told The Associated Press upon his return in 2012. "You've got to know the risks and work out if those risks are acceptable. To me, it's acceptable. But I'm not going to stop trying to improve it.
"All the drivers, this IndyCar, we're always trying to make it safer, but at the end of the day, it's a race car. We're racing hard, we're racing IndyCars and it's fast. When it goes wrong, it can get messy."
Also on HuffPost:
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Quinnipiac poll of FL,OH,PA: fortunes of Walker and Clinton sink as Biden’s rise
Notice that in the crucial state of Ohio, Scott Walker is only at 2%. This is all come to a poll looking for these days: Walker’s failure. But other people are paying attention to the bigger picture, of course. Rubio is the only Republican polling ahead of Clinton in Ohio. Quinnipiac Poll: @MarcoRubio is the more »
Sunday, August 23, 2015
Scott Walker flip flops on birthright citizenship. Blames tiredness.
"Scott Walker said he accidentally took a position on [citizenship] because he was 'tired'"
https://t.co/BBMDYMZQJo pic.twitter.com/vqBv0rSU8b — Billmon (@billmon1) August 21, 2015 At the Iowa state fair, Walker was for elimination of birthright citizenship. By Friday he had “no position” on it. “I’m not taking a position one way or the other,” Walker said in an more »
Saturday, August 22, 2015
Scott Walker flip flops on birthright citizenship. Blames tiredness.
"Scott Walker said he accidentally took a position on [citizenship] because he was 'tired'"
https://t.co/BBMDYMZQJo pic.twitter.com/vqBv0rSU8b — Billmon (@billmon1) August 21, 2015 At the Iowa state fair, Walker was for elimination of birthright citizenship. By Friday he had “no position” on it. “I’m not taking a position one way or the other,” Walker said in an more »
Friday, August 21, 2015
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Announces Investigation of Fatal Police Shooting
The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s office announced Friday evening it plans to conduct an independent investigation alongside the police investigation into the officer-involved fatal shooting of 18-year-old Mansur Ball-Bey.
Wednesday afternoon, St. Louis Police said, they were serving a search warrant at the home of Ball-Bey’s aunt when they were met with two armed male suspects, one of whom was Ball-Bey. Police said when they ordered the men to lower their weapons, Ball-Bey raised his gun.
The circuit attorney’s announcement follows the release of details from Ball-Bey’s autopsy report, which concluded his fatal wound was caused by one bullet that entered through his back and pierced his heart. According to police, a total of four shots were fired -- one officer fired three times, the other once.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that police investigators claim to have found fingerprints and DNA on the gun Ball-Bey allegedly pointed. St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson told the Post-Dispatch that "just because he was shot in the back doesn't mean he was running away."
During the press conference, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce urged the city to remain peaceful during this time, and reiterated the her job duties.
“I don’t work for the police chief. I don’t work for the mayor. We work with the police every day but we also prosecute them,” she said.
The investigation of Ball-Bey’s death will be conducted independently from that of the St. Louis Police Department. Witnesses will be interviewed separately. When asked if the interviews would be shared with the police, Joyce said she does not know of the protocol, but would be willing to cooperate with police.
St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay recently picked seven people to be part of the St. Louis civilian oversight board. The board is expected to review and investigate complaints of police misconduct in St. Louis city.
Joyce has been at the center of multiple protests, including one that took place at her home. The demonstrations followed Joyce’s decision to not prosecute the officer who fatally shot 18-year-old VonDerrit Myers last October. Joyce says she welcomes the community to meet with her, but also said during the meeting that she has had a difficult time getting the activist community to cooperate with her, noting that it took months to get a key eyewitness in Kajieme Powell’s case to talk to her because “protesters told him not to.”
Joyce's office is still investigating the case of Powell, who was fatally shot by St. Louis Police last August.
“We are completely separate from the police department. We are completely different,” Joyce told media.“We all want the same thing, so let’s work together on this.”
Standing by Joyce’s side at the press conference was Adolphus Pruitt, president of the St. Louis chapter of the NAACP.
“It’s extremely important we have a second set of eyes and it’s important that we get it right,” said Pruitt. “We got to get it right this time in St. Louis.”
Pruitt went on to advocate for police body cameras and to support the dual investigation, adding that at some point, the community will need to "rebuild trust."
Joyce did not estimate how long the investigation would last, but said it needed to be done quickly. "There are a lot of people in this community concerned about this case,” she said.
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Twitter's Shareholders Don't Believe The Company Can Transform
Twitter isn't looking so good lately.
Shares in the social media site dropped almost 6 percent on Thursday, dipping from a onetime high of $69 to just under $26 per share -- below the price it commanded at the company's initial public offering in November 2013.
Over the last month, Twitter has faced a wave of setbacks. Twitter's CEO, Dick Costolo, stepped down in July, leaving Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey to resume the CEO role in the interim. Later that month, Dorsey reported that growth of Twitter's monthly users was stagnating, even as Facebook's user base had swelled.
Over the last few weeks, Twitter staffers have been taking to the social network to announce their departures in waves. In total, 12 percent of Twitter's staff -- including high-up staffers and members of Twitter's corporate development team -- has left the company over the last year, according to an analysis run by the Financial Times.
Twitter wasn't alone in Thursday's setbacks. On the whole, it wasn't an excellent day for media -- Disney, Time Warner, and Netflix faced similar stock dips.
But for Twitter, this newest trough comes in the midst of a critical transformation period as the company shifts how the site functions.
The benefit of the service has always been its algorithm-free newsfeed, offering its users an unfiltered selection of what everyone in their circle is talking about. As David Pierce wrote in Wired, Twitter "is about a single question, the one you see when you first load twitter.com: 'What’s happening?'"
But that's all changed. As Twitter's user base has flourished the social network's newsfeed has become clogged with every thought -- from the profound to the half-baked -- posted by its 316 million active users, who deposit an average of 500 million tweets onto Twitter each day. It's hard to keep up with that, even with a curated list.
This is why Twitter has increasingly experimented with filters, releasing a trending bar onto the site while other companies have pushed out tools, like NewsWhip and Dataminr, designed to sort through Twitter's content.
Last month, Twitter announced it was uprooting its un-curated business model by bringing in a team of editor-curators who will sort through the day's news to bring targeted content to the top of a user's feed. It's a model that's reminicent of a newspaper -- or Facebook.
It's a huge risk to embrace a redesign of Twitter that is decidedly un-Twitter-like. And it's unclear if Twitter's shareholders will have enough patience to allow the company to transform. As the Guardian points out, those unloading Twitter's stock in recent weeks include legacy universities, like Stanford, Yale, and Harvard.
“Twitter is on life support," Trip Chowdhry, a managing director at Global Equities Research told the Wall Street Journal. "You can’t fix it."
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The Very Best Destination Wedding Photos Of 2015
The best destination wedding photographers know how to capture the beauty of a couple in love and their awe-inspiring surroundings in a single image.
On Monday, Junebug Weddings released their carefully curated list of the top 50 destination wedding images of 2015. Photographers from all around the globe submitted more than 4,000 images from more than 40 different countries for consideration.
Check out some of the most breathtaking images below. To see the rest of the top 50, head over to Junebug Weddings.
Also on HuffPost:
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Thursday, August 20, 2015
Marquette U. Poll of Wisconsinites: 39% approve of job Walker is doing as Guv, 57% disapprove
The most significant bit of news in this poll, in my opinion, is the fact that Wisconsinites are taking a dim view of Scott Walker’s performance. His 39% “job approval” rating is down 2 points from where it was in April when 41% approved of his performance as Governor. Walker’s doing much worse than Obama more »
Friday, August 14, 2015
First day glitches
With all the fun and excitement that comes with the first day of school, there are bound to be problems that arise.
Students walk into the wrong class. Buses run late.
Tuesday marked the first day for nearly 40,000 Stockton Unified students to return to school, and you can believe with all those kids, mistakes were bound to be made, by accident of course.
Case #1: a concerned parent named Jennifer called to say her severely autistic daughter who attends Hazelton Elementary was picked up by the wrong special education bus on Tuesday and was dropped off at San Joaquin Elementary.
SUSD spokeswoman Dianne Barth was fully aware of the situation and said the incident was a simple mistake.
“She was brought back to Hazelton within 20 minutes,” she said. Vendetta Brown, principal at San Joaquin Elementary was there to meet with the special education bus and quickly noticed the student was not one of hers, said Barth.
Barth said she sent a picture to the special education department and the student was recognized, put back on the bus and was brought back to Hazelton to be reunited with family. Both campuses are within 1.5 miles of each other.
Jennifer told me she just simply wanted the district and public to be aware about autism, let’s all be thankful this wasn’t any worse.
Case #2: A woman by the name of Vicky left a message late Wednesday afternoon that over 100 students at Hamilton Elementary did not receive a lunch that day.
She said she had called the district and they reported only 40 students were left without a meal, which doesn’t make the situation any better.
Did hundreds of kids go hungry? How could this have happened?
“During the first day of school, Hamilton’s food services had miscounted the number of seventh-graders,” Barth said. “They were short by 60 meatballs sandwiches but the kids were given corndogs instead. All were fed.”
Mishaps are going to happen. Barth described it best, “First day glitches.”
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Income Investors Should Shift Focus to Total Return, Says Advisor
Given the challenges of investing for income in a low interest rate environment (where the Fed is expected to start raising rates soon), Jim Baird, chief investment officer for Plante Moran Financial Advisors, has a simple suggestion. Rather than stretch for yield, he thinks investors should emphasize total return strategies. Not only are interest rates [...]
Sunday, August 9, 2015
5 Women Accused Of Being Witches Beaten To Death In India
PATNA, India (AP) — Dozens of villagers in eastern India beat to death five women Saturday, accusing them of practicing witchcraft and blaming them ...
Read more: India, India Witches, Witches, Witchcraft, Women's Rights, India Women, World News
Saturday, August 8, 2015
Can I Change My Corporation Status?
Companies, especially small businesses, can operate in a constant state of flux. As your business grows and shifts, it may require a different corporate structure. Maybe your partnership now needs to be an LLC, or your LLC needs to...
Obama says biggest harm to voting rights today is apathy
30th March 1965: American civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King (1929 – 1968) and his wife Coretta Scott King lead a black voting rights march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital in Montgomery. (Photo by William Lovelace/Express/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says all Americans owe a debt to the sharecroppers and maids and ordinary Americans who were brave enough to try time and again to register to vote in the face of violence and oppression. He says without them, the Voting Rights Act wouldn’t have been signed into law 50 years ago Thursday.
At a White House event marking the anniversary, Obama said those rights are being whittled away today by voter ID laws and other attempts to discourage voting. He called on Congress to update the law in response to court decisions.
But Obama says attacks on their voting rights aren’t the main reason Americans don’t vote — many just don’t bother.
He declared Sept. 22 National Voter Registration Day and urged everyone to get registered.
The post Obama says biggest harm to voting rights today is apathy appeared first on PBS NewsHour.
Thursday, August 6, 2015
John Doe developments: Walker was target in 2011, Appeal impending
Eagle Scout integrity: “Gov. Scott Walker was under criminal investigation in 2011 for misconduct in office — even as he insisted he wasn’t — over a proposed real estate deal when he was Milwaukee County executive, according to records filed Wednesday in federal court” Source: Despite denials, Scott Walker was target of probe in 2011 more »
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Proof: Scott Walker’s aide Archer lied. Maltreatment she claimed rec’d during #JohnDoe raid refuted by newly released recording
Recorded audio from the FBI-assisted raid of Cynthia Archer’s home has been released. “The audio of the raid is being released now in an attempt to rebut claims Archer makes in her suit. For instance, she said in her filing that officers stormed into her house “throwing the (search) warrant at her without giving her more »
Monday, August 3, 2015
Israeli teen stabbed at Gay Pride parade dies
People use candles to spell out the phrase “Thou shalt not kill” in Hebrew at a candlelight vigil for Shira Banki in Tel Aviv, Israel, August 2, 2015. Banki died Sunday of stab wounds sustained when an ultra-Orthodox man attacked a Gay Pride parade in Jerusalem Thursday. Photo by Baz Ratner/Reuters
An Israeli teen who was stabbed by an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man at this week’s Gay Pride parade in Jerusalem died of her wounds Sunday.
Shira Banki, a 16-year-old high school student, was one of six people wounded in the attack Thursday. Banki went to the parade to show solidarity with her LGBT friends, according to the Israeli news service Haaretz.
In a statement Sunday, Banki’s family said:
Our magical Shira was murdered because she was a happy 16-year-old – full of life and love – who came to express her support for her friends’ rights to live as they choose. For no good reason and because of evil, stupidity and negligence, the life of our beautiful flower was cut short.
The assailant, Yishai Schlissel, was arrested at the scene. Police in Jerusalem have faced criticism for not keeping tabs on Schlissel, who was released from prison just weeks ago after serving time for a similar stabbing attack at Jerusalem’s pride parade in 2005, in which he wounded three people.
Teenagers comfort each other during a candlelight vigil in Jerusalem for Shira Banki, who died on Sunday of stab wounds sustained when an ultra-Orthodox man with a knife attacked a Gay Pride parade in Jerusalem. Photo by Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
In a recent interview with an ultra-Orthodox radio service, Schlissel said of the upcoming parade: “To protest is an obligation in my opinion, but it is not enough,” adding that the goal must be “to disperse them, even by force,” according to The New York Times.
Schlissel was deemed sane and fit to stand trial for his latest rampage Friday, Haaretz reported.
In a statement expressing condolences to Banki’s family, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the slain teen and condemned the attack.
“Shira was murdered because she courageously supported the principle according to which everyone is entitled to live their lives in dignity and safety,” the statement said. “We will not allow the abhorrent murderer to undermine the fundamental values upon which Israeli society is based. We strongly condemn the attempt to instill hatred and violence in our midst and we will deal with the murderer to the fullest extent of the law.”
On Saturday, thousands of Israelis turned out to protest the knife attack and a West Bank arson attack that killed a baby boy Friday morning.
At one rally in Jerusalem, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin told demonstrators that “the flames are spreading in our land, flames of violence, flames of hatred, flames of false, distorted and twisted beliefs. Flames which permit the shedding of blood, in the name of the Torah, in the name of the law, in the name of morality, in the name of a love for the land of Israel.
According to Haaretz, two of those wounded in Thursday’s attack were still hospitalized and in serious condition Sunday, though medical officials said they were improving.
The post Israeli teen stabbed at Gay Pride parade dies appeared first on PBS NewsHour.
Pre-arrival video at NJ house fire
Pre-arrival video from Karen Emm of a house fire Tuesday at Dunlop and Vale in Sewaren, New Jersey.
Saturday, August 1, 2015
Milwaukee Bucks arena is product of bizarre and bipartisan bedfellows
It takes an incestuous bipartisan pile of snakes to foist this expense upon Wisconsin when only 9%* of the Wisconsin public wants to help fund it AND when the administration is slashing public education funding. Steve Horn and Michael Arria have a long and interesting piece out on Truthdig that exposes backroom bipartisanship and public more »
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