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The initial logic of most proposed U.S. reparations programs is that “African-Americans” (a category falsely conflated with “blacks”, since Africanness and black skin are not necessarily coterminous) deserve financial compensation because their ancestors were enslaved and/or because they or their ancestors suffered fro... |
If the eligibility for reparations is to be determined partly based on “ancestry,” how is one's relationship to enslaved or racially oppressed ancestors to be proven? Some Americans who are black are recent immigrants, and thus they bear no relationship to anyone who was ever enslaved or oppressed in the United States.... |
Furthermore, if victimhood is an inherited characteristic, then presumably the guilt of perpetrating slavery and racial oppression is also. The logic of reparations suggests that someone should receive the payments, and someone else should pay. What, then, of an American who is half-black and half-white (as is quite co... |
The questions of what form the payments will take (direct or indirect), and how the money should be raised, are equally vexing. Some proposals for a meaningful reparations program push the costs into the trillions. Can the federal government, given its already sizable budget deficit, afford to fund reparations? Even if... |
We have yet to arrive, however, at the biggest single challenge regarding reparations. One may reasonably ask: if the historic harm done to black Americans merits the payment of reparations, then why are other disadvantaged groups not also compensated for their suffering? Sen. Warren has potentially opened the floodgat... |
The list of additional potential “victims” deserving of reparations is a lengthy one: Hispanics (who inconveniently may be of any race), women, the disabled, homosexuals, Asian-Americans, Irish-Americans, Italian-Americans, Polish-Americans. These are just some of the more obvious groups that might claim a history of m... |
Note that some of these groups, measured by their current economic status, educational attainment, or political influence, can reasonably be described as “privileged” in modern America. This raises the question of whether such people, while historically disadvantaged in some ways, might be advantaged in others. In any ... |
The only possible conclusion that this brief survey of reparations and their ramifications can produce is this: reparations are a fool's errand destined to sow confusion and to open more wounds in America than they could ever hope to heal. One suspects, in fact, that these three Democratic candidates for the presidency... |
Let us hope that is the case. Let us hope that this reparations talk is mere hot air, because the alternative is far worse. The alternative is that sheer self-destructive madness truly has overtaken the Democratic Party, and our next president may be, not just a socialist, but a Berserker intent on fomenting the maximu... |
Investors and economists are watching anxiously for any hints of recession. But for textile dyer Helmut Ackermann and many other local manufacturers, economic meltdown has already arrived in the form of their natural gas bills. |
This month Ackermann will pay nearly $600,000 to stoke the massive machines needed to color and dry his customers' fabric. That's 2 1/2 times more than he paid just two months ago. And he's been warned that his rates may double again in January. |
Unable to pass along those costs in a hotly competitive industry, Ackermann has already shut one facility and laid off 40 employees. |
"This is not a soft or hard landing, this is a wipeout," said Ackermann, president of L.A. Dye & Print Works Inc. "I'm losing money on every yard of fabric." |
All eyes have been on California's fragile electric grid of late, but the real shocker for industrial users such as Ackermann is natural gas. |
Surging demand, low inventories and jam-packed pipelines have Californians paying the highest prices in the nation. Last week, spot prices for natural gas at the California-Arizona border reached $60 per million British thermal units, compared with less than $3 per million BTUs a year ago. That's the equivalent of oil'... |
The spike is so severe that on Friday, Gov. Gray Davis asked state Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer to launch an investigation into possible price manipulation. |
That's welcome news for California's vast industrial base, where heavy users are getting scorched by high prices and watching months of hard-earned profits go up in flames. From food processors and box makers to steel mills and flower growers, California's work-a-day industries are alternating between disbelief and pan... |
A few are even looking to mothball operations until gas prices stabilize, a perilous strategy, because customers might not return when they resume work. But companies such as Castaic Brick may not have a choice. The Santa Clarita Valley firm has seen its typical monthly natural gas bill rise from $36,000 to more than $... |
Energy watchers predict that natural gas prices will dip to saner levels by spring. That's small consolation to Castaic Brick, which is contemplating shutting down its kiln and furloughing 104 employees, said controller Dave Gottschalt. |
"We don't have three or four months . . . to eat losses like this," he said. "This is a disaster for the state's manufacturers." |
The natural gas shock is a double whammy for local companies already reeling from California's electricity crisis. Big energy users such as Fontana-based California Steel Industries Inc. have been so focused on filling customers' orders in the midst of repeated electricity interruptions that natural gas prices have bee... |
California Steel recently projected that its December natural gas bill could top $4 million--more than four times the normal average--if the plant were running at full capacity. Instead, the firm will shut its "hot strip mill," the fiery heart of the operation, Dec. 24-31. |
It's the first time in the firm's 16-year history that gas prices have derailed production. But in the topsy-turvy world of California energy, company officials say not producing steel makes more economic sense in the short run, enabling them to save on gas and take advantage of state air quality regulations that permi... |
"It's a completely crazy way to run a business," said Lourenco Goncalves, president and chief executive of California Steel. ". . . But we can't afford to keep paying these outrageous prices." |
The rest of the country is feeling the pinch as well. Nationwide, natural gas prices have reached record levels, fed by tight supplies, cold weather and heavy demand from commercial users, particularly electric-generating plants. |
But California is particularly vulnerable to market disruptions because it imports about 85% of its natural gas. Supplies were sharply reduced this summer after an explosion in one of the four major pipelines serving the state. That line is still operating below capacity, helping to boost already high prices here. |
Still, with California's industrial customers paying as much as six times more for their BTUs than their counterparts in other states recently, some observers say something besides the gas just doesn't smell right. |
"We're businesspeople, so we understand markets can be fluid," said Scott Edwards, president of the Assn. of Textile Dyers and Printers of Southern California. "But California is so out of whack, there has got to be something wrong." |
Edwards and other business leaders have begun lobbying politicians and policymakers in earnest, trying to widen the spotlight focused on California's electric irregularities to include their problems with natural gas. |
The California Public Utilities Commission has already filed a complaint with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, alleging anti-competitive tactics by a pipeline company and its marketing affiliate, while San Diego Gas & Electric has asked the federal commission to cap the transportation fees that gas marketers c... |
And Davis asked Lockyer Friday to begin investigating "anti-competitive practices . . . to determine whether the exorbitant price increases . . . are the result of activities that violate any state or federal laws." |
L.A.'s textile dyers just hope relief comes in time to help them save their industry. A battle-hardened group, these entrepreneurs have repulsed waves of cheap imports with sophisticated technology and lightning speed. But the unprecedented price rise for natural gas is a predator, the likes of which they've never seen... |
Bill Tenenblatt, president of Antex Knitting Mills and Matchmasters Dying and Finishing, has watched his natural gas prices spiral sevenfold in a matter of months. He's bracing for a half-million-dollar bill this month, a staggering figure he still can't quite comprehend. |
"When I first started seeing these numbers, I thought they were typos," he said. "You know it's enormous, but you still can't quite believe what you're seeing." |
Mired in an industry with razor-thin margins, Tenenblatt said he has virtually no wiggle room to make up such mammoth cost increases. His customers are apparel manufacturers whose prices are dictated to them by retailers. His equipment is cutting edge, so there's little to be gained by way of conservation. And the big ... |
It's the same for Michel Morger, vice president of L.A.-based Swisstex California, who runs his state-of-the-art dye house with the precision of a timepiece. |
"There's only so much you can squeeze out of an already efficient operation," he said. "At the moment, our hands are tied. That's what's scary." |
Observers of L.A.'s diverse manufacturing scene fear the ripple effect of the widening energy crisis, which is already being felt in industries from food processing to furniture making. With more than 1 million people employed in manufacturing in Southern California, a lot is riding on the cost of a BTU and the ability... |
"They're like the canary in the coal mine," said Linda Wong of the Community Development Technologies Center, which assists small manufacturers in the region. "They might be the first to go, but they won't be the last." |
Gov. Terry McAuliffe plans to announce Friday that Virginia will restore handgun reciprocity agreements with nearly all states, in a stunning reversal of firearms policy that angered Republicans and gun rights advocates across the nation. |
The about-face is part of a deal that McAuliffe (D) struck with Republican leaders one month after Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D) severed the right for gun owners in 25 states to have their concealed carry permits recognized in Virginia. |
In exchange, Republicans will agree to some concessions, according to McAuliffe’s office and the office of House Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford). |
State police must be present at all gun shows to administer background checks in private sales of guns on a voluntary basis. |
Anyone subject to a permanent protective order for a domestic violence offence will be prohibited from carrying a firearm for the two-year life of the order. |
The policy changes will come in the form of bipartisan legislation before the General Assembly. |
On January 18, the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a state-based gun rights group, held their lobby day in Richmond, where its president, Philip Van Cleave, noted that three Democrats (Sens. John Edwards, Lynwood Lewis, and Chap Petersen) in the state senate supported SB 610, a total recognition piece of legislation,... |
Editor's note: I have the unfortunate disposition of being horrible at math. You need 27 senators to override a veto, not 24. I've updated the post to reflect the changes. Sorry about that, folks. |
In a surprise move, Bristol-Myers Squibb announced that it will acquire Celgene for $74 billion in stock and cash – roughly a 54% premium. Bristol CEO, Giovanni Caforio justified the acquisition in the usual way: the newly merged company has great growth potential with complementary product lines and promising late sta... |
Photographer: Christopher Barth/ Bloomberg News. |
Caforio also believes that he will be able to wring out substantial costs as a result of the merger to the tune of $2.5 billion. He also expects that about 35% of that total, almost $900 million, will come from R&D. He is not worried about the organization sustaining such cuts claiming that the new organization with be... |
Having been through a few mergers of this sort (Pfizer & Warner-Lambert, Pfizer & Pharmacia), it might be important to share some realities of what is probably already happening in the R&D organizations of both Bristol-Myers Squibb and Celgene. First of all, a cut of $900 million is not trivial. It will mean that a num... |
1) Will my project continue? |
2) If not, will I still have a job? |
3) Even if I am offered a new job, will I be asked to uproot my family and move to a different location? |
4) Will I be getting a new boss as a result of the upcoming R&D reorganization? |
It will be a number of months before answers to these questions will be available. At best, expect that nine months will be needed to do an exhaustive review of the pipelines to determine what stays and what goes. In addition, the leadership of the R&D organization needs to be decided. Procedures and processes will nee... |
Caforio believes that this major acquisition is important for the future of Bristol-Myers Squibb. So be it. But he needs to get real about what he is putting his R&D organization through. A “magnet for talent” - really? Would you want to join an organization that is in the midst of such turmoil? That’s the scenario at ... |
Could Crimea have been prevented? |
I thank my friend Reid Smith for his kind response to my recent op-ed on libertarians and Mitch McConnell. But I think he and some others are overstating what I’m arguing here, perhaps understandably because effective headlines are not nuanced…. |
KINGSPORT — Tennessee GOP U.S. Senate nominee Marsha Blackburn insisted Tuesday she is the pro-business candidate and warned that if Democratic opponent Phil Bredesen wins, key Republican committee chairs could lose their jobs. |
She pointed to her U.S. Chamber endorsement while telling a Kingsport Chamber roundtable that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has put their November general election battle on a national stage. |
Blackburn charged Bredesen would support Schumer’s pick of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., to chair the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., to chair the Finance Committee, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to chair the Budget Committee and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., to chair the Health, Education, Labor an... |
How will the new tax law affect charitable contributions? |
China doesn’t play fair. What’s your position? |
Phil Bredesen is attacking your opioid record and you getting more than $800,000 in campaign contributions from drug companies. What’s your response to that? |
Trump alignment did not work out for (unsuccessful GOP gubernatorial candidates) Diane Black and Randy Boyd. Why do you think it will work out for you? |
An RCMP officer from central Alberta is scheduled to appear in provincial court next month after being charged with impaired operation of a motor vehicle. |
In a news release issued on Wednesday, the RCMP said an investigation turned up “sufficient grounds to believe” the suspect had been drinking and driving. |
Const. Andrea Bole with the Viking RCMP detachment was charged and released on a promise to appear in court in Killam on Aug. 7, 2018. |
Bole has had her driver’s licence suspended “pending the court process” and has been placed on administrative duty, police said. |
Killam is located about 170 kilometres southeast of Edmonton. |
U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King say state agencies will use the money to improve local infrastructures such as sewage plants and drinking water systems. |
PORTLAND — Maine is getting more than $23 million to finance clean water projects that are designed to improve local infrastructures such as sewage plants and drinking water systems. |
The money is coming from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection will receive about $12.4 million and the Maine Department of Health and Human Services will receive about $11.1 million. |
(MENAFN - GetNews) Wiseguyreports.Com Added New Market Research Report On -'Revenue Management System for Travel Market 2019 Top Key Players, Segmentation, Industry Analysis and Demand Forecast to 2025 '. |
WiseGuyRerports.com Presents 'Global Revenue Management System for Travel Market Size, Status and Forecast 2019-2025 New Document to its Studies Database. The Report Contain 95 Pages With Detailed Analysis. |
This report focuses on the global Revenue Management System for Travel status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. The study objectives are to present the Revenue Management System for Travel development in United States, Europe and China. |
From Galatea to GLaDOS, our cultural fascination with not-quite-human consciousness and intelligence has spanned thousands of years. At PAX East on Saturday, Dr. Tyr Fothergill and Dr. Catherine Flick reflected on the place of AI in video games – both how it’s depicted in series like “Mass Effect” and how the technolog... |
According to Flick, a scholar of computing and social responsibility at De Montfort University, the stories we tell about artificial intelligence in games reflect our values and attitudes toward AI as a whole. As she explained, “AI is usually viewed as operating within the context of human morality.” Eric Walpole, who ... |
In the “Mass Effect” franchise, the arc of the mechanoid species known as the Geth can also be taken as a cautionary tale. After recruiting Legion, a Geth unit who’s evolved beyond the constraints of his original programming and achieved self-awareness, the player must decide whether the rest of his race should be libe... |
For Fothergill, a research fellow with the Human Brain Project who specializes in human-nonhuman relationships, fictional beings like the Geth beg the question: “What is it to be human? Is it consciousness or, as Legion said, a soul?” According to one philosophy, known as “strong AI,” it’s simply a matter of informatio... |
This is a highly controversial take on consciousness – but regardless of how we define the mind, it’s clear that real-world AI is progressing rapidly. Google’s AlphaStar AI made headlines earlier this year when it defeated top-tier professional gamers in “StarCraft II,” a complex strategy game that demands both instant... |
“AlphaStar doesn’t derive any fun, so far as we know,” said Flick. Nor would it be fun for the average human player to compete against – “especially the first ten times it kicks your arse.” Like other AI now learning to “play,” its understanding of the task it’s been assigned can lead to some baffling decisions by a hu... |
The goals and datasets these engines rely on are essential to the outcome – AlphaStar now has the equivalent of hundreds of years of experience with “Starcraft II,” but it was initially trained by “supervised learning” from real human matches. Increasingly, the game industry itself is learning from players, too. “Compa... |
Where artificial intelligence goes from here remains an open question. Fotherhill joked that we often model our AI on ourselves “because we’re really bad programmers” – and noted that being trained on human behavior means inheriting human biases, too. |
Despite our fixation with simulating personhood, there are also aspects of the human experience we may never be able to convey. “How do you program a goal like ‘have dreams’ or ‘have a life’?” Fotherhill asked. In games and in reality, our creations are only as human – and humane – as the data we give them. |
Women in primetime television are losing ground in many areas in front of and behind the cameras, according to a new study. In 2013-14, women comprised 27% of all people working as creators, directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and directors of photography – a decrease of 3.5% from the previous ... |
On screen, the percentage of female characters with speaking roles declined 2.3%, down from 43% of all speaking roles last season to 42% this season – even lower than the percentage of women with speaking roles in the 2007-08 season. Again proving that male actors continue to dominate the television landscape, the repo... |
Indeed, women producers made the greatest strides. During the 2013-14 season, they filled 43% of all producer jobs, up 13% over last season. Female creators and executive producers, however, lost ground. Females accounted for 20% of all creators this season, down nearly 17% from last season, while the number of female ... |
The number of female directors of photography also decreased dramatically – down 50% this season over last, though from a much smaller statistical pool. The study found that last season, 2% of all DPs were women; this season it was down to 1%. |
Women directors and editors made significant gains. This year, females accounted for 13% of all directors, a 7.7% increase. Females accounted for 17% of all editing jobs this season, a gain of 5.9%. |
► An Easter egg festival will be 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 13 at Express ER, 4157 Buffalo Gap Road. An egg hunt, face painting, bounce castle, food trucks and vendors will be available, and the Easter bunny will be present. |
► An Easter egg hunt for children up to 12 years old will begin at 5:30 p.m. April 17 at Belmont Baptist Church, 2117 Palm St. Hot dogs and Frito pie will be served. |
► An Easter egg hunt for children age 10 and younger will begin at 9:30 a.m. April 20 in the Women's Dillards Courtyard in the Mall of Abilene. Admission is free. |
► An Easter egg hunt for children through sixth grade will be conducted from 10-11:30 a.m. April 20 at Wylie Baptist Church, 6097 Buffalo Gap Road. Refreshments, games, crafts and more will be available. Admission is free. |
► An Easter egg hunt will begin at 11 a.m. April 20 at Lytle South Baptist Church, 1125 E. Industrial Blvd. Snow-cones will be served. Admission is free. |
► An Easter egg hunt with 25,000 eggs will be conducted from 7-8:30 p.m. April 20 at Lee Athletic Complex, 1201 N. Danville Drive. The Easter bunny will be available for photos. Admission is free. |
If you know of an Easter activity not listed above, send information to publishme@reporternews.com. |
Parkview”s third annual Parkview in Park was celebrated at Cedar Grove and surrounding spots in our beautiful Bidwell Park. Students participated in various outdoor learning activities ranging from birdwatching to Native American plant study to animal adaptation with Marilyn Gamette. |
* Marilyn Gamette, all around science expert and honoree of Parkview”s “scientist of the trimester” program, for sharing her love of animals and nature with Parkview”s students. |
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