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On the campaign trail, Trump threatened to "cancel" the global pact, and he has said he will announce his final decision later Thursday. |
Darren Moore's boyhood facination with Spider-Man and comic book artwork prompted the UC Irvine shooting guard to get one of the most interesting tattoos in all of sports. |
Of the tattooing procedure, Moore says, "It hurts. I'm not going to lie to you. But it's one of those pains that, once it starts, you can manage. It's not unbearable." |
Moore says the artwork "really touches me," the tattoos "are a good representation of who I am." They tell of his motivations, beliefs and inspirations. |
"Waiting To Blow Since '89" appears on Moore's lower leg. He was born in 1989. The artwork depicts an exploding grenade. |
On the inside of Moore's left biceps is a poem, a long poem, tattooed on one of the body's most sensitive areas. |
One of Moore's friends helped him come up with this tattoo. "Basketball and my religion," Moore explains. "Those two things will lead me to positive places." |
Moore says he can't recall how many tattoos he has received, though he does admit, "It definitely has hit me in my wallet. But I'm more worried about the quality of the tattoo than the price." |
The words "Self Innovated" appear on Moore's right arm. He received this tattoo after spending one season at Northern Colorado before returning to Southern California. "I wanted to build a new road, build a new me," he says. "I was changing my own future." |
A portrait of President Obama adorns Moore's left calf. "From Slavery" it reads above the likeness. "To Presidency" it reads below. |
The Spider-Man logo in the center of Moore's chest took six hours alone. He later added the webbing. |
Much of Moore's body is covered by tattoos, but he promised his mother he'd leave his hands, neck and face untouched so he cover up all his ink if necessary. |
For the Spider-Man neophyte, this is Venom, one of the super hero's archenemies. |
On Moore's left wrist appears a tribute to his mother, "LaJunna." |
Honestly, a guy chooses to have a giant spider permanently painted across his sternum – a procedure that required six hours and tattooing so convincingly uncomfortable because, as Moore explains, “They had to dig deep and go slow” – and everyone thinks he’s lost more than just his bare chest. |
In truth, Moore gained, and gained plenty, the day he decided he’d forever model Spider-Man’s logo. And he continues to gain today, just as the tattoos all over his body have continued to accumulate. |
He has been featured in Urban Ink and Dime Magazine and on Yahoo’s website. And now Moore’s here – in a column on ink written in ink – and not many UC Irvine basketball players of late have received this degree of attention. |
For the record, Moore isn’t just Anteater meets arachnid, either. The senior guard also leads Irvine in scoring, rebounding, steals and field-goal percentage. |
Most notably, though, he might be the most decorated athlete in college sports, an opponent on whom the other team always can get a read. “No Fear” is tattooed on Moore’s right calf and “Skys The Limit” on his left. “Cold Hearted” reads one forearm and “Hoop Dreams” the other, right there so Moore can see the words eac... |
Still, there are countless NCAA athletes with dozens of tattoos these days, and we’re talking both men and women. What separates Moore is his commitment to one of his boyhood fascinations – Spider-Man. |
Shortly after receiving the logo, Moore returned to his tattoo artist and had extensive webbing added to his torso, giving him what must be the most unique appearance in college sports. And remember some of those, ah, interesting, uniforms Oregon’s players wear. |
Some people might put together a scrapbook; Moore decided to make himself into a collage. |
He began drawing Spider-Man posters and collecting Spider-Man pictures. Every Halloween he would go as Spider-Man. His mother gave him a Spider-Man lamp, a lamp he still owns. |
One day, Moore even attempted to be Spider-Man, jumping off his bed and breaking his arm. He was 3. |
Now, we have to be fair to this young man. Moore is not – that’s not – some comic book nerd. He doesn’t attend Spider-Man conventions in costume or go to sleepovers in Spidey pajamas. |
At age 18, he received his first tattoo, a big cross with the words “God’s Child” on his upper right arm. Since then, Moore has been tattooed almost monthly, collecting too many to even count today. |
And he’s nowhere near done, particularly with the Spider-Man-related stuff, even if he already wears more ink than it took to produce the U.S. Constitution. |
What else, besides a smile and tight haircut, does Moore wear every day? There are skulls, birds, bricks and the numbers “909.” “That’s my area code,” he explains. |
He has a poem written under his left biceps, an ace of spades near his left forearm and the names “Ossie” – his grandmother – and “LaJunna” – his mother – above his wrists. |
Put him in a suit, and no one could tell Moore has a single tattoo. That’s what Mom wanted. He’s just another college student scheduled to graduate in the spring. |
But put him on the skins side in a game of shirts and skins, and Moore appears to be something completely different. |
One man, two personas. Wow, this guy really is committed to Spider-Man. |
In pre-election interview, PM Netanyahu promises not to uproot settlements or give up control of security in Judea, Samaria. |
In an interview with the editor of a conservative Israeli weekly, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that he has already told White House adviser Jared Kushner and US Special Envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt that there can be no Palestinian state. |
But Prime Minister Netanyahu said that he did not know when the Americans would present the plan. |
“I asked that question in a visit to Washington now, and I did not get an answer: If they had wanted to present the plan right after the elections, they would have said so. In any event, I stated my guidelines for the plan. I will not accept any plan that uproots even a single settlement or settler,” Netanyahu said. |
Hagai Segal: Could there be Palestinian sovereignty over Jewish settlements? |
Netanyahu: “Certainly not. Not even a single one. Governance west of the Jordan River will remain in our hands. We have the responsibility for governing from a security point of view over the entire area. That is our condition. We will not commit suicide to win a positive article in the New York Times, which will not l... |
HS: So what will the Palestinians get from you? |
HS: And if Trump were to demand recognition of a Palestinian state, and were to say that after everything he did for Israel, Israel must acquiesce? |
“There will be no Palestinian state. Former Vice President Joe Biden told me at the time that given all the conditions I have - regarding maintaining security in our hands, maintaining the settlements and not dividing Jerusalem - there can be no Palestinian state. I said to him, “That is correct”. These are my position... |
There are 17 states that offer tax incentives in addition to federal tax credits for electric vehicle buyers. |
Electric cars could be an incredibly important weapon in the fight to reduce carbon emissions around the world and save the world from a climate change cataclysm. But if the last few decades have been any indication, people won't jump onboard to help save the world without some kind of green incentive. And no, we're ta... |
Tax credits for electric vehicles have been a major boon for the car industry, and a big reason why more car companies have entered into this technology. New owners don't have to be put off by the high prices — they can take advantage of federal tax credits in order to help ease that financial hit. Of course, there is ... |
But how exactly do they work? Jackie Perlman, principal tax research analyst at The Tax Institute at H&R Block, tells Inverse precisely how consumers can take advantage of electric vehicle tax breaks. |
Renault and Tesla electric cars charging at a station. |
When you buy an electric vehicle, what credits do you get? How do they work? |
A federal tax credit is available for any qualified plug-in-electric motor vehicle. According to Perlman, those credits qualify for vehicles purchased both for personal use or business use. They can be used on leases as well, but not for resales (with some exceptions, mostly for nonprofit organizations). "The vehicle m... |
The IRS keeps a list of qualifying models and credit amounts, but if you're going in blind, you'll have to rely on the manufacturer's certification that a vehicle qualifies. |
Those credits generally range between $2,500 to $7,500, but all this pends on the capacity of the vehicle's battery. |
Another tidbit most consumers probably don't know: "The credit phases out once a manufacturer sells at least 200,000 vehicles in the U.S.," says Perlman. A company like Tesla has used tax credits to help fuel (pun intended) its success, but Tesla's credits will run out when all the Tesla Model 3 vehicles are sold. |
Tax credits use to be available for two-wheeled motor vehicles as well, like motorcycles, but Perlman says these expired after 2016. |
When you pay taxes, what do you have to do with your credits to make them work? |
Remember the number "8936" — you're going to need to come back to it. Taxpayers need to fill out and file IRS Form 8936, entitled "Qualified Plug-in Electric Drive Motor Vehicle Credit" in order to report and calculate their electric vehicle credit. This is for cars purchased for both business and personal use. |
"It is not necessary to attach anything to the tax return," says Perlman, "but taxpayers should keep purchase and certification documents with their tax records." |
There are two kinds of green benefits when it comes to buying an electric car. |
What's the future hold for tax credits? How is the rise in electric vehicle usage expected to affect electric car tax credits moving forward? |
"The qualified plug-in electric vehicle credit is the only federal credit currently available for electric vehicles," says Perlman. "It is entirely possible that more taxpayers will be able to claim this credit as the use of plug-in vehicles expands," but nothing is certain. "More manufacturers may get into the game as... |
"Credits for 'regular' hybrid vehicles, three-wheeled plug-ins, plug-in conversion kits, and low-speed electric vehicles have all expired," says Perlman. So have credits for other types of alternative vehicles, such as natural gas, lean burn technology, and hydrogen powered vehicles. |
Federal credits, however, aren't the only type of tax breaks electric vehicle consumers can take advantage of. There are 17 states that also offer tax incentives, plus other breaks taxpayers can take advantage. You can learn more at Plugless Power. |
I don’t know. I don’t watch women’s college sports, and thus have no opinion. |
The data shows that since. . .2012, female athletes have become more anxious, more prone to depression, less adult and more insecure than ever before. What is up with that? |
According to a 2016 NCAA survey, 76 percent of all Division I female athletes said they would like to go home to their moms and dads more often, and 64 percent said they communicate with their parents at least once a day, a number that rises to 73 percent among women’s basketball players. And nearly a third reported fe... |
Naturally, these numbers are thought to reflect a larger trend among all college students. Since 2012, there has been a pronounced spike in mental health issues on campuses, with nearly 58 percent of students reporting anxiety, and 35 percent experiencing depression, according to annual freshmen surveys and other asses... |
The left, of course, has exploited this concern, using it as a pretext to “protect” students from views they disagree, or are supposed to disagree, with. The cycle is a vicious one because the more that students are encouraged to feel harmed by the expression of non-conforming views, the more fragile and insecure they ... |
Nearly 60 percent of high school students say they expect to get a graduate degree — when just 9 to 10 percent actually will. And 47 percent of Division I women’s basketball players think it’s at least “somewhat likely” they will play professional or Olympic ball. . .[T]he reality? The WNBA drafts just 36 players, 0.9 ... |
In women’s sports especially, there has been an ugly surge in complaints of “verbal abuse,” with investigations at more than a dozen programs between 2010 and 2016. In some cases, coaches were relieved for legitimate cause. |
But in others, decorated coaches were suspended, were fired or resigned even though there was no evidence of mistreatment. At Nebraska, Connie Yori was the 2010 coach of the year and took the Cornhuskers to a Big 12 regular season title, a Big Ten tournament title and seven NCAA tournaments in 14 years, before she quit... |
Talk to coaches, and they will tell you they believe their players are harder to teach, and to reach, and that disciplining is beginning to feel professionally dangerous. . . . |
Coaches can’t afford to feel sorry for players; they are there to stop them from feeling sorry for themselves. |
Coaches who accomplish this in today’s college milieu are best educators on campus. |
Francis Fukuyama is the Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), and Mosbacher Director of FSI's Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law. He was previously the Bernard L. Schwartz Professor of International Political Economy t the Johns Hopkins Schoo... |
What should Salinas do about crime, the housing crisis and its pension-driven budget woes depends on which candidate for mayor is asked. |
What Salinas should do about crime, the housing crisis and its pension-driven budget woes depends on the candidate for mayor asked. |
Voters in November will be deciding between incumbent Joe Gunter and his challenger, local business owner Amit Pandya. |
A third candidate, Wes White, has bowed out of the race and endorsed Pandya. |
The Salinas Californian, using a non-scientific poll, asked readers to tell us what priorities are on their minds in the election. Pension costs, affordable housing and public safety were the top 3. |
The Californian sat down with Gunter and Pandya to get their takes on these issues. |
Gunter praised Salinas Chief Adele Fresé for building increased community support for police. |
A former Salinas detective himself, Gunter said the department's special units, such as the Violence Suppression Unit, have made strong gains. |
Fresé has also brought back the traffic safety unit, which will help address the "big issue" of pedestrian safety, he said. |
In addition, Salinas is hiring more locals as officers, as well as Spanish speakers, he said. |
"We're hearing a lot more local people go, 'Oh, that (officer) used to be my neighbor,'" he said. |
But Pandya said more resources need to go into intervention, especially youth activities. |
He acknowledged that community groups have come together and worked on those programs, praising Restorative Justice. |
But he also criticized the city's handling of the aquatic center, whose previous owners left because of crime and drug issues. |
The Central Coast YMCA kept the center from closing at the 11th hour, but Pandya called it an example of the city's lack of priorities. |
"You're spending $20 million in Oldtown and you couldn't take $800,000 for security guards?" he said. |
Gunter recently praised a 67 percent reduction in youth violence celebrated by Community Alliance for Safety and Peace. |
He also pointed to the new $18 million to $22 million El Gabilan Library project, which he says will give youth a much bigger, more welcoming place to spend time upon its completion. |
Pandya, however, said the millions could have been better spent on more pressing needs. |
Salinas is facing a financial timebomb. |
Though its fuse stretches over years, Salinas is staring down millions in deficits in the near future, possibly as high as $10.5 million in 10 years, primarily due to pension costs and unfunded liabilities. |
That's without a recession, and already the unfunded pension liabilities are well past $100 million. |
Pandya says the city hasn't been thoughtful and resourceful enough in its spending of the public's money: It's added employees and given raises without eliminating its deficit, thus growing its unfunded pension liabilities, he said. |
In addition, he said, the city has been spending new sales tax revenue on too many costly projects, such as the police station, the new El Gabilan Library and Oldtown vibrancy project. |
"It's like a credit card, I have high payments and the balance goes up. I make the minimum payments," he said. "Six years later, you complain because your payments are so high." |
He said he would push for five-, 10- and 15-year plans to address the pension costs, also drawing upon increased revenue in addition to less spending. |
He also said he'd push for employee contracts with more affordable pension contributions from the city. |
Nonetheless, he said compensation must be competitive, recalling the Great Recession when the police force fell to 91 officers. |
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