Datasets:
Recag
/
C4_38

Dataset card Data Studio Files
xet
Community
text
stringlengths
12
57.5k
OLYMPIA — A bill that would allow people at risk of suicide to voluntarily give up their gun rights passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 77-20 on Friday.
The bill passed the Senate unanimously Jan. 24.
SB 5553 allows a person to waive their rights to a firearm if they believe they are prone to moments of suicidal thoughts. The bill as it passed the House was amended to add protections for someone’s identity which must be verified through a county clerk.
The bill allows a person to regain their rights to a gun after seven days.
“We are trying to take all the steps we can to move forward,” Rep. Tina Orwall, D-Des Moines, said during floor debate in the House of Representatives.
The language of the bill is problematic, said Rep. Vicki Kraft, R-Vancouver. She voiced concerns that people might interpret the bill as a waiver of Second Amendment rights and suggested that it could be termed more akin to a “do not sell” list.
“It allows you, in a moment of lucidity, to say when I get into those moments, please don’t sell me a gun,” Rep. Paul Graves, R-Fall City, said during floor debate supporting the bill as worded.
Suicide is the eighth leading cause of death overall in Washington state according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the state’s rates are higher than the annual rate nationally.
A chart from nonprofit suicide prevention and education organization, Forefront, shows that 47 percent of the 1,129 suicides in Washington State in 2015 were by firearm.
The bill will go back to the Senate to consider amendments.
Those amendments require the waiver to be entered into the national instant criminal background check system to identify prohibited purchasers.
Waivers are still exempt from the Public Records Act, but now they might only be disclosed to law enforcement.
Suicide is a public health issue. Those who need help can call the national suicide lifeline at 800-273-8255, the teen lifeline at 866-833-6546 or text 741741 for the crisis text line.
The government has decided to lower the interest rates on bank loans after the Sinhala and Tamil New Year season, Economic Reforms and Public Distribution Minister Dr. Harsha De Silva said.
Minister De Silva said the decision will remove many difficulties faced by small-scale and medium-scale entrepreneurs when applying loans.
The government has taken this decision considering the committee report appointed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to look into financial issues faced by small and medium-scale entrepreneurs. The committee consisted of officers of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and private as well as state banks.
Minister De Silva also said that the government has identified remedies for issues relating to several types of interest rates.
The Minister was speaking at a press briefing in Colombo yesterday.
“Many small-scale and medium-scale entrepreneurs have presented their grievances in relation to high interest rates on bank loans. So the Prime Minister appointed a committee to look into this matter. The head of the Monetary Board, Nihal Fonseka headed this committee. They discussed this issue in length for a week and produced the report yesterday. In the coming week, we are hoping to lower the interest rates in the country by a significant percentage of two percent.” Minister De Silva said.
The committee has recommended reconsidering the interest rates paid on savings as well, he said.
Last August, when President Trump issued a memorandum on his plans to end transgender military service by March 23 of this year, his memo set a deadline for the secretary of defense to submit recommendations on how, exactly, to proceed.
The date for Defense Secretary James Mattis to make recommendations to Trump was Feb. 21, 2018 — Wednesday.
But as that deadline approached — and passed — federal agencies and the White House have been pointing fingers at each other, revealing there was no clear message about what was happening or who would make an announcement.
On Wednesday, the Pentagon told BuzzFeed News that it wouldn’t make an announcement, but the White House could say something. The White House referred questions to the National Security Council, which had no information.
By Thursday morning, asked if President Trump had received recommendations, the White House House continued only to refer questions to the National Security Council, which subsequently told BuzzFeed News to contact the Pentagon.
“No notification has been made yet."
So what happened to the Feb. 21 deadline?
The White House and Pentagon haven’t answered — although the Pentagon gave some insight into Mattis’s thinking at a news conference Thursday afternoon.
The Pentagon said that Mattis would make his recommendation to Trump “this week” and that the president would be the one to announce the decision. Pentagon officials wouldn’t comment on the delay, saying that Mattis was carefully weighing the options through the lens of lethality and effectiveness in the armed forces.
Although the Pentagon appears to be taking its time, the questions about why the recommendations aren’t completed yet are compounded by a promise the Justice Department recently made to the US District Court in Maryland, according to Judge Marvin Garbis, who wrote in an order this month that Justice Department lawyers said a new transgender military policy would “be disclosed on February 21, 2018."
It would seem the Justice Department in that case, Stone v. Trump, was referring to the date for recommendations. And yet Thursday, the Justice Department did not reply to emails from BuzzFeed News asking the whereabouts of the policy the court had said would be disclosed Wednesday, or if it would inform the court that the administration had failed to meet that deadline.
Given that none of the relevant federal officials have clarified what’s going on here, it’s worth exploring potential explanations.
One possibility is that a federal court effectively suspended the part of Trump’s August memo that had set the Feb. 21 date in the first place — making compliance no longer required.
Trump's Aug. 25 memorandum states: "By February 21, 2018, the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall submit to me a plan for implementing both the general policy set forth in section 1(b) of this memorandum and the specific directives set forth in section 2 of this memorandum."
Four federal courts have issued preliminary injunctions suspending Trump’s ban, each in slightly different ways, but one appears to be the most broad — potentially affecting the Feb. 21 requirement.
"By February 21, 2018, the Secretary of Defense ... shall submit to me a plan"
A US District Court judge in Washington state on Dec. 11 issued an order temporarily blocking the government “from taking any action relative to transgender individuals that is inconsistent with the status quo that existed prior to President Trump’s July 26, 2017 announcement,” which is when Trump rolled out his intentions on Twitter.
It’s not clear how the Justice Department reads that injunction, but it could be read to suspended the entire August memorandum, and by extension, nix the Feb. 21 date. As such, any Feb. 21 timeline would be self-imposed, but not required.
More narrowly, the injunction could be read to allow any recommendations not “inconsistent with the status quo that existed” before Trump’s tweets. In other words, a recommendation allowing continued open transgender service would be allowed — but one disallowing it would be barred by the injunction.
On the other side, it could be argued that the Feb. 21 deadline set by the memo remains because the recommendation isn’t “action,” so it is not barred by the injunction — which would leave open the question of why the Pentagon is not complying with the presidential memo.
All of this is speculation, though, because the government hasn’t explained what it is doing or why.
Whatever the Trump administration’s thinking may be, several days after the Dec. 11 injunction, the Justice Department still told the US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit — in a request for a stay of the injunction in the Stone case — that the Feb. 21 timeline was on track.
The department later abandoned its appeal in the Stone case — but continued to maintain to the district court that the recommendations would be disclosed by Feb. 21.
Two lawyers representing transgender troops in the case sent a letter to Judge Marbis on Thursday afternoon noting that the timeline had lapsed.
White, the Pentagon spokesperson, said as much Thursday, noting that the defense secretary had considered the proposals made by his consulted panel of experts, but emphasizing that Mattis “could decide to do whatever he likes” when it comes to what he will tell the president.
Upper Two Medicine Lake in Glacier National Park's lesser-visited Two Medicine region.
Montana's wild beauty on center stage.
"I have to stay up here all summer and look at this,” our guide mockingly bemoaned while guiding us across exquisite Two Medicine Lake on the eastern side of Glacier National Park. We surveyed the scene along the lake cruise. The still, azure lake and the surrounding, majestic peaks – Lone Walker, Rising Wolf and Sinopah Mountain – presented as glorious a slice of scenery as I had witnessed since visiting Alaska a few years ago.
On this clear, mildly breezy late summer morning, there was no discernible sign of the fires that dominated the news of this area and continued to plague a section of this most beautiful of national parks (outside of Yosemite, in my opinion). The fires are only part of the problem that natural patterns have presented this region. In 1850, there were 150 active glaciers in Glacier National Park. There are now 25 left. Scientists predict that by 2020 some of the park’s largest glaciers will be gone. By 2030, they will all most likely be gone. But it’s possible they may all be gone within a decade, as many of them are receding faster than predicted. Eh, climate change deniers?
Upper Two Medicine Lake resides at an elevation of 5500 feet, the highest of the three lakes in the Two Medicine region. The hike there and back is about five miles through lovely terrain alternating between thick forest and open, elevated vistas. I hiked past twin waterfalls along trails dotted with wildflowers. The hike provides views of a third lake and golden hills in the distance.
Upper Two Medicine Lake finally revealed itself beyond the thickets and an ominous sign warning “You’re entering Grizzly Territory.” I sat down and stared at the lake and hills, just vegetating for over an hour, soaking in the stillness of the scene and immersing myself in the natural beauty of the region. Hey, if a bear gets me, this is not a bad place to meet my maker.
A Glacier grizzly sighting... finally.
A trio of hikers arrived, breaking the silence with bells strapped to their waists to alert any bears that may be nearby. This is a wise move. When detecting humans, bears prefer to keep their distance. The danger arises when a human surprises a bear. If you plan to do extensive hiking here, it may be worthwhile to bring along some bear spray.
Sidenote: On my last day at Glacier NP, driving along the eastern border of the park, I finally spotted a grizzly to the side of the road enjoying a snack of huckleberries. I watched it for several moments, mesmerized, and wondered what my reaction would be if I had encountered it while hiking.
Some hikers with binoculars spotted some bighorn sheep high up the cliffs near Two Medicine Lake. The goats prefer the precarious mountain ledges to the valley where they are vulnerable to mountain lions. I imagine they have quite the view to savor from up there as well.
Thirteen campgrounds are scattered about Glacier NP. Several guided hikes and ranger-led activities are available during the summer. If you decide to hike alone, it is recommended that you leave a voluntary day trip planner form at your hotel’s front desk. Should an adverse situation arise, park officials could use that to begin a search and rescue.
On the cruise back across Two Medicine Lake, the guide spoke of the reverence and connection the native Blackfeet had with the surrounding land and mountains for scores of generations. Glacier National Park had been inhabited and revered by the Blackfeet for 12,000 years before they were relocated to outlying reservations and communities.
The beauty of the land reinforced the Blackfeet belief that we’re all connected through the land and connected with the Creator. They called Glacier National Park the “backbone of the world.” The land was an integral part of their culture and they had, and still have, an intimately spiritual connection with it. Vision quests were traditionally performed in the Two Medicine region. Unfortunately, the Blackfeet have now been exiled to reservations and communities like economically depressed Browning outside of Glacier NP (where the interested visitor can explore the Museum of the Plains Indian). The park's eastern border is the western border of their reservation. They speak of their lack of access to spiritual sites within the park and traditional holy practices such as praying and fasting for visions.
The prohibition and regulation of some traditional practices within the park’s boundaries has caused tension between the Blackfeet and park officials. Most Blackfeet would like a greater role and inclusion in park management decisions, including access to spiritual sites within the park during certain select times of the year. They often feel as if they are unwelcome visitors when they enter the park, rather than the original inhabitants.
Despite their differences, the Blackfeet support the role of the park service in protecting the park’s resources from further development. The Native America Speaks program offers daily activities and presentations throughout the summer to better provide visitors with a taste of Blackfeet culture. Guided tours through Sun Tours present Glacier NP from the Blackfeet perspective.
McDonald Lodge, situated near the west entrance to the park alongside Lake McDonald, is one of the most famous and historic locations for accommodations in the park. It’s the first stop for many visitors after the visitor’s center. Sunsets and sunrises here along the lake are particularly lovely.
Morning hike on Trail of the Cedars.
A helpful tip for prospective visitors: try to make it to Logan Pass by 9 a.m. If you come at 10 or later you may not find a parking spot. You do not, however, want to rush along the engineering marvel which is the Going to the Sun Road. Often called the most spectacular drive in the world, the Going to the Sun route provides several turnouts to let you savor the spectacular scenery. Take advantage of them. Otherwise you may be tempted, as you rise into the mountains, to take your eye off the road to appreciate the expansive valley below. This is not the place to do this.
Going-to-the-Sun Road bisects the park east and west.
Conversely, you could opt to take one of the famous park Red Jammer buses and focus on the scenery instead of the road. There are also free park shuttles that can deliver you to selected spots in the park. They tend to fill up quickly, though, in which case you will need to wait for the next shuttle – so it’s important to plan accordingly.
A recommended hike near Logan Pass is the Highline Trail, which runs along the side of a mountain and offers a spectacular view of the valley.
I drove the length of the Going to the Sun highway the first day it was reopened east of Logan Pass after closure due to the fire. We were not allowed to stop at the turnoffs east of Logan Pass, but I held my phone out the window to record some of the effects of the fire. The trees surrounding St. Mary’s Lake were clearly charred, and I could only imagine the loveliness of the terrain beforehand.
After a lengthy drive from Logan Pass I arrived at Many Glacier Hotel, the most popular and historic resort in the park, just in time to catch my cruise across the two adjacent lakes, Swiftcurrent Lake and Lake Josephine. The two shuttle boat rides will shave 3.4 miles off the hike to Grinnell Glacier.
But if you have the time, why not do it on foot? The 7.6-mile round trip hike to Grinnell Glacier from Many Glacier Hotel through thick forests of cedar and pine trees, ferns, thimbleberries and huckleberries is one of the best in the park. From the Grinnell Glacier Overlook you can savor panoramic views of the 152-acre glacier, Upper Grinnell Lake, the Garden Wall (Continental Divide), as well as Mount Gould.
This year, Many Glacier Hotel celebrates its 100th anniversary. The scenic vista it offers featuring Swiftcurrent Lake and Mount Gould in the distance would be difficult for any other hotel to match. Those who don’t care for hiking can just lounge on the hotel deck and savor the view. “Jack Nicholson loves to stay here in the winter,” I was told.
One last view across Swiftcurrent Lake.
As our cruise boat leisurely made its way across the lake, someone swore he saw a bear swimming in the lake at a distance. Don’t know if that was legit, but I suspect that bear mirage sightings are a common park occurrence.
While disembarking from the boat on the return cruise to the hotel, I took one final gaze across Swiftcurrent Lake. A smattering of kayakers drifted lazily, seemingly without a care in the world. I reluctantly turned back to my rental car.
Check out Derek's e-book How to Travel On the Cheap (...and Even for Free!): Turn Your Travel Dreams Into Reality, available in the Amazon Kindle store.
Lead singer for 14 years with the highly regarded Grand Central Band, Chris has a wealth of live stage experience. He’s performed both nationally and abroad, from Hong Kong to Vanuatu to Queenstown, and is equally at home singing at an intimate island wedding or engaging a large corporate crowd.
Chris sings a wide selection of songs ranging between jazz, blues and soul. He’s considered one of the top jazz vocalists in NZ; with a warm velvet vocal delivery and a friendly onstage persona he does justice to the classic jazz standard or smoothly delivers a beautiful soul ballad.
(CNN) - The presidential race remains unsettled despite voting in Iowa, New Hampshire, Wyoming, Michigan, Nevada, and the GOP primary in South Carolina.
As the 2008 White House race moves to Florida for the primaries there on January 29 and the Democratic primary on January 26 in South Carolina, CNN continues to bring you in-depth political coverage.
Barack is up against a great deal more problems than Bill Clinton. He is in for the first fair election process in the nation, where unidentified people are not allowed to walk into the polls and vote.
South Carolina voters – please note from past elections that there are always rumors the day before a primary, trying to convince you that some candidate is pulling out, or has made a deal with another one. We had it AGAIN here in Iowa. Also Hillary's people were going door-to-door with a false rumor in Nevada Friday night, to people they knew supported John Edwards, saying he had pulled out. Those rumors are never true! You are the first people in the country whose vote is pure and real, and means something. Use it to make a statement!
Why are we not seeing and hearing about his campaign stops, his speeches and stumps, seeing his photo 2 or 3 or 5 times a day?
This media blackout on Ron Paul is disgusting!
CNN, Fox, We want to hear from all of the cantidates, UNFILTERED, not filtered through your media bias.
Please give us more Ron Paul so WE can make a balanced, fairly informed decision!
I would like to know if the republicans our so pro-life why did we go to WAR? And we are still there?
And they have family values why are the canidattes on wife 3 or 4?
I wish Barack Obama would deliver a speech that is equivalent to the "ask not" speech of JFK or the "I have a dream" speech of Dr. King. I'm 30 years old and my generation and all subsequent ones have been deprived, outside of history, of a truly inspirational, humanitarian political figure. I think Barack has it in him . . . I hope he has it in him . . . the nation cried when JFK was shot, shouldn't we feel that way again?
Guiliani, but no Ron Paul??? This doesnt make any sense to me, as he has beaten Guiliani in every state but one thus far in the Primaries.
(e) Discrimination between candidates. In making time available to candidates for public office, no system shall make any discrimination between candidates in practices, regulations, facilities, or services for or in connection with the service rendered pursuant to this part, or make or give any preference to any candidate for public office or subject any such candidate to any prejudice or disadvantage; nor shall any system make any contract or other agreement which shall have the effect of permitting any legally qualified candidate for any public office to cablecast to the exclusion of other legally qualified candidates for the same public office.
I hope they sue your worthless news organization into oblivion.
did hillary agree with other dem candidates months ago not to campaign in florida? if so her word is as good as bill's.
I am amazed that no one has mentioned that South Carolina separated their Republican/Democratic primaries this year for the first time. Many REpublicans who for one reason or another didn't vote the week before, decided to cast an anti-Hillary vote yesterday, NOT a pro Obama vote. I live in SC and was amazed how many of them today in church said they'll vote Republican in the fall, but just did not want Hillary on the ballot. I would say a very good percentage of the "huge win" for Obama yesterday was due to Republicans not having voted previously.
Newly restored, the importance of Luchino Visconti’s Death in Venice comes even clearer.
A new 4K restoration of 'The Bostonians' is a must-see glimpse into the past.
A truly beautiful film that tells the kind of visual story that can only be shared on camera.
We haven’t had a show like 'Camping' in, well, a while.
The lack of theatrics in ‘Cameron Post’ feel less like a failure and more like its right.
Through a rich abundance of cinematic styles and genres, the indie and studio auteur never stops finding new ways to tell the same story.
SPOKANE, Wash., Dec. 8, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Potlatch Corporation (Nasdaq:PCH) announced today that it has closed the previously announced purchase of approximately 201,000 acres of timberlands in Alabama and Mississippi from affiliates of Resource Management Service, LLC for $384 million. The transaction was first announced on October 20, 2014.
Potlatch also announced that its Board of Directors has declared a dividend of $0.375 per share payable December 31, 2014 to stockholders of record on December 16, 2014. This is a 7 percent increase relative to the prior quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share.