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http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/bill-cosby-back-court-evidence-hearing-sex-assault-case | http://web.archive.org/web/20160728215139id_/http://www.msnbc.com:80/msnbc/bill-cosby-back-court-evidence-hearing-sex-assault-case? | Bill Cosby to face trial in sex assault case: Judge | 20160728215139 | The sexual assault case against legendary comedian Bill Cosby will go to trial, a judge decided Tuesday, after finding enough evidence in a preliminary hearing to proceed.
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, District Judge Elizabeth McHugh found probable cause after portions of the police statement from accuser Andrea Constand were read in court. Constand was not required to testify. MSNBC Live, 5/24/16, 1:02 PM ET Cosby to be tried on all charges Judge has announced that Bill Cosby will be tried on all of the criminals charges that have been brought against him. They will now go to trial.
MSNBC Live, 5/24/16, 1:02 PM ET
Judge has announced that Bill Cosby will be tried on all of the criminals charges that have been brought against him. They will now go to trial.
Cosby, 78, faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. His defense team had argued that the case — the only criminal case amid dozens of accusations — shouldn’t be tried.
At issue is “an accusation made many years ago about an incident that allegedly occurred 12 years ago,” Cosby’s defense attorney Brian McMonagle said during Tuesday’s hearing. “I have never once had a case where the prosecution has relied, in a sexual abuse case, on exclusively hearsay evidence in a hearing.”
“It is a complete denial of this defendant’s due process rights,” McMonagle added.
Constand, a former basketball star who worked at Cosby’s alma mater, Temple University, claims that he drugged and molested her at his Pennsylvania home in 2004. Cosby insists their sexual encounter was consensual.
Prosecutors at the time chose not to charge Cosby, but he was hit with a count of aggravated indecent assault last year after dozens of other women came forward with claims of sexual misconduct.
Cosby has denied all allegations of assault and has sued some of his accusers for defamation. He settled a lawsuit by Constand for an undisclosed sum a decade ago.
He entered the Pennsylvania courtroom Tuesday dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and a tie, and walked in with the help of an assistant, cracking a few smiles, and showed little reaction when the judge said he would be tried on all charges.
Cosby has been free on $1 million bail since he was arrested Dec. 30.
—NBC News’ Hannah Rappleye and Elizabeth Chuck contributed to this article.
Hannah Rappleye and Elizabeth Chuck contributed. This article originally appeared on NBCNews.com. | The sexual assault case against legendary comedian Bill Cosby will go to trial, a judge decided Tuesday, after finding enough evidence to proceed. | 18.153846 | 1 | 20.692308 | medium | high | extractive |
http://time.com/4343781/new-pebble-2-release-2016/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160729001037id_/http://time.com:80/4343781/new-pebble-2-release-2016/ | The Pebble 2 Smartwatch Is An Affordable Fitness Tracker | 20160729001037 | Many of today’s fitness trackers are starting to become more like smartwatches, while newer Internet-connected timepieces are capable of monitoring more data about our health.
Gadget startup Pebble is following this trend with an updated version of its original watch, dubbed the Pebble 2. The new $129 model will be able to count users’ steps, track their sleep, and monitor their heart rate, marking the company’s first entry-level device with fitness-tracking capabilities. It will ship in September and early Kickstarter backers can order it for a discounted rate of $99.
The Pebble 2 features an e-paper screen like its predecessor and will be available in five colors. The overall design is noticeably slimmer, and the size of the bezels that frame the display have been reduced. Pebble has also made some tweaks to the watch’s software that make it easier to access apps and other functions.
Also on the way is a new Pebble Time, which for $169 comes with a larger, sharper screen compared to the current version. It ships in November.
At first glance, the Pebble 2 seems like a solid deal for those seeking something that combines the elements of a smartwatch and fitness tracker. It’s less expensive than most other wrist-worn wearables that can measure your heart rate, like the $149.95 Fitbit Charge HR, $300 Gear S2, and $249.99 Microsoft Band.
Pebble first attracted attention roughly four years ago when its original e-paper smartwatch raised more than $10 million on Kickstarter. But the wearable technology market has since become more crowded. Technology giants like Apple and Google, among others, have pushed into the space, bringing their R&D and marketing budgets along. Once seen as an early leader of the category, Pebble does not rank in IDC’s latest list of the top five wearable vendors by market share.
Still, Pebble CEO Eric Migicovsky argues the competition has given his company the chance to “explain how and why we’re better at certain things.”
“I don’t think the best solution on the wrist is something generic [that] tries to do everything,” says Migicovsky. “There’s a particular set of things people are actually looking for. We’re focused on that, we think those two things are notifications and health and fitness.” | But is it enough? | 90.2 | 0.6 | 0.6 | high | low | abstractive |
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/24/arts/television/whats-on-tv-sunday.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160729054526id_/http://www.nytimes.com:80/2016/07/24/arts/television/whats-on-tv-sunday.html | What’s on TV Sunday | 20160729054526 | Take a walk on the wild side with “Tangerine.” The morning news shows, meanwhile, parse the national political conventions. And “Survivor’s Remorse,” the basketball comedy with LeBron James as an executive producer, returns for a third season.
TANGERINE (2015) on Amazon, iTunes and Netflix. Sin-Dee and Alexandra — a couple of fast-talking and fast-walking transgender sex workers played with exuberant heart by Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor — scour Hollywood for the woman Sin-Dee’s boyfriend (and pimp) stepped out with while Sin-Dee was in jail. Sean Baker’s raucous comedy, shot on tricked-out iPhones, “encompasses dizzying multitudes,” Manohla Dargis wrote in The New York Times. “It’s a neo-screwball chase flick with a dash of Rainer Werner Fassbinder — but mostly, movingly, it is a female-friendship movie about two people who each started life with an XY chromosome set.”
LOVE on Netflix. Like the best relationships, this one will grow on you. Mickey (Gillian Jacobs), a self-help radio show producer with self-destructive tendencies, and Gus (Paul Rust), a dweeby aspiring screenwriter and tutor for a child star, connect cute and then try to decide if they’re meant to be together or apart, over and over again — until finally it dawns on them. She thinks dating a “nice guy” will help her get her life together; he thinks seeing a woman so erratic makes him appear more dangerous. “It’s a heavy recognition, but it doesn’t have to be the end,” James Poniewozik wrote in The Times about this rom-com from Judd Apatow, Lesley Arfin and Mr. Rust. “Sometimes, ‘Love’ suggests, romance doesn’t need candlelight to grow so much as an honest fluorescent glare.”
FOX NEWS SUNDAY 10 a.m. on Fox. Chris Wallace interviews Joel Benenson, Hillary Clinton’s chief strategist, live from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, the site of the Democratic National Convention.
THIS WEEK 10 a.m. on ABC. The guests include Paul Manafort, Donald J. Trump’s campaign chairman; Robby Mook, Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager; and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
FACE THE NATION 10:30 a.m. on CBS. President Obama speaks with John Dickerson on the eve of the Democratic convention.
KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE (2015) 7:50 p.m. on Cinemax. Colin Firth has his suits splattered as a spy in an agency hidden behind a Savile Row tailor shop. Samuel L. Jackson is the villain, whose henchwoman wields razor-sharp leg prosthetics and deadly moves. The director Matthew Vaughn’s “real talent is for delivering extreme violence with a shrug and a smile,” Manohla Dargis wrote in The Times.
SURVIVOR’S REMORSE 10 p.m. on Starz. Season 3 of this basketball comedy, with LeBron James as an executive producer, finds the N.B.A. star Cam Calloway (Jessie T. Usher) and his family coping with the aftermath of Uncle Julius’s accident.
An earlier version of this article carried an incorrect time for “Survivor’s Remorse” on Starz. It begins at 10 p.m., not 9. | “Tangerine” takes a walk on the wild side. And “Survivor’s Remorse,” the basketball comedy with LeBron James as an executive producer, returns for a third season. | 17.657143 | 0.971429 | 19.028571 | medium | high | extractive |
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/15/us/ferraro-s-son-spends-term-in-luxury-abode.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160729070355id_/http://www.nytimes.com:80/1988/08/15/us/ferraro-s-son-spends-term-in-luxury-abode.html | Ferraro's Son Spends Term in Luxury Abode | 20160729070355 | John Zaccaro Jr., son of the 1984 Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate, Geraldine A. Ferraro, is spending his four-month prison term for selling cocaine in a $1,500-a-month luxury apartment in Vermont with maid service, cable television and privileges at the Y.M.C.A. next door.
He is staying at his own expense in one of 12 units in a building designed for expense-account business people on short assignments in Burlington, Vt. ''We like to think of it as a cross between an apartment and a hotel, with the advantages of both,'' a spokeswoman for the building's owners said, according to an article yesterday in The Daily News in New York.
Mr. Zaccaro, convicted in April of selling a quarter-gram of cocaine to an undercover officer, was determined eligible for the state Correction Department's house arrest program, under which nonviolent convicts can find their own housing and live under what is said to be close supervision by correction officials.
John Quinn, who prosecuted Mr. Zaccaro, said, ''This guy is a drug felon and he's living in conditions that 99.9 percent of the people of Vermont could n't afford.'' | LEAD: John Zaccaro Jr., son of the 1984 Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate, Geraldine A. Ferraro, is spending his four-month prison term for selling cocaine in a $1,500-a-month luxury apartment in Vermont with maid service, cable television and privileges at the Y.M.C.A. next door. | 4.090909 | 0.963636 | 51.072727 | low | high | extractive |
http://time.com/4153763/violence-against-muslim-women/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160729093205id_/http://time.com:80/4153763/violence-against-muslim-women/ | Violence Against Muslim Women Is Racist and Misogynist | 20160729093205 | Face haloed by a gilded purple scarf, Larycia Hawkins, an African-American Christian associate professor of political science at Wheaton College, posted a Christmas Facebook picture of herself in hijab. This is her Advent practice, she explained, urging others to follow suit: to don the hijab in embodied solidarity with sisters facing Islamophobic violence for wearing headscarves.
“As part of my Advent Worship, I will wear the hijab to work at Wheaton College, to play in Chi-town, in the airport and on the airplane … and at church,” she said. “A large scale movement of Women in Solidarity with Hijabs is my Christmas #wish this year.” She also equated the Christian God with the Muslim one. In a controversial move, Wheaton College suspended her for these remarks.
Hawkins embodies a point we don’t hear often enough: Islamophobic violence against women is a black feminist issue. To pass over the recent attacks against Muslim women is to concede ground to the mounting terror on women of color that endangers us all.
Within hours of the Nov. 13 attacks on Paris, Islamophobic violence erupted in Europe and North America. But in contrast to the persecution of Muslim men after 9/11, recent violence seems to disproportionately target women.
In London, Yoshiyuki Shinohara pushed a Muslim woman in front of an oncoming underground train. In New York, a sixth-grade girl was attacked in middle school by boys who attempted to remove her hijab and called her ISIS while beating her. In Toronto, a Muslim mother was beaten and robbed after dropping her children at school, and later that week two women were assaulted on the subway by men calling them terrorists.
Violence against Muslim women spiked again after the mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., followed by the widespread broadcast of pictures of shooter Tashfeen Malik wearing a hijab. Women in hijab became labeled the new face of terrorism as several news headlines inquired: “Is Tashfeen Malik a new kind of female terrorist?”
Black women are among the Muslims targeted by Islamophobic violence. Witness the case of artist Kameelah Rashid, an African-American Muslim in hijab forced off a flight to Istanbul and questioned for hours by the FBI. Traumatized by the event, Rashid noted: “I don’t think there is a resurgence of Islamophobia after the Paris attacks. I think it never went away. It’s becoming more legitimized.”
More than 250,000 black Muslim women live in the United States, and globally the black female Muslim population reaches tens of millions. Nigeria alone counts 60 million Muslim women and Guinea, Niger and the Democratic Republic of Congo are among sub-Saharan African nations with majority Muslim populations. To be sure, many black Muslims don’t wear hijab. But like Rashid, any black woman identifiable as Muslim is now subject to state and interpersonal violence when moving across national lines.
This Islamophobic violence against women is part of a social climate in which violence against black women and girls seems to increasingly be tolerated. Weeks before the middle-school assault in New York, a black girl at Spring Valley High in South Carolina was thrown from her desk and slammed to the ground by school-based police officer Ben Fields. Days after assaults on Muslim women riding public transport in London and Toronto, fired Oklahoma City cop Daniel Holtzclaw stood trial for 36 counts of sexual assault against black women. One of those rapes occurred in front of a parked school bus.
These are incidences of a climate of intersecting racism and misogyny, which, as Rashid says, speaks less to a “resurgence” of violence against women of color than to the disturbing fact such violence is “becoming more legitimized.” The impulse to attack a girl in hijab and to throw a black girl across a schoolroom aren’t the same, but they are related. Both reflect ways in which girls and women with African ancestral heritage continue to be denied the privileges of full citizenship—and full humanity—in North America and Europe.
It’s time for black women—including those who are not Muslim—and Muslim women—including those who are not black—to recognize we have common cause. Lovely as Hawkins’ gesture is, I don’t advocate that all black women wear hijab this season. But I do advocate that we all lift any veils that prevent us from seeing Muslim women’s issues are our issues, too. | Black women, Muslim women and all women need to realize we have a common cause | 52.8125 | 0.875 | 1.625 | high | medium | mixed |
http://www.people.com/article/beaches-remake-lifetime-idina-menzel | http://web.archive.org/web/20160729164534id_/http://www.people.com/article/beaches-remake-lifetime-idina-menzel | Idina Menzel Cast in Lifetime Movie : People.com | 20160729164534 | 07/28/2016 AT 03:55 PM EDT
Break out the tissues, there's a new version of
, and it's sure to bring on the waterworks.
Lifetime is working on a remake of
that followed the lifelong friendship between CC (
will step into the role made famous by Midler and the TV movie will feature new takes on the classic songs "Wind Beneath My Wings" and "The Glory of Love" and include several other songs recorded specifically for the movie.
The rest of the cast has yet to be revealed, but the announcement of the remake comes just days after
begins production Aug. 15 in Vancouver and is slated to debut on Lifetime in 2017. | Lifetime's Beaches remake is slated to debut in 2017 | 13.1 | 0.9 | 2.3 | low | medium | mixed |
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/07/26/brewer-ab-inbev-increases-sabmiller-cash-offer-by-2bn/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160729211207id_/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/business/2016/07/26/brewer-ab-inbev-increases-sabmiller-cash-offer-by-2bn/ | Major SABMiller investor Aberdeen rejects sweetened £79bn AB InBev takeover | 20160729211207 | Sterling’s recent drop sent the value of the stock offer surging above the cash offer, as AB InBev’s shares are euro-denominated.
Even under AB InBev’s sweetened terms, the stock offer is valued at £51.14 a share, almost 14pc above the new all-cash offer.
Aberdeen said: “The revised deal remains unacceptable as it both undervalues the company and continues to favour SABMiller’s two major shareholders.”
It argued Altria and the Santo Domingos should not be allowed to vote on the all-cash offer. | The biggest takeover in British corporate history has been dealt a major blow after a top investor in FTSE 100 brewer SABMiller spurned a sweetened £ | 3.888889 | 0.296296 | 0.296296 | low | low | abstractive |
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/pictures/9126031/The-worlds-30-ugliest-buildings.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160729223906id_/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/finance/property/pictures/9126031/The-worlds-30-ugliest-buildings.html?frame= | The world's 30 ugliest buildings | 20160729223906 | Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but there's certainly more than a few buildings around the world so unattractive, you wonder how they ever got off the ground. Here are the Telegraph Property team's shortlist of the world's ugliest. We're sure some of you will disagree, or have suggestions for additions: please do comment below, or tweet us @TeleProperty. This is the Verizon Building or 375 Pearl in New York City. Designed by Rose, Beaton & Rose and opened in 1975. | In pictures: the least attractive buildings ever designed and built. | 8.166667 | 0.666667 | 0.666667 | low | low | abstractive |
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/27/dining/wine-review-douro.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160729223935id_/http://www.nytimes.com:80/2016/07/27/dining/wine-review-douro.html?ref=dining | Searching for Soul Among Douro Reds | 20160729223935 | I don’t blame producers for calculating what sort of wines will sell well, and I would never tell anybody how to run a business. But wines like these can simultaneously impress because of the skill with which they are made but underwhelm because they lack originality. In short, they are boring.
Let me issue the usual qualifications here. Twenty bottles is by no means a complete tasting. It is a representative cross section of what’s available commercially. I don’t want to speak overly generally about the Douro or Portuguese wines. But I will say that too many of the wines we tasted lacked soul or a sense of place.
We all agreed in slightly different ways. Laura said they lacked distinctiveness. Florence thought they were too international in style. Rob said he would have preferred less polish and more rusticity, while I would have liked more earth and less gloss.
It was as if some of the wines had been presented like living room furniture sets in plastic slipcovers. Regardless of the occasional danger of a stain, you want to liberate those couches so you can feel the unmediated textures and angles of the upholstery.
While this was our prevailing feeling, we did find a handful of wines that we liked very much, wines that we thought we could drink with pleasure or, in the case of our top two, put away to age for a few years.
Not surprisingly, these wines generally use the same grapes as port. As with port, most of these reds are blends with touriga nacional and touriga franca, the leading port grapes, as well as tinta barroca, tinta roriz (also known as tempranillo) and any of the more than 80 varieties permitted in port.
Our top wine, for example, the 2012 Reserva from Quinta do Vallado, was a field blend of more than 40 different grapes from a vineyard said to be more than a century old.
The best of these wines have flavors that resemble port, without, obviously, port’s sweetness or fortification. These flavors include plums and dark fruits, spices, wildflowers and violets, which taken together can seem a bit exotic, especially when not subjected to the homogenizing effect of oakiness.
Often in tastings like this one, the less expensive wines show better because they are not sheathed in the same sort of makeup as the pricier bottles. That wasn’t entirely true here. Yes, we rejected the most expensive bottle in the tasting, the 2012 Prats & Symington Chryseia at $75. You could almost taste the money that had gone into its production. Yet the Quinta do Vallado, our top wine, was the second most expensive at $66, and it was lovely, juicy, complex and balanced.
Our No. 2 bottle, the 2013 Redoma Tinto from Niepoort, was another field blend from old-vine vineyards. It was spicy and complex, with a barely detectable note of oak that seemed well integrated. This, too, was one of the more expensive bottles at $48.
By contrast, our No. 3 wine, the 2013 Esporão Assobio, was our best value at just $15. It was spicy and smoky with aromas and flavors of dark fruit and wildflowers.
Next was the exotic, earthy 2012 Passadouro Touriga Franca, one of only a few varietal wines in our tasting along with the fresh, lightly tannic 2012 Touriga nacional from Delaforce, our No. 6 bottle.
One of the more unusual wines in the tasting was No. 5, the 2012 Quinta do Infantado, another field blend. Unlike many of the other bottles, this seemed to have been produced with minimum input from the winemaker. It was simple yet delicious, juicy, fruity and floral, the kind of wine you want to knock back when you are thirsty. I personally would love to find more wines like this from the Douro.
Portuguese reds are often cited as great values, but we found the less expensive wines to be inconsistent. Eleven of our 20 bottles were $20 or under, but only five of these bottles made our top 10. That’s actually not bad when you consider that of the nine bottles that cost more than $20, only five made it.
If a cheap bottle disappoints you, no loss, but it’s harder to justify a $45 miss.
You probably won’t go wrong if you like modern wines that taste primarily of fruit and oak. If you do fall into that category, you can find a lot to like here at prices considerably less than, say, Napa Valley cabernet sauvignons or super Tuscans.
But if you are looking for wines unencumbered by the tools of the winemaking trade, you will need to choose carefully.
★★★ Quinta do Vallado Douro Reserva Field Blend 2012 $66
Juicy, lively and well balanced, with aromas and flavors of flowers and dark fruit. (Quintessential, Napa, Calif.)
★★★ Niepoort Douro Redoma Tinto 2013 $48
Spicy and complex, with flavors of plums, violets and a touch of oak. (Polaner Selections, Mount Kisco, N.Y.)
Best Value: ★★★ Esporão Douro Assobio 2013 $15
Spicy, with aromas and flavors of wildflowers, smoke and dark fruit. (Aidil, New Bedford, Mass.)
★★★ Passadouro Douro Touriga Franca 2012 $36
Earthy and balanced, with flavors of blueberries, flowers and well-integrated oak. (Winebow, New York)
★★½ Quinta do Infantado Douro 2012 $17
Not complex, but juicy, floral, fruity and delicious. (Louis/Dressner Selections, New York)
★★½ Delaforce Douro Touriga Nacional 2012 $20
Fresh and lightly tannic, with flavors of dark fruit balanced by good acidity. (Signature Imports, Mansfield, Mass.)
★★½ Quinta do Crasto Douro Superior 2013 $25
Peppery and floral, with juicy flavors stopping just short of jammy. (Broadbent Selections, Sonoma, Calif.)
★★ Duorum Douro Colheita 2013 $18
Lightly tannic, with well-balanced, exotic fruit flavors. (Winebow)
★★ Churchill’s Estates Douro 2012 $18
Intense and spicy, with exotic dark fruit flavors and a touch of oak. (Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York)
★★ Quinta do Vale Douro Meão 2012 $28
Forthright, with juicy, peppery, dark fruit flavors. (Deutsch Family Wine and Spirits, White Plains)
Recipe Pairing: Grilled Scallion Lamb
The only way to tame big Portuguese reds from the Douro is to throw grilled meat at them. Here are lamb kebabs bathed in a spicy-cool Asian marinade and threaded on skewers with whole scallions placed crosswise so all can be seared together, emerging lightly charred and smoky. My butcher suggested top round of lamb, a cut I had never used, but he knew what he was talking about: It was excellent, lean and tender. I have not offered a recipe for a sauce alongside, but romesco, the Spanish pepper, tomato and nut emulsion that’s often served as a dip for grilled baby leeks, would be perfect. FLORENCE FABRICANT
A version of this article appears in print on July 27, 2016, on page D4 of the New York edition with the headline: Searching for the Soul of Douro. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe | The wine panel sought and found some distinctive wines, but glossy modern winemaking too often took the spotlight. | 71.35 | 0.7 | 0.8 | high | low | abstractive |
http://time.com/4225609/china-radio-telescope-relocate-fast/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160730013253id_/http://time.com:80/4225609/china-radio-telescope-relocate-fast/ | China Relocates 9,000 People for Biggest Radio Telescope | 20160730013253 | More than 9,000 people are being relocated in China before the opening of the world’s largest radio telescope later this year.
The $180 million Five Hundred Meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in the southwestern province of Guizhou is expected to be completed in September says Xinhua News Agency. Once finished, it will become the world’s largest, overtaking the 300-meter Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.
According a senior Communist party official in Guizhou, Li Yuecheng, residents within 3 miles of the telescope had to be relocated so as to “create a sound electromagnetic wave environment.” These “evacuated” residents will get up to $1,800 in compensation from the country’s provincial reservoir and eco-migration bureau.
The radio telescope, which measures 500 meters in diameter, will be used to reflect radio signals from distant parts of the universe and help search for extraterrestrial life beyond the galaxy, reports the Guardian. | The telescope will be used to reflect radio signals from distant parts of the universe | 11.666667 | 1 | 11.533333 | low | high | extractive |
http://www.wsj.com/articles/irish-central-bank-cuts-growth-forecasts-for-2016-2017-on-brexit-1469611848 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160730021830id_/http://www.wsj.com:80/articles/irish-central-bank-cuts-growth-forecasts-for-2016-2017-on-brexit-1469611848? | Irish Central Bank Cuts Growth Forecasts for 2016, 2017 on Brexit | 20160730021830 | Ireland’s central bank Wednesday cut its economic growth forecasts for this year and next in anticipation of a “negative and material” impact from the U.K.’s June vote to leave the European Union.
In its quarterly report on the economic outlook, the central bank also said official figures that showed the economy grew by more than a quarter in 2015 don’t reflect actual activity, and are instead distorted by “restructuring and... | Ireland’s central bank cut its economic growth forecasts for this year and next in anticipation of a “negative and material” impact from the U.K.’s June vote to leave the European Union. | 2.25 | 1 | 28.888889 | low | high | extractive |
http://www.wsj.com/articles/sales-pressure-on-modelez-hershey-could-bolster-case-for-merger-1469565069 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160730025417id_/http://www.wsj.com:80/articles/sales-pressure-on-modelez-hershey-could-bolster-case-for-merger-1469565069 | Sales Pressure on Modelez, Hershey Could Bolster Case for Merger | 20160730025417 | Rival snack makers Mondelez International Inc. and Hershey Co. are both expected to show continued sales pressure when they report quarterly earnings this week, bolstering some arguments that the two giants could benefit from joining forces.
Mondelez made a bid to acquire Hershey at the end of June, and it was unanimously rejected by the chocolate company’s board of directors. But Mondelez, whose brands include Oreo cookies, hasn’t... | Rival snack makers Mondelez International and Hershey are both expected to show continued sales pressure when they report quarterly earnings this week, bolstering some arguments that the two giants could benefit from joining forces. | 2.166667 | 1 | 24.166667 | low | high | extractive |
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB841960186631894000 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160730030334id_/http://www.wsj.com:80/articles/SB841960186631894000 | Goal of the Stanley Cup Escort Is to Keep It Out of the Pool | 20160730030334 | WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Cold beer flows and rock music blares while, in a corner of the backyard, partygoers have their pictures taken with tonight's guest of honor: the Stanley Cup.
A few are plotting a bit of mischief: Will the National Hockey League's championship trophy get tossed into the pool?
Not if Scott North can help it. The slight... | The National Hockey League's championship trophy, the Stanley Cup, goes on a post-season tour every year: Each member of the championship team gets to keep the cup, wherever he likes, for a day or two. But with the cup comes an escort, to prevent it from, say, taking a dip in the pool at parties. | 1.058824 | 0.514706 | 1.279412 | low | low | abstractive |
http://www.wsj.com/articles/glaxo-swings-to-loss-on-write-down-1469619426 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160730031603id_/http://www.wsj.com:80/articles/glaxo-swings-to-loss-on-write-down-1469619426 | GlaxoSmithKline Helped and Hurt by Sterling’s Post-Brexit Fall | 20160730031603 | LONDON—While Brexit provided an expected boost to core earnings for GlaxoSmithKline PLC, it also led to a big write-down—the latest in a series of surprises stemming from Britain’s vote to leave the European Union.
The U.K.-based drug giant said it recorded a £1.8 billion pound ($2.4 billion) charge to earnings, resulting in a net loss for the second quarter. The charge came after the company revalued its liabilities in line with the... | The sharp drop in sterling following Britain’s vote to leave the European Union both helped and hurt GlaxoSmithKline’s second-quarter earnings, illustrating the vote’s double-edged effect. | 2.676471 | 0.647059 | 2.352941 | low | low | mixed |
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/12/relatives-want-justice-yemen-drone-strike-20131214111559659476.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160730095804id_/http://www.aljazeera.com:80/news/middleeast/2013/12/relatives-want-justice-yemen-drone-strike-20131214111559659476.html | Relatives want justice for Yemen drone strike | 20160730095804 | Relatives of Yemeni civilians killed in a drone strike have demanded an apology and compensation and warned of tribal unrest, an official said.
"The first demand is an end to strikes," the official said on Saturday. "They also want financial and moral compensation."
This announcement came following Friday's protests that blocked the road between Rada and Sanaa, the capital city, during the funeral of 13 civilians killed in the attack, the official said.
Even if it turns out that this was a case of killing based on mistaken identity or dodgy intelligence, whoever was responsible needs to own up to the error and come clean about what happened in this incident.
Philip Luther, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa director
A wedding party was hit in an air strike on Thursday in the south of Yemen after being mistaken for an al-Qaeda convoy and at least fifteen people were killed, according to officials.
Two of the dead whose names were released, Saleh al-Tays and Abdullah al-Tays, were on Yemeni government lists of wanted al-Qaeda suspects.
The security committee, which President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi oversees, said Thursday's attack targeted a car that belonged on an al-Qaeda leader.
"On board the vehicle were top leaders who plotted several terrorist attacks against the armed forces, police, civilians and vital government installations," said a security committee statement published by state news agency, Saba.
The statement provided no death toll and did not discuss civilian casualties.
"Even if it turns out that this was a case of killing based on mistaken identity or dodgy intelligence, whoever was responsible needs to own up to the error and come clean about what happened in this incident," said Philip Luther, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa director.
Protesters agreed to bury the dead only after a tribal committee promised mediation with the central authorities in Sanaa, according to an official. Â
The US military operates all unmanned aircraft flying over Yemen in support of Sanaa's campaign against al-Qaeda and has killed dozens of fighters this year.
The US acknowledges using drones in Yemen but does not comment on the practice.Â
Human Rights Watch said in a report earlier this year that US missile strikes have killed dozens of civilians in Yemen. | Statement by security committee does not mention civilian casualties, but at least 15 people were reportedly killed. | 23.684211 | 0.842105 | 1.368421 | medium | medium | abstractive |
http://time.com/money/4350890/highest-grossing-superhero-movie/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160730140655id_/http://time.com:80/money/4350890/highest-grossing-superhero-movie/ | These Are The Highest-Grossing Superhero Movies Of All Time | 20160730140655 | Marvel fans will flock to movie theaters to check out X-Men Apocalypse this weekend, the latest installment in the comic strip tale about the band of heroes. With a star-studded cast and gargantuan production budget, it’s clear Marvel is also hoping it will prove to be another box office hit for franchise.
The movie opened on some international screens this week to profits of $101.5 million, but it’s yet to be determined whether it will outpace other comic strip blockbusters. As the film’s producers tally up ticket sales, MONEY decided to take a look at the superhero movies that have raked in the biggest domestic profits:
5. Iron Man 3: $409 million
The third installment in the saga of Iron Man Tony Stark received mostly favorable reviews, which translated into profits that might rival the net worth of the ultra-rich superhero himself. The film was also the second-highest grossing movie of 2013.
4. The Dark Knight Rises: $448 million
This star-studded 2012 film forced Bruce Wayne out of retirement to save Gotham City from nuclear destruction at the hands of super villain Bane. Fans were apparently so excited to see Batman back in action after an eight-year vacation that they made it the sixteenth-highest grossing film of all time.
3. Avengers: Age of Ultron: $459 million
The 2015 follow-up to The Avengers featured a gamut of superheroes played by Hollywood stars like Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johannson and Mark Ruffalo. Their triumphs and tribulations propelled the movie to the slot of seventh-highest grossing movie of all time. And Marvel apparently isn’t done with making money off the Avengers storyline: It has two sequels slated to be released in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
2. The Dark Knight: $533 million
The superhero crime film featured an impressive ensemble cast, including the venerable late Heath Ledger in a perhaps career-best role as the Joker. Fans were so enthralled by the fight between the criminal mastermind and Batman that they made the movie the highest-grossing film of 2008.
1. The Avengers: $623 million
The secret to making money off superheroes? Pack as many as possible into one movie (That could be good news for X-Men: Apocalypse as well!). The Avengers, released in 2012, tells the story of heroes Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk and Thor as they try to prevent Thor’s evil brother Loki from taking over the world. Comic book lovers were so enthralled by the film that they helped make it became the first Marvel movie to gross more than $1 billion worldwide. | It remains to be seen whether X-Men Apocalypse will outpace the biggest superhero blockbuster of all time. | 25.7 | 0.85 | 2.35 | medium | medium | mixed |
http://fortune.com/2016/07/25/no-party-for-business/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160730143544id_/http://fortune.com:80/2016/07/25/no-party-for-business/ | No Party for Business | 20160730143544 | Business leaders may take some comfort from the fact that Hillary Clinton chose Tim Kaine as her running mate. He was one of only 13 Democrats who pushed for fast track authority to approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership. And in last night’s 60 Minutes interview, he spent an inordinate amount of time praising Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan, setting the stage for a chance at constructive governance after the election.
But while Clinton said last night she wanted a candid vice president who “would tell me, ‘Hey, I don’t agree with you,’ or ‘Could you think about it somewhat differently,’” her camp was quick to spread the word that Kaine had agreed to abandon support for the trade deal – a switch that was confirmed by his staff. So much for independence.
The bigger problem is that the Democratic party assembling in Philadelphia this week is far more liberal than the one that nominated Bill Clinton back in 1992. The Wall Street Journal has a good article this morning documenting the change. Only 30% of Democrats considered themselves liberal then; nearly twice as many do today. And support for capitalism among Democrats has sharply declined.
That new Democratic party is already making noise on the streets of Philadelphia, protesting for Sanders, against Clinton and Kaine, and against fracking, trade, and a host of other perceived ills.
Meanwhile, the Republican nominee Donald Trump, tweeted out an attack on Kaine for supporting the “job-killer” trade bill – which, of course, was also supported by his own vice presidential choice, Mike Pence – further evidence that there is no home for business in this election.
There is, however, a home for business at Fortune, now as always. We’re delighted to announce this morning that we are launching a new podcast series, Fortune Unfiltered, hosted by digital editor Aaron Task, that will include conversations with business leaders about their journeys to success. First up: General Electric’s Beth Comstock, Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, and entrepreneur and marketing guru Gary Vaynerchuk. You can download from iTunes. | Tim Kaine's climbdown over TPP is a bad omen | 39.8 | 0.4 | 0.6 | high | low | abstractive |
http://time.com/money/4428509/warren-buffett-investing-quotes/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160730152713id_/http://time.com:80/money/4428509/warren-buffett-investing-quotes/ | Warren Buffett's 10 Best Quotes About Investing | 20160730152713 | One great way to learn the basics of investing is by studying the greatest buy-and-hold investor of all time, Warren Buffett. Here are 10 of the Oracle of Omaha’s famous quotes that could translate into investing success for you and might prevent you from making mistakes.
1. “Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks.”
You may have heard the expression “don’t throw good money after bad,” and this is the point of what Buffett is saying here. If you own a stock that’s gone down and your original reasons for buying it no longer apply — get out. It’s a common mistake to attempt to “average down” on losing positions. Instead, you’re better off cutting your losses and finding a better way to use that money.
On the other hand, if a stock you own has gone down for no other reason than general market or sector weakness, but the business is as strong as ever, that’s the time to double down.
2. “Opportunities come infrequently. When it rains gold, put out the bucket, not the thimble.”
In other words, don’t hesitate when you see a great opportunity. In the aftermath of the financial crisis, Buffett didn’t simply tiptoe into bank stocks. Rather, he made multibillion-dollar investments in Bank of America and Goldman Sachs that have paid off tremendously.
Read: Kansas Man Turns $10,000 into $8 Million
3. “If you aren’t willing to own a stock for 10 years, don’t even think about owning it for 10 minutes. Put together a portfolio of companies whose aggregate earnings march upward over the years, and so also will the portfolio’s market value.”
I like to apply what I call the “30-year test” to most of the stocks I consider for my own portfolio. I ask myself if the business will be around in 30 years, and if the company has a clear competitive advantage that should allow it to maintain or grow its market share and profitability during those 30 years. If the answer to either question is “no,” or “I’m not sure,” I move on.
4. “It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.”
Cheap garbage is still garbage. Radio Shack was trading for a ridiculously low valuation a couple of years back — but that’s because it had serious problems, eventually leading to bankruptcy. Instead, a better idea would be to compare rock-solid retailers such as Wal-Mart,Target, and Costco to see which is trading for the best price.
5. “Our favorite holding period is forever.”
There are plenty of valid reasons to sell stocks. For example, if a company’s business strategy changes, its growth or profitability declines, or if you simply need the money, it can be in your best interest to sell a stock. In fact, Buffett-led Berkshire Hathaway BRK 0% sells stocks regularly, and for a variety of reasons. However, Buffett’s point is that you should go into every stock investment with the intention of holding it forever.
6. “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.”
Anybody can make money in a rising market. We’ve been in a bull market for seven years now, so if someone brags about how much his or her portfolio has risen since 2009, take it with a grain of salt.
On the other hand, it takes real talent and discipline to consistently do well in falling markets. Since 1965, the S&P has finished the year in the red 11 times. In those 11 years, Berkshire has beaten the market in all but two of them.
7. “Never invest in a business you cannot understand.”
Buffett doesn’t understand tech stocks well, so they’re mostly absent from Berkshire’s portfolio. I don’t have a particularly good grasp on the biotech industry, so I’m not going to invest in it.
Before you buy any stock, you should have a thorough understanding of how the business makes its money, and how it expects to continue to make money going forward. Getting into a stock you don’t fully understand is a recipe for disaster.
Read: Shark Tank Just Revealed a Trillion-Dollar Idea
8. “Whether we’re talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down.”
As a classic value investor, Buffett looks for stocks trading below their intrinsic value. While there are many different methods for determining whether a stock is on sale, here’s a quick guide to value investing that can help you get started.
9. “Rule No. 1 is never lose money. Rule No. 2 is never forget Rule No. 1.”
Perhaps the most famous Buffett quote of all, it’s actually one of the most inaccurate — at least in the literal sense. Buffett will be the first to admit that he’s made a few bad investments over the years, and no investor will be right 100% of the time.
Instead, the point is that protecting your principal from losses should be a higher priority than making money. Berkshire Hathaway has produced a 50-year return of nearly 1,600,000% for its shareholders, even though it often underperforms the S&P in years when the market rises quickly. The real trick to long-term success is to outperform during the bad times.
10. On buying individual stocks: “If you like spending six to eight hours per week working on investments, do it. If you don’t, then dollar-cost average into index funds.”
Read: 5 Dividend Secrets to Build Wealth After 50
The bottom line is that investing in stocks the right way requires time. You’ll need to do your homework and research and compare stocks before investing, make sure your profile is properly diversified, and monitor your stocks on a regular basis. If you’re not willing to do that, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with buying a low-cost S&P 500 index fund, which Buffett has said is the best investment most people can make. Not only does this method do all of the hard work for you, but history has also shown that you’ll probably beat the majority of mutual funds over the long run.
Matthew Frankel owns shares of Berkshire Hathaway (B shares). The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Berkshire Hathaway (B shares) and Costco Wholesale. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. | "Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No. 1" | 60.863636 | 0.909091 | 5.363636 | high | medium | mixed |
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/sarah-crompton/9698742/Dennis-Potter-Has-TV-drama-lost-its-nerve.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160730160634id_/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/journalists/sarah-crompton/9698742/Dennis-Potter-Has-TV-drama-lost-its-nerve.html | Dennis Potter: Has TV drama lost its nerve? | 20160730160634 | All six episodes of Dennis Potter’s The Singing Detective are being shown this weekend at the ICA in London. It deserves every second of such exposure. Funny and fierce, personal and fantastical, complex and deeply moving, there has never been anything on TV quite like it. Potter gave his hero, Philip Marlow, the same crippling and disfiguring form of psoriatic arthropathy from which he suffered, and then wove around it a drama in which events in Marlow’s imagination and memory are interleaved with hospital life and with nostalgic songs that comment on the action.
Potter sent a draft of his script to the BBC’s head of drama, Jonathan Powell, in 1985. Powell recalled: “I’m not entirely sure I absolutely understood it, but it was heart-stopping material, especially the childhood stuff. And I went and told Michael Grade that it wasn’t a thriller, but was about somebody with a terrible skin disease, and he said, 'Is it any good?’. And I said, 'I’m not quite sure, but it’s got some fantastic stuff in it.’ And he said, 'OK, off you go and make it.’ Which we did.”
Looking back, the serial’s producer, Kenith Trodd, who is taking part in the ICA event, recognises the freedom he and Potter were allowed. “It was a period when you could light a fire and provided you didn’t burn down the building, they handed you another box of matches,” he says. As a result, Potter’s dramas stand as the great flowering of an individual writer’s voice on television. Over decades, he produced piece after piece indelibly stamped with his distinctive mark. He demanded to be watched.
When The Singing Detective premiered on BBC One in 1986, eight million people tuned in. This rose to 10 million after a huge press furore about a scene where the child Marlow witnesses his mother’s adultery. Those viewing figures are staggering: nowadays they are the kind enjoyed by froth such as Strictly Come Dancing, not by serious, challenging drama.
This is, of course, partly due to the fragmentation of the audience by multichannel television. But only partly. When you search for Potter’s equivalent today, you find yourself peering into a void. Stephen Poliakoff is probably the only writer given the same creative freedom as Potter, yet his languorous dramas are regarded as elite viewing. Jimmy McGovern, who emerged with such a distinctive voice, has tailored his talents to the semi-soap but socially crusading plots of The Street – and pieces of one-off campaigning such as Hillsborough. Paul Abbott’s last major drama for TV, State of Play, was shown in 2003; his focus is now the long-running Shameless.
State of Play, however magnificent, was also a thriller. And that is a clue to the kind of drama we get nowadays. Trodd says everything is now driven by genre, and it’s true. If a programme doesn’t fit a mould, then it is less likely to get made, so great sprawling dramas such as Peter Flannery’s Our Friends in the North, distinctive in flavour and message, no longer seem to have a place in the schedules. Yet that serial attracted around five million viewers. The dramas that currently creep onto our screens are barely finding any viewers. The first episode of The Hour (part thriller, part period piece) attracted only 1.34 million viewers, a 6.1 per cent audience share. The political thriller Secret State, so trumpeted on Channel 4, found only 865,000. These are flagship dramas on major channels. When it was repeated on BBC Four recently, The Singing Detective still attracted 304,000, enough to make it the channel’s highest-rated show.
All of which raises many questions. Have we as a nation just lost our taste for watching ideas-based drama on TV? Or have our television commissioners lost the courage to give free rein to people who have something to say and think television is a great place to say it? Could British television today produce something as passionate as The Wire, the nearest modern equivalent to the ambitious work of the past? Could it cope with Dennis Potter? Would anyone watch if it could?
I am not sure, but perhaps the fact our theatres are suddenly full of new plays which allow individual voices and complicated arguments to emerge, tells us something about the failure of television to be the great communicative medium of which Potter once dreamed. | The whole of Dennis Potter's 1986 series The Singing Detective will be shown at the ICA this weekend - but is there still room on our screens for such distinctive, challenging TV drama? | 22.815789 | 0.815789 | 1.447368 | medium | medium | abstractive |
http://time.com/money/3752373/employer-pay-your-student-loans/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160731072559id_/http://time.com:80/money/3752373/employer-pay-your-student-loans/ | Want Your Employer to Pay Your Student Loans? This New Proposal Could Help | 20160731072559 | A Colorado state representative proposed legislation that would give some employers tax credits for making student loan payments on behalf of some of their employees. The bill introduced by Rep. KC Becker (D-Boulder) could give qualified workers each up to $10,000 a year in student loan payments from their employers. The employer gets a tax credit equal to 50% of the loan payments (so $5,000 on a $10,000 payment), up to $200,000 total per tax year.
Those qualified workers come from a limited pool of graduates. If you want your employer to make some of your loan payments under this proposed bill, you’d need to have an associate’s or bachelor’s degree in a science, technology, engineering or mathematics field (STEM) from a Colorado college or university, graduated no earlier than Dec. 31, 2010, make less than $60,000 a year and have a STEM-related job. Of course, you’d need to work for an employer in Colorado, as well. The credit applies only to new hires who are retained for at least 12 months.
The bill is one of several workforce-development bills progressing through the state’s legislature, focusing on attracting and retaining educated, talented Colorado workers. One way to look at the employer tax credit is as a good deal for everyone involved.
“It’s good for employers because it gives them a competitive advantage for attracting new workers,” said Patrick Pratt, program manager of the Colorado Manufacturing Initiative at the Colorado Association of Commerce & Industry (CACI). “It’s good for employees because it helps alleviate their student loan burden, as well.”
And then there’s the state of Colorado, which gets to hold on to graduates whose skills are in high demand. One of CACI’s missions is to increase the number of skilled, educated workers in the state, and this proposal aligns with some of those goals.
The average monthly student loan payment in this program is estimated to be $224, totaling $2,688 a year, according to Pratt, which is well under the $10,000-per-employee limit. That means workers who qualify for this program may not have to make student loan payments out of their own pockets for as long as the program continues, if the bill becomes law. It still has a long way to go in the legislative process, but if it is approved as is, the program would run from Jan. 1, 2016 through Dec. 31, 2019.
In a small survey sent from CACI to its manufacturing members, most respondents said they had a favorable opinion of the legislation. (Pratt sent the survey to 400 members, and about 30 responded.)
Only one person who had a negative opinion of the bill explained why: “This is a solution that exacerbates the problem,” Pratt quoted from the survey response. He said the comment went on to say that the problem was the high cost of education.
The average student loan debt of a 2013 graduate from a Colorado college is $24,520, the 16th lowest of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Project on Student Debt. That’s below the national average ($28,400), but the Colorado default rate is 15.3%, higher than the 13.7% national average. Default can seriously damage borrowers’ credit for years, not to mention the hardship that comes with wage garnishment and debt collection, as a result of default. If you want to get an overview of how your student loans are affecting your credit, you can see your free credit report summary on Credit.com.
This article originally appeared on Credit.com. | Pending legislation in Colorado could secure student loan relief for workers with certain degrees. | 46.866667 | 0.666667 | 0.933333 | high | low | abstractive |
http://time.com/4349015/bernie-sanders-donald-trump-debate/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160731094416id_/http://time.com:80/4349015/bernie-sanders-donald-trump-debate/ | Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders Agree to California Debate | 20160731094416 | Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have agreed to debate each other in advance of the California primary.
Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, said on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that he would debate the underdog in the Democratic race so long as the debate’s proceeds were donated to charity. Sanders replied shortly after on Twitter agreeing to the idea.
Game on. I look forward to debating Donald Trump in California before the June 7 primary.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) May 26, 2016
Whether such an unorthodox debate will actually happen remains an open question. Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton had previously declined Sanders’ request for a debate in the state, and Trump may not have been serious. | But it's unclear whether it will actually happen | 14.888889 | 0.444444 | 1.111111 | low | low | abstractive |
http://time.com/4349028/weeknd-belly-cancel-kimmel-trump/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160731094421id_/http://time.com:80/4349028/weeknd-belly-cancel-kimmel-trump/ | The Weeknd and Belly Cancel | 20160731094421 | Rapper Belly and singer The Weeknd canceled a performance they were scheduled to record in Los Angeles Wednesday for Jimmy Kimmel Live! because presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump was a guest on the show.
The two musicians were slated to perform Belly’s track “Might Not,” on which The Weeknd is featured, but Belly told the AP he didn’t feel comfortable appearing on the same show as Trump.
“I feel like the way I was raised was to be able to see through all the titles in this world — from religion to race,” Belly said in a statement. “I just didn’t want to feel like I was a part of a celebration for somebody who has beliefs that majority of us don’t agree with.”
Belly continued to say that as a Muslim, he loves the ability to be and work in America. Trump has proposed to ban Muslims from entering the U.S.
“To play my part in this business is a privilege and a beautiful thing,” Belly said in the statement. “The fact that I could lose that ability through the actions of someone such as Donald Trump isn’t right to me. At all.” | The musicians declined to perform because Trump was Kimmel's guest on Wednesday. | 16.214286 | 0.857143 | 1.285714 | medium | medium | abstractive |
http://time.com/4355140/dwayne-johnson-the-rock-president/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160731115740id_/http://time.com:80/4355140/dwayne-johnson-the-rock-president/?iid=sr-link1 | Dwayne Johnson Would Run For President | 20160731115740 | Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is many things: actor, wrestler, inspiration, fan of fanny packs. Add to that list: potential politician.
In an interview with British GQ, the magazine’s cover star admitted that throwing his hat in the political ring is an “alluring” idea.
“I’ll be honest, I haven’t ruled politics out,” he said. “I can’t deny that the thought of being governor, the thought of being president, is alluring. And beyond that, it would be an opportunity to make a real impact on people’s lives on a global scale.”
Johnson’s a busy (and popular) man: he claims over 100 million followers on social media and at least 11 projects in the works, including the upcoming release of Central Intelligence, the reboots of Baywatch and Jumanji, a brand-new superhero movie, the second season of his HBO show Ballers — and even a line of gym bags, which he calls “the greatest bags of all time.”
He also wouldn’t be the first Hollywood action star to look for a second act in politics; Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger famously pivoted from their silver screen careers. So when can we expect to see this crowd favorite join the political fray?
Not too soon, because “there are a lot of other things I want to do first,” he told the magazine. Probably things like appear in every blockbuster franchise in Hollywood. | 'The Rock' is many things: actor, wrestler, inspiration... potential politician? | 16.764706 | 0.764706 | 5.117647 | medium | low | mixed |
http://www.9news.com.au/national/2016/07/31/03/36/shopworker-s-hand-cut-in-qld-robbery | http://web.archive.org/web/20160731155717id_/http://www.9news.com.au/national/2016/07/31/03/36/shopworker-s-hand-cut-in-qld-robbery | Shopworker's hand cut in Qld robbery | 20160731155717 | Robbers armed with a knife have cut the hand of a grocery store worker at Browns Plains in southeast Queensland after demanding money.
Police say two men with their faces masked entered the store in the Logan city suburb at around 7pm on Saturday and threatened 39-year-old female employee,
After one of the men cut her hand with a knife the robbers took money from the cash register before leaving the store on foot.
The employee was treated for her cut at a nearby medical centre. | A shopworker threatened by two robbers at a grocery store in southeast Queensland has suffered a cut to her hand after one of them thrust a knife at her. | 3.2 | 0.766667 | 1.433333 | low | low | abstractive |
http://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/a-new-length-for-mens-shorts-1399669884 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160801005004id_/http://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/a-new-length-for-mens-shorts-1399669884 | A New Length for Men's Shorts | 20160801005004 | THE VERY WORD "hemline" can summon visions of midcentury women's fashion and the Byzantine bylaws that simply had to be followed whenever imperious French designers raised and lowered skirt lengths. Those crazy dames, right?
Guys, you're in the same game. For most of the past two decades, men's shorts have barely merited the name, dropping so far down the calf that Linnaeus would have stuck them in the pants family. Call them what you want—knickerbockers, breeches, clam diggers—the one thing they haven't been is particularly short.
Finally that's changed. And given how change in the menswear world is measured—think millimeters per decade rather than centimeters per season for women's wear—shorts are shortening quickly. In the past few years, the low-water-mark length of a 15-inch-or-so inseam receded to knee-length (11 inches), then a knee-baring 9 inches, then to a quadriceps-exposing 7 inches and on to the newly fashionable thigh-flaunting 5 inches. If men's shorts were a glacier in Greenland, scientists would be freaking out.
One trendy company that's staked its business to an abbreviated hem is Chubbies, which makes and sells only men's shorts with a 5½-inch inseam, recalling Adidas soccer shorts of the 1970s and the Ocean Pacific trunks of the '80s (both of which are collectibles on eBay ). The San Francisco-based company was founded in 2011 by four guys in their 20s who'd grown tired of the surf jams and cargo shorts they nearly drowned in during their teens.
"We spend too much time in the gym to hide under frumpy shorts that say, 'I don't care how I look,' " said Rainer Castillo, one of Chubbies' founders and the chief designer. The brand's goal is to bridge the divide between long cargo shorts and fussy, high-end designer short-shorts.
Produced in the U.S. in a range of sporty, casual and dressy renditions, and available via their website for around $50 each, Chubbies make a pretty good case for themselves. Still, Mr. Castillo said he is aware that there's a customer out there who's not ready to bare so much thigh; the company hopes to bring out a 7-inch inseam at some point. That measurement could prove to be a sweet spot of sorts—smack dab as it is between the conservative 9-inch and the 5-inch party boy.
For Atlanta-based menswear designer and retailer Sid Mashburn, the magic number is close to it. He does either a 7½- or 8-inch inseam. "I just don't like the longer lengths. They cut off your body in a strange place," said Mr. Mashburn. He added that he prefers to measure shorts by outseam (the measurement on the outside of the leg, from the waist to the hem) rather than the inseam, since the drop (the distance from the waist to the crotch) can vary as much as a few inches depending on the style. For the moment, however, he sticks to the traditional inseam in descriptions.
It may be only 2 or so inches, but the difference between the Chubbies and Mashburns is meaningful. Chubbies' shorter length (and elastic waistband) dovetails with its irreverent vibe; the shorts are more weekend wear than cocktail fare. The company doesn't use typical poetic names for their colors. Khaki shorts aren't "bone" or "sand," they're "Khakmeisters."
By contrast, Sid Mashburn's styles have graduated from beer to vodka tonics. Made of cotton duck, seersucker or pincord and priced from $125 to $165, the shorts show enough leg to feel current without drawing too much attention. (For extra edge, Mr. Mashburn said, his tailor can sever the bottom hem, to finish them like cutoffs.)
However, many larger clothing companies believe that one length won't do for all customers. Menswear company Bonobos, which made its name with well-fitting men's trousers, hedges its bets when it comes to its $68 chino shorts, offering them in four lengths: 11, 9, 7 and 5 inches. J.Crew also offers four different lengths; Club Monaco has three. All make the inseam a prominent detail so guys can rest assured they know what they're getting—an approach that other online retailers should follow.
So, which length to choose? The 11-inch shorts, said Dwight Fenton, Bonobos' vice president of design, tend to work for guys in their teens who aren't up for very short. The 5-inchers, meanwhile, are favored by men in their 20s who want an on-trend look. "The same young guys wearing the slim-cut suits," Mr. Fenton said.
Other factors are obviously height and weight. Taller and leaner gents look better in longer and leaner shorts; shorter builds are better in shorter, boxier shorts. Tall and burly men, meanwhile, can benefit from showing a bit of leg in 7-inch shorts.
The ideal strategy, of course, is to have a few in different colors and lengths—giving you a pair for every occasion.
After all, summer is too short to spend it in long pants. | Long for so long, men's shorts are showing up in a range of inseams—from short to shorter to shortest. | 42.541667 | 0.916667 | 2 | high | medium | mixed |
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/donald-trumps-tax-plan-costs-12-trillion-according-analysis | http://web.archive.org/web/20160801041821id_/http://www.msnbc.com:80/msnbc/donald-trumps-tax-plan-costs-12-trillion-according-analysis | Donald Trump's tax plan costs $12 trillion, according to analysis | 20160801041821 | Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump’s tax plan would cost an eye-popping $12 trillion over 10 years, according a new estimate that runs directly counter to the billionaire’s pledge not to increase the deficit with the proposal.
The conservative Tax Foundation, which has been scoring candidates’ tax proposals throughout the race, found that Trump’s changes to the individual tax code would add $10.2 trillion to the deficit using traditional scoring methods, his corporate tax cuts would add $1.54 trillion and his proposal to eliminate the estate tax would add another $238 billion.
In addition, the gains from the cuts would disproportionately benefit ultra-wealthy Americans like Trump, whose personal income, business earnings and inheritors all stand to gain from a number of its provisions. According to the analysis, the wealthiest 1% of Americans would see their after-tax incomes increase by 21.6% versus just 1.4% for the poorest 10%.
The findings strongly contradict Trump’s campaign rhetoric, where he’s repeatedly boasted about his willingness to raise taxes on well-off Americans like himself in order to help others. On Tuesday, Trump said his plan would “cost me a fortune” at his press conference unveiling it.
RELATED: Trump defends tax plan: ‘This will be a rocket ship for the economy’
For perspective, the same group pegged the cost of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s tax plan at $3.66 trillion, Sen. Marco Rubio’s at over $4 trillion and Sen. Rand Paul’s flat tax proposal at roughly $3 trillion.
The analysis acknowledged that details of Trump’s plan were still vague, requiring them to make some approximate guesses, but added that the overall size was largely driven by the deep cuts in rates. Trump’s plan would lower the top tax bracket for wealthier Americans to 25% from 39.5% today and the top corporate tax rate to 15% from 35% today, which it would partially offset with some changes to deductions. Trump has also claimed his plan would add some 31 million households to the substantial number of Americans who pay no money — or gain money through credits — in income tax, bringing the total to 75 million filers. MSNBC Live, 9/28/15, 3:17 PM ET Who will Trump’s tax plan affect? MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki reflects on Donald Trump’s new tax reform plan and explains the basics of the plan.
MSNBC Live, 9/28/15, 3:17 PM ET
MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki reflects on Donald Trump’s new tax reform plan and explains the basics of the plan.
A white paper by Trump outlining his tax plan on Monday claimed that it “doesn’t add to our debt and deficit, which are already too large,” a claim that conservative and progressive economists alike cast doubt on.
Trump, like other Republican candidates, claimed that his plan would offset its cost by encouraging further growth. The Tax Foundation also scored it using a model that assumes supply side conservative theories of economic growth are correct and found it still would add $10.14 trillion to the deficit.
The Trump campaign pushed back against the findings on Tuesday, claiming the organization underestimated the amount of revenue Trump would raise to offset its cuts.
“They seem to largely ignore most of the plan’s pay-fors, but even accounting for that, their figures seem wildly off the mark,” Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks told MSNBC in an e-mail. “Especially compared to how they scored similar provisions for Jeb Bush’s plan.”
Shortly after the estimate dropped, Bush jabbed Trump on Twitter for the proposal’s cost, but also for employing a similar structure to his own reform plan.
“Finally saw Donald’s ‘tax plan,’” Bush wrote. “Looks familiar! I’m flattered. But he should’ve stuck with growth & fiscal responsibility.”
Despite Trump’s gigantic net tax cut, influential conservative leader Grover Norquist said on Tuesday that he took issue with Trump’s plan because it requires hedge fund managers to pay slightly more in taxes by closing the carried interest loophole, a change he derided as “a shiny bauble conceived in left-wing academia.”
This is a relatively minor feature of the plan, however. The Congressional Budget Office estimates ending the carried interest provision would raise just $17 billion over 10 years. As the Tax Foundation analysis indicates, this small change would be dwarfed by the trillions of dollars in cuts proposed by Trump, some of which — like a reduction in the top capital gains tax rate — would directly benefit wealthy investors. | Donald Trump claims his tax plan won't increase the deficit, but a new estimate pegs the cost at an incredible $12 trillion. | 33.769231 | 0.807692 | 1.961538 | medium | medium | mixed |
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/ellen-page-allison-janney-tallulah-dream-team-article-1.2729765 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160801095127id_/http://www.nydailynews.com:80/entertainment/tv/ellen-page-allison-janney-tallulah-dream-team-article-1.2729765 | Ellen Page and Allison Janney are a 'Tallulah' dream team | 20160801095127 | No, this is not a Tallulah Bankhead bio.
“Tallulah” is a sensitive and stirring look at motherhood that reunites “Juno” co-stars Ellen Page and Allison Janney.
For sublime acting, this Netflix feature hits the mother lode. For a script that always holds water, not so much.
Drifter and small-scale grifter Tallulah (Page, who’s at her most natural and moving) is content living out of her van with her boyfriend Nico (Evan Jonigkeit).
The First Ladies of 'Tallulah' are sad for Melania Trump
But when he gets sick of the road, he unceremoniously splits and heads to New York.
With no one and nothing to fall back on, Lu follows him there and meets Carolyn (Tammy Blanchard, who is also wonderful), a married wack job. Tallulah agrees to watch the stranger’s one-year-old daughter Madison so the horny drunk can hook up with some guy.
Initially it’s just about easy money. But Carolyn’s shocking negligence — like the open window where the baby is playing — leads Lu to a reckless choice. She leaves with Maddy.
Lu lands at the home of Nico’s uptight mom Margo (Janney, in a fierce and funny performance), who’s also adrift since her marriage died. Tallulah lies that it’s Nico’s daughter. But the ruse can’t last as a child-protective agent (Uzo Aduba) works with Carolyn to get her child back.
Netflix unveils 'Gilmore Girls' revival premiere date, trailer
It’s a consistently compelling story. But the script by “Orange is the New Black” writer Sian Heder, who does double duty as director, suffers from contrivances and chance encounters. Heder compensates with rich characters who slowly fully reveal themselves. One thing they have in common: they’re not perfect.
And that’s why Bankhead has a cameo — actually one of her pithy quotes. “If I had to live my life again,” the actress once said, “I'd make the same mistakes, only sooner.”
While the women of “Tallulah” blunder their way through life, the actors playing them don’t miss a step. | "Tallulah" reunites "Juno" costars Ellen Page and Allison Janney in another story about motherhood. | 22.684211 | 0.684211 | 1.736842 | medium | low | mixed |
http://time.com/money/3938748/7-smart-ways-to-negotiate-your-medical-bills/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160801105312id_/http://time.com:80/money/3938748/7-smart-ways-to-negotiate-your-medical-bills/ | How to Negotiate the Price of Your Medical Bills | 20160801105312 | When you’ve just had a medical procedure, you should be concentrating on recovery — not how you’ll cover the bills. But what happens if you can’t make a payment? While you can’t make the bills disappear (unless you pay), you can probably reduce your financial burden if you know the right questions to ask. Get a leg up with these seven ways to negotiate your medical bills.
1. Learn to Spot Common Medical Billing Errors
I don’t want to suggest that medical bills purposefully contain errors, but sometimes honest mistakes do occur, and you need to know how to spot them.
“Every procedure performed by a health care provider has a code that allows the provider to bill your insurance company,” licensed health care attorney David J. Holt explains. “The issue with coding is that the average person has no idea what the codes mean.”
To catch you up to speed, Holt deciphers the definitions behind some those codes for you.
A medical bill that is improperly charged as a different treatment, typically a more expensive one. This is most common when a name-brand medication is billed for a generic medication.
Where services that should be packaged together are split and billed separately. This is common when multiple medical tests are ordered, but all relate to one medical diagnosis.
This is more common than you would expect. This is where you are billed multiple times for the same procedure, perhaps 25 times instead of 23.
This is when the treatment code does not match the diagnosis. In this situation, the insurance company then denies the claim. The bill is sent back to the provider and will either be corrected or sent down to you, the patient.
This is the leftover balance after the insurance company pays. All of the charges may be covered under your policy, so you may not actually owe this “leftover” amount. Uncommon, but still happens with automated billing processes.
In effect, you should question all charges and make sure the bill lines up with the actual treatment. It’s important to be an educated patient.
Don’t be afraid to “call your biller and health care provider to determine what a bill and code mean,” Holt says. “It is your right as a patient and health care consumer to know what you are paying for.”
2. Go Into a Procedure Knowledgeable of Fees
While knowing what the codes and charges on your bills actually mean is important, so is knowing all the fees you’re incurring from your procedure. Because how will you know after the fact what’s legit, if you didn’t know beforehand?
There’s nothing wrong with raising these question in the initial stages. Cheryl Reed, a representative for Angie’s List, says the company has been advocating for years that patients need to be more empowered and bring their negotiating skills with them when they work with the medical community.
The first step is to get the quotes in writing. “If you’re price shopping before you have a procedure done, get a signature, name, and title to go along with the price quoted,” she says.
You also want to cover every doctor in the room.
“When getting prices, be sure you cover all fees associated with your procedure, rather than just the surgical costs — e.g. anesthesiologist, radiologist, laboratory costs, etc.,” says Reed.
3. Ask If You Qualify for Discounts
There are very few instances when I’m buying something that I don’t inquire about a discount. Many times it’s under-the-radar savings that I would never know about unless I speak up. Such is the case with medical bills. There are discounts available in some situations — all you’ve got to do is ask.
“The doctor I go to is part of a hospital network that automatically gives you 10% off if you pay the bill over the phone,” says Zina Zumok, whose frugal habits helped her pay off her student loans in full in three years. “You have to ask for the discount, but it’s an easy way to save money.”
Zumok also revealed another back-door tactic to lower the cost of medical bills — something called a charity care program, and it can save you big bucks if it’s available to you.
“A lot of people probably qualify for some kind of charity care program,” she says. “I applied for my doctor’s program and found out that I’m eligible for a 30% discount after what my insurance covers. The key to saving money on medical bills is to ask. Usually providers won’t tell you about any deals you can make. You have to be proactive and pursue any discounts you’re eligible for.”
4. Familiarize Yourself With Health Care Mumbo Jumbo
There’s a lot of insider jargon associated with health care and insurance companies in general, and my opinion is that they’re banking on you not knowing what much of it means, being too afraid to ask because you don’t want to look uneducated, and then taking their word for it. You’re doing yourself a major disservice by accepting your bills at face value. If you don’t understand any part of it, question it; your wallet might thank you.
Holt knows that this problem is all-too-common, as he’s dealt with plenty of patients who have fallen victim to it.
“How many Americans read through the entire health plan contract?,” he asks. “Not many, and not knowing the terms may lead to thousands of dollars in medical bills because you were unaware of your coverage. Don’t let this happen.”
Here are few prominent terms with which you should absolutely familiarize yourself.
This is the amount that you pay out-of-pocket for health care before your insurance starts to pay. For example, for a $2,000 deductible, you would need to pay $2,000 before your health insurance would start covering costs.
This is a certain dollar amount associated with a type of care. For example, you may need to pay $25 for every visit to a doctor.
This is similar to the co-pay, but in this case, there is a percentage you will pay for a certain type of care. For example, you may need to pay 30% of the cost for an outpatient surgery. Therefore, your insurance would pay the remaining 70%.
In Network vs. Out of Network
In-network refers to providers (hospitals/clinics) that are covered by your insurance and out-of-network means limited or no coverage by your insurance. Why doesn’t your health insurance cover all providers? It saves them on costs. Health plans contract with specific groups of providers for group discounts. Other providers are “out-of-network” and have different coverage rates, or are not covered at all. You should avoid out-of-network care if possible.
5. Visit the Hospital’s Billing Department
Spotted an error on your medical bill? Does something seem fishy? Don’t brush it off and resolve to pay it just to save time. Because if it happens once, it’s likely to happen again — and you need to nip that in the bud right away. Visit the hospital’s billing department in person to sort it out.
Another reason you may want to visit in person is if you’re having a hard time paying. Maybe there are no errors on the bill, but you just can’t afford the monthly payment. Instead of letting yourself go deeper into debt with late fees and other charges, have a one-on-one conversation about your financial situation with the source. You may be surprised by what you can work out.
Chicago-based RN and patient advocate Teri Dreher advises her clients to do the same.
“My tip would be to go to the hospital’s medical billing department directly if one is having a hard time paying,” she says. “Even if you pay a small amount every month, they will not give the payment to collections. It’s the person who does not pay at all that has the case go to collections.”
“If your economic situation improves after a few months, sometimes one can negotiate for a portion of the bill to be forgiven if the remainder is paid in full,” Dreher says. “I would also review the entire bill very carefully for accuracy as hospitals and physician offices often send out incorrect bills and charges. Accuracy is sometimes sacrificed for speed of getting the bills out.”
6. Be Polite, But Not a Pushover
You know the old saying: You catch more flies with honey than vinegar. That’s an important rule to remember when negotiating your medical bills. Being rude will get you nowhere. Be polite but persistent, and you’ll find the negotiating process much easier to manage.
Holt offers a few suggestions on preparing for the phone call with your biller.
“Don’t lose your composure on the phone; remain calm and objective,” he says. “The biller is taking notes on your conversation. Clearly communicate your financial situation. Say, ‘I am willing to pay something, but unable to pay the entire amount. Given my financial situation, what are the discounted payment options available for me?’ Offer to pay a discounted percentage of the bill up front (say $100 today for a $500 bill). Hold strong here. Request for the payment terms to be as long as possible. Generally, you will have a maximum of two years from the original billing date to pay off your bill. Request an ‘interest-free payment plan’ for a discounted amount of the total bill. Health care providers are getting clever about collecting debt and offering all sorts of ‘low interest medical-credit’ plans. In reality, this is just a credit card with the health care provider. Since when did my health care provider also become my banker? I do not feel like that is right.”
In other words, avoid the medical credit plan option at all costs; it’s likely to cost you much more in the long run. Try to find a way to pay the bill down without accruing any more fees. If you can’t afford the cost of the bill now, you definitely can’t afford to start tacking on high interest fees to lower a monthly payment.
7. Call an Expert for Help
If you feel completely ill-prepared to negotiate your own medical bills, there are experts out there who can help you. These experts aren’t free, of course, so you really need to weigh your options before calling in the big guns. Will these additional fees that the experts charge break even after the negotiations? It’s hard to tell, so it’s wise to proceed with caution in this area.
Nonetheless, Reed points out that these reviewed and trusted experts can be found on Angie’s List.
“Medical billing is so complex that it’s spawned a new industry of professional bill reviewers, sometimes called patient advocates,” she says. “These specialists, who are rated on Angie’s List, are trained to look for incorrect billing codes and duplicate charges. Experts say advocates can recover 17% to 49%, and charge an average contingency fee of about 30%. Some charge flat fees, as well.” | One phone call can save you a bundle. | 248.666667 | 0.888889 | 1.777778 | high | medium | mixed |
http://time.com/money/4383491/stocks-down-monday-brexit/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160801105426id_/http://time.com:80/money/4383491/stocks-down-monday-brexit/ | Down Down Monday as Brexit Decision Sets In | 20160801105426 | U.S. bank stocks led a steep decline on Wall Street on Monday as aftershocks from Britain’s vote to leave the European Union roiled global markets for a second day.
The S&P financial index was down nearly 3 percent by late morning, with investors increasingly worrying about London’s future as the region’s finance capital.
JPMorgan fell 3.7 percent, while Bank of America dropped 5.4 percent. The stocks were among the biggest drags on the S&P 500.
The Dow has now lost nearly 950 points since the “Brexit” vote outcome, setting it up for the worst two-day decline since August 2015.
European stocks were hammered yet again and the sterling fell more than 2 percent. The European banks index on Monday hit its lowest since July 2012.
“What I can say with certainty is uncertainty will remain,” said Tina Byles Williams, chief executive officer of FIS Group.
Read More: 5 Ways Brexit Could Affect You
The selloff on Friday eroded $2.08 trillion in market capitalization globally – the biggest one-day loss ever, according to Standard & Poor’s Dow Jones Indices, trumping the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy during the 2008 financial crisis.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, however, said the market impact from Brexit had been orderly so far and there were no signs of a financial crisis arising from the vote.
At 10:51 a.m. ET (1451 GMT) the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 316.12 points, or 1.82 percent, at 17,084.63. The S&P 500 was down 42.83 points, or 2.1 percent, at 1,994.58. The Nasdaq Composite was down 118.77 points, or 2.52 percent, at 4,589.21.
Eight of the 10 major S&P sectors were lower. Utilities and telecom services were the only ones in the black.
The Brexit vote, which Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen had said would have significant repercussions on the U.S. economic outlook, is expected to scuttle the Fed’s ability to raise short-term interest rates.
Traders have virtually priced out an interest rate increase this year, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 2,573 to 363. On the Nasdaq, 2,372 issues fell and 342 advanced.
The S&P 500 index showed 5 new 52-week highs and 24 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 10 new highs and 118 new lows.
(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty) | The index has fallen about 2%, the worst two-day decline in nearly a year. | 24.421053 | 0.894737 | 2.473684 | medium | medium | mixed |
http://www.tmz.com/2010/06/07/gary-coleman-death-photos-shannon-price-hospital-dead-body-photographs | http://web.archive.org/web/20160801133125id_/http://www.tmz.com:80/2010/06/07/gary-coleman-death-photos-shannon-price-hospital-dead-body-photographs | Gary Coleman's Wife Behind Gruesome Photos | 20160801133125 | 's ex-wife is the mastermind behind the photos which show the actor in the hospital, bloodied, with tubes sticking out of his body ... and there's also a photo taken after he died.
had a production company shoot the photos.
Our sources say Shannon is featured in one of the photos.
We're told the photos are being shopped around for five-figures ... and Shannon is set to get a cut of the profits. | TMZ has learned ... Gary Coleman's ex-wife is the mastermind behind the photos which show the actor in the hospital, bloodied, with tubes sticking out of… | 2.75 | 0.8125 | 19.5625 | low | medium | extractive |
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/27/dining/floyd-cardoz-paowalla-kate-krader-food-and-wine.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160801151050id_/http://www.nytimes.com:80/2016/07/27/dining/floyd-cardoz-paowalla-kate-krader-food-and-wine.html?ref=dining | Floyd Cardoz Returns to Indian Cooking at Paowalla | 20160801151050 | Paowalla In the five years since he closed Tabla, the chef Floyd Cardoz has cooked at North End Grill and opened Bombay Canteen in Mumbai, India. Now he is back in New York with a restaurant he describes as “more Indian than Tabla.” Its focus is the food of Goa on India’s west coast, where he grew up, which is notable for its Portuguese influence. Take the name: Pao are Portuguese buns, usually made with cheese. Here they look like elongated Parker House rolls and can be ordered with fillings, in the street-food style called wada pao. Much of the menu adapts local seasonal ingredients to Indian dishes, like fried squash blossom pakoras. Pork dishes include ribs vindaloo and a sausage and bacon biryani that suggests fried rice. There’s a bread bar in the middle of the simply decorated room, which Mr. Cardoz said is meant to suggest his grandmother’s house. “It had a yellow front, just like we have here,” he said: 195 Spring Street (Sullivan Street), 212-235-1098, paowalla.com.
Atoboy Here’s an updated Korean banchan-style restaurant that offers a tasting menu of small plates with a choice of rice. The chef, Junghyun Park, was chef de cuisine at Jungsik in TriBeCa. His wife, Ellia, will manage the restaurant. (Opens Thursday): 43 East 28th Street, 646-476-7217, atoboynyc.com.
Casa Apicii Casey Lane, who owns the Tasting Kitchen in Los Angeles, comes to New York with local partners to serve seasonal Italian dishes. The executive chef is Adam Nadel, who was at Lincoln Ristorante. The restaurant takes over the townhouse space that was the Lion, with vintage accents and a double-height ceiling. The name refers to the followers of an early Roman gourmand and writer. (Thursday): 62 West Ninth Street (Avenue of the Americas), 212-353-8400, casaapicii.com.
City Vineyard City Winery opens a year-round indoor-outdoor bar and restaurant with wines and beers on tap and cocktails. In addition to seating on the ground floor, there’s a 4,000-square-foot rooftop cafe. Hummus, oysters, lobster rolls and arancini are among the drink-friendly options. (Friday): Hudson River Pier 26, 233 West Street (Hubert Street), Hudson River Park, 646-655-8350, cityvineyardnyc.com.
Meyers Bageri Claus Meyer’s bakery — where traditional Danish items like poppy seed tebirkes, jam- or cheese-filled morning buns and rugbrod rye bread are baked for retail and wholesale customers — has opened after being in pop-up mode for several months: 667 Driggs Avenue (Metropolitan Avenue), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 347-696-8400, Facebook.com/Meyersbagerinyc.
Seabird Kenichi Tajima and his wife, Keiko Tajima, who own Mountain Bird in Harlem, have teamed up with Bahr Rapaport and Alon Moskovitch of Mezetto in the East Village to open this place for comfort food with a maritime focus. There’s conch mac and cheese and a burger list that includes fish versions. Mr. Tajima and Mr. Rapaport share the kitchen duties: 361 Avenue of the Americas (Washington Place), 212-414-9500.
WhaLES The address that may be remembered as the site of Wylie Dufresne’s first restaurant, 71 Clinton Fresh Food, is now home to Korean-style small plates and cocktails: 71 Clinton Street (Rivington Street), 646-882-1305.
’Wichcraft Tom Colicchio and Sisha Ortuzar have opened their first new fast-casual sandwich restaurant in six years with new menu items, including bowls, and the return of ice cream sandwiches: 325 Broadway (Worth Street), wichcraft.com.
Chevalier The luxury restaurant in the Baccarat Hotel and Residences in Midtown is gone after a little more than a year, with no word on a replacement.
Mas (farmhouse) Fire broke out at the Greenwich Village restaurant on Saturday. Galen Zamarra, the chef and an owner, said most of the damage was to the kitchen, which must be rebuilt, and to the rear of the dining room. He hopes to reopen as soon as possible.
Kate Krader, who was the restaurant editor of Food & Wine magazine for more than 20 years, will join Bloomberg Pursuits on Aug. 8. She will report on restaurants, chefs and food destinations for digital, print, television and radio.
Romina Peixoto, who was the executive pastry chef at Le Cirque, is now at the Chocolate Room. | A new home for the former Tabla chef, a spot for Korean small plates, and other restaurant news. | 41.47619 | 0.809524 | 1.095238 | high | medium | abstractive |
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/27/business/dealbook/bridgewater-associates-hedge-fund-culture-ray-dalio.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160801201041id_/http://www.nytimes.com:80/2016/07/27/business/dealbook/bridgewater-associates-hedge-fund-culture-ray-dalio.html?src=trending&module=Ribbon&version=origin®ion=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Trending&pgtype=article | At World’s Largest Hedge Fund, Sex, Fear and Video Surveillance | 20160801201041 | Jointly, Bridgewater and Mr. Tarui asked in March to withdraw the complaint from consideration by the Connecticut human rights commission. No reason was given by either party for the request, which halted the investigation. Bridgewater’s employment agreement requires employees to settle disputes through binding arbitration.
In a related action, the National Labor Relations Board recently filed a separate complaint against Bridgewater. The new complaint says that the company “has been interfering with, restraining and coercing” Mr. Tarui and other employees from exercising their rights through confidentiality agreements that all employees are required to sign when they are hired.
Both Mr. Tarui’s harassment complaint and the labor board’s filings were obtained by The New York Times through Freedom of Information Act requests.
“While it is difficult for our management team to independently judge the merits of this claim, we are confident our handling of this claim is consistent with our stated principles and the law,” Bridgewater said in an emailed statement. “We look forward to operating through a legal process that brings the truth to light.”
Mr. Tarui’s assertions about Bridgewater’s surveillance culture and its chilling effect were echoed in interviews with seven people who are former employees or who have done work for the firm. The people were not permitted to speak publicly because of the confidentiality agreements they had signed with Bridgewater.
It is routine for recordings of contentious meetings to be archived and later shown to employees as part of the company’s policy of learning from mistakes. Several former employees recalled one video that Bridgewater showed to new employees that was of a confrontation several years ago between top executives including Mr. Dalio and a woman who was a manager at the time, who breaks down crying. The video was intended to give new employees a taste of Bridgewater’s culture of openly challenging employees and putting them on the spot.
The firm no longer shows the video, the people said.
These former employees said other behavior had raised concerns within the company. At an off-site retreat in 2012 with several top executives — including Greg Jensen, Bridgewater’s co-chief investment officer — employees got drunk and went swimming naked, prompting complaints from some other employees in attendance.
Founded in 1975, Bridgewater manages billions of dollars for some of the biggest pension funds and sovereign wealth funds in the world. Its founder, Mr. Dalio, 66, is a celebrity in his own right — he has been a speaker at exclusive conferences like the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and recently attended a White House state dinner.
Steady performance for years has led institutional investors around the world to give Bridgewater money. For a time, James B. Comey, the current director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, was the company’s general counsel, adding to its luster.
But over the last two years, the firm has lost billions of dollars for investors as a result of mixed performances and has begun to slow its hiring. And questions have arisen about Bridgewater’s unusual culture.
Mr. Tarui has been on paid leave from the firm since Jan. 6, two days before he filed his harassment complaint. The labor relations board said in its separate complaint that Mr. Tarui was suspended after he “threatened to file a charge with the board.”
Douglas Wigdor, Mr. Tarui’s lawyer, declined to comment and said his client would not comment.
Bridgewater, in a legal filing with the labor relations board, said its employment agreements were “tailored specifically to protecting Bridgewater’s legitimate business concerns, including confidentiality interests that are unique to the financial services industry.”
A Bridgewater employee for five years, Mr. Tarui was responsible for meeting with large public pension funds. He previously worked for Pimco, the bond giant based in Newport Beach, Calif.
In his complaint, Mr. Tarui said that the sexual advances began during a business trip to Denver in May 2014, when his supervisor “caressed the small of my back” while the two men were seated on a couch in the supervisor’s hotel room. Mr. Tarui said the incident made him feel uncomfortable and he immediately left the room.
But the supervisor continued to pursue him, Mr. Tarui said in his complaint. On one occasion, he said, his supervisor confided in him that he had an “itch to scratch,” and then asked Mr. Tarui whether he had ever “thought about being with other men.” Mr. Tarui said he told his supervisor he “was not wired that way.” But his supervisor persisted, Mr. Tarui said, adding that his boss then “specifically asked whether I would consent to having a sexual experience with him.”
Mr. Tarui said he again rejected his supervisor’s advances but his supervisor continued to make overt and subtle sexual overtures well into last summer.
Mr. Tarui said in the complaint that he did not report the conduct out of fear it would become public because of the firm’s policy of videotaping confrontations between employees.
Eventually, Mr. Tarui did complain after his supervisor gave him a bad job performance rating even though he had been promoted and given a pay raise just a few months earlier. He said in the complaint that during a meeting in November 2015, he told a Bridgewater human resources representative and another top manager about the repeated sexual harassment by the supervisor.
As is the case with every meeting at Bridgewater, the meeting was recorded. So was a later meeting with several top executives at Bridgewater including David McCormick, the firm’s president. Mr. Tarui said recordings from those meetings were “widely shared” with managerial employees at Bridgewater.
The firm promised an investigation. But in his complaint Mr. Tarui said that Bridgewater’s management tried to persuade him to withdraw his allegations.
Other Bridgewater employees have complained internally about unusual antics at a corporate outing, saying that it went beyond what was acceptable behavior at a work event.
After the 2012 retreat, which was attended by more than 30 employees, several who had attended complained that they had felt uncomfortable at the excessive drinking and skinny-dipping, three former employees said. The retreat also provoked internal quarreling because several people who attended poked fun at Mr. Dalio during a campfire, these same people said.
An employee who helped arrange the retreat was later fired by Bridgewater, these people said.
A version of this article appears in print on July 27, 2016, on page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: At World’s Largest Hedge Fund, Sex, Fear and Video Surveillance. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe | One employee’s complaint, as well as interviews with people who have worked for Bridgewater, describe an atmosphere of surveillance that silences those who don’t fit the mold. | 39.25 | 0.78125 | 1.09375 | high | low | abstractive |
http://fortune.com/2015/09/18/5g-wireless/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160801201745id_/http://fortune.com:80/2015/09/18/5g-wireless/ | Verizon to launch crazy fast 5G wireless technology | 20160801201745 | There’s no doubt that the wireless industry will eventually move to 5G—a next-generation, high-speed network. Debate rages, however, over how quickly that may happen.
In an interview with CNET last week, Verizon Wireless VZ said that it plans to start field trials on 5G technology within the next 12 months, with the goal of making it widely available by 2017. AT&T T quickly responded to Verizon’s announcement by claiming that it was too early for any company to make 5G “promises” since the industry has yet to agree on an international standard and the technology is still in its infancy.
Alberto Canal, Verizon’s vice president of communications, disagrees and believes the telecommunications company can, and soon will, launch 5G technology. In an interview with Fortune, Canal reaffirmed the company’s plans to launch 5G trials next year, and believes Verizon—working with industry partners like Cisco CSCO and Samsung—will “beat the 2020 date” that most industry experts have set for an industry-wide 5G roll out.
Regardless of timing, carriers and industry experts agree 5G is the future of wireless technology. According to Canal, the technology is up to 50 times faster than today’s 4G LTE, network, which blankets over 97% of the U.S. It also allows for increased capacity to accommodate growing wireless demand.
The demand for wireless networks is nothing short of astounding. In North America, alone, communications firm Ericsson says mobile data users consumed 562 petabytes of data per month in 2014, far exceeding any other country in the world. In comparison, Western Europe used over 341 petabytes of mobile data each month during the same time period.
Tom Sawanobori, CTO at industry organization CTIA, believes mobile data traffic in North America will grow by 600% by 2019. A core component of that growth will be the Internet of Things—a term used to define smart devices that connect to the Internet—such as Google’s Nest Learning thermostat, which programs temperature changes based on a user’s habits.
While 5G may have its benefits some experts suggest talk about the new wireless technology is premature. Before 5G reaches the market, the wireless industry must collectively agree on an international standard, how it will operate, and what services to provide.
5G will require several “iterations” before a standard is endorsed, says Sawanobori. Although the new wireless technology is certainly an industry concern, the hoopla surrounding it right now isn’t necessarily warranted, he explains. “For the foreseeable future, 4G LTE is sufficient. But we always want to anticipate what the future capabilities will be,” he says. “So there’s a process in the U.S. and globally that will define the next generation. Meantime, 4G LTE is a great platform.”
Other industry experts, however, scoff at Verizon’s idea all together. Philip Solis, research director at ABI Research, believes Verizon’s 5G trial announcement is simply “fluffy marketing” and an attempt at “associating their brand with cutting-edge technology.” Verizon’s 5G hopes, he says, “is not realistic.”
Canal brushed off such charges, saying that the market is overestimating the amount of time it will take to deploy 5G. Verizon has established a 5G Technology Forum aimed at getting “some great minds into the 5G sandboxes…so they can get to work on the future.” Those sandboxes, Canal believes, could be a key component that boosts 5G’s rollout.
Still, it’s hard to ignore the challenges Verizon’s 5G plan faces. The U.S. wireless industry is fully entrenched in 4G LTE, and many companies are currently working on network improvements to LTE Advanced (the next iteration of the technology that promises faster speeds) rather than 5G.
Meanwhile, even if 5G was readily available consumers would require specially made devices built to accommodate 5G networks, and it’s unclear how long that could take. All of that neglects the simple reality that the industry—both in the U.S. and worldwide—needs to form a standard, which according to Sawanobori, could take at least two years to complete. From there, companies would build networks, although building networks is not the same as making them ubiquitous: it’s taken nearly six years to cover over 300 million Americans and in some parts of the world 3G, the technology LTE replaced, still isn’t available.
So, while there’s no consensus on exactly when we can expect to see 5G, at least one industry expert believes it won’t make a major impact on consumer lives until much later than some believe.
“5G will be deployed in full force—more coverage, more supporting devices, maximized implementation of technology—closer to 2030 than 2020 and the world will be very different by then,” Solis says.
Sign up for Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter about the business of technology. For more about Verizon, check out the following Fortune video: | Verizon says it will begin testing 5G wireless technology next year. | 75.615385 | 0.846154 | 1.461538 | high | medium | abstractive |
http://www.cnbc.com/2014/02/14/dating-for-the-1-spending-100000-to-find-love.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160802031744id_/http://www.cnbc.com:80/2014/02/14/dating-for-the-1-spending-100000-to-find-love.html | Dating for the 1%: Spending $100,000 to find love | 20160802031744 | The agency's sales pitch appears to be working. Berkeley International already has eight offices across Europe, and is in the process of opening four more in Los Angeles, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Indeed, the fact that the agency offers this long-distance dating is part of its appeal, according to Molloy.
(Read more: Technology and dating: Match made in heaven?)
"Someone in Geneva will happily date someone in Dublin," she said. "Expectations are higher – people will travel to get what they want."
The most expensive membership package covers a global service across all of its offices, psychological profiles and a dedicated service from Molloy herself. "It's more of a personal relationship concierge," she said.
Over the last 12 months, Berkeley International's membership base has grown by nearly 40 percent. The agency does not reveal the names of clients but says high-profile CEOs, tech billionaires and various other "very high profile" individuals are among its members.
"These people have lots of cash to spend, and are choosing to spend it on finding someone who's right for them," she said. "They're investing in themselves and their future."
(Read more: Lovers with deep pockets: This for your valentine?)
If a member is looking for a specific set of characteristics (their "wish list") and Berkeley International does not have a match on their books, Molloy will go "headhunting" in an effort to find the perfect match.
But Molloy was quick to point out that once a couple had agreed to meet, this meeting was no ordinary date.
"You'll get collected by their driver; go to an exclusive location. This isn't the sort of date where you meet outside the train station in the rain," she said. | The dating problems of the super-wealthy led Mairead Molloy to set up an elite dating agency which charges up to $100,000 to help the rich find love. | 11.806452 | 0.516129 | 0.516129 | low | low | abstractive |
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/06/nicola-sturgeon-brussels-bid-scotland-eu-160629094354262.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160802065951id_/http://www.aljazeera.com:80/news/2016/06/nicola-sturgeon-brussels-bid-scotland-eu-160629094354262.html | Nicola Sturgeon in Brussels bid to keep Scotland in EU | 20160802065951 | Scotland is intent on remaining in the European Union despite the UK voting to leave the bloc, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has told EU officials in Brussels.
Sturgeonâs short-notice visit to the Belgian capital on Wednesday came a day after the outgoing British Prime Minister David Cameron told European leaders that his country would be leaving the union following last week's referendum.
"Scotland is determined to stay in the EU," Sturgeon said after a morning meeting with European Parliament President Martin Schulz.
READ MORE: UN urges UK to end xenophobic attacks after Brexit vote
Scotland overwhelmingly voted to stay in the European Union in last Thursday's vote, and Sturgeon has previously threatened to veto a British exit, or Brexit, hinting that her government may use legal means to try to block Britain's departure from the EU.
That may also require a second referendum on Scottish independence after a previous one failed in 2014 -Â a prospect that throws the future of the UK into question.
EU urges UK to begin Brexit process
Sturgeon is expected to meet Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, later on Wednesday afternoon.
But Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council who chairs EU summits, turned down a request for a meeting, his spokesman said.
Diplomats said there was a risk that the high-profile welcome for the Scottish National Party leader could be seen in London as encouragement for secession, although EU officials denied any such intention.
Later on Wednesday, EU leaders will meet for a second day in Brussels  to discuss the fallout from Brexit, in a session that will not be attended by a British representative for the first time.
Cameron flew back to the UK after his last EU summit, where he told EU leaders that Britain's future relations with the union could hinge on the bloc's willingness to rethink free movement of workers, which he blamed for the "Leave" vote in the referendum.
"People recognised the economic case for staying, but there was a very great concern about movement of people and that was coupled with concern about issues of sovereignty," Cameron, a "Remain" backer, said.
READ MORE: Brexit - What does it mean for the rest of the world?
Britain's "Leave" leaders hope that the nation can still enjoy many perks of the EU internal market for business, while being able to deny EU citizens entry to the UK to address concerns about immigration.
Cameron on Brexit: Will of the people to be respected
But German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that London could not "cherry pick" the parts of EU membership that it liked - a view echoed by French President Francois Hollande and other European leaders.
"If they don't want free movement, they won't have access to the single market," Hollande said.
At a tense summit, the 27 remaining EU members agreed on Tuesday to give Britain some breathing space, accepting that it needs time to absorb the shock of the Brexit vote before triggering Article 50 -Â Â an EU treaty clause that begins a two-year withdrawal process.
Yet, Juncker warned that Britain did not have "months to meditate" and set a clear timetable for triggering Article 50 after Cameron's successor takes office in early September. "If someone from the 'Remain' camp will become British PM, this has to be done in two weeks after his appointment," he said. If they are from the Brexit camp, then it should be "the day after". Officials in Brussels are concerned that giving Britain favourable divorce terms will spark a domino effect of others leaving
"Some think that Britain needs more time. I hear this, yes, but I think it strange. It's a type of surrealism," said Belgium's Prime Minister Charles Michel.
Source:Â Al Jazeera and agencies | Scottish leader says Scotland is "determined" to stay in the bloc despite Brexit vote after meeting senior EU officials. | 34.090909 | 0.909091 | 1.727273 | medium | medium | mixed |
http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/08/01/nashoba-winery-eataly-get-boost-from-lawmakers/wzGovNDhwjmpky7wxxD3tM/story.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160802153141id_/http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/08/01/nashoba-winery-eataly-get-boost-from-lawmakers/wzGovNDhwjmpky7wxxD3tM/story.html | Nashoba winery, Eataly get boost from lawmakers | 20160802153141 | Massachusetts lawmakers on Sunday passed a bill that would fix several minor crises stemming from the state’s tangled alcohol licensing system, while slightly loosening blue laws that restrict when consumers can buy beer, wine, and spirits.
But during their mad dash to finish legislation before a midnight deadline, legislators side-stepped two opportunities to make broader changes to the industry, frustrating craft brewers and local officials who think the state’s byzantine alcohol laws need fundamental reform.
“It’s a cobbled-together set of laws that’s been enacted over the past 83 years,” said Rob Martin, president of the Massachusetts Brewers Guild, referring to the end of Prohibition in 1933. “They result in continual problems, and then we get more cobbled-together fixes to those problems.”
The first substantial measure left on the cutting-room floor would have pressured Massachusetts brewers and beer wholesalers to end their long-running fight over when and how a brewery should be permitted to fire its distributor and sign up with a competitor.
Under the state’s current beer franchise law, a brewer can only switch to a new distributor if it can prove to state regulators that the wholesaler has met one of several conditions, such as disparaging the brewer’s beer or failing to “exercise best efforts” in selling it. Brewers want to weaken those restrictions so they have more flexibility; distributors say the current system incents them to sign up small breweries.
An amendment cut out of an economic development bill on Sunday would have directed the two sides to come up with a compromise by the end of the year. The language was drastically watered down from an earlier version that would have eliminated franchise restrictions.
Brewers blasted distributors for scuttling it.
“They spend a lot of time and money on lobbying and fund-raising,” Martin said. “It’s unfortunate that there was work done to stymie efforts just to get together and talk.”
The Beer Distributors of Massachusetts said in a statement that eliminating franchise protections would let large breweries “crush” them, and insisted they had met repeatedly with brewers on the issue.
“Any statements made that the Beer Distributors of Massachusetts are unwilling to discuss compromise and work to achieve a reasonable resolution are disingenuous,” said the group’s president, Bill Kelley.
A second proposed change to the state’s alcohol industry — giving municipalities, not state lawmakers, control over how many liquor license to issue in their communities — was also cut from the economic development bill Sunday, bitterly disappointing officials in Boston and other towns and cities.
Also left out of the bill were measures from Governor Charlie Baker that would have allowed consumers to fill up used growlers at breweries and permitted the sale of locally made beer and spirits at farmers markets.
Two alcohol reforms that did make it through to Baker’s desk were fixes to specific problems.
One will allow the Nashoba Valley Winery in Bolton and other so-called farmer wineries to serve alcohol in restaurants at their farms.
Controversy erupted earlier this year when state regulators told the company it couldn’t keep both its manufacturing licenses and its license for serving Nashoba beers, wines, and spirits at a restaurant on the farm grounds — even though the state had been renewing those licenses for years. Baker publicly supported Nashoba in the flap, and is likely to sign the fix.
Still, said John Connell, an attorney for Nashoba, “the fact that such a vibrant existing operation had to fight for its life to survive shows that there is a lot of room to loosen up the liquor license laws and their interpretation in general.”
Another measure approved by lawmakers Sunday would allow grocery stores that sell bottled take-home alcohol to also serve alcohol at in-store restaurants. The impetus for that change was the imminent opening at the Prudential Center of Eataly, a food emporium headlined by celebrity chef Mario Batali.
The language could also benefit grocery chains such as Wegmans and Whole Foods by allowing them to open small restaurants that serve alcohol within some of their stores.
Lawmakers also passed measures that would also prohibit the sale of powdered alcohol in Massachusetts — except for use as an ingredient in other products — and lift the state’s ban on selling alcohol on Memorial Day.
Debate over alcohol issues will resume this fall when Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, whose office oversees the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, plans to convene a task force to review Massachusetts’ alcohol laws. | Legislators again struggled to pass deep reforms to the state’s alcohol regulations, opting instead for Band-Aid fixes. | 39.090909 | 0.590909 | 1.5 | high | low | abstractive |
http://www.wsj.com/articles/german-official-says-u-k-might-reconsider-brexit-1466962055 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160802182446id_/http://www.wsj.com:80/articles/german-official-says-u-k-might-reconsider-brexit-1466962055?mod=e2fb | German Official Says U.K. Might Reconsider Brexit | 20160802182446 | BERLIN—The British government should be given time to weigh the consequences of an exit from the European Union, a close aide to German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said in the first sign that Berlin didn’t see Britons’ vote to leave the bloc as irrevocable.
“Politicians in London should have the possibility to think again about the fallout from an exit,” Peter Altmaier, the chancellor’s chief of staff, told a consortium of German... | The British government should be given time to weigh the consequences of an exit from the EU, a close aide to German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said. | 2.931034 | 0.965517 | 13.034483 | low | high | extractive |
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/07/28/world/asia/ap-as-china-hong-kong-journalists.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160802195004id_/http://www.nytimes.com:80/aponline/2016/07/28/world/asia/ap-as-china-hong-kong-journalists.html | US Confirms Journalist Jailed by China Is American Citizen | 20160802195004 | BEIJING — U.S. diplomats have not been granted permission by China to meet with James Wang, a jailed magazine publisher and naturalized American citizen, since his 2014 arrest in southern China, the Obama administration said Wednesday.
A court in Shenzhen this week sentenced Wang, also known as Wang Jianmin, to five years in prison on charges of running an illegal business, bribery and collusion after he sent copies of his sensitive political magazine to mainland China.
State Department spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. was not permitted to attend Wang's trial and will continue to request visits.
Wang's lawyer Chen Nansha said Thursday that Wang might not appeal the verdict. Wang also holds residency in Hong Kong — a semiautonomous Chinese territory — and last entered China with his Hong Kong identity card before his arrest, Chen said.
China does not recognize dual citizenship and likely tried Wang as a Chinese citizen, particularly as he entered the country with Chinese documents.
Wang, along with editor Guo Zhongxiao, who was also arrested in mainland China in 2014, published New Way Monthly and Faces, two journals that often delved into high-level Communist Party intrigue.
Their arrests and convictions, following the temporary disappearance of five Hong Kong booksellers, has raised questions about Hong Kong's status as a free press haven and has cast a chill over the territory's free-wheeling political book trade. | U.S. diplomats have not been granted permission by China to meet with James Wang, a jailed magazine publisher and naturalized American citizen, since his 2014 arrest in southern China, the Obama administration said Wednesday. | 6.973684 | 1 | 38 | low | high | extractive |
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/6501904/The-Humbling-by-Philip-Roth-review.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160802214556id_/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/culture/books/6501904/The-Humbling-by-Philip-Roth-review.html | The Humbling by Philip Roth: review | 20160802214556 | Autumn is Philip Roth season. Almost every year, at about this time, a new book appears. Roth may be 76 but this is nevertheless his sixth novel since The Human Stain in 2000, with a seventh, Nemesis, already written and due for publication next year.
The overriding theme of these novels has been the indignities wrought by age. Roth’s characters watch their potencies – sexual, physical, mental – disintegrate and they take it badly. It is the theme of The Humbling, too. 'He’d lost his magic’, the novel’s opening line, describes the predicament of almost all his late male leads.
Here the man being humbled is Simon Axler and the magic he has lost is the ability to act. Axler is in his mid-sixties, a successful classical actor and 'a man on the grand scale’ when he is brought up short by actor’s block. High-profile failures on stage have left him wounded and disoriented. His wife leaves him and past triumphs merely instil the suspicion that his success has all been a sham.
In painting his past grey Axler blanks out the future, too. Indeed the only roles he feels he can now tackle are those of a madman – which leads to a spell in a psychiatric unit – and a would-be suicide. But even here he feels himself to be simply 'A sane man playing an insane man. A stable man playing a broken man.’
Into Axler’s circling despair steps Pegeen Mike; she is 25 years younger, the daughter of old friends and, if these weren’t complications enough, a lesbian turned straight by her lover seeking a sex change. This mismatched pair begin an affair, Pegeen reasoning that 'the reconstruction of a life had to begin somewhere’ – two broken lives in this instance.
All this is recounted with a most un-Rothian gentleness until the very Rothian, ungentle sex starts. With it a familiar energy infuses the prose and the novel fires into life. Sex drives the narrative into a different direction, too, culminating in a casual encounter with a drunk woman in a bar, which has consequences that although unlikely are anything but casual.
Unfortunately it is all too short-lived. The novel, or really novella, rushes to a close, its snap fading as soon as the characters leave their messed-up bed. They are tentatively drawn, too: Axler in particular is never flesh and blood enough to persuade the reader that he could be so easily unmanned and he is too actorly to dispel the notion that he is hamming his way through his life crisis. Rather than being the central player in his own drama, Axler is more a caricature in his own melodrama. While Philip Roth can never write badly, he can write better than this.
Available from Telegraph Books 0844 871 1516 | Michael Prodger is disappointed by The Humbling, Philip Roth's latest tale of the travails of age | 28.842105 | 0.578947 | 1 | medium | low | abstractive |
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/buy-to-let/12150052/Buy-to-let-How-to-set-up-as-a-company-to-save-tax-and-when-its-worth-it.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160803135800id_/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/finance/personalfinance/investing/buy-to-let/12150052/Buy-to-let-How-to-set-up-as-a-company-to-save-tax-and-when-its-worth-it.html | Buy-to-let: How to set up as a company to save tax, and when it's worth it | 20160803135800 | It’s true that you can circumvent these charges through setting up a business. But this is a far from simple process, and there are several pitfalls that need to be avoided along the way.
"Corporations are looking really attractive at the moment," said Simon Collins, of broker John Charcol. "But they only work for certain types of investors, and people have to be aware of the implications further down the line."
Most landlords will need to set up special purpose vehicle in order to buy the property. This can be done online for as little as £20 but David Whittaker, of Mortgages for Business, recommends spending a little more - around £75 - to make sure you get all the right paperwork.
Then select the appropriate SIC (Standard Industry Classification) code which relates to letting property. Alternatively an accountant can do it for a small charge.
• Buy-to-let investors 'to sell 500,000 properties' as confidence plummets
Buying a buy-to-let property through a company is a similar process to buying it as an individual. Be aware that the 3pc extra stamp duty levied on people buying second properties from April will also apply to people buying through a company.
If you’re already a buy-to-let owner, transferring property into a company has its own tax implications.
The property has to be sold at market value. This has capital gains tax implications as well as potential stamp duty costs when the property is bought through the company.
If the property has increased in value since it was bought, capital gains tax may be payable on the sale, though after a landmark case in 2013 landlords may be exempt from this if they can show that the property is a "business" as opposed to an "investment".
This depends on the amount of work the landlord does on the property, including day-to-day maintenance and direct management of tenants. If they have another job or employ a letting agent to do the work, it’s likely to be categorised as an investment as opposed to a business.
Chris Springett, a director at Smith Williamson, said that for landlords who do not meet the latter criteria "it's probably a sign that incorporating is not worth it".
Specialist lenders offer buy-to-let mortgages for companies, and it’s easier to get a mortgage with a special purpose vehicle, which only holds properties, than a trading company, which can carry out other business. This is because special purpose vehicles are regarded as less complicated and easier to underwrite.
Ying Tan, managing director of the Buy to Let Business, said: "When you set up a company to buy a company, there's lots more options open for landlords in a SPV. If you already have a business, that's fine, except that most banks won't lend to a trading company. You have access to better funding and better rates."
Mortgages for incorporated companies used to be significantly more expensive because the underwriting costs are higher due to the more expensive process of checking out the company and the individuals involved.
If you run an office, the properties are more likely to be regarded as a business for tax purposes (Bloomberg)
However, David Whittaker of Mortgages for Business said that costs have dropped in the past year, partly due to demand. “Increasingly lenders are not charging much more for limited companies than they are for individuals."
Average rates are still 0.7pc higher, though.
Once you’re incorporated, you have some responsibilities that you did not previously have as an individual buy-to-let investor.
Instead of simply doing self-assessment, businesses have to complete annual returns and accounts, so a limited company may have to factor in the cost of an accountant. However, Mr Springett said it's perfectly possible to do this yourself.
"Plenty of people run their own businesses on their own and this is no different."
This should be where the real benefit of incorporating kicks in, as investors pay less tax on their rental income, and the removal of higher-rate interest relief does not apply. Corporations currently pay a flat rate of 20pc, which will drop to 19pc in April 2017 and 18pc by 2020.
Doing this is really only useful for higher and additional-rate taxpayers, as the changes to tax relief are only likely to affect them. It might also be relevant to basic rate taxpayers who when the new rules come in will have combined rental and other income over the £40,000 threshold for higher-rate tax.
What the profits from buy-to-let will be used for is also important. Consider whether the money is needed now or to use as a pension or extra income at a later date. Removing profits from a company as a dividend will get more expensive in April for most people as dividend tax rates change.
Basic-rate taxpayers will have to pay 7.5pc tax, higher-rate taxpayers will pay 32.5pc and additional taxpayers will pay 38.1pc. This represents an increase for all three bands. There will be £5,000 dividend tax relief, but any amount above that will be taxed at these levels.
Therefore incorporating is a better option if you’re planning to “roll up” your income, and leave it to accrue without withdrawing it, for example to use as a pension later.
When you do come to dissolve the business and close the company, you could take a double tax hit. Your profits will be taxable within the company, at 20pc, and then when you take the money out you will have to pay tax at either your dividend rate or as capital gains tax, depending on how you extract the money.
Mr Springett said it's important for investors to be aware of this. "If it's only a short-term plan you have got to remember that those two levels of tax are payable. It's about what they are looking to acheive with their property portfolio. If it is long term or they are looking to grow, then a corporation could make more sense."
Are you thinking about incorporating your buy-to-let? Let us know: olivia.rudgard@telegraph.co.uk | Thousands of landlords are considering setting up companies through which to own property - here are expert verdicts | 63.789474 | 0.684211 | 0.789474 | high | low | abstractive |
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/11417229/Lesley-Gore-9-things-you-didnt-know.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160803143949id_/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/culture/music/music-news/11417229/Lesley-Gore-9-things-you-didnt-know.html | Lesley Gore: Nine things you didn't know | 20160803143949 | Gore, still in junior high when she recorded the Grammy-nominated hit, wasn't convinced when she first heard the John Gluck, Wally Gold and Herb Weiner-written song. Reportedly, she said: "That's not half bad. I like it. Good melody. Let's put it on the maybe pile". But it was the best of a bad bunch, and due to being the only demo Jones and Gore agreed on, they recorded it.
3. A Charles Azanavour concert meant Jones beat Spector to the single...
While Gore had put It's My Party on the maybe pile, Phil Spector had also heard the track and wanted to record it with The Crystals. Neither party were aware of this until Spector told Jones in conversation at Carnegie Hall on the same day Gore had recorded the track. Jones immediately left the concert for Bell Sound Studios, where he spent his Saturday night making 100 copies of Gore's recording. By Friday, her record was being played on radio stations nationwide.
4. ...And cover versions have just kept coming
It's My Party's resonance has continued for decades: Amy Winehouse, Robin Thicke, Drake, Icona Pop, Jessie J, Miley Cyrus have all twisted and adapted the hit over the past decade, and previously Carroll Baker, Bryan Ferry, Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin have taken the hit on.
5. She released a feminist anthem at 17
Gore's last top 10 single was also her most politically important. You Don't Own Me was written by John Madara and David White and recorded by Gore in 1963. Although she remembers at the time thinking that "it had an important humanist quality", its lyrics ("And don't tell me what to do / And don't tell me what to say") were picked up by the second wave feminist movement and still had resonance five decades later, when celebrities including Tavi Gevison, songwriter SIA and actress and director Lena Dunham mimed to it in a campaign video against Mitt Romney's family planning policies.
In 2010, Gore said of the song: "I don’t care what age you are — whether you’re 16 or 116 — there’s nothing more wonderful than standing on the stage and shaking your finger and singing, ‘Don’t tell me what to do."
6. Gore performed alongside James Brown and The Supremes
At the 1964 T.A.M.I Show, a film from an ensemble concert in which the biggest stars of the time performed a few of their greatest hits. Gore appeared after Marvin Gaye and before Jan and Dean, but had one of the longer sets: only she and the Rolling Stones performed six songs. The screaming in the video was the cumulative excitement of hundreds of local teenagers, who were given free tickets. Gore later said the crowd was distracting: "I remember walking out there and really kind of “freaking” in my head, because the audience was so loud. I couldn’t hear the orchestra and it was a big orchestra. They were so loud. Your eardrums almost felt like they were going to break."
7. She played Catwoman's sidekick
Gore made a foray into acting in 1967, when she guest-starred as Pussycat, Catwoman's musical minion, and mimed to California Nights and Scat! Darn Catwoman.
8. She was beaten to an Academy Award by her brother
Gore was dropped by Mercury Records in the late Sixties and began releasing music as a songwriter in the 70s. But she wrote her next big hit, Out Here on My Own, with her brother Michael for the score of 1980 film Fame. The song, which Lesley named, was nominated for Best Original Song in the 53rd Academy Awards, but was beaten to the Oscar by Michael's Fame, written for the same soundtrack. It was one of two awards Michael won that night, the other being for Best Original Score.
Lesley wasn't bitter, however. In a 2002 interview she said: "after some 40 years, I still close my show with that song because I can’t find anything stronger, to be honest with you. It’s a song that just kind of grows every time you do it."
9. Gore was openly gay
Her third album may have been called Boys, Boys, Boys, but in 2004 Gore hosted LGBT news show In the Life. She revealed the next year that she was lesbian, and had been living with her long-term partner, jewellry designer Lois Sasson for 23 years. As for why she hadn't come out "on the record" earlier, Gore explained: "I just never found it was necessary because I really never kept my life private. Those who knew me, those who worked with me were well aware." | Lesley Gore, who died on Monday, sang You Don't Own Me and It's My Party before she was 18 | 38.875 | 0.791667 | 2.125 | high | medium | mixed |
http://www.wsj.com/articles/for-cities-after-ferguson-a-body-camera-dilemma-1457381795 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160803160423id_/http://www.wsj.com:80/articles/for-cities-after-ferguson-a-body-camera-dilemma-1457381795 | After Ferguson, Cities Face a Body-Cam Dilemma | 20160803160423 | American cities rushed to provide police departments with body cameras, spurred by public outcry over shooting incidents in Ferguson, Mo., and elsewhere. Having moved fast, however, cities are now running into friction, often from within their own ranks.
Opponents of the contract arrangements say officials may have cut corners by signing no-bid deals, by not testing options thoroughly or by becoming too cozy with vendors. Other... | Some American cities, rushing to outfit police with video body cameras after the outcry over officer-involved shootings, face friction for taking the fast track. | 2.758621 | 0.586207 | 0.793103 | low | low | abstractive |
http://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/08/us/the-speaker-steps-down-excerpts-from-phone-call-about-gingrich-s-future.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160803175836id_/http://www.nytimes.com:80/1998/11/08/us/the-speaker-steps-down-excerpts-from-phone-call-about-gingrich-s-future.html | THE SPEAKER STEPS DOWN | 20160803175836 | Following are excerpts from a conference call on Friday between Speaker Newt Gingrich and several Republicans, including Representatives Joe L. Barton of Texas, Rob Portman of Ohio, Fred Upton of Michigan and Jim Nicholson, chairman of the Republican National Committee. Mr. Gingrich refers to his wife, Marianne. The call was transcribed by The Associated Press.
MR. GINGRICH -- I think for the future of the party, it makes a lot more sense for me not to be a candidate for Speaker. We have to get the bitterness out. . . .
It is clear that as long as I'm around that won't happen. I have always put the party ahead of my own ambitions.
MR. BARTON -- We're going to need you and your vision. I'm just really saddened by this.
MR. GINGRICH -- I'm willing to lead but I'm not willing to preside over people who are cannibals. My only fear would be that if I tried to stay, it would just overshadow whoever my successor is. Frankly, Marianne and I could use a break.
MR. BARTON -- We could end up losing that seat.
MR. GINGRICH -- Trust me, that district will elect a Republican. I may need your help on a job resume. . . .
I'll stay through the end of the year. The new team has to have the opportunity to be a new team. I think Marianne and I will probably take six months off and go collect dinosaurs or something.
MR. PORTMAN -- I understand your interest in not being in Congress and I respect that. . . .
MR. GINGRICH -- I spent 40 years of my life getting us here. The idea that I would be the excuse to cannibalize the majority is so sickening I couldn't risk it. You have many good candidates. Have the loyalty of the entire 223 or it will not work.
MR. PORTMAN -- We'll need you.
MR. UPTON -- This is sort of a very sad time here. I have never been in a meeting where I haven't felt inspired by what you have to say. We are a caucus that is so complicated. You did make people understand what was going on. . . .
Whoever takes your place will have to have your ability to lead us out of our forest.
MR. GINGRICH -- We're going to miss you. . . .
MR. NICHOLSON -- Thank you for the historic contributions you made to this party and to this country. You've been helping this party raise funds. You were the person singularly most responsible for us becoming the majority party. Thank you and Godspeed and good luck.
MR. GINGRICH -- The prospect of an Al Gore Presidency and a Democratic Congress ought to scare all of us into mobilization. The level of love and affection that Marianne and I have for many of you -- I am grateful to each and every one of you. I have a lot of reasons to be grateful. I'll be at the organizing conference. I love all of you. Take care. | Following are excerpts from a conference call on Friday between Speaker Newt Gingrich and several Republicans, including Representatives Joe L. Barton of Texas, Rob Portman of Ohio, Fred Upton of Michigan and Jim Nicholson, chairman of the Republican National Committee. Mr. Gingrich refers to his wife, Marianne. The call was transcribed by The Associated Press. MR. GINGRICH -- I think for the future of the party, it makes a lot more sense for me not to be a candidate for Speaker. We have to get the bitterness out. . . . | 5.798077 | 0.990385 | 53.548077 | low | high | extractive |
http://time.com/4426856/hypnosis-hypnotism-brain/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160804020921id_/http://time.com:80/4426856/hypnosis-hypnotism-brain/ | Hypnosis May Help You Quit Smoking and Relieve Pain | 20160804020921 | When Dr. David Spiegel emerged from a three-hour shoulder surgery in 1972, he didn’t use any pain meds to recover. Instead, he hypnotized himself. It worked—to the surprise of everyone but Dr. Spiegel, who has studied hypnosis, a state of highly focused attention and intense concentration, for 45 years. Patient using very little pain medication, he remembers reading from his chart when he snuck a peek. We mustn’t have cut many nerves.
“There’s an incision from the top to the bottom of my shoulder, so they cut plenty of nerves,” Spiegel says now. “I was just handling the pain myself.”
Being hypnotized feels like what happens when you become so absorbed in a movie that you forget you’re watching one at all, like you have entered an imagined world, Spiegel says. This trance-like state, in which you’re more open and suggestible than usual, can be an effective tool to control pain, ease anxiety, quit smoking and deal with stress, trauma and even hot flashes, research shows. How it does that is what Spiegel, professor and associate chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine, and his colleagues wanted to find out in their new study published in the journal Cerebral Cortex.
“This isn’t just some weird parlor trick,” he says. “It’s a way we use our brains that’s different.”
In the study, Spiegel and his colleagues screened about 500 people in search of the most hypnotizable. The ability to be hypnotized is a highly stable trait—like IQ, Spiegel says—that can be tested by a hypnosis practitioner in a five-minute mini-hypnosis session. Not everyone can be hypnotized, but two thirds of adults can, and people who are easily hypnotized tend to be more trusting of others, more intuitive and more likely to get so caught up in a good movie or play that they forget they’re watching one, Spiegel explains. “They tend to be less insistent on logic and order and more experiential—they like using their imaginations. They find it fun.”
The team chose 36 people who were highly hypnotizable, and 21 people with low hypnotizability served as the controls. Everyone was then given a series of fMRI scans during several different conditions: at rest, while recalling a memory and during two bouts of hypnotism.
Three interesting things happened in the brain—but only in the highly hypnotizable group, while they were being hypnotized. The researchers saw a drop in activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate, part of the salience network of the brain. “It’s a context decoder: a part that alerts you to what you should attend to and what you can ignore,” Spiegel says. This part of the brain, which fires up when there’s something to worry about, actually simmers down during hypnosis.
The second change was that certain parts of the brain began syncing up in their connectivity. “They fire together, basically,” Spigel says. This was true of the part of the brain where you plan things and carry out routines—the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex—and the insula, a part of the brain that helps regulate body functions, like increasing blood pressure and heart rate. This suggests that “your brain in hypnosis is intensifying its connection to your body,” Spiegel says.
Meanwhile, other brain areas became less connected. The researchers saw more of a disconnect between that same region of planning and routines, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and a part of the brain characterized by self-reflection. “One thing you see in hypnosis is that people tend to do things but not reflect on their doing it,” Spiegel says. “That’s why sometimes people will do embarrassing or silly things in staged hypnosis shows—they’re not thinking about themselves doing it, they’re just doing it.”
Taken together, these changes help explain how hypnosis can have powerful effects, including tamping down stress, anxiety, pain and self-consciousness. Spiegel believes that the practice can—and should—be used instead of painkillers in many cases. His own previous research has shown that when people in pain are taught self-hypnosis, they use half the pain medication and had half the pain than those who were just given access to opioids. “Now that we realize the addiction potential of opiates is very high, it’s potentially a very valuable alternative, and it’s a shame that we’re not making better use of it,” he says.
More needs to be learned about hypnosis in order to harness its potential effects—and for that, researchers need to take it seriously, Spiegel says. “If opiates affect certain regions of the brain like the dorsal anterior cingulate and some other brain regions, there’s no reason why we can’t use a different approach to produce similar effects in the brain that are real effects that reduce pain and anxiety and help people stop smoking,” he says.
“It’s a real-deal treatment that should be given the same respect that a lot of other treatments we use that are sometimes less efficacious and more dangerous.” | And it does work—for most people. | 111.777778 | 0.888889 | 1.111111 | high | medium | abstractive |
http://www.nytimes.com/es/2016/07/21/nunca-es-tarde-para-el-sexo-los-asilos-estadounidenses-cambian-sus-politicas-para-atender-mejor-a-sus-residentes/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160804032739id_/http://www.nytimes.com:80/es/2016/07/21/nunca-es-tarde-para-el-sexo-los-asilos-estadounidenses-cambian-sus-politicas-para-atender-mejor-a-sus-residentes/?smid=fb-espanol&smtyp=pay&smvar=key&kwp_0=188948&kwp_4=754204&kwp_1=379455 | Nunca es tarde para el sexo y los asilos estadounidenses lo reconocen | 20160804032739 | Cuando Audrey Davison conoció a un hombre especial en su asilo para ancianos, quería estar con él.
Sus enfermeras y ayudantes en el Hebrew Home de Riverdale no intentaron detenerla. Al contrario, le permitieron que se quedara en la habitación de su novio con la puerta cerrada bajo la “política de expresión sexual” en el asilo. Una ayudante incluso le hizo un letrero a la pareja, que decía “No molestar” para que lo colgaran en la puerta.
“Lo disfruté y fue un muy buen amante”, dijo Davison, de 85 años. “Eso fue parte de lo mucho que nos acercamos; tocamos nuestros cuerpos y nos besamos”.
Davison forma parte del grupo de estadounidenses mayores que están teniendo relaciones íntimas ya entrados en sus setenta y ochenta años. En algunos casos los medicamentos como el Viagra y actitudes sociales más tolerantes respecto al sexo fuera del matrimonio han provocado estos cambios. Estos amantes de edad avanzada se han enfrentado a las nociones tradicionales del envejecimiento y, en algunos casos, le plantean nuevos retos logísticos y legales a sus familias, a sus cuidadores y a las instituciones que se han convertido en su hogar.
Los asilos para ancianos en todo Estados Unidos han abordado el asunto como parte de un cambio generalizado del cuidado institucional al individual. Muchas instituciones ya han cambiado sus programaciones diarias con el fin de darle a los residentes más opciones para, por ejemplo, la hora del baño o la cena. El siguiente paso es permitir que los residentes tengan sexo y brindarles apoyo a quienes lo hacen.
“El sexo es parte esencial de quienes somos como personas”, dijo Marguerite McLaughlin, directora sénior de la American Health Care Association, la asociación comercial más grande de asilos que representa a casi 10.000 instituciones.
El Hebrew Home ha aumentado las iniciativas para ayudar a los residentes que buscan relaciones. Los empleados han organizado una hora feliz y un baile para ancianos, así como un servicio de citas llamado G-Date. Actualmente, cerca de 40 de los 870 residentes tienen una relación.
Beverly Herzog, de 88 años, es viuda y dijo que extrañaba compartir su cama. Su esposo, Bernard, solía acostarse con un brazo extendido. Acomódate, le decía, y ella se acurrucaba a su lado. “Odio meterme en una cama fría”, dijo. “Siento que nadie debería estar solo”.
Sin embargo, la intimidad en los asilos también plantea preguntas sobre si algunos residentes pueden tener sexo consensuado. Henry Rayhons, un exlegislador del estado de Iowa, fue acusado de abuso sexual en 2014 por tener sexo con su esposa, quien sufría de un severo caso de alzhéimer y se encontraba en un asilo. Un jurado lo declaró inocente.
El caso ayudó a debatir la falta de lineamientos claros para muchos asilos; solo unos cuantos, como el Hebrew Home, tienen políticas formales al respecto.
Cheryl Phillips, vicepresidenta sénior de LeadingAge, un grupo comercial que representa a más de 6000 proveedores de servicios para las personas mayores, dijo que el sexo será un tema recurrente con los baby boomers. “Han estado teniendo sexo —es parte de quienes son— y solo porque se muden a un asilo no significa que van a dejar de hacerlo”, dijo.
Daniel Reingold, el presidente y director general de RiverSpring Health, la empresa que opera el Hebrew Home, dijo que envejecer se trataba de experimentar la pérdida de facultades como la visión, audición, movilidad e incluso los amigos. ¿Por qué debería acabarse la intimidad? “No perdemos el placer que nos provoca el tacto”, dijo. “Si la intimidad hace que se tengan relaciones sexuales, entonces lidiemos con eso como adultos”.
El asilo creó una política de expresión sexual en 1995, después de que una enfermera entró a una habitación donde dos residentes estaban teniendo sexo. Cuando la enfermera le preguntó a Reingold qué debía hacer, él le respondió: “Sal sin hacer ruido y cierra la puerta”.
Antes de adoptar sus políticas, el Hebrew Home encuestó a cientos de asilos en Nueva York y otros lugares, con lo que encontró que “la mayoría de ellos incluso le negaban a sus residentes que tuvieran sexo”, recordó Reingold. Más tarde habló sobre los hallazgos en una conferencia comercial y le preguntó a la audiencia de más de 200 personas si las personas tenían sexo en sus asilos. Las únicas que levantaron la mano fueron tres monjas en la primera fila, dijo.
Hoy, la política de expresión sexual está publicada en el sitio web del asilo y todos los empleados la conocen. Reingold dijo que su propósito no solo era animar a que las personas tuvieran intimidad, sino también proteger a otros de acercamientos no deseados y establecer lineamientos para los empleados. Las reglas estipulan, por ejemplo, que incluso los residentes con alzhéimer pueden dar su consentimiento para tener relaciones sexuales bajo ciertas circunstancias.
Aunque el asilo jamás ha recibido demandas, algunas familias se han negado a ese tipo de relaciones. En especial si uno de los residentes aún está casado con alguien que no está en la institución.
Las relaciones también implican más dramas para los empleados, quienes intentan actualizarse para saber quiénes están juntos y quiénes no. El comedor puede ser un terreno minado. A veces, un integrante de una pareja se pondrá celoso cuando el otro le presta atención a alguien más. Otras parejas se vuelven demasiado amorosas, por lo que los demás les piden que “se consigan un cuarto”.
Aun así, Eileen Dunion, una enfermera que tiene a tres parejas en su piso, dijo que animaba a sus pacientes para que se dieran la oportunidad de tener una relación, pues les recordaba: “Eres mayor, pero aún puedes sentir calor”. Hace algunos años, sirvió de vigilante para un hombre que tenía dos novias y jamás lo atraparon. “Hice bien mi trabajo”, dijo Dunnion. “Las enfermeras pueden tener muchas tareas distintas”.
Kelley Dixon, de 74 años, dijo que el sexo se había convertido en algo importante para él porque no ocurría tan a menudo como le gustaría. “No se trata de hacerlo y despedirse”, dijo. “Se trata de disfrutar la compañía de la persona con la que estás teniendo sexo. Ya no llevo la cuenta. No hay marcas en mi pizarrón”.
Durante el año pasado, una decena de personas se inscribieron al servicio G-Date. La mitad de ellas salieron con parejas para una primera cita en una cafetería interna. Nadie encontró el amor, aunque algunos se volvieron amigos. “No nos daremos por vencidos”, dijo Charlotte Dell, la directora de servicios sociales. “Vamos a tener una boda a partir de esto”.
Francine Aboyoun, de 67 años, está esperando que la junten con alguien mediante el servicio G-Date. Dijo que mantenía la esperanza de conocer a alguien. Mientras vivía en otro asilo, conoció a un hombre que la visitaba en su habitación por las noches. Aunque no tenían sexo, se besaban y se acostaban juntos. “Caray, sentí que era joven de nuevo”, dijo.
Davison, quien es divorciada, dijo que lo último que esperaba era encontrar al amor de su vida en un asilo. Conoció a Leonard Moche en el elevador: era inteligente y la hacía reír. Se mudó a su piso para estar más cerca de él.
Davison dijo que planeaban casarse cuando de pronto él se enfermó; murió este año y ella sigue de luto.
“Lo considero mi segundo esposo”, dijo. “Fue grandioso, inesperado y maravilloso mientras duró”. | Una enfermera entró a una habitación donde dos residentes tenían sexo. Cuando le preguntó a sus superiores qué debía hacer, le dijeron: “Sal sin hacer ruido y cierra la puerta". | 40.277778 | 0.916667 | 6.027778 | high | medium | mixed |
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/08/turkey-erdogan-west-sides-coups-160802141241644.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160804033550id_/http://www.aljazeera.com:80/news/2016/08/turkey-erdogan-west-sides-coups-160802141241644.html | Turkey's Erdogan: The West is taking sides with coup | 20160804033550 | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticised unnamed Western countries for what he said was support for the July 15 attempted coup, which left more than 270 people dead and nearly 70,000 others suspended from their jobs.
"The West is supporting terrorism and taking sides with coups," Erdogan said, speaking at an event for foreign investors in the capital, Ankara, on Tuesday.
READ MORE - Erdogan to West: 'Mind your own business'
He repeated a complaint that no foreign leader had visited Turkey after the failed coup, while France and Belgium received visits in solidarity after attacks there.
"Those we considered friends are siding with coup plotters and terrorists," he said.
During his speech, Erdogan also singled out Germany for criticism, after a German court ruled against allowing him to appear on a video link to address a crowd of about 30,000 supporters and anti-coup demonstrators in Cologne over the weekend.
Turkey had sent Germany more than 4,000 files on wanted "terrorists", but Germany did nothing, Erdogan added.
The Turkish government says the coup was instigated by US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, a former Erdogan ally who has been living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania.
Turkey has demanded his extradition, but Washington has asked for evidence of the cleric's involvement, saying the extradition process must take its course.
Erdogan complained about the request for evidence, saying: "We did not request documents for terrorists that you wanted returned."
Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag sent a second document to the US on Tuesday seeking Gulen's arrest, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.
The minister said the second letter explained why there was an urgent need for the arrest.
TIMELINE: Here's how the coup attempt unfolded
The government has launched a sweeping crackdown on Gulen's movement, which it characterises as a "terrorist" organisation and which runs schools, charities and businesses internationally.
"They requested certain information following our first letter; we provided answers to the question 'why is it urgent'," Anadolu quoted Bozdag as telling reporters in parliament, adding that Turkey had intelligence indicating Gulen might leave for a third country.
"I hope that the United States decides in Turkey's favour, in line with democracy and the rule of law, and returns this leader of a terror organisation to Turkey," he said.
The minister said that if Gulen left the US, it would be with the full knowledge of US authorities. | Turkish president accuses Western countries of failing to support Ankara in the wake of July 15 failed coup attempt. | 24.35 | 0.85 | 1.35 | medium | medium | abstractive |
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/31/fashion/weddings/heather-levin-joshua-polsky.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160804035615id_/http://www.nytimes.com:80/2016/07/31/fashion/weddings/heather-levin-joshua-polsky.html? | Heather Levin, Joshua Polsky | 20160804035615 | Dr. Heather Ilyssa Levin and Joshua Samuel Polsky were married July 30 at the Carltun in East Meadow, N.Y. Rabbi Howard Nacht officiated.
Dr. Levin, 34, is keeping her name. She is a maternal fetal medicine physician within the Northwell Health system, seeing patients at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y., and Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, N.Y. She graduated from Duke and received a medical degree from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
She is a daughter of Shelly C. Levin and Joel A. Levin of Manhasset. The bride’s father, a trust and estates lawyer, is a partner in the New York office of Bryan Cave, the St. Louis law firm. Her mother is a fifth-grade teacher at Public School 196 in Forest Hills, Queens.
Mr. Polsky, 33, is a senior finance manager at Kgb, a text message and internet-based information service based in Manhattan. He graduated from the University of Maryland and received an M.B.A. from Duke. His first marriage ended in divorce.
He is a son of Sandra Polsky and Matthew J. Polsky of Belvidere, N.J. The groom’s mother is a personal injury paralegal there. His father is an adjunct professor of sustainability at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark.
The couple were introduced using the Tinder app in 2013.
A version of this article appears in print on July 31, 2016, on page ST10 of the New York edition with the headline: Heather Levin, Joshua Polsky. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe | The couple, who met through Tinder, were married in East Meadow, N.Y. | 19.866667 | 0.8 | 2.4 | medium | medium | mixed |
http://www.aol.com/food/summer-fridays-our-favorite-carnival-fair-foods/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160804205854id_/http://www.aol.com:80/food/summer-fridays-our-favorite-carnival-fair-foods/ | Summer Fridays: Our Favorite Carnival & Fair Foods | 20160804205854 | Before you go, we thought you'd like these...
Summer Fridays: Our Favorite Carnival & Fair Foods
These foods bring back memories and traditions of visiting state fairs during the summer.
The corn dog is an iconic American snack found at carnivals, food fairs, boardwalks, and most other institutions where they put food on a stick.
Get the Recipe: Corn Dogs
Recipe from On a Stick! by Matt Armendariz/Quirk Books, 2011.
We couldn’t get enough of these crunchy onion rings in the EatingWell Test Kitchen. Try any seasoning blend that you have on hand to add flavor to the breading or substitute 1 teaspoon salt instead. Seasoned whole-wheat breadcrumbs are available in some supermarkets and natural-foods stores. If you can find them, try them in place of the plain breadcrumbs and seasoning blend.
Get the Recipe: Onion Rings
Grilled Corn with Chili-Lime Butter
Make a large batch of this zesty, spicy butter, freeze it in small portions and use while corn is in season.
Get the Recipe: Grilled Corn with Chili-Lime Butter
Traditional Carolina barbecue begins with a whole hog smoked over coals; here, Sean Brock cooks pork shoulder for 12 hours in a 275° oven before smoking it for about 1 hour in a backyard grill.
Get the Recipe: Carolina Pulled Pork
Habanero Bacon Cheddar Stuffed Sliders
Check out this slider recipe! These burgers are stuffed with habanero cheese and bacon. It's easy, tasty and spicy!
Get the Recipe: Habanero Bacon Cheddar Stuffed Sliders
Fried Pickles with Ranch Dressing
What's better than pickles? Pickles dipped in batter and deep fried!
Get the Recipe: Fried Pickles with Ranch Dressing
Recipe from On a Stick! by Matt Armendariz/Quirk Books, 2011.
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper dress up air-popped popcorn.
Get the Recipe: Cheesy Popcorn
Summer brings, among other things, the opportunity to attend state fairs and carnivals. There is no questioning the fact that fair foods take the spotlight at these events, despite the other activities offered.
Fried fair foods, such as corn dogs and burgers, are some of our favorites. But there are plenty more, and we love finding ways to spice up traditional fair foods. Get ready to eat up!
Check out the slideshow above to find out some of the tastiest fair and carnival foods that have our mouths watering, and get recipes so you can make them at home.
Then head over to StyleList to see what you should wear to the fair in Summer Fridays: A Day at the Fair!
More from Kitchen Daily: Krispy Kreme Sloppy Joes and 12 Other Wacky Fair Foods 20 Things You Didn't Know You Could Grill 9 Amazing, Frozen Boozy Desserts | Carnivals and state fairs give us a reason to eat fried, grilled and buttered foods all | 32.294118 | 0.705882 | 0.941176 | medium | low | abstractive |
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/10451910/Quiz-Which-Guinness-World-Record-should-you-break.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160805114753id_/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/10451910/Quiz-Which-Guinness-World-Record-should-you-break.html | Guinness World Records: which record should you break? | 20160805114753 | There are more than 40,000 current official records, so there are plenty of ways to get your name in the Guinness World Record book.
To celebrate Guinness World Record day on 13th November, the world's tallest and shortest men are expected to meet for the first time while hundreds will attempt to break official records.
US basketball star Thunder Law will try to beat the farthest basketball shot backwards (record to beat: 22 metres), while Australian martial artist Anthony Kelly will attempt the most spears caught from a spear gun underwater in one minute (record to beat is 7).
Other records are more accessible for record-breaking amateurs. In the UK, BBC Gloucestershire is leading an attempt to create the longest line of cakes (record to beat: 606.6 metres) in aid of Children in Need, while more than 300 people are expected to meet in Tower Bridge as the largest gathering of people dressed as penguins (record to beat: 325 participants).
World Records Day, which commemorates the day when the Guinness World Records became the best-selling copyright book in 2004, encourages people to take part in record-breaking.
But there’s no rule that says when records must be broken, and if you’re hoping to become a record-breaker, there are plenty of options available.
We’ve compiled an authoritative quiz, that will determine the best record to attempt, depending on your skills.
As editor-in-chief of Guinness World Records Craig Glenday said on last year's GWRD, “It’s one thing to be amazing, but are you Officially Amazing?” | We've scoured the record book for the ultimate list of records you can break on Guinness World Record day | 14.857143 | 0.714286 | 1.47619 | low | low | abstractive |
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/03/business/economy/rethinking-the-role-of-government-in-society.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160805222224id_/http://www.nytimes.com:80/2016/08/03/business/economy/rethinking-the-role-of-government-in-society.html? | The Case for More Government and Higher Taxes | 20160805222224 | Their strategy includes more investment in the nation’s buckling infrastructure and expanding unemployment and health insurance. It calls for paid sick leave, parental leave and wage insurance for workers who suffer a pay cut when changing jobs. And they argue for more resources for poor families with children and for universal early childhood education.
This agenda won’t come cheap. They propose raising government spending by 10 percentage points of the nation’s gross domestic product ($1.8 trillion in today’s dollars), to bring it to some 48 percent of G.D.P. by 2065.
That might sound like a lot of money. But it is roughly where Germany, Norway and Britain are today. And it is well below government spending in countries like France, Sweden and Denmark.
This agenda, of course, is more popular among liberals than conservatives. Economists on the right insist that higher taxes and bigger governments reduce incentives to work and invest, harming economic growth. In one study, the Nobel laureate Edward Prescott argued that the higher taxes needed to fund a bigger government discouraged Europeans from working.
The conservative argument is hardly watertight, though. Another analysis found the decline in working hours in Europe was mostly because of tight labor market regulations, not taxes. Yet another suggests Europeans value free time more. Americans took the fruits of their rising productivity in money. Europeans took it in free time.
Here are some other things Europeans got from their trade-off: lower poverty rates, lower income inequality, longer life spans, lower infant mortality rates, lower teenage pregnancy rates and lower rates of preventable death. And the coolest part, according to Mr. Lindert — one of the authors of the case for big government — is that they achieved this “without any clear loss in G.D.P.”
Even assuming that higher taxes might distort incentives, the authors concluded, negative effects are offset by positive effects that flow from productive government investments in things like health, education, infrastructure and support for mothers to join the labor force.
Europe’s reliance on consumption taxes — which are easier to collect and have fewer negative incentives on work — allowed them to collect more money without generating the kind of economic drag of the United States’ tax structure, which relies more on income taxes.
Americans have long been more suspicious of a big, centralized government than Europeans have been, of course. But in recent decades, the nation’s difficult racial divide has played a crucial role in checking the growth of public services. It is much easier to build support for the welfare state when taxpayers identify with beneficiaries. In multifarious America, race and other ethnic barriers stood in the way.
The American government pretty much stopped growing when the civil rights movement forced whites to share public space with blacks. Tax revenue as a share of the nation’s economic output hit a peak in 1969 that it would not attain again until 1996, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
But for all the racial subtext to the election this year, times seem to be changing in unexpected ways.
No, Hillary Clinton has not suddenly become a radical. And Mr. Trump’s grab bag of economic proposals is too self-contradictory to provide a sense of where he would land.
Yet the popular dissatisfaction that has brought us to this pass, across one of the most unusual presidential primary seasons in memory, could open new space to rethink the role of government in society.
Mr. Trump’s supporters may not champion welfare. But they mistrust it less than your orthodox Republican. More of his supporters think the government should do more to help American families. More think corporate profits are too large. More think the economy is rigged to help the powerful. Fewer want to cut Social Security.
The ground is shifting under Democrats, too. In 1994, when President Bill Clinton was under siege from a Republican revolution about to take over Congress, 59 percent of Democrats said government was almost always wasteful. Last year, only 40 percent did. Then, 44 percent of Democrats said the poor had it too easy. Only 25 percent do today.
This does not mean, of course, that Big Government will get its day. For starters, small government Republican orthodoxy is likely to prevail in the House for years to come.
Still, a sense of opportunity is in the air. In “Wealth and Welfare States,” published during the depths of the Great Recession, Irwin Garfinkel of Columbia University, Lee Rainwater of Harvard and Timothy Smeeding of the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggested the United States was ultimately likely to fall into line with the rest of the advanced industrial world — for the simple reason that they all face similar challenges.
“Long-term common problems and trends in rich nations are the fundamental driving forces in the development of welfare state institutions,” they concluded. The United States’ swing to the right since the 1970s might have moved it in the opposite direction for a while, but “all rich nations have large welfare states.”
An earlier version of this article misstated the name of the college where Timothy Smeeding works. It is the University of Wisconsin-Madison, not the University of Madison Wisconsin. | The most promising way to improve the nation’s standard of living, some academics argue, is to expand the work of government. | 40.2 | 0.76 | 1.24 | high | low | abstractive |
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/prince-harry/10932596/Prince-Harrys-encounter-with-Chiles-Bernardita-Middleton.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160806001735id_/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/news/uknews/prince-harry/10932596/Prince-Harrys-encounter-with-Chiles-Bernardita-Middleton.html | Prince Harry's encounter with Chile's Bernardita Middleton | 20160806001735 | Wearing a tiara, Bernardita Middleton, Middleton, a presenter with Chilean breakfast TV show Bienvenidos - Welcome - shouted out that she wanted to be the Prince's wife.
But when their paths crossed in Plaza de la Ciudadania - the People's Square - in the capital where Harry honoured Chile's found father Bernardo O'Higgins by laying a wreath, she called out to him again.
After going on a brief walkabout he crossed over to Ms Middleton and told her: "I recognise your voice from last night."
He added: "I like your tiara, very smart. Who do you work for?"
She madly waved her self-made press accreditation card and said: "I'm a Middleton my name is Middleton, like Princess Kate, I be your next wife Harry."
The prince giggled at the proposal from the roving reporter, who like Kate had long dark hair, but quickly moved on.
Source: APTN / PA, YouTube clip courtesy of Pablo Figueroa | The Prince meets a TV reporter with a familiar surname as he begins a three-day tour of Chile | 9.238095 | 0.571429 | 0.666667 | low | low | abstractive |
http://www.people.com/article/hayden-panettier-out-about-new-york-city-after-receiving-treatment | http://web.archive.org/web/20160806002006id_/http://www.people.com/article/hayden-panettier-out-about-new-york-city-after-receiving-treatment | Hayden Panettiere Out and About in NYC After Receiving Treatment : People.com | 20160806002006 | 08/04/2016 AT 02:00 AM EDT
is putting her best foot forward.
was spotted out in New York City on Wednesday looking chic as she strolled through the city in jeans, a t-shirt, and floral kimono.
Panettiere was accompanied by her father as the pair enjoyed an outing.
star has been in New York since finishing her last stint in a treatment center for postpartum depression. The actress last
, as a source told PEOPLE that Panettiere was motivated to get "healthy" again.
"She is trying to take care of herself. She wanted to get herself healthy again," the insider added. "The postpartum has been really scary for everybody, but she's taking care of it. She's taking care of herself."
Throughout her struggle with postpartum, Panettiere has been open about her journey, saying in September that she
in order to shed light. | Panettiere recently received treatment for postpartum depression. | 21.875 | 0.75 | 2.25 | medium | low | mixed |
http://www.people.com/article/caitlyn-jenner-sues-paparazzi-over-2015-fatal-car-accident | http://web.archive.org/web/20160806121546id_/http://www.people.com/article/caitlyn-jenner-sues-paparazzi-over-2015-fatal-car-accident | Caitlyn Jenner Sues Paparazzi : People.com | 20160806121546 | 08/04/2016 AT 11:25 PM EDT
is suing paparazzi photographers for what she alleges was their role in a February 2015
In court documents obtained by PEOPLE Jenner accuses the photographers – collectively referred to as "the Stalker Defendants" – of "harassing [her] throughout the day up through the time of the accident."
Jenner describes the alleged harassment as driving too close to her vehicle in order to snap photos, tailgating her and overall driving in a reckless manner in attempts to get their pictures.
"As a direct consequence and result of this stalking, harassing and distracting conduct, [Jenner] was visually distracted, and the negligence and reckless conduct of the Stalker Defendants did contribute to the cause of an accident where seconds and split seconds mattered," the document reads.
In the lawsuit, Jenner is asking that the accused parties be held at least partially responsible for any liability Jenner ensues, and that they bear the financial responsibility of any damages and legal proceedings that occurred as a result of the accident.
The incident in question occurred in February of last year when
stopped for unknown reasons in front of a vehicle driven by Kim Howe, causing Howe to slam on her breaks. Travelling in the car behind Howe was Jenner, who subsequently rear-ended Howe, causing her to swerve into oncoming traffic, which resulted in her death.
with Steindorff in December, Steindorff is listed in her current complaint, as Jenner accuses the woman of "sitting stopped in the middle of Pacific Coast Highway looking at her cellphone," and "driving at a speed (zero) unreasonable for the conditions," and "driving with a suspended license." | Jenner is asking that the paparazzi be held responsible for any liability she may incur. | 20.0625 | 0.875 | 3 | medium | medium | mixed |
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/07/12/liverpool-manager-jurgen-klopp-confirms-mario-balotelli-will-not/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160807192926id_/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/football/2016/07/12/liverpool-manager-jurgen-klopp-confirms-mario-balotelli-will-not/ | Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp confirms Mario Balotelli will not feature in his plans for the new season | 20160807192926 | Meanwhile, Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho’s hopes of a swift return after being cleared of doping allegations have been scuppered by an Achilles injury.
Sakho will miss the start of the season having sought to resolve a long-standing problem during his recent absence.
Rather than make his first appearance of the campaign in a pre-season friendly against Fleetwood on Wednesday, Sakho will be continuing his rehabilitation.
“Mama is injured. He had a little issue with his Achilles when he was playing, one day on, one off, this kind of thing. When he had his little ‘break’ he used the time to have a little bit of treatment and that now means another three or four weeks before he can train again,” explained Klopp. | Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has confirmed striker Mario Balotelli is not part of his Anfield plans and says the 'solution' for the Italian is a fresh start at a new club. | 4.264706 | 0.382353 | 0.382353 | low | low | abstractive |
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatlife/8342558/Expat-in-New-Zealand-surviving-the-Christchurch-earthquake.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160807221229id_/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/expat/expatlife/8342558/Expat-in-New-Zealand-surviving-the-Christchurch-earthquake.html | Expat in New Zealand: surviving the Christchurch earthquake | 20160807221229 | With no warning, I thought that I was about to die. Half a million other people also have their tale to tell about a normal day’s business in the vibrant city of Christchurch which came to a dead halt at lunchtime on February 22, 2011. That day will be forever marked on my calendar as the Anniversary of National Mourning in New Zealand. To quote our Prime Minister, John Key, it was "New Zealand’s darkest day”.
Twelve minutes before a massive aftershock smashed into the heart of Christchurch, my husband and I were deciding whether to return books to the library or to rush to the supermarket. The decision to do the shopping saved our lives. Had we gone to the library we would have been crossing Cathedral Square at the very moment that the stone spire from the cathedral came crashing down. Many others were less fortunate.
Piped supermarket music hummed soullessly in the background and my trolley misbehaved when catastrophe struck at 12.51 pm on Tuesday. A huge explosion from beneath the earth’s surface caused the supermarket building to lift and slide violently. The lights went out. In the gloom, the tall steel shelves on each side of me leered towards and away from me in unison. They vomited their contents in all directions. Dozens of huge lampshades swung above me.
The advice in an earthquake is to “Drop, cover and hold”, but there was nothing to hold on to and nothing to protect us from danger. Instead I began to run but my shoes felt as though they were covered in treacle. I seemed to be running on the spot. Seismic waves beneath me behaved like white horses rolling towards the shore in a storm, moving from left to right across the aisle. Potentially lethal debris was landing in my path as I stumbled forward, over them and to the side of them. An eternity felt like it had passed and I had covered just three yards towards the checkout.
A Tannoy broke the spell: “Evacuate the building immediately!” A tableau of huddled bodies stood up, including my husband. Thank God there were only walking wounded here.
Outside in the eerie silence of the car park people hugged each other. The ground continued to vibrate or was it our bodies imagining the quake’s fierce motion? My heart was still pumping in its "fight-and-flight” mode. Then the aftershocks began to roll. Suddenly the city sounds switched on again and the sirens began to blare. Streets became jammed with cars travelling to or from danger. Who knew which? We dived for questionable safety into the car but queued in grid lock for hours to exit the city. We drove on roads grey with slurry bursting up through gardens, tarmacked pavements and concrete driveways. This was liquefaction - the new buzzword in the geoscience language we were all learning word for word. Roads cracked like broken biscuits. Onlookers stood outside their homes mute in their collective shock. They looked for comfort but could find none.
The radio tried to make sense of the disparate events, but it was not until much later in the afternoon that it was confirmed that Christchurch had been reduced to a bloody battlefield. The death toll was rising and there were people trapped in the rubble of structures which moments earlier had been high-rise buildings but now resembled pancakes.
We had already sustained serious damage to our property in Akaroa 50 miles away following the first earthquake of September 4 last year. That 7.1 magnitude shake had triggered this enormous aftershock of 6.3 on the Richter scale. Our 100ft retaining wall had already moved many inches downhill five months ago. The front door had dropped and windows had cracked. Our floorboards bounced with excitement whenever anyone walked anywhere in the house. On our way home we didn’t know whether our wooden Edwardian villa would have stood the strain. Luckily it had.
We still love the Land of the Long White Cloud but broken lives are being lived; untold grief is surfacing and people are still in deep shock. The death toll and destruction are incomprehensible. They are horrific. But we are so grateful that the world is responding. Thank you.
Do you have an expat tale to share? Email submissions of no more than 1,000 words to weeklyt@telegraph.co.uk | A chance decision to go to the supermarket just before the Christchurch earthquake struck may have saved expat Jacqueline Monkman's life. | 34.083333 | 0.666667 | 1 | medium | low | abstractive |
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/men-brawl-ny-trump-rally-candidate-complains-crooked-nominating-process | http://web.archive.org/web/20160807225705id_/http://www.msnbc.com:80/msnbc/men-brawl-ny-trump-rally-candidate-complains-crooked-nominating-process | Men brawl at NY Trump rally as candidate complains of 'crooked' nominating process | 20160807225705 | The man — who gave his name as “Mike” and said “hell, yeah,” he’s a Trump supporter — told NBC News he shoved the man because he was “yelling in my face.”
Video of the incident captured by several people shows the two men shouting at each other in the middle of a loud crowd. “Mike” lunges and shoves his right palm into the other man’s face, backs up, lunges and makes contact a second time before other people in the crowd wrestle the two men away from each other.
One of those on the scene was a camera operator for The Albany Times-Union,which posted high-definition video of the encounter.
“Hey, I’ll snatch anybody up if they yell in my face over anything,” “Mike” said afterward. “I have my personal rights and my personal space. They’re gonna start yelling about some [expletive], I’ll snatch your [expletive] up. That’s all.”
The man who was attacked was not immediately identified. It was unclear if any charges would be filed, and police on scene told NBC News that no arrests were made.
RELATED: Escalating aggression marks Trump rally rhetoric
Trump has been accused of inciting his crowds, and earlier this month, three people who claim they were attacked or subjected to racial slurs in Kentucky sued Trump and his campaign.
And Trump’s speech in Albany’s Times Union Center on Monday night was geared to stir up the loud, enthusiastic crowd, with the front-runner continuing on his tirade against the “crooked” GOP nominating process — with focus on his loss in Colorado on Saturday.
“Because we thought we were having an election, and a number of months ago they decided to do it by you know what, right?” Trump asked. “Right? They said we’ll do it by delegate. They said we’re going to do it by delegate. Oh. Isn’t that nice.”
Standing up against Donald Trump
At Trump rallies, people of all ages and creeds, even some outside the continent, have continued to make their voices heard.
Trump continued: “And the delegates were all there all waiting and the head guy, in fact one of them tweeting out today or said today by mistake and then they withdrew it something to the effect ‘see never Trump look what we did never Trump.’ Because if I go to the voters of Colorado, we win Colorado. So it’s a crooked, crooked system.”
In fact, Colorado’s decision was not decided “a number of months ago” as Trump said, but was voted on by the Colorado GOP in August. The debate was sparked after Ron Paul supporters finagled a sizable chunk of the delegates in 2012 despite coming in far behind Romney and Santorum in the state’s caucuses that year, and after the RNC changed its rules to eliminate nonbinding straw polls.
Trump later circled back to his criticism of the process by citing Louisiana, where he says he got less delegates ”than this guy that got his a– kicked” — otherwise known as Sen. Ted Cruz.
Trump also took the time to remind the Albany audience of Cruz’s comments about “New York values,” telling them that the Texas senator made the comments with “disdain” and “hatred.”
“We have the greatest values,” Trump soothed. “Nobody has values like us.”
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com. | The intensity of Trump's rallies was vividly captured Monday when a supporter was recorded shoving another man in the face. | 31.136364 | 0.681818 | 0.863636 | medium | low | abstractive |
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/mar/02/alternatives-to-eu-membership-government-dossier-key-points | http://web.archive.org/web/20160808041948id_/http://www.theguardian.com:80/politics/2016/mar/02/alternatives-to-eu-membership-government-dossier-key-points | Four alternatives to EU membership rejected by the government | 20160808041948 | The government has concluded in an official report that Britain would be “weaker, less safe and worse off” if it left the European Union.
The document, which has been compiled under the terms of the act of parliament authorising the EU referendum, examines a series of alternatives to EU membership that would all lead to the loss of trade deals and police cooperation.
The alternatives to EU membership rejected by the government are:
The government believes that the report highlights the central flaw in the leave campaign. It cannot agree on what model Britain should follow outside the EU or offer a guarantee on which would be the best model were it to reach agreement.
The government has pointed out that under the exit clause in the Lisbon treaty known as article 50, the UK loses its seat on the European council and has no vote over the final deal, which has to be concluded within two years.
The report shows the influence of Mats Persson, one of the prime minister’s EU advisers. Persson was previously director of the Open Europe thinktank, which produced a near-identical report. | Report rules out options, including Norway model, that could involve tariffs on exports or harm UK’s financial services industry | 9.681818 | 0.454545 | 0.454545 | low | low | abstractive |
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB117047353880997162 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160808050518id_/http://www.wsj.com:80/articles/SB117047353880997162 | Herbalife Receives a $2.7 Billion Buyout Offer | 20160808050518 | Nutritional-supplement maker Herbalife Ltd. received a buyout proposal from a private-equity group led by its chairman for $38 a share, valuing the company at about $2.7 billion.
Los Angeles-based Herbalife said the offer is from Whitney V LP, which is a fund managed by buyout firm J.H. Whitney & Co., Stamford, Conn. Peter Castleman, managing director of Whitney V, is chairman of Herbalife.
Whitney and another buyout firm,... | Herbalife received a buyout offer from a private-equity group led by its chairman valuing it at about $2.7 billion. | 3.826087 | 0.956522 | 6.434783 | low | high | mixed |
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/12003618/Tracey-Woodford-murder-Christopher-May-50-guilty-of-dismembering-woman-in-flat.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160808064753id_/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/news/uknews/law-and-order/12003618/Tracey-Woodford-murder-Christopher-May-50-guilty-of-dismembering-woman-in-flat.html | Tracey Woodford murder: Former butcher guilty of dismembering woman in flat | 20160808064753 | Ms Woodford's torso was found stuffed in a rucksack in May's cupboard - while her head was stashed 150 yards (138m) inside an underground tunnel.
The jury's verdict, which came less than an hour of deliberations, was met with cries of "Yes" from the public gallery.
• Man 'killed and dismembered father then used him as TV stand
In his opening of the case prosecution barrister Roger Thomas QC described May as a sexual predator obsessed with redheads.
May's trial was told that six days before the murder he had made "creepy" remarks to a teenager before stroking her fingers.
Mr Thomas said: "This was a brutal, vicious and sexually-motivated murder. After her death she was mutilated and dismembered.
"These actions were carried out deliberately and methodically with the intention of concealing her body parts, and thereby evading detection."
On April 21 this year Ms Woodford, who was described by her relatives as caring and loving, went into Pontypridd Town Centre to buy a ring before calling into some local pubs.
A court heard she had a history of depression and often turned to drink in the process.
At around 7.45pm that day, she visited the Skinny Dog pub in Pontypridd - where she would meet steakhouse worker May in the smoking area.
Bar staff described her as being fragile and refused to serve her as she was too drunk.
Despite her being unsteady on her feet, an undeterred May began flirting with Ms Woodford after she joined his table.
She was later invited back to his flat with the promise of alcohol - although she warned "I'm not that kind of girl" when a hint about sex was made.
But back at his home, May later flew into a rage and strangled Ms Woodford after his wooing attempts - which included half a glass of cider and a Westlife song - failed.
A court heard May then had sex with his lifeless victim before slicing up her body with a saw, Stanley knife and secateurs.
After flushing some of her remains down the toilet, he then walked through Pontypridd with her severed head in a plastic bag before stashing it in a storm drain close to the town's rugby stadium.
Detectives later worked on the theory that May had kept the body part in a hidden location so he could visit it again.
The following day, Ms Woodford's worried mother and brother contacted the police after she failed to come home - and described her disappearance as totally out of character.
• Dismembered body of British scientist found in rural Argentina
Inquiries would later lead Sergeant Stuart Williams and Constable Craig Gardener to May's home in Andrews Court.
Sergeant Williams described May's flat as smelling of "gone-off meat" and the defendant appeared uneasy before the gruesome discovery of Ms Woodford's body parts was found in the shower.
"I was very shocked," he added. "I double checked to see what I saw. I could not believe my eyes."
After wiping tears from his eyes, a visibly-upset Constable Gardener told the jury: "I thought I was watching a horror movie.
"I've been in the police force 11 years. I've never had to deal with anything like this before." | Christopher May, 50, is found guilty at Cardiff Crown Court of murdering Pontypridd woman Tracey Woodford | 33.789474 | 0.473684 | 0.473684 | medium | low | abstractive |
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/energy-bills/12105652/Snapshot-of-the-cheapest-and-most-expensive-energy-suppliers.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160808124141id_/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/finance/personalfinance/energy-bills/12105652/Snapshot-of-the-cheapest-and-most-expensive-energy-suppliers.html | Snapshot of the cheapest and most expensive energy suppliers | 20160808124141 | Energy prices have been dropping due to falling wholesale gas and oil prices and are lower than several years ago, although only a portion of the savings have been passed on to consumers.
The report, which also compared prices towards the end of each month in 2015, showed energy companies other than the Big Six offering the cheapest variable and fixed tariff deals.
Most UK consumers are on standard tariff deals with a Big Six supplier, although savings of £300 a year are achievable for those who switch.
There was significant regional variability on display in the report too. Customers in the East Midlands had the cheapest lowest average energy tariff at £920 and buyers in the North West, North Wales and South West the most expensive at £981.
Londoners were offered an average lowest dual fuel tariff of £944.
Differences in regional prices are primarily due to increased distribution costs in certain areas raising provider's overheads.
From April to November 2015, GB Energy Supply offered the cheapest fixed or variable tariff followed closely by Extra Energy and First Utility.
• For money tips, tricks and ideas, get our round-up here
The cheapest lowest average tariff providers included only one member of the “Big Six”, EDF Energy, the list being topped by Extra Energy and GB Energy Supply.
The study also compared the strength of the various energy company's websites and here, unlike in the price comparison, the Big Six performed relatively well.
As of 2015-16 the Government has provided £57m in funding, representing around £41 per household, to help reduce electricity distribution charges.
A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said: “Energy bills fell by £45 this year but we will continue to work hard to reduce them further, doing more to support switching, ensuring the swift roll-out of smart meters and increasing competition in energy markets.”
This figure includes the provisional figures for electricity (fallen by £8) and gas (fallen by £37).
Smart meters, in particular, have been a controversial topic, with doubts over the true benefits of the £11bn rollout.
British Gas said the report was historic and that it was no longer the most expensive.
CORRECTION: This article originally listed the energy companies with the 'most effective' and 'least effective' websites. This came from analysis in the MyOffers Research of "Domain Authority", a measure of how websites perform in search engine rankings. Describing it as a measure of 'effectiveness' was potentially misleading and we have removed the lists from the article.
Robin Hood Energy, listed as having the 'least effective' site, has asked us to point out that its site in fact scores medium to high on all the MyOffer Research tables for website user experience. We are happy to set the record straight.
Have a question for our experts? Email moneyexpert@telegraph.co.uk | A study of the UK energy market has revealed the average dual fuel tariffs based on both supplier and region | 27 | 0.666667 | 0.857143 | medium | low | abstractive |
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/india/articles/Goa-India-A-haven-minus-the-hippies/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160808143949id_/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/travel/destinations/asia/india/articles/Goa-India-A-haven-minus-the-hippies/ | Goa, India: A haven, minus the hippies | 20160808143949 | And I had heard about a new Goa, a chic Goa, one that involved culture and luxury instead of beach shacks and bongos, one that Hollywood A-listers such as Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt had travelled to, and all the new rich Russians loved thanks to its warmth and its relative proximity to Moscow. My friend Holly and I were far more determined to find that Goa than we were our inner selves.
Still, at the dusty airport, delirious after almost 24 hours with no sleep and a six-hour wait in the dead of night in Mumbai’s dreary domestic terminal, I struggled to see how we would discover either.
Arriving at our hotel, shepherded through the airport-style security that has been a feature of Indian tourism since the Mumbai terrorist attacks of 2008, I wondered if we had got our destination wrong. Then I saw the pool, a vast infinity number that spilt into a paddy field, and all worries evaporated (hard not to in the heat).
It is the selling point of the Alila Diwa, one of the many plush resorts that have popped up in southern Goa, away from the hippies who are said to stalk the north of the state.
Actually, it was one of the many selling points of the Alila Diwa, but let me catch my breath. The other ones were: it’s as swish as it is reasonably priced; the giant beds and baths; the four different restaurants; the fact that it was really quite big and yet felt ridiculously intimate. Also there’s the lovely detail of being contacted by staff before you’ve even left your home in Britain to ask what kind of fruit you want, the pillow you’d like, and whether you want to surprise your loved one with a romantic dinner (while I do love Holly, I decided not to treat her to this).
I liked the staff, most of whom are from the local village of Majorda, because they weren’t too fawning or overattentive – such as the in-house yoga teacher, who told me that I needed to “pull” my “weight down”. He was no-nonsense and fun and I saw him every day we were there. A week with him was about the price of a two-hour yoga class in central London, and a whole lot better. Ditto the treatments in the spa, where they used fresh, natural, local ingredients to exfoliate and pummel. I went there every day, too, sometimes twice.
Holly thought this was a bit indulgent, so instead she took advantage of the option to accompany the senior chef, Eida, to the market, where they bought fish and later cooked it together for our dinner. She was very keen to let it be known that this was not her very own surprise romantic dinner, but a way to acquire cooking skills with which to impress her new boyfriend.
Bom Jesus Basilica, Old Goa, India
While I spent my days reading and being massaged, Holly continued to look for adventures, all of which were organised by the smiling Alila staff. She went to a spice plantation and came back stinking of cardamom and nutmeg and cinnamon, and raving about the smell of split-in-half vanilla pods. Then she gallivanted off to Old Goa, returning with tales of Catholic churches and Hindu temples and a city abandoned in the 16th century due to outbreaks of plague and cholera. It sounded terribly romantic, but I had another massage appointment to get to. Holly sighed.
I had to accept that a pool overlooking a paddy field was no substitute for seeing the real Goa, however lovely it might have been. Also, I was getting a bit sick of the sight of glamorous Russian women in teeny bikinis, who had a habit of parading in front of the paddy field. It was time to move on. We were going – gasp! – north, to where the hippies supposedly were. Would we find any?
Our destination was a place called Elsewhere, though we were unsure as to where Elsewhere was, exactly. Somewhere on Mandrem beach, apparently, but precious little other information was given to us when we called ahead to book one of its beach houses for a few days. Owned by the fashion photographer Denzel Sequeira, who hails from Mumbai, Elsewhere has been in his family since 1886, when his great-grandfather, Anjelo Zeferino Sequeira, bought 80,000 sq ft of land on a beach wedged between a creek and the Arabian Sea. Since then, four magnificent Portuguese beach houses have been built, and Denzel has added three large, luxurious tents overlooking the creek. Elsewhere is now an idyllic escape for those in the know, never advertised and no address given.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are said to have stayed here, attracted by both its remoteness and its discretion. Barbara, a former Pan Am air hostess who now runs the joint with Denzel, told us where to take a taxi to. At our allotted point, on a dirty coastal road, we were met by a young man bearing a sign that read “Take Me Elsewhere”. He did.
We walked to the edge of the creek, where we crossed a rickety bamboo bridge that could have come straight from an Indiana Jones movie. On the other side there were coconut trees and there was beach – oodles of it. Barbara took us to the “dining shack” – a giant canvas awning, where we sat on antique furniture and pushed our toes around in the sand. She ordered us freshly made omelettes from the kitchen and, as we waited, we chose books from the library (a set of shelves) and listened to her tales of turtles hatching on the beach. Even before we got to our beach house, we felt as if we were in heaven.
The omelettes were fluffy and worth the wait (indeed, all the food – made from scratch with only local ingredients – was worth waiting for). The five-minute walk to the house took us past pine trees and the bones of a whale that had washed up on the beach a few years previously. Once we got to the Bakery – you can also stay in the Piggery or the Priest’s House – we almost cried. It was basic but beautiful, all whitewashed walls and guidebooks detailing the local wildlife. We sat on our porch drinking local beer and watching a kingfisher flutter around a hammock before the sun went down.
In the distance, we could just about make out the thump of trance music from a bar. There were hippies nearby, we were sure of it, but they could have been on a different planet for all we cared.
Thomas Cook (flythomascook.com) has direct flights from Gatwick and Manchester to Goa from £209.
Ampersand Travel (020 7819 9770; ampersandtravel.com) offers a seven-night stay at the Alila Diwa in Goa on a half-board basis from
£1,200 per person. The price includes return flights from Britain and transfers within Goa.
More details about Alila Diwa Goa (alilahotels.com) and Elsewhere (aseascape.com).
An essential guide to India | Bryony Gordon sets off to the west Indian state full of preconceptions, but discovers peace, simple luxury and yoga… and only the merest hint of drug-fuelled hedonism | 42 | 0.484848 | 0.606061 | high | low | abstractive |
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/How-dangerous-is-flying-in-high-winds/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160808152246id_/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/travel/news/How-dangerous-is-flying-in-high-winds/ | How dangerous is flying in high winds? | 20160808152246 | In an ideal world, the pilot wants to land into the wind and in the centre of the runway. If there's a tricky cross wind, he says, they will approach with the nose of the plane facing the wind. Just as the pilot performs the “flare” – designed to slow the descent rate – he or she will bring the aeroplane’s nose in line with the runway.
It this manoeuvre is performed too early, “the aeroplane won’t land in the centre of the runway – or on the runway at all,” says Captain Thomas. If the pilot isn’t happy with their first effort, he or she will abort the landing, and try again. In what is known as a “baulked landing”, the plane might even touch the runway.
In the windiest conditions “wingstrike” may occur – when, you’ve guessed it, a wing hits the runway. It doesn’t happen often, although one notable incident took place in 2008, when a Lufthansa A320 tried to land at Hamburg Airport amid gusts of up to 47 knots (54mph). The footage on YouTube is excruciating, but no one was hurt and the plane eventually touched down on another runway.
The phenomenon known as “wind shear” also poses a risk. This is a sudden change in wind speed and/or direction, causing turbulence or a rapid increase or decrease in velocity. A tricky scenario might see a pilot attempting to land into a head wind that sudden turns into a tail wind. The result? Landing late and fast, and potentially overshooting the runway.
Airbus says wind shear is the main cause of four per cent of “approach and landing” accidents, such as the crash of the Delta Flight 191 in 1985. A loss of 54 knots of air speed in a matter of seconds saw the plane hit the ground about a mile short of the runway. This was one of several incidents that led the Federal Aviation Administration, the US equivalent of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), to rule that all commercial planes must be fitted with a wind shear detection and alert system. The CAA does not currently make the same demands of UK operators.
Captain Thomas says that wind shear may cause a pilot to break off a landing at around 3,000ft: “It’s the right thing to do – put the power on and get up and out of there.”
Pilots always have a plan B in mind if the intended approach is not safe or if the airport closes because of high winds. For landing in Washington DC, for example, the BA pilot knows he could divert to Baltimore or Boston. Updates on wind and weather conditions are communicated to crew throughout a journey to help with decision making.
To curtail the dangers posed by strong winds, manufacturers issue limits for maximum ground speeds, air speeds and cross speeds in which a plane can operate, based on “analytical computations and simulations”. For example, the Airbus A380 was designed to cope with crosswinds of 35 knots at take-off and 40 knots when landing.
According to the CAA, however, the pilot decides whether a landing is safe – based on experience, not algorithms.
The CAA does enforce detailed weather reporting regulations for UK airports, however – set out in a 119-page document that makes for gripping reading – and airports must also provide half-hourly reports describing conditions along the runway.
Some airports are more susceptible to strong winds. Those flying into Leeds Bradford, the highest airport in Britain at 681 feet (208m), have seen their fair share of wobbly approaches – including this week. Last month, a BA flight diverted to Manchester because of conditions there.
A plane makes a wonky approach at Leeds Bradford Airport this week
Flights in northern Scotland are also more likely to be cancelled: this week around 20 were cancelled between Aberdeen and Shetland as gusts reached 70mph. Captain Thomas says that Keflavik Airport in Iceland is notorious for its high winds, and often hosts trainee pilots for landing practice.
He adds that pilots will usually tell the cabin if a landing is likely to be bumpy: “It’s better to let people know – you’ve normally got at least one nervous flyer on board.”
High winds can make a flight uncomfortable, but are extremely unlikely to be fatal – they might even mean your holiday starts sooner. Strong tailwinds – and jet streams – can shave hours off a flight time. A BA flight nearly went supersonic this week thanks to just that – flying from New York to London in just five hours and 16 minutes when the usual journey time is nearly seven hours. That’s one reason to hope for buffeting gales next time you’re waiting in the departure lounge. | The sight of planes swaying in gales is unlikely to encourage nervous fliers. But how risky is flying in high winds? | 40.086957 | 0.73913 | 0.913043 | high | low | abstractive |
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2016/08/04/arts/the-puppies-of-curious-incident/s/0805CURIOUSPUPPIES-slide-DMC6.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160808201114id_/http://www.nytimes.com:80/slideshow/2016/08/04/arts/the-puppies-of-curious-incident/s/0805CURIOUSPUPPIES-slide-DMC6.html | The Puppies of ‘Curious Incident’ | 20160808201114 | Padraig Long and Puppy No. 19, Boone. “We thought it was time for us to give a precious pup a good home after we had our son, who is now 1,” said Katie Long, who is Padraig’s mother and married to Andrew Long, who plays the father in the play. “Boone, named after Andrew’s character name, is wonderful with both kids, and our 1-year-old son enjoys lying on him whenever possible.” | A look at the puppies who have aged out of the show. | 7 | 0.384615 | 0.384615 | low | low | abstractive |
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/relationships/10982980/The-art-of-the-pickup-how-The-Game-changed-the-game.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160809005735id_/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/men/relationships/10982980/The-art-of-the-pickup-how-The-Game-changed-the-game.html | The art of the pickup: how The Game changed the game | 20160809005735 | To look at, Jeffries isn’t your typical ladies’ man. He has Velcro-like thunder-grey hair and one of those shrewd faces which screams 'LA nerd'. He looks like an older Mark Zuckerberg – an apt similarity, given that, as with Facebook's inventor, Jeffries is the founder of his subject. Except that Jefferies’ field isn’t creating computer programs. It’s unpicking women’s thoughts.
Jeffries is known in the pickup artist (PUA) community as the pioneer of seduction techniques. He developed his skills using a mixture of hypnosis and neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and set the benchmark for the success with women using such approaches.
When we’re first introduced to Jeffries in The Game, he manages to get the number of a young waitress (he’s in his early forties) by simply talking to her while he’s ordering breakfast. He starts out by suggesting she wouldn’t be attracted to him and then persuades her of the opposite through a series of subtle gestures including, but not exclusive to, ‘condiment anchoring’ – that is the association of a thought or feeling, in this case the fuzziness of fancying someone, with a packet of ketchup. In other words, Jeffries makes a complete stranger besotted with him using years of study, in-field experience and a packet of ketchup. It’s quite remarkable. If not slightly unnerving.
Regardless of where you stand on the ethics of the seduction community (to many it’s considered misogynist), Jeffries exudes a powerful gravitational pull. During his talk on seduction at the Soho House Salon, Jeffries teaches and demonstrates his persuasive powers to a mesmerised audience. But it’s hard to tell whether we’re genuinely impressed or if we’re just being persuaded we are.
I’m not here, however, to learn how to get women into bed. I’m here to learn the story of the seduction community. Jefferies was around long before The Game hit bookshop shelves. When the main players in The Game were still looking over their pencil cases at the popular girls on the other side of the class, Jeffries was out on the street, chatting girls up, getting their numbers and, more often than not, getting them into bed too.
It all started in 1988 when Jeffries self-published his own book, How to Get the Women You Desire into Bed. The subtle, un-offensive tone of the book on how to woo women carried little weight. In short: it flopped. But Jeffries was sure it wasn’t the message that was wrong, but the way in which that message was delivered. As a result, he changed tack. When chatting women up he would remain subtle and understated, that was his technique after all, but in order to make money, and train other men, he had to appeal to their animal urges. Subtlety in that quarter wasn’t going to cut it.
“I thought: I’m going to be the most unsubtle, brash, obnoxious, loud mouth there is,” he says, inventing a character that he would play with great success – that ‘character’ was Ross Jefferies. ‘Women hate nice guys’ his website said. ‘Sex Book author Ross Jeffries. The man who turns wimps and geeks into supercharged macho studs.’
The change worked. After gambling his last $500 on a full-page ad in a magazine that extolled his pickup abilities, Jeffries got a call from the number one chat show in America at the time: The Phil Donahue Show.
A series of TV appearances and worldwide exposure followed, leading to a surge in the sales of his audio tapes and workshops. The late 90s proved to be a busy period in the life of Ross Jefferies. Rolling Stones did a feature story on him in 1998; he was the inspiration for Tom Cruise’s character in Magnolia the following year, and then in 2000, Jeffries was introduced to British audiences through Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends series. At the height of his powers, Jeffries wasn’t just synonymous with the seduction community, he was the seduction community. And then things changed.
Jeffries met Neil Strauss in 2004. He didn’t know he was a writer. “I think all along Neil was posing as people’s friends. I think he posed as my friend, posed as Mystery’s friend and then turned around and did us in the ass when it was time to ridicule us and write his book.”
The animosity in Jeffries's words is evident. Strauss went on to write two bestselling books about seduction in the mid noughties, often using the (possibly self-proclaimed) title of the greatest pickup artist of all time. Jeffries crown had been usurped – although he does admit that Strauss made him “a piss load of money” and changed the landscape of the seduction community.
“The Game really got the attention of the world. It bought the PUA community out from under the table and put it on top of the table.”
Neil Strauss, AKA Style (PIC: GETTY)
The community of geeky want-to-meet-girls guys became an industry. PDFs of popular routines (tricks and traps to get girls into bed) popularised by the book became available and as some PUAs went private, others offered their services for free. The result was an industry eating itself.
“There was all sorts of back stabbing and screwing over and scheming. My attorney wanted to sue everybody. I don’t think everyone has stolen from me but a lot of people have stolen a lot of stuff. Fundamentally, 80 per cent of the people drawn to this work are sociopaths or megalomaniacs – they really don’t have a conscience. They’re just in it for the money.”
So what’s next? What’s the future of the seduction community? “It’s not a community,” Jeffries says. “It’s a deviant subculture of people who act outside of what is normally considered acceptable ways of thinking and communication.”
Is there a fine line between deviant and immoral? Earlier this year, in the wake of the Santa Barbara killings, it was revealed that 22-year-old gunman Elliot Rodger had been a regular visitor to online PUA forums. After apparently failing to pick up women, he joined a message board called PUAHate, where men go to debunk PUA techniques. It's a forum Jeffries has posted on.
“Mass shootings are now part of American culture. They happen all the time. People who are psychotic will grab on to anything and obsess about it. If you look at his diary, he planned to kill his own brother; the first three victims of his rampage were his male room-mates. So there goes the whole idea that this is just about his hatred of women. He was clearly a very narcissistic, grandiose and sick human. Nothing to do with the pickup community.”
In fact, far from having a negative impact on young men’s live, Jeffries considers his work to have a beneficial effect. “Teaching a class of 40 guys who are really hurting takes a lot of energy. I’ve loved doing it, don’t get me wrong, but I was their messiah. For many of them I was their last hope.”
The disciples of the seduction community are losing their idols. Last year, Strauss held a mock funeral for his PUA persona Style and two days before our meeting, Jeffries held his last seduction seminar. So what of their legacies?
“In a hundred years from now, when I’ve died and become dust, no one will remember Neil Strauss. No one will remember Mystery. But they’ll all remember Ross Jeffries.” | When Neil Strauss’s bestselling book The Game was published in 2005, the world became seduced by the pickup artist community. Ross Jefferies, the father of the community and one of the book’s characters, tells all to Gareth May | 33.288889 | 0.733333 | 1.177778 | medium | low | abstractive |
http://time.com/4163516/dog-pants-internet-debate/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160809010856id_/http://time.com:80/4163516/dog-pants-internet-debate/ | Internet Debates | 20160809010856 | Okay, it’s time to ask yourself an important question. Dogs don’t wear pants, but if they did, what would those pants look like? Turns out, this is quite the conundrum.
The following image has been spreading rapidly around sites like Reddit, Facebook and Twitter — and it’s got everybody talking:
The question of whether dogs would wear pants on all four legs or just the back two is basically the new “What color is this dress?” But according to a poll on one of the most retweeted versions of the image, the majority of people are going with back legs only:
One person on Reddit offered a very logical answer: “Well pants are a human invention so if they were to wear them like humans it would be like the ones on the right. However, if dogs invented dog pants it would be like the ones on the left, leaving the a–hole freely available for greetings and ice breakers.” | The most divisive question since "What color is this dress?" | 14.461538 | 0.692308 | 3.153846 | low | low | mixed |
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/10109587/Could-George-Osbornes-cat-be-the-purr-fect-spy.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160809011718id_/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/10109587/Could-George-Osbornes-cat-be-the-purr-fect-spy.html | Could George Osborne's cat be the purr-fect spy? | 20160809011718 | “Some of us think the Chinese got her,” said one Conservative source. “She can get everywhere. You'd only have to bug her to find out half the Government's secrets.”
She has been described as the “purr-fect” spy because of her ability to get past policemen and protection officers.
It has led to her being discovered in the most secure area of the Foreign Office, inside the Cabinet room in Number 10, trying to break into the Treasury and in the command centre during a Royal Navy exercise.
In contrast David Cameron’s cat Larry spends his days lazing outside Number 10.
Sources have even suggested to the Chancellor that Freya may be using him for his top secret political knowledge.
She is not the first Downing Street cat to have mysteriously disappeared.
When Tony Blair’s cat Freya went missing shortly after the election in 1997 some blamed Cherie, but officials insisted she had simply retired. | She has friends in high places and an inquisitive nature, so after a mysterious disappearance there are whispers she may have been recruited by a foreign power. | 5.967742 | 0.451613 | 0.516129 | low | low | abstractive |
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruises/p-and-o-escapes/win-14-night-p-and-o-cruises-mediterranean-holiday/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160809021553id_/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/travel/cruises/p-and-o-escapes/win-14-night-p-and-o-cruises-mediterranean-holiday/ | win a 14-night P&O Cruises Mediterranean cruise | 20160809021553 | Enter the prize draw for your chance to win a fantastic 14-night cruise on board P&O Cruises ship Oceana
One lucky winner and their travel companion will be whisked off to Malta to set sail on a cruise that will take in beautiful ports of call along the coasts of Croatia, Greece and Turkey.
The prize includes return flights from London Gatwick (with regional flights subject to availability), airport transfers, accommodation in an outside cabin, full-board meals and entertainment. Speciality restaurants will incur a small cover charge.
P&O Cruises ship Oceana is a midsize ship with a real “wow” factor. Foodies will love the choice of dining, with two main restaurants, an Italian eatery by Marco Pierre White, a poolside grill and 10 bars and lounges offering very different atmospheres.
Glass-fronted lifts, on-board palm trees, a soothing spa, theatre, four sparkling pools and five whirlpools all add to the glamour of life at sea with P&O Cruises. A sports court, golf nets and on-board gym also mean guests can be as active as they like while at sea.
There are plenty of areas for relaxation, with shops, an ice cream parlour, plenty of deck space, a hair salon and even a casino.
The winners will also have a chance to explore some of the most beautiful ports in Europe, from Dubrovnik and Hvar in Croatia to the Italian canal city of Venice and the picture-perfect Greek island of Mykonos.
Guests will also be able to explore the ancient ruins of Ephesus in Turkey from the port of Kusadasi and the glorious Acropolis in Athens from Piraeus.
The prize does not include speciality restaurants on board, drinks, travel insurance, excursions, luggage fees and personal expenses.
To be in with a chance of winning this fantastic prize, simply complete the form below by Sunday 15 May, 2016
For more information or to book your cruise, visit pocruises.com, call 0843 374 0111 or consult your local travel agent. | Enter the competition for your chance to win a fantastic 14-night cruise on board P&O Cruises ship Oceana | 21.444444 | 0.944444 | 12.722222 | medium | high | extractive |
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/germany/articles/German-tourists-arrogant-boring-and-nude/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160809031753id_/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/travel/destinations/europe/germany/articles/German-tourists-arrogant-boring-and-nude/ | German tourists: 'arrogant, boring and nude' | 20160809031753 | Ad men were using the stereotype as far back as 1993, when Carling ran a mildly controversial commercial that saw a bronzed Bond-like Briton beating a horde of portly Germans to a prime lounger, with the Dambusters theme music providing the soundtrack (his rolled-up towel even bounces off the surface of the swimming pool, like one of Barnes Wallis’s famous bombs – “I bet he drinks Carling Black Label”).
It is also fairly accurate, and something that even Germans themselves acknowledge. Back in 2005, Ralf Höcker, a German solicitor, admitted that “the stereotype is true - German people do reserve all the loungers.”
“There is a certain type of German tourist who does it,” he added. “The same type who when they are on the beach builds a little wall… to protect their spot.”
He also confirmed the cunning deployment of towels is not backed up by law. "British tourists would be quite within their legal rights to ignore the reservation implied by the towels if there is nobody there,” he said.
The Germans do – however – appear to be trying to reign in their seat-hogging instincts. Peter Hughes, who recently boarded a cruise on the MS Deutschland, found instructions warning the largely German clientele that no sun loungers should be reserved in this way.
Aggressive nudism is another accusation that might be reasonably levelled at the German holidaymaker. A poll last month suggested that they are the most likely to go naked on the beach, with 28 per cent of them admitting stripping down to their birthday suit, compared with just 12 per cent of Britons (the Japanese came bottom, as it were, with just two per cent).
Its cruise ships feature areas for nude sunbathing, it has several nudist hotels, and a German firm has even offered nudist flights.
As Telegraph Travel’s Adrian Bridge points out: “For a nation that sometimes finds it difficult to bare its soul, the German people are surprisingly relaxed when it comes to baring their bodies.”
When they are not naked, they are “incredibly well dressed”, according to Peter Hughes. “They all wore clothes suited to an activity far smarter than the one in which they were engaged. Men wore ties on the promenade deck.”
This buttoned-up demeanour was a common theme among the other Telegraph Travel contributers I canvassed, who were of the opinion that Germans find it very difficult to let their hair down, even on holiday. That apparent lack of humour came up too.
"They take their holidays very seriously. In fact, they take them so seriously it is hard to tell if they are actually having fun," said Andrew Eames, the man behind the website germanyiswunderbar.com. "And they like the detail. If an itinerary says the transfer from the airport includes cold towels, soft drinks and snacks, then they will insist on cold towels, soft drinks and snacks... even if it means not noticing what's out of the window."
"I'd say that there's plenty of drunk, fat and sunburnt Germans, too," he added.
Gill Charlton, our consumer correspondent, who used to run a B&B in Cornwall, said: “They can lack a certain levity and sense of humour, unless they’ve spent time working in Britain. They speak good English, never complain about the weather, take their shoes off to go upstairs, and have a holiday action plan which usually involves a lot of walking, drinking British beer (always in moderation) and seeking out the Cornish locations of Rosamund Pilcher’s deeply sentimental romantic romps which have proved a huge hit on Sunday night television in Germany.”
All of which makes them “model guests”, she added. “The only moan I’ve ever heard is if there’s no ham and cheese on the breakfast buffet. I’ve served parmesan to Germans desperate for a cheese hit at breakfast time.”
Bee Rowlatt, one of the stars of last year’s BBC documentary Make Me A German, had her own humorous take on the Bild portrait of the Brits abroad: “Drunk, fat and sunburnt? Yes please! Thank you Germany for reminding us what holidays are for. I’ll be at the all-day buffet, with a glass of something I can’t pronounce - at least we Brits win at something.”
German tourists letting their hair down
For the French, the slightly stuffy demeanour displayed by some visiting Germans can be interpreted as arrogance, said Anthony Peregrine, an ex pat living in Nimes and the author of our regular column Le Rosbif Writes.
“A while ago, I did a (very) informal survey among South France tourism pros, asking who their favourite foreigners were,” he explained. “The Brits came out way in front (‘polite’, ‘impressed by everything’, ‘never complain’, ‘eager to listen’). Spanish and Italians were essentially considered as continuations of Southern French people by other means, but noisier – while the Dutch were disliked (‘they colonise camp sites – and have their own supplies shipped down from Holland. Even lettuce’).
“But it was the Germans that came last. Clearly, there was lingering resentment over what happened in the Second World War – but also what was perceived as a sort of arrogance. More than once, people said things like: ‘They come here – and treat us as if we were the Third World’ or ‘They behave as if they still run the country.’ From a restaurateur in Sète: ‘If we didn’t need their money, we wouldn’t let them in.’”
Anthony added that, despite those John Cleese-style warnings about not mentioning the war, Germans religiously visit sites connected with it.
“I’ve seen them being terribly respectful at Oradour-sur-Glane, at various Resistance Museums, and also on a guided tour of a Maginot Line fortress. I was, in fact, the only non-German on the visit” he said. “The guide was underlining the quality of the defensive arrangements. ‘So how come it proved useless?’ I asked. He took me aside, pointed at the Germans and said: ‘We had great cannons – but they had Stukas!’. A German overheard. He brightened immediately: ‘Ja, ja Stukas!’ he cried, doing a very fine mime of an attacking dive-bomber, including the rat-a-tat machine gun fire. This clearly made him happy. I wasn’t sure how to take this.”
Nigel Richardson, another of our regular contributors, described the German tourist as “irritatingly well travelled and adventurous. Whenever you think you’ve reached somewhere few people have been, and are feeling smug about it, a campervan will appear and eight Germans will spill out, looking as if they’ve been to a million such places.”
So there you have it, Herr holidaymaker. You’re not so perfect yourselves. And if you’ve got a problem with that – YOU STARTED IT!
Books about Germany: holiday reading guide Long German words: a phrasebook for show-offs Eleven reasons to go to Germany Berlin: an unlikely paradise for birders Twenty things you didn't know about Germany Freiburg, Germany: Europe's huge secret gem
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Follow Telegraph Travel on Twitter Follow Telegraph Travel on Facebook Follow Telegraph Travel on Pinterest Follow Telegraph Travel on FourSquare | British holidaymakers may be fat, drunk and sunburnt, but what of our German counterparts? | 88.705882 | 0.823529 | 1.176471 | high | medium | abstractive |
http://www.wsj.com/articles/new-take-on-asset-allocation-include-your-house-and-social-security-1403470472 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160809033102id_/http://www.wsj.com:80/articles/new-take-on-asset-allocation-include-your-house-and-social-security-1403470472 | New Take on Asset Allocation: Include Your House and Social Security | 20160809033102 | When deciding how to divide a portfolio between stocks and bonds, many investors simply subtract their age from 100 to determine what percentage to put into stocks, and invest the rest in bonds.
But new research indicates that before doing the math, it's important to consider something many investors and financial advisers overlook: the value and riskiness of your other assets—specifically, any pension and Social Security benefits... | Taking into account any pension and Social Security benefits you stand to receive, your future employment income and your home equity can result in big changes in portfolio design. | 2.516129 | 0.516129 | 1.483871 | low | low | abstractive |
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704328104574519960910174486 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160809042611id_/http://www.wsj.com:80/articles/SB10001424052748704328104574519960910174486 | Wall Street's Use of Acronyms | 20160809042611 | Has Wall Street's alphabet soup given you investing indigestion?
No other institution—with the possible exceptions of the government or the military—spews out acronyms and initials quite as prolifically. I call these products of financial engineering "WACronyms," because they tend to sound innocent when, in fact, many of them are full of wacky complications and incomprehensible risks.
They range all the way from ABS and ARMs; CARDS and DECS; CBOs, CDOs, CDS, CLOs, CMBS and CMOs; EIAs; ETFs; HLTs; IPOs; LBOs, MBOs and BIMBOs; MBS; PERCS; PIPEs; REMICs; RIBs; SAMs; SPACs; SPARQS; STRYPES and TANS; ELKS, LYONs, PRIDES, TIGRs and ZEBRAs; to NINAs, NINJAs and other nonsense.
While you shouldn't automatically refuse to invest in a WACronym—among others, some ETFs, or exchange-traded funds, may be worthwhile—these catchy abbreviations are always a signal that you should analyze the underlying investment with extreme caution. A WACronym is a sure sign that somebody is trying to sweet-talk you into buying something you might never invest in without the cutesy come-on of the shorthand name.
In peddling WACronyms, Wall Street's marketers are exploiting a quirk of the human mind that psychologists call "fluency," or our tendency to find familiar or easily processed ideas more appealing than unusual, cumbersome ones.
• What Maxwell Perkins knew. How much would you want to read a book titled "Trimalchio in West Egg"? You're likely to ask yourself three immediate questions: Who's Trimalchio? Where (or what) is West Egg? And who cares? But when the same book is called "The Great Gatsby," F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece sounds far more appealing. Fortunately, Fitzgerald's editor, Maxwell Perkins, rejected the great author's inept title and replaced it with his own brilliant choice.
How eager would you be to buy a prescription for a drug called 1-[[3-(6,7-dihydro-1-methyl-7-oxo-3-propyl-1Hpyrazolo[4,3-d]pyrimidin-5-yl)-4-ethoxyphenyl]sulfonyl]-4-methylpiperazine citrate? To any nonchemist, that sounds intimidating, scary, perhaps even toxic—like something you might pour into a clogged sink to burn through the gunk that's clogging the pipes. But once the same drug is renamed "Viagra," it seems natural and appealing.
On average, the more often you see or hear something, the less likely it is to be dangerous. (If it were deadly, it would have killed you on the first or second go-round.) Because whatever our ancestors encountered frequently was less likely to be harmful and more likely to be worth approaching, we have evolved to favor the familiar. Anything that reminds us of common things makes us feel comfortable.
So the easier something is to perceive, remember or pronounce, the safer it will make us feel—regardless of its actual risk or benefit. A name like Viagra, with its hints of life and vigor and waterfalls, sounds fluent and familiar even when we hear it for the first time.
In a classic psychological experiment, people were shown a series of fictitious names of food additives, all with 12 letters. Some, like Magnalroxate, were fairly easy to pronounce; others, like Hnegripitrom, were a cumbersome mouthful. Asked to imagine that they were reading the names as ingredients on food labels, people rated how safe each additive was likely to be. The unpronounceable additives were, on average, rated 29% riskier.
The psychologists also presented people with the names of amusement-park rides. Some were short, catchy and pronounceable, like Chunta. Other names were hard for most people to say, like Vaiveahtoishi. With no information about the rides other than their names, people rated the unpronounceable rides an average of 44% riskier and more likely to make them sick.
That's why Wall Street peddles "CMOs" instead of collateralized mortgage obligations, "HLTs" instead of highly leveraged transactions, "LBOs" instead of leveraged buyouts, SPACs instead of special-purpose acquisition companies, and "SPARQS" instead of stock participation accreting redemption quarterly-pay securities. In fact, investment bankers put a great deal of energy and effort into coming up with product names that can somehow be reduced to a catchy WACronym—because Wall Street knows that a fluent name automatically makes investors more comfortable with risks they do not understand.
"Collateralized mortgage obligations" is an intimidating 11-syllable mouthful that sounds like something a debt-collection agency might try extracting from you while an ex-wrestler named Bruno dislocates your thumbs. A "CMO," on the other hand, sounds short, cool, snappy and familiar, like a fast-food restaurant, a sports statistic, a videogame, a type of sneaker, a new-model car. You would never guess that by late 2008, some CMOs were worth only a tiny fraction of the original prices at which Wall Street foisted them onto "sophisticated investors."
• Tickers that click. The same effect extends to stock tickers, the trading symbols that serve as shorthand for identifying which shares you want to trade. Stocks whose tickers are readily pronounceable or evoke positive images (like BUD, KAR or LUV) outperform those with clumsy, meaningless tickers like PXG or BZH—at least in the short run.
Knowing this, companies eagerly stake their claim to a catchy ticker. In August 2006, Harley-Davidson Inc., HOG 0.88 % the manufacturer of heavyweight motorcycles, announced that it would change its stock ticker from HDI to HOG. (Motorcyclists have long nicknamed Harleys "hogs.") In its first two days of trading under the memorable new ticker, Harley's stock gained 5%.
The same is true for the full names of stocks. Researchers recently came up with a set of fictitious names for stocks; some were easy to pronounce and recognize, like "Tanley" and "Vander," while others were much less fluent, like "Xagibdan" and "Yoalumnix." In a psychology lab, dozens of people looked at the list of companies and, with no information other than the names, predicted the returns of their stocks over the coming 12 months. The average forecast: Stocks with easy names would go up 4%, while those with cumbersome names would go down 4%.
In the late 1990s, when the boom in Internet (or "dot-com") stocks was in full swing, firms that changed their corporate name to include ".com," ".net" or "Internet" outperformed other technology stocks by a blistering 89% over the two months surrounding the name change. Even in conservative Switzerland, investors believe that stocks with fluent names like Emmi, Swissfirst and Comet will earn higher returns than those with clunky monikers like Actelion, Geberit and Ypsomed.
• It's as easy as ABC. In the ancient world, people well understood that the act of naming something is a way of asserting power over it. Adam's very first act, after God creates him in the Book of Genesis, is to name each of the animals, thus fulfilling God's wish that man would have "dominion" over "every living thing that moveth upon the earth."
So it's vital for investors to remember that Wall Street takes control over investments from the start, through the simple act of naming them. By giving an ugly investment a cute little name, Wall Street can fool many people into thinking it's a cute little investment.
Don't be one of those people. Confronted with any investment that's named with a catchy WACronym, you must fight back with your own acronym. Being on your guard is as easy as ABC: Always Be Cautious. Ask what the WACronym stands for. If you can neither pronounce nor understand the terms the abbreviation stands for, don't invest in it.
Write to Jason Zweig at IntelligentInvestor@wsj.com | No other institution spews out acronyms and initials quite as prolifically as Wall Street. They may sound innocent, but many of them are full of wacky complications and incomprehensible risks. | 46.090909 | 1 | 7 | high | high | mixed |
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/amber-heard-no-show-deposition-jonny-depp-article-1.2740968 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160809062259id_/http://www.nydailynews.com:80/entertainment/gossip/amber-heard-no-show-deposition-jonny-depp-article-1.2740968 | Amber Heard shows up late to deposition against Jonny Depp | 20160809062259 | Amber Heard finally showed up to her deposition on Saturday to undergo questioning about her claims that her estranged Johnny Depp husband abused her.
The 30-year-old actress was set to appear in a Los Angeles law office at 10 a.m. local time on Saturday and didn't arrive until about an hour and half later, TMZ reported.
Heard’s deposition will give her the opportunity to attest to her claims of domestic violence in order to obtain an extended restraining order against the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star.
Depp has hired top trial lawyers to grill Heard, including attorney Blair Berk.
Amber Heard and Elon Musk ‘spending time’ together: report
Berk will likely question Heard’s claims that Depp left her bruised and beaten — even though responding cops saw no evidence of injury, the gossip site reported.
Heard filed for divorce from Depp on May 23, accusing the 53-year-old actor of domestic abuse just a few days later.
Around that time, the “Danish Girl” actress publicly released photos of bruising around her eye, claiming Depp was responsible for turning violent on her through the “entirety” of their relationship.
It was reported that Depp could also show up for Saturday’s deposition, if approved by all parties. | Amber Heard has yet to show up to her deposition on Saturday. | 18.615385 | 0.923077 | 2.769231 | medium | medium | mixed |
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB106901920413474700 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160809074832id_/http://www.wsj.com:80/articles/SB106901920413474700 | Groomed to Lead, Fund Clan's Scion Veered Into Trouble | 20160809074832 | George Anders Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
SAN MATEO, Calif. -- For decades, friends of Charles E. Johnson imagined his moment of triumph. Some day his billionaire father would retire after decades of running Franklin Resources Inc., BEN 0.00 % one of America's biggest mutual-fund groups. At last, the younger Mr. Johnson would vault into the chief executive officer's job.
Chuck Johnson chased that dream relentlessly. He earned a master's in business administration at Harvard and later joined Franklin's board while still in his 30s. He handled the company's biggest acquisitions and flew to India and Russia to spread Franklin's business around the globe. By 1999, he was earning more than $1.3 million a year as one of Franklin's top five officers.
Then the younger Mr. Johnson abruptly destroyed his chances of ever leading his father's company. On the night of Sept. 28, 2002, he hurled his wife into their kitchen stove, fracturing bones in her face. Nine months later, he pleaded no contest to a felony assault charge. A 60-day stay in jail followed, along with ouster from Franklin. At his sentencing hearing, the 47-year-old Mr. Johnson described himself as an alcoholic who tore through other people's lives like a tornado. "I have created a lot of wreckage," he said.
Colleagues were stunned. Until the very end, Chuck Johnson was seen as firmly in command, leading a three-person race for the CEO job. Yet appearances were misleading. What emerges from state-court proceedings and interviews with Franklin insiders and Mr. Johnson himself is a portrait of a hard-driving executive who struggled for years to hold himself together amid growing personal strains.
Any contest for corporate succession is sprinkled with behind-the-scenes drama. Few companies, however, have endured anything like Franklin's handover of power, which reached its final resolution last month. For nearly four years, the two oldest sons of Franklin's CEO, along with a fast-rising outsider, jockeyed for position. How they competed -- and who won -- has shaped not only the inner workings of one of the nation's richest families, but also the destiny of a New York Stock Exchange company that manages $314 billion of assets.
The West Coast Johnsons, who own about 35% of Franklin, attract much less publicity than the unrelated Johnsons of Boston, who control the Fidelity Investments mutual-fund empire. Even so, Franklin has long been regarded as one of the financial sector's best-run companies. Its stock has appreciated 1,900-fold since the company went public in 1971, far outpacing the 11-fold rise in the Dow Jones Industrial Average during the same period. Like many mutual-fund companies, Franklin is being scrutinized by government officials in the current trading-abuse investigations. It hasn't been charged with any violations.
Propelling Franklin ahead has been Charles B. "Charlie" Johnson, the company's 70-year-old patriarch, who has been chief executive officer since 1957. "Charlie could sell a ketchup Popsicle to a woman wearing white gloves," says Nicholas Moore, an admiring former Franklin fund manager. An athletic man with a warm smile, the older Mr. Johnson is renowned as a smart stock-picker and a world-class marketer of funds under the Franklin, Templeton and Mutual Series brands. Thanks mostly to his 18% stake in Franklin, his net worth approaches $2 billion.
Proud of his family, Charlie Johnson for years entrusted the municipal-bond group to older brother Andy, who came to work in a rumpled sport coat purchased at a thrift shop. (Andy Johnson left in the mid-1990s to become a full-time Roman Catholic deacon.) Meanwhile, a younger brother became vice chairman, a nephew once served as a vice president, and a brother-in-law sits on the board. All seven of Charlie Johnson's children appeared on the payroll at various stages, though only three stayed for long.
Nonfamily employees sometimes rolled their eyes at the constant parade of Johnsons, relatives and friends on the payroll. "It's a very tight, insular culture," says Todd Brooks, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who worked for Franklin earlier in his career. "You learned right away that some people were FOJs -- friends of Johnson." Yet these hiring habits never seemed to hurt Franklin. When outsiders asked, Charlie Johnson brushed aside questions about nepotism and said he was running a meritocracy. He declined to be interviewed for this article.
From the earliest days, oldest son Chuck won notice as the heir apparent. In 1970, at age 14, he devoured a book called "How to Buy Stocks" and asked his father questions about it each night at the dinner table. "My dad was quite patient, but I must have driven him to distraction," Chuck Johnson recalls. Soon afterward, the young man had a summer job as a runner on Wall Street, delivering bonds to securities houses. Franklin was based in New York back then, so father and son often commuted to work on the same early-morning train.
By the early 1980s, Franklin had relocated to San Mateo and was attracting notice for its fast-growing money-market and bond funds. Chuck Johnson had earned an accounting degree from UCLA and was an auditor for Coopers & Lybrand. "My father made overtures that it was time for me to come into the family business," Chuck Johnson says. "So I did." He started in the trading room, showing up at 5 a.m. to invest the firm's idle cash in money-market instruments.
After earning his M.B.A. in 1985, Chuck Johnson became vice president for marketing in 1986, at age 31. He was a whirlwind of activity, opening a Taiwan office, summoning his Harvard friends for consulting advice and raising Franklin's ad spending. While other Franklin managers were encouraged to keep low profiles, Chuck Johnson enjoyed free rein to talk to journalists. The coverage boosted his image as a rising star.
In late 1991, Charlie Johnson had breakfast with Sir John Templeton, the legendary founder of the Templeton mutual funds, and came away thinking that an acquisition might be possible. "I remember my father telling me: 'I think he's serious and wants to sell. Why don't you take a look?' " Chuck Johnson says. After nearly a year of hammering out terms, Franklin bought the Templeton funds for $900 million. Investors pushed Franklin stock to new highs.
Relentless at the negotiating table, Chuck Johnson continued his hard-nosed ways once the deal was done. Initially, one of Sir John's protégés, Thomas Hansberger, served as Templeton's post-acquisition boss. Within a year, Chuck Johnson had moved to Florida to take charge of Templeton instead. "Chuck really wanted my job," Mr. Hansberger recalls. "He got it. He moved decisively against me."
In Florida, Chuck Johnson helped Templeton modernize its marketing and grow rapidly. But he unnerved some employees with his temper. Two former employees remember him throwing a telephone on one occasion when he got angry. Stories circulated about Chuck Johnson browbeating poor-performing employees until they quit in tears. "Chuck could be quite volatile," Mr. Hansberger says. For his part, Chuck Johnson says he doesn't remember throwing a phone. He adds, "I never got any joy out of firing people."
Franklin employees tried to shrug off the oldest son's outbursts. "I told people: 'Chuck's bark is worse than his bite,' " says Allen Gula, Franklin's former chief information officer. "If you've got your facts lined up, you can talk back to him, even when he's angry." Franklin has an intense, varsity-athlete culture, and some executives weren't afraid to play along with the boss's son. A former Franklin sales chief, Edward McVey, remembers goading Chuck Johnson during company golf tournaments, just to see him explode. "Then you'd win more money," Mr. McVey explains.
In 1999, Chuck Johnson won a crucial promotion into Franklin's newly formed "office of the president." He was put in charge of portfolio management and international operations -- but all of a sudden, he had company. A succession race had begun, pitting three executives in their late 30s or early 40s in a battle to become CEO someday. Chuck Johnson still was seen as the front-runner, but employees say they picked up signals that some of Franklin's outside directors wanted to see who else could handle the job.
Also joining the office of the president were two executives slightly younger than Chuck Johnson, both known for their friendly, self-effacing ways. One was younger brother Greg Johnson, a sales executive. The other was Martin Flanagan, the chief financial officer. While they initially were seen as long-shot contenders for the CEO's spot, they became good friends and effective business partners, ultimately isolating Chuck Johnson.
"It amazed me to see how much Greg Johnson grew as a leader over the years," says Sam Forrester, a former Franklin sales executive. Early on, the younger Johnson brother was known mostly as the family's best golfer. "Then Greg turned out to be a very good listener in business negotiations, " Mr. Forrester says. "He got good access to big companies that Franklin did business with. He made the most of it, and he inspired tremendous loyalty among the people who worked for him."
Mr. Flanagan had been racing through projects at Franklin, winning high marks on almost all of them. He spearheaded a big cost-cutting drive in 1998 that helped shore up Franklin's profitability. He also helped open overseas offices and occasionally joined in pitching new accounts. "Marty is a people person," says Don Reed, head of Franklin's Canadian operations. "I liked to get him in front of clients." On several occasions, other mutual-fund companies had tried to poach Mr. Flanagan from Franklin.
Whatever the strategic logic of such a horse race, employees found it stressful. Operating managers say they couldn't tell whether they should back one contender 100% and hope their faction won in the end -- or hedge their bets by trying to court all three candidates.
Just as the succession race took shape, Franklin's long run of good fortune came to an end. The company's equity funds, which emphasized conservative "value" stocks, fared poorly in the late stages of the Internet bubble. Then the two-year bear market that started in 2000 soured the public on mutual funds in general. And on Sept. 11, 2001, a Franklin money-management subsidiary, Fiduciary Trust Co., was devastated by the terrorist attack on its World Trade Center headquarters in New York. Eighty-seven employees were killed, and it took months for the unit to regroup.
Throughout tough times, "Chuck was always pushing forward, trying to find the next opportunity," recalls Mr. Gula. "He wanted to go, go, go!" Flying around the globe, Chuck Johnson rolled out mutual funds in countries ranging from Poland to South Africa. The results were mixed. "We had our troubles in Russia," Mr. Gula recalled. Within Franklin, that was seen as Chuck Johnson's misstep.
Three former Franklin executives recall Chuck Johnson saying in his final years at the firm that he felt torn between top management and seeing what he could do as a private investor. In mid-1999, he became co-manager of the Franklin U.S. Long-Short Fund, which could buy stocks or sell them short, if it wanted to bet on a price decline. The fund vastly outpaced market averages during both boom and bust, but with less than $100 million in assets, on average, it was an insignificant contributor to Franklin's overall operations.
Away from work, darker habits took hold in Chuck Johnson's life. "I never drank at work, but I drank too much at home," he says. "It came on imperceptibly. It was chronic and progressive. I kept telling myself I didn't really have a problem."
In divorce papers later filed in California state court, his wife, Melodie, said that when her husband was drunk, he "staggered around the house, often in angry rages." Kristi Spence, an attorney for Chuck Johnson, calls Ms. Johnson's divorce pleadings "a gross example of a highly exaggerated filing" but declines to address specific points.
A much more sympathetic picture of Chuck Johnson emerged when more than 40 friends wrote letters this summer on his behalf as part of the public record in his criminal-assault case. Most portrayed him as a loyal friend and loving parent, who hadn't ever seemed disposed toward violence. Still, his father wrote that he had cautioned Chuck about alcohol for the previous three years. And several friends said that in the months before the attack on his wife, Chuck Johnson had appeared lonely and dispirited.
On the evening of Sept. 28, 2002, Chuck Johnson brought his wife to Mills-Peninsula Hospital in Burlingame, Calif., saying that she had slipped at home and hurt herself. As authorities asked questions, a different account emerged. Soon afterward, Mr. Johnson was charged with felony assault. Too ashamed to tell his father directly, Chuck Johnson got a friend to post bail and relay word to Franklin's CEO.
In subsequent family-court filings, Melodie Johnson said the couple had returned to their Hillsborough mansion on Sept. 28 from a social engagement, at which point she criticized her husband for his drinking habits. She said he responded by grabbing her, lifting her off her feet and pushing her head so hard into their kitchen stove that its glass top shattered, leaving her with a fractured right orbital bone, a sinus fracture and injuries to her jaw and teeth. She added that "on two previous occasions, he violently assaulted and attempted to strangle" her.
In October 2002, four days after the attack, Franklin announced that Chuck Johnson was taking an immediate leave of absence because of what it termed "a serious domestic dispute." In short order, he lost his board seat, his job as co-president, and his stewardship of the Long-Short Fund. His executive-wing office was quickly reassigned to one of his sisters, Jennifer Bolt, the company's chief information officer.
Privately, the Johnsons ministered to their fallen relative. Ms. Bolt helped arrange court-approved play dates for her children and Chuck's, so that he could see his three small sons while custody issues were being sorted out. And Charlie Johnson, the family patriarch, vouched for his oldest son in a divorce-court declaration, saying that he and his wife had "never observed any abusive conduct, either physical or verbal, by Chuck to any of his children."
In the months after his arrest, Chuck Johnson sent an open letter to Franklin employees, apologizing for his conduct. He enrolled in Alcoholics Anonymous and signed up for a year-long anger-management class. He also moved into a group house that championed sober living. While there, he worked 25 hours a week picking up trash, cleaning showers and sweeping decks.
"When things blow up, you need to get humble," Chuck Johnson says. "They thought I'd be a difficult person to deal with, but I didn't feel it was beneath me. I worked at McDonald's in college. I've never minded work."
At his sentencing hearing in July 2003, Chuck Johnson pleaded no contest to a single charge of felony assault and said: "There is no excuse for my actions in any way, and I make none. I take full responsibility." His 60 days in the San Mateo County Jail were followed by two months in a work-furlough program that involved spending nights at the jail. He lost his securities-industry license and was forbidden from owning a gun or entering a bar during a three-year probation period.
People who saw Chuck Johnson trying to rebuild his life say they were struck by the depth of his remorse and his determination to change his behavior. Even Mr. Johnson's ex-wife rallied to his defense. She agreed to share child custody with him. "Chuck was and is a loving, caring parent," she said in a faxed response to interview questions. "He suffered a momentary, uncharacteristic outburst and has already faced enormous consequences."
For Franklin, the past year's stock-market rally has been an enormous boon. The company's equity funds have appreciated briskly, increasing investment-fee income. Optimistic investors are shrugging off a host of financial scandals and entrusting the company with fresh cash. For the year ended Sept. 30, net income climbed 16%, to $503 million. Franklin's stock price has advanced 35% since Jan. 1.
Franklin employees say privately they feel relieved that authority ultimately shifted to younger brother Greg Johnson and Mr. Flanagan, rather than to Chuck Johnson. Last month, company patriarch Charlie Johnson finally settled on a succession plan, saying that Greg Johnson and Mr. Flanagan would become co-CEOs at the start of 2004. He called it "a natural evolution" and "a recognition of a co-presidency that has worked extremely well."
When Franklin employees toasted their new bosses, Chuck Johnson wasn't in the building. He has rented a small office across the street from Franklin, where he sorts out his papers and wonders what went wrong. He says he hopes his felony conviction eventually will be reduced to a misdemeanor, letting him resume work in the securities industry. But he acknowledges such decisions are up to the court.
"I'm trying to pick up the pieces of my life," Chuck Johnson says. "For all the bad stuff that I've brought on, I probably never would have started on the road to sobriety without this kind of tragedy. I probably would have died young."
Write to George Anders at george.anders@wsj.com | Any contest for corporate succession is sprinkled with behind-the-scenes drama. Few companies, however, have endured anything like Franklin Resources' handover of power, which reached its final resolution last month. | 90.487179 | 1 | 19.769231 | high | high | extractive |
http://www.wsj.com/articles/allergan-inks-90-million-deal-for-anterios-1452174043 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160809075043id_/http://www.wsj.com:80/articles/allergan-inks-90-million-deal-for-anterios-1452174043 | Allergan Inks $90 Million Deal for Anterios | 20160809075043 | Allergan PLC, which last year agreed to merge with Pfizer Inc., on Thursday said it will buy clinical-stage pharmaceutical company Anterios Inc.
Under the terms of the deal, Allergan will pay Anterios $90 million up front, plus milestone payments.
Anterios is the developer of NDS, a technology that delivers neurotoxins through the skin... | Allgergan PLC, which last year agreed to merge with Pfizer Inc., on Thursday said it will buy clinical-stage pharmaceutical company Anterios Inc. | 2.5 | 0.961538 | 24.038462 | low | high | extractive |
http://www.9news.com.au/world/2016/08/08/14/01/photographer-documents-exploration-of-eerie-chernobyl-nuclear-site | http://web.archive.org/web/20160809130736id_/http://www.9news.com.au/world/2016/08/08/14/01/photographer-documents-exploration-of-eerie-chernobyl-nuclear-site | Photographer documents exploration of 'eerie' Chernobyl nuclear site | 20160809130736 | A Welsh photographer has revealed what was left behind by Chernobyl’s former residents, describing the scene as "the closest anyone will ever get to a post-apocalyptic world."
While filming a documentary of his visit, Cai Morgan visited the vacated city of Pripyat, taking in what remains of a nursery, supermarket and school.
"Eerie was the best word to describe it," Morgan said in his video.
Dolls, blankets and bedsheets have remained in the nursery for the past 30 years.
At the city's school, pencil cases and books remained on the desks of former pupils.
"It was clear that people just had to leave without any notice," Morgan said.
School books remained open on desks at one of the city's schools (Image: YouTube/Cai Morgan)
"They were told they could go back in three days originally, so they left their possessions there. They are still there, where they left them."
Morgan had already documented his visits to Berlin, Madrid and Iceland when he decided to produce a one-off documentary very different to the others in his series.
"Chernobyl has been something that has always interested me. It’s got this history which didn’t happen all that long ago, and we said we wanted to do something very different," Morgan told Wales Online.
But getting to Chernobyl wasn't an easy task for the photographer.
His tour was organised through a travel company and Morgan had to carry around a Geiger counter, to monitor radiation levels, as he toured the site.
"It’s in a 20km exclusion zone around the reactor so you can’t just wander in," he said.
"There’s still radiation there, but the government has done work to clean and decontaminate – they’ve even raised the soil to make sure the radiation has gone."
The school's canteen floor was littered with 1,000 gas masks - not due to the nuclear disaster, but Cold War fears (Image: YouTube/Cai Morgan)
But 20km is a large area to clean and despite the best efforts of the Ukrainian Government, some pockets within the site still have very large radiation levels.
Mr Morgan said that while the radiation was obviously higher than somewhere like Cardiff, "what we detected was only a little bit more radiation than an hour spent on an aeroplane."
The Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurred on 26 April 1986.
Acute radiation sickness affected 237 people following the incident, of which 31 died within three months.
The total death toll from cancer related to the incident is believed to be around 4,000.
© Nine Digital Pty Ltd 2016 | A Welsh photographer has revealed what was left behind by Chernobyl’s former residents, describing the scene as "the closest anyone will ever get to a post-apocalyptic world." | 15.878788 | 0.969697 | 17.69697 | medium | high | extractive |
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/07/opinion/sunday/mercy-is-far-too-slow-at-the-justice-department.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160809164350id_/http://www.nytimes.com:80/2016/08/07/opinion/sunday/mercy-is-far-too-slow-at-the-justice-department.html? | Mercy Is Far Too Slow at the Justice Department | 20160809164350 | President Obama last week commuted the prison terms of 214 federal inmates who were sent to prison under draconian, ’80s-era laws that have since been revised. Among them were 67 people serving life sentences, nearly all of them for nonviolent drug offenses.
Mercy was granted in these cases. But the federal clemency system — which moves far too slowly and is too often blocked by politics in both the Justice Department and the White House — was never intended to manage miscarriages of justice that happen on a vast scale, as was the case when so many Americans were sent to prison under the “tough on crime” policies of the 1980s.
The country needs a variety of mechanisms for reducing unreasonably long sentences. And the Justice Department, which has considerable latitude in these matters, needs to do more within the course of its regular operations to deal with the legacy of sentencing policies that have been recognized as destructively unfair.
The former attorney general, Eric Holder Jr., took an important step: In 2014, he supported the United States Sentencing Commission’s decision to reduce sentences for many nonviolent drug crimes and asked that people in prison be made eligible for the reductions. According to the Justice Department, more than 12,000 people have been released under that effort.
Recently, however, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a Justice Department agency, has come under criticism for not doing enough with the powers it already has to help inmates who deserve to be released. The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 authorizes the bureau to ask a federal judge to reduce an inmate’s sentence when there are “extraordinary and compelling” reasons for doing so.
That provision is typically used for elderly or gravely ill inmates. But the bureau has the ability to define the term as it sees fit, which means that the program could cover people who were unfairly sentenced as well. The agency has, however, done virtually nothing on this front. The Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General was sharply critical of the bureau in a 2013 report, noting that the agency did not “have clear standards on when compassionate release is warranted,” which led to ad hoc decisions.
The United States Sentencing Commission took up this issue in April, when it broadened compassionate-release criteria. Under the amended policy, federal inmates may be eligible for compassionate release for reasons of age, medical condition, family circumstances or “other extraordinary and compelling reasons.” The commission also urged the prison bureau to take cases back to court when the defendant meets the criteria laid out in the new policy.
A more broadly conceived compassionate-release mechanism would not by itself cure the problem of unfair sentencing. But the Justice Department should be using every tool it has to mitigate unfair sentences. A system that funnels this problem to the president’s office is not enough.
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A version of this editorial appears in print on August 7, 2016, on page SR8 of the New York edition with the headline: Mercy Is Too Slow at Justice Department. Today's Paper|Subscribe | More can be done with powers that already exist to deal with the legacy of sentencing policies that have been recognized as destructively unfair. | 24.32 | 0.92 | 10.52 | medium | medium | extractive |
http://www.aol.com/article/2014/05/02/best-things-buy-may/20879018/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160810012153id_/http://www.aol.com:80/article/2014/05/02/best-things-buy-may/20879018/ | The 6 Best Things to Buy in May | 20160810012153 | The weather is heating up, and so are deals on a variety of goods. Memorial Day also means a weekend of sales.
Many grocery stores will have specials on grillable meats throughout May. "With consumers eager to enjoy a grilled dinner outdoors, so the demand and competitive price game begins for everyone's favorite meats," says Erin Chase, consumer shopping expert for
savings app. "From ribs to steaks to chicken breast and premade kebabs, consumers will be able to find great deals on the meats they love to grill." She says that condiments are also hot, so look for coupons and store discounts.
May is one of the best times to purchase
. To save more money, check out
, which tend to have impressive offers on mattresses for local stores. You can stack these with in-store specials. Note that expensive mattress models are displayed in the front of the store, while cheaper options are often toward the back.
at your favorite retailers for several months. That's because retailers know people shop in advance for the summer entertaining. Now that the surge of patio furniture purchases has lulled, retailers have begun marking down prices, explains Meghan Heffernan, also a consumer shopping expert for Savings.com. Heffernan says to expect "a steep increase in prices until the end of summer." Buy now while you still have a good selection.
This time of year, bugs are a-plenty and the sun's rays are powerful. As a result, retailers can count on you buying these items consistently. Coupons (either electronic or from the newspaper) can save you money on both
. "With the bugs emerging and the sun gaining in stretch, stores everywhere are competing for your bug spray and sunscreen dollars," notes Chase. "It's time to stock up on your favorite brand of repellent and protection for your skin, and be sure to purchase enough to last you through Labor Day weekend."
"After a long winter break recovering from the holidays, spring is often when we see people start entertaining again," says Heffernan. "Home ware companies will be offering special reductions on kitchen accessories and cookware." Thanks to these slashed prices, now's a great time to buy
-- including cutlery, dishes, linens, electronics and more -- for the recent grads or newlyweds in your life.
"As the volume of car sales goes up in summer months, car retailers increase the number of price drops per vehicle," says Heffernan. "This trend starts in May and will peak in July." An excellent way to get a quality used car is to shop previously leased vehicles. These are typically no more than 4 years old but are significantly cheaper than their new counterparts. Additionally, because leased vehicles must be maintained with utmost diligence -- and because mileage is restricted -- you know these cars have been taken care of. | Bargains are likely for seasonal attractions like meats for the grill and patio furniture -- and also for mattresses, kitchen accessories and used cars. | 21.576923 | 0.807692 | 1.269231 | medium | medium | abstractive |
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8640580/Scottish-couple-celebrate-161m-win-on-Euromillions-lottery.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160810054334id_/http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8640580/Scottish-couple-celebrate-161m-win-on-Euromillions-lottery.html | Scottish couple celebrate £161m win on Euromillions lottery | 20160810054334 | Colin Weir, 64, and his wife Chris, 55, said they checked their numbers at midnight after a "normal night in front of the TV watching CSI".
Mrs Weir, a psychiatric nurse, said: "We had bought five lucky dips as the jackpot was now so big. I started circling the numbers I had matched but wasn't doing very well.
The couple, from the seaside town of Largs in Ayrshire, scooped the jackpot of £161,653,000 ranking them 430th in the Sunday Times UK Rich List, just behind the Beckhams.
Chris Weir added that her husband had never been keen on travelling but hoped that “first class” trips could persuade him.
"We have both always wanted to see the Great Wall of China and Colin would love to stand at the foot of Ayers Rock in Australia. We also love galleries so this gives us the chance to visit those in Paris and in Russia."
The couple matched the winning numbers - 17, 19, 38, 42 and 45, and the Lucky Stars 9 and 10 - at odds of 116 million to one. | Colin and Chris Weir scoop Europe's biggest ever lottery win, with their £161 million jackpot. The couple are deciding how to spend the money and say they plan to by homes for their children and travel to China and Australia. | 4.595745 | 0.489362 | 0.659574 | low | low | abstractive |
http://time.com/money/4438779/donald-trump-brand-foot-traffic-foursquare/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160810063829id_/http://time.com:80/money/4438779/donald-trump-brand-foot-traffic-foursquare/ | Trump Campaign Has Wreaked Havoc On His Business | 20160810063829 | There have been signs that Trump’s campaign—which has featured one alienating gaffe after another—have hurt his business brand. Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City (now owned by Carl Icahn) just announced it’s closing, and earlier this year, the travel search engine Hipmunk reported that bookings at Trump-branded hotels were down 59% year over year in the first quarter among Hipmunk users.
Now a new report from Foursquare using foot traffic data for all Trump-branded businesses shows even further how things do not look good for the Republican nominee. The app, which has more than 50 million users and gives people recommendations for food, hotels, and more, based on places they travel, has a solid track record of prognostication, having successfully predicted iPhone 6s sales, the success of McDonald’s all-day breakfast, and Chipotle struggles using similar foot traffic data.
Since he announced his campaign last year, foot traffic to Trump-branded businesses has plummeted significantly. For example, this July saw 17% less than last July. Graphics published by Foursquare show that both this year and last year had a slow winter, but this year did not have the typical recovery that hotels make after the slow season. This year, Trump foot traffic remained fairly low.
The hotels worst off were the Trump SoHo, Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago, and the failing Trump Taj Mahal, which is “losing multimillions a month,” according to its CEO Tony Rodio.
Foursquare’s detailed data is even more interesting, though not surprising. Trump properties suffered way more in Blue States. And although men and women had equal foot traffic to Trump businesses in the past, the rate of women going plunged significantly in March. The day that month ended, a Gallup poll indicated that seven out of 10 women held unfavorable views of the Republican nominee.
Blue States are to be expected, but what about purple states—the swing states that can decide elections? In those Trump fared worse than in Blue States, in terms of year-over-year attrition of guests. From March to June, foot traffic was down 18.8% from the year before. Sad!
Of course, this doesn’t predict that he will lose the election. It means that he’s likely alienated some people who might go to his hotels, and as a result his business is going through a rocky patch. And with under 100 days until the general election, aggressive politicking is only getting started. | It's a rough time for the Trump brand. | 48.2 | 0.7 | 1.1 | high | low | abstractive |
http://www.msnbc.com/slideshow/dnc-philadelphia-photos-the-rowdy-convention-floor | http://web.archive.org/web/20160810081254id_/http://www.msnbc.com:80/slideshow/dnc-philadelphia-photos-the-rowdy-convention-floor | DNC in Philadelphia: Photos from the rowdy convention floor | 20160810081254 | This week brings the Democrats’ turn in the spotlight.
The Democratic National Convention kicked off in Philadelphia Monday, just days after the Republican Party’s event wrapped up in Cleveland. The first day of the DNC showed a comparatively united front — but not without some visible fractures. Bernie Sanders supporters protested on Sunday ahead of the convention, and also made their voices known on the convention floor with intermittent boos and jeers. Some continue to insist that they will not support presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, despite the Vermont senator’s endorsement of her.
For his part, Sanders delivered a rousing prime-time address on Monday night, in which he enumerated his oft-expressed views on income inequality, campaign funding, and climate change. Ultimately, though, he offered his support for Clinton and insisted that she’s the best option for avoiding a Donald Trump presidency.
While several Sanders supporters on the floor appeared visibly upset during his speech, some tried to overshadow the lengthy attack by Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Trump with more cries of disappointment. Meanwhile, first lady Michelle Obama arguably stole the show on Monday night with an impassioned and moving speech centered on how far the country has progressed in recent decades.
The DNC brought drama even before officially getting underway, however: Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned on Sunday over leaked emails that suggested she and the committee were favoring Clinton’s campaign over Sanders’.
These photographs were shot on assignment by photographer Mark Peterson for MSNBC Photography as part of his on-going body of work “Political Theatre” which examines the landscape of the American political system.
For more feature photography, go to msnbc.com/photography | The Democratic National Convention convenes in Philadelphia this week, just days after the Republican Party's event concluded in Cleveland. | 14.5 | 0.863636 | 3.772727 | low | medium | mixed |
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/22/us/22nebraska.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160810124943id_/http://www.nytimes.com:80/2008/11/22/us/22nebraska.html? | Nebraska Revises Child Safe Haven Law | 20160810124943 | On Sept. 26 child welfare officials in Douglas County, which includes Omaha, filed a petition accusing Ms. Coover of neglect. She is working to have that changed to a “no fault” transfer of custody. Being officially declared neglectful could jeopardize her teaching credential and future parental rights.
The abrupt handovers in Nebraska are striking examples of an ongoing, more orderly phenomenon that exposes the shortage of psychiatric help for children. A 2003 report by the General Accounting Office, compiling responses from only 19 states and 30 counties, found that 12,700 children in one year had been placed in child welfare or juvenile justice systems simply so they could receive mental health care.
As the drop-offs continued through the fall in Nebraska, including five cases in which children were driven in from other states, Gov. Dave Heineman called an emergency session of the Legislature this week to revise the law.
Earlier this year, Nebraska was the last of the 50 states to adopt a safe-haven law. But instead of specifying that it applied only to infants up to a certain age, as in other states, Nebraska’s version used the word “child,” opening the door to handovers of children up to age 18.
Many legislators and advocates for children said the desperate actions by caretakers had exposed serious gaps in services, especially for families with troubled older children. The findings of the new commission are sure to be scrutinized by other states where the same unmet needs are rumbling.
As in most states, Nebraska offers a patchwork of hot lines, private agencies like Boys Town and public programs that offer counseling and respite shelters to distressed families and runaway children. Some Nebraska officials have said that ample services exist, including free counseling for the poor, but that parents are not fully using them. Many legislators and advocates disagree.
Ms. Coover said that her son had received psychiatric care off and on, with limited coverage by her insurance plan, but that he often refused to take prescribed medications. When he refused to go to school, she could not afford a sitter and did not know where to turn.
She has spoken out, she said, because newspaper descriptions made her family easily identifiable in their town of 640 and because she resented the way state officials described parents like her as irresponsibly “abandoning” their children.
Far from abandoning Skylar, she said, she gave her phone number to the hospital and state agencies, has visited him weekly — he is still in the same hospital but will soon move into a therapeutic foster home with specially trained parents and services — and hopes he can return home at some point.
It was easy for officials to talk of available counseling and mental health services, Ms. Coover said. But in a rural area like hers, such aid is rare, and when she did find it, the offices were distant.
“Good luck finding a counselor — they’re all filled up,” she said. “You call a psychiatrist and have to wait three months for an appointment.” Once during a snowstorm, she said, after she drove 25 miles to pick up the boys at school, then 45 miles to a psychiatric appointment, she arrived 15 minutes late. “They said we’d have to make a new appointment for six weeks later,” she said.
The short-lived law has yielded many poignant scenes. The same night that Ms. Coover took Skylar in, a father went into another hospital in Omaha and dropped off nine children, saying that since his wife died last year, he could not cope with raising them. Those children, like some others handed to the state, have moved in with relatives, but most are in foster care or group homes.
Courtney Anderson, a social worker at Immanuel Hospital, said that some of the children taken to the emergency room cried and begged their parent or guardian not to leave them. Some did not realize what was happening. “Some knew, but were just numb,” Ms. Anderson said.
Nine of the 35 drop-offs occurred at Immanuel Hospital, but at least as many more families arrived intending to leave a child but were talked out of it by social workers who offered respite care, parenting classes and referrals to other aid that, Ms. Anderson said, the parents had not known about.
Even with children suffering more severe psychiatric problems, Ms. Anderson said, state child welfare and other agencies “came together quickly” to offer help.
“Everyone wants the families to stay together,” she said. “And we are looking forward to the solutions that the new commission proposes.”
A version of this article appears in print on , on page A10 of the New York edition with the headline: Nebraska Limits Safe-Haven Law to Infants. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe | The revision to a law permitting parents to hand children over to state custody limits its reach to infants. | 46.55 | 0.7 | 1.1 | high | low | abstractive |
http://www.bbc.com/news/live/uk-england-devon-36922191 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160810184746id_/http://www.bbc.com:80/news/live/uk-england-devon-36922191 | BBC Local Live: Devon & Cornwall on Monday 8 August 2016 | 20160810184746 | The creator of the 10m-tall Man Engine puppet saved one of the biggest surprises of his work to last as it made its final appearance during a two-week tour of Devon and Cornwall - he proposed to his partner under its shadow.
After the final ceremony at Geevor on Saturday, creator Will Coleman lured his partner of six years, Dominique Trevail, on to the top of a support vehicle, telling her she would get a personal wink from her 40-tonne heartthrob.
He then went down on one knee and asked for her hand in marriage, presenting her with an large metal washer from the puppet itself as an engagement ring.
Dominique said: "I am so immensely proud of Will and what he has achieved for the people of Cornwall. First I called him every name under the sun for proposing in front of thousands of people... but I did eventually say yes." | Wild seal warning, never event during surgery; floral tributes laid for missing teenager, and more | 9.611111 | 0.277778 | 0.277778 | low | low | abstractive |
http://www.nbc.com/classic-tv/major-dad | http://web.archive.org/web/20160811222636id_/http://www.nbc.com:80/classic-tv/major-dad?nbc=1 | Major Dad - NBC.com | 20160811222636 | StarringGerald McRaney as Major John MacGillisShanna Reed as Polly CooperMatt Mulhern as Lieutenant Gene HolowachukWhitney Kershaw as Merilee GundersonBeverly Archer as Gunnery Sergeant Alva "Gunny" BrickerJohn Cypher as Commanding General Marcus Craig
Created by Richard C. Okie and John G. Stephens, "Major Dad" is a family-friendly sitcom centered on a straitlaced Marine, his wife and stepdaughters, and his fellow Marines. The series ran on CBS for four seasons, from 1989 to 1993.
"Major Dad" begins with sparks flying between conservative Marine Major John "Mac" MacGillis (Gerald McRaney, "Longmire," "House of Cards") and his interviewer, pacifist reporter Polly Cooper. This unlikely pair finds themselves falling hard for each other, and Polly has to introduce Mac to her three daughters, Robin (Nicole Dubuc), Casey (Chelsea Hertford) and Elizabeth (Marisa Ryan). With the girls' blessing, Mac and Polly are married mere weeks later. Suddenly the girls have to adjust to being in a military family, and Polly has to adjust to being a Marine wife.
Meanwhile, the Major has to contend with the ups and downs of his work life. He starts out commanding an infantry training school, aided (and frustrated) by Lieutenant Gene Holowachuk (Matt Mulhern, "Biloxi Blues"), Sergeant Byron James (Marlon Archey) and Merilee Gunderson (Whitney Kershaw). At the end of Season 1, budget cutbacks force Mac to choose between retirement and a new job, and he moves his family to the base at Camp Hollister, where he serves as Staff Secretary.
Now labeled the "Staff Weenie," Mac must contend with a whole new group of wacky colleagues. Lieutenant Holowachuk transferred with him, but now they're under the orders of Commanding General Marcus Craig (John Cypher, "Hill Street Blues") and work closely with sometimes prickly Gunnery Sergeant Alva "Gunny" Bricker (Beverly Archer, "Mama's Family").
Notable guest appearances on the series include Vicki Lawrence ("Mama's Family"), comedian Yakov Smirnoff and Vice President Dan Quayle.
"Major Dad" was created by Richard C. Okie and John G. Stevens and developed by Emmy and Humanitas Prize winner Earl Pomerantz ("The Cosby Show," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Taxi"), and featured the early work of writer-producer Janet Leahy ("Boston Legal," "Gilmore Girls," "Mad Men"). Its theme music was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1992. | The classic TV sitcom Major Dad originally aired from 1989 to 1993 with Gerald McRaney as Major MacGillis. Explore the show on NBC.com. | 18.846154 | 0.730769 | 1.423077 | medium | low | abstractive |
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203897404578078583845366670 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160812014954id_/http://www.wsj.com:80/articles/SB10001424052970203897404578078583845366670 | The Dangers of an Informed Electorate | 20160812014954 | One day you return home from work, go to your mailbox, and find a packet from your employer concerning the coming Nov. 6 election. It includes information about the candidates and a letter from the company president that reads:
"To help you engage in the political process, we have enclosed several items in this packet. For most of you, this includes information about voter registration deadlines and early voting options in your state. At the request of many employees, we have also provided a list of candidates in your... | In The Wall Street Journal, Bradley Smith writes that the left would rather voters remain in the dark than get information from their employers. | 3.884615 | 0.384615 | 0.538462 | low | low | abstractive |
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703859304576304360379963984 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160812091749id_/http://www.wsj.com:80/articles/SB10001424052748703859304576304360379963984 | Carrefour Fires Executive Director for France James McCann | 20160812091749 | PARIS—Carrefour SA Thursday fired the head of its core French business and indefinitely shelved plans to spin off its property unit, a move that throws the struggling retailer's much-hyped turnaround strategy into question at a critical time.
Carrefour, the world's second-largest retailer after Wal-Mart Stores Inc., had planned to deliberate a three-way breakup of the company at a shareholder meeting next month. The split was meant to be part of a wider restructuring plan that also includes a €1.5 billion ($2.2 billion)... | Carrefour fired the head of its core French business and indefinitely shelved plans to spin off its property unit, a move that throws the struggling retailer's much-hyped turnaround strategy into question at a critical time. | 2.625 | 1 | 38.05 | low | high | extractive |
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10007111583511843695404581067770624172668 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160812091946id_/http://www.wsj.com:80/articles/SB10007111583511843695404581067770624172668 | Nut-Butter Firm’s Founder Adjusts to Growth | 20160812091946 | Justin Gold used to struggle to find healthy snacks that would provide him with protein and energy on the trails. In 2002, the avid mountain biker and vegetarian began grinding almonds and peanuts using a food processor at home.
He experimented with different formulas, adding bananas, chocolate syrup or spicy Sriracha sauce to the blends. He stored the nut pastes in his cupboard and to discourage his roommates from swiping his snack, he wrote “Justin’s” on the containers.
Today, the 37-year-old founder holds a controlling stake in Justin’s LLC, of Boulder, Colo., a 40 employee-company that brings in more than $50 million in annual revenue through sales of peanut-, almond- and other nut-based snacks, including jars of honey-almond butter that retail for more than $10.
After taking two loans from Whole Foods Market Inc., WFM 0.03 % including $25,000 in 2007, followed by $100,000 in 2010, which Mr. Gold says the company has paid off—Justin’s purchased new equipment and expanded production to make new products such as nut-butter squeeze packs as well as chocolate-covered peanut-butter cups.
Several factories turned him down because his initial batches were too small, or because of concerns about nut particles spreading to the nut-free products the factories process, a potential threat to people with severe nut allergies.
Minority investor San Francisco-based VMG Partners, suggested Mr. Gold seek a new chief executive to help the company expand, he said. Mr. Gold hired his longtime mentor, Peter Burns, a former Hain Celestial Group Inc. HAIN -0.34 % executive, as a co-chief executive and president. Mr. Burns started working at the company in early 2014.
The company has expanded its distribution to Wal-Mart WMT -0.20 % Stores Inc., Target Corp. TGT 1.31 % , and Amazon.com Inc., AMZN 0.35 % as well as some Starbucks Corp. SBUX -0.27 % cafes.
Today, the business is grappling with a surge in almond prices from drought-stricken California, the source of some 80% of the world’s almonds, which he said forced his business to raise wholesale prices about 15%.
Mr. Gold, who is co-CEO, recently spoke to The Wall Street Journal about the evolution of his idea into a viable business—and some of its current challenges. Edited excerpts:
WSJ: How did you come up with the idea for selling nut spreads?
Mr. Gold: I wanted to be an environmental lawyer [but] the practice of law isn’t as exciting as I thought. I wound up in Boulder waiting tables.
I didn’t even have a lemonade stand when I was a kid. I’m vegetarian and very active so I moved here so I could mountain bike, ski and run.
I was eating a lot of almond butter. I’d buy a jar and it was runny and soupy. There were only two types: crunchy and creamy. So I planned on getting a food processor and making my own nut butter. [I thought:] this would be a really fun business.
When you’re a small company with very finicky ingredients, nobody wants to help you—your volumes are too small. It’s like no man’s land when you first get started.
I went to the library and wrote a business plan. I raised $25,000 from my family. I bought this industrial-sized food processor. It was the size of a small car. It was $6,000.
Meanwhile, I would have peanuts FedExed to my house in boxes [from New Mexico.] I’d get a few hundred pounds at a time.
WSJ: In 2010 you added peanut-butter cups to your product line. Was the business strategy behind that move?
Mr. Gold: I had a gut feeling that it would be a great idea. Nobody makes a peanut-butter cup except [Hershey]. I found a chocolatier who had a piece of equipment [to make them]. Once we turned that machine on, we haven’t turned it off. My goal isn’t to compete with Hershey. My goal is to sell where [it] can’t go.
WSJ: Why did you decide to bring on the private-equity firm VMG Partners in 2013?
Mr. Gold: I was at a crossroads. I hit a personal and professional ceiling. Rather than give up or sell the company I wanted to find the right partner.
WSJ: You have given up some control of the business recently. Was it difficult to hand the reins over?
Mr. Gold: Honestly, it was a relief because once you hit a certain scale and you have 30 people working for you, your decisions impact your future and you want to make sure you are making the best decisions possible.
Having someone who has experience making those decisions, it’s just a weight off my shoulders.
I’m smart enough to know I’m not the smartest person in the room but I’ve surrounded myself with some of the smartest people in the industry. Everything rolls up to Peter.
It was extremely overwhelming and extremely stressful and I really feel like I have a partner in the business with Peter Burns here.
My role has evolved. People are really important to me. I focus on culture, sustainability, philanthropy and innovation. And on top of all that, I’m the founder, so people really want to meet me. I’m going to sales meetings, trade shows, marketing events.
My name will always be on the jar, and I’ll always want to be involved, especially in vision and direction. Whatever the company needs me to be, is what I’ll be.
WSJ: Are you affected by the California drought?
Mr. Gold: That’s a serious concern of ours. It’s something that really impacts us and our cost for the almonds—over the past two years—has doubled. We have raised our prices.
WSJ: Will you add more new products?
Mr. Gold: I’ve shrunk the line more than I’ve grown the line. [We’ve gotten rid of] a cinnamon peanut butter. It was gut-wrenching but it was the right thing to do. We had to be focused and disciplined.
Write to Leslie Josephs at leslie.josephs@wsj.com | Justin Gold started making his own nut butter at home in 2002. Today, he holds a controlling stake in Justin’s of Boulder, Colo. | 45.777778 | 1 | 3.518519 | high | high | mixed |
http://www.aol.com/article/2016/08/09/this-is-the-bathroom-stall-you-should-choose-every-time-if-you-w/21448477/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160812120950id_/http://www.aol.com:80/article/2016/08/09/this-is-the-bathroom-stall-you-should-choose-every-time-if-you-w/21448477/ | This is the bathroom stall you should choose every time if you want the cleanest one, according to science | 20160812120950 | You're driving down the turnpike. That painful pressure below your navel has grown too intense to ignore, but you've got another hour and a half left to go before you get home. A blue sign flashes through your headlights, a rest stop. You pull in, walk to the public bathroom, and wrinkle your nose. A row of stalls stretches from wall to wall. Which should you choose?
Most of us enter this situation armed with nothing but our eyes, noses, and intuitions. But science can help. Research suggests you should avoid the middle stalls at all costs.
A wealth of research shows that, given several equally good (or gross) options, people tend to choose the middle one. Psychologists call this "centrality preference." That means that most people who entered the bathroom before you probably went for the center stalls and avoided the sides. With any luck, that could leave the side stalls a bit less nasty.
RELATED: See images of bathrooms all around the world
CHENGDU, CHINA - NOVEMBER 07: (CHINA OUT) A man walks out of a five-star public toilet at Qingcheng mountain resort on November 7, 2015 in Chengdu, Sichuan Province of China. The World Toilet Day falls in November 19 each year and will kick off Thursday this year. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images)
TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY MAUDE BRULARD A view of the bathroom at the world's first real-life 'sand castle hotel', constructed from tonnes of sand and enforced with wood, in the small southern Dutch city of Oss, on October 2, 2015. Curious tourists and the young at heart this summer flocked to Oss to spend a night, for 150 euros ($167) per night, in a specially-built room deep inside the heart of the massive castle sculpture made entirely of sand. Two sand hotels were built in the Netherlands at venues where annual sand art sculpture festivals are being held: one in Oss and the other in the northern Frisian city of Sneek. AFP PHOTO / EMMANUEL DUNAND (Photo credit should read EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images)
CHONGQING, CHINA - MAY 02: (CHINA OUT) Toilet troughs at a public toilet which is honoured as giant 'castle' toilet in Yangren Jie (also known as Foreigner Street) in Nan'an District on May 2, 2015 in Chongqing, China. The World Toilet Day falls in November 19 each year and will kick off Thursday this year. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images)
TAIYUAN, CHINA - MARCH 25: (CHINA OUT) A man pees at a toilet where three female models in the provocative attire in a restaurant on March 25, 2015 in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province of China. The World Toilet Day falls in November 19 each year and will kick off Thursday this year. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images)
CHONGQING, CHINA - FEBRUARY 07: (CHINA OUT) Two citizens watch a camera-shaped public toilet in Shiqiaopu Street on February 7, 2014 in Chonqging, China. The World Toilet Day falls in November 19 each year and will kick off Thursday this year. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images)
NINGBO, CHINA - MARCH 13: (CHINA OUT) A public toilet is seen beside Beidou River on March 13, 2012 in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province of China. The World Toilet Day falls in November 19 each year and will kick off Thursday this year. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images)
TOKYO, JAPAN - JANUARY 6: EXCLUSIVE A urinal that has a video game console above it in the SEGA World complex in Akihabara Electric Town, Tokyo, Japan. For men a stroll to the gents has become a leap into the twenty first century, thanks to the SEGA video games corporation. The company has developed a new entertainment system which is incorporated into a public lavatory. Now rows of peeing men can spend a penny and get a great video game experience while they are at it. The 'Toylet' male urinal video game provides a choice of sumo wrestling, erasing graffiti and dousing an exploding volcano. The 'Toylet' works by a pressure sensor in the base of the urinal measuring the strength and location of the urine stream as it hits the basin. An LCD screen displays the game graphics and rewards the strength, length and accuracy of the pee through a typical video game points system. There are currently no plans for a multiplayer version of the 'Toylet'. (Photo by Matthew Tabaccos / Barcroft Medi / Getty Images)
Toilets In The Middle Of Nowhere At Star Wars Movie Set Near Tozeur, Tunisia. (Photo by Education Images/UIG via Getty Images)
ZHENGZHOU, CHINA - JUNE 12: (CHINA OUT) A elephant-shaped public toilet is seen on June 12, 2015 in Zhengzhou, Henan Province of China. The World Toilet Day falls in November 19 each year and will kick off Thursday this year. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images)
Heerlen, NETHERLANDS: This picture taken 12 July 2006 shows urinals shaped like a woman's mouth at The McDonalds in Heerlen. McDonalds is going to remove its urinals after complaints by a tourist, declared the owner, Giel Pijpers, 12 July 2006. In his opinion it is art, but in America there are different opinions. The urinals will be sold. 'I'm not going to be pissed off about a couple of urinals' , he declared on Wednesday. AFP PHOTO/ANP PHOTO MARCEL VAN HOORN (Photo credit should read MARCEL VAN HOORN/AFP/Getty Images)
Sketch, London, United Kingdom, Architect Architect Unknown, Sketch Egg Pod Toilets Wider Angle. (Photo by View Pictures/UIG via Getty Images)
Skeptical? Psychologists have shown that centrality preference applies to public bathrooms.
In a paper published in 1995 in the journal Psychological Science, the psychologist Nicholas Christenfeld presented a series of short experiments in centrality preference. For one of them, he examined the habits of beachgoers in a coastal Californian public washroom.
It would have been at the very least impolite to stand around in there all day with a notebook recording which stalls people used. So Christenfeld came up with a useful proxy: toilet paper use. He enlisted the help of the bathroom's custodian, who kept track of how often toilet paper needed changing in each of the four stalls for 10 weeks.
The results: Far more people used the middle stalls than random chance would predict — 60% of finished rolls came from the central stalls, with only 40% from the end stalls.
An important caveat here is that just because fewer people use an end stall, that doesn't necessarily mean it's cleaner. Maybe the sort of people who use end stalls also make more of a mess. Maybe custodians know that outer stalls see less traffic and clean them less often. In any given bathroom, an unseen cue or quirk of design may shift people toward outer stalls.
But still, at my next rest stop I'll be locking the door as close to the wall as possible.
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AND: These are the 7 biggest myths about how to stay in shape | You walk to the public bathroom, and wrinkle your nose. A row of stalls stretches from wall to wall. Which should you choose? | 53.259259 | 1 | 25.074074 | high | high | extractive |
http://www.aol.com/article/2016/08/10/michael-phelps-laughed-during-the-national-anthem-and-its-ok/21448875/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160812123949id_/http://www.aol.com:80/article/2016/08/10/michael-phelps-laughed-during-the-national-anthem-and-its-ok/21448875/ | Michael Phelps laughed during the National Anthem, and it's ok | 20160812123949 | You would think after winning a gold medal for the 20th time, Michael Phelps might be used to the pomp and circumstance. But Phelps is no ordinary athlete.
Many in the television audience may have been taken aback when the Maryland native quickly transitioned from visibly holding back the tears to laughter while the "Star Spangled Banner" was being played Tuesday night during the medal ceremony for the 200 meter butterfly.
The thing is, the words toward the end of the anthem have special meaning for anyone from Baltimore, where Phelps was raised, and is considered by many on par with Cal Ripken for all-time sports greatness.
"And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there." These words are somber and sang the same in Baltimore or Boston, Chicago or Los Angeles.
Team USA swimmer Michael Phelps prepares to swim laps during a practice session at Northside Swim Center in San Antonio, Texas, July 16, 2016. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports/File Photo
Michael Phelps (C) of the U.S. swims the butterfly stroke during his team's victory in the men's 4x100 meters medley relay at the National Aquatics Center during the Beijing 2008 Olympics August 17, 2008. Picture taken with underwater camera. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay/File photo
Michael Phelps of the U.S. poses with his gold medal after winning the men's 4x100m medley relay final during the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Aquatics Centre August 4, 2012. REUTERS/Jorge Silva/File photo
Michael Phelps and Garrett Weber-Gale (L) of the U.S. celebrate after winning the men's 4x100m freestyle relay swimming final at the National Aquatics Center during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 11, 2008. REUTERS/David Gray (CHINA)
Gold medallist Michael Phelps of the U.S. listens to his national anthem during the men's 200m individual medley victory ceremony during the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Aquatics Centre August 2, 2012. REUTERS/David Gray
Members of the men's 4 x 200m freestyle relay team, Michael Phelps, Conor Dwyer, Ryan Lochte and Ricky Berens (L-R) hold their national flag as they celebrate their gold medal win in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay victory ceremony during the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Aquatics Centre July 31, 2012. Phelps won the record 19th Olympic medal on Tuesday when he joined forces with his U.S. team mates to win the 4x200m freestyle relay. REUTERS/Jorge Silva
Michael Phelps of the U.S. competes in the men's 400m individual medley swimming final at the National Aquatics Center during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 10, 2008. Picture taken with underwater camera. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay (CHINA)
Michael Phelps of the U.S. holds up his award recognising him as the most decorated Olympian, during the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Aquatics Centre August 4, 2012. Phelps ended his incredible Olympic career on the perfect note on Saturday, winning his 18th gold medal for the United States in the men's medley relay, the last time he will swim a competitive race. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
A combination photo shows Michael Phelps of the U.S. holding each of his eight gold medals in the swimming competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Phelps won his eighth gold medal on Sunday, beating Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals won at a single Games in 1972. The medals were won in: (Top row L-R) 400m individual medley (August 10), 4x100m freestyle relay (August 11), 200m freestyle (August 12), 200m butterfly (August 13). (Bottom row L-R) 4x200m freestyle relay (August 13), 200m individual medley (August 15), 100m butterfly (August 16), and 4x100m medley relay (August 17). REUTERS/Staff (CHINA)
Michael Phelps of the U.S. looks down at the pool after his team was beaten to the gold by France in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay final during the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Aquatics Centre July 29, 2012. REUTERS/David Gray
Photographers surround Michael Phelps of the U.S. after he won his eighth gold medal of the games at the National Aquatics Center during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, August 17, 2008. REUTERS/Gary Hershorn (CHINA)
But the next line, is slightly different.
"Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave," becomes "OOOOO-HHHHH, say does.." in Baltimore, with fans screaming the "Oh" as loud as possible. It's a tribute to the Orioles, the baseball team that moved to Baltimore in 1954 and helped many a sports fan get over the loss of the beloved Colts when they relocated in the dead of night to Indianapolis in 1984.
Phelps was asked about it after the ceremony and explained that the yelling reminded him of home.
"My boys from Baltimore were down on the other end, and back in Maryland, we all say "O!" for the Orioles during that part of the National Anthem. And all of the sudden I hear them roar "O!" and I knew exactly where I came from," explained Phelps during a post-ceremony interview. "I just lost it because those guys came down from Baltimore and New York City to be here, and it's just special to see those guys in the stands."
Shortly afterwards he went on to win his 21st gold medal in the 4x200 men's freestyle relay race. In other words, just your average day in the life of Michael Phelps.
Boomer Phelps at Rio 2016:
Boomer Phelps at Rio 2016
Michel Phelps' son Boomer, left, is held by Phelps' finance Nicole Johnson at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, Tuesday, June 28, 2016, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
2016 Rio Olympics - Swimming - Victory Ceremony - Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay Victory Ceremony - Olympic Aquatics Stadium - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - 07/08/2016. Nicole Johnson, the fiance of Michael Phelps (USA) of USA, carries their son Boomer as she waves to him. REUTERS/Michael Dalder FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS.
OMAHA, NE - JULY 01: Michael Phelps (L) of the United States celebrates with his fiance Nicole Johnson (R) and their son Boomer (C) after finishing first in the final heat for the Men's 200 Meter Individual Medley during Day Six of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Swimming Trials at CenturyLink Center on July 1, 2016 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
Jul 1, 2016; Omaha, NE, USA; Michael Phelps greets fiance Nicole Johnson and their son Boomer Phelps during the U.S. Olympic swimming team trials at CenturyLink Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports
Michel Phelps' son Boomer, left, is held by Phelps' finance Nicole Johnson at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, Tuesday, June 28, 2016, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
OMAHA, NE - JUNE 30: Nicole Johnson, fiancee of Michael Phelps, looks on with son Boomer prior to the semi-final heat for the Men's 200 Meter Individual Medley during Day Five of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Swimming Trials at CenturyLink Center on June 30, 2016 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
Michel Phelps' son Boomer, left, his held by Phelps' finance Nicole Johnson at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, Tuesday, June 28, 2016, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Jul 1, 2016; Omaha, NE, USA; Michael Phelps greets fiance Nicole Johnson and their son Boomer Phelps during the U.S. Olympic swimming team trials at CenturyLink Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports
United States' Michael Phelps' son Boomer wears ear protection during the swimming competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 8, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
United States' Michael Phelps' son Boomer wears ear protection during the swimming competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 8, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
Nicole Johnson the fiancee of United States' Michael Phelps, holding his baby Boomer, leaves the swimming competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 8, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
Nicole Johnson, fiance of United States' Michael Phelps, holds their baby Boomer during the swimming competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 8, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
RIO DE JANERIO, BRAZIL - AUGUST 08: Nicole Johnson (R), partner of Michael Phelps of the United States, holds their son Boomer during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 08, 2016. (Photo by Salih Zeki Fazlioglu/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - AUGUST 08: Nicole Johnson, partner of Michael Phelps of the United States, holds their son Boomer on Day 3 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium on August 8, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
2016 Rio Olympics - Swimming - Semifinal - Women's 200m Freestyle Semifinals - Olympic Aquatics Stadium - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - 08/08/2016.Nicole Johnson, the fiance of Michael Phelps (USA) of USA, carries their son Boomer REUTERS/David Gray FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS.
2016 Rio Olympics - Swimming - Semifinal - Women's 200m Freestyle Semifinals - Olympic Aquatics Stadium - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - 08/08/2016.Nicole Johnson, the fiance of Michael Phelps (USA) of USA, carries their son Boomer REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS.
2016 Rio Olympics - Swimming - Victory Ceremony - Men's 200m Butterfly Victory Ceremony - Olympic Aquatics Stadium - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - 09/08/2016. Michael Phelps (USA) of USA greets his son Boomer after he won the gold medal. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS.
2016 Rio Olympics - Swimming - Victory Ceremony - Men's 200m Butterfly Victory Ceremony - Olympic Aquatics Stadium - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - 09/08/2016. Michael Phelps (USA) of USA greets his mother Debbie, fiance Nicole Johnson and their son Boomer after he won the gold medal. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS.
2016 Rio Olympics - Swimming - Victory Ceremony - Men's 200m Butterfly Victory Ceremony - Olympic Aquatics Stadium - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - 09/08/2016. Michael Phelps (USA) of USA greets his mother Debbie, fiance Nicole Johnson and their son Boomer after he won the gold medal. REUTERS/Dominic Ebenbichler FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS.
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - AUGUST 9: Gold medalist Michael Phelps of USA kisses his 3 months old son Boomer Phelps following the medal ceremony for the men's 200m butterfly on day 4 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Olympic Aquatics Stadium on August 9, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)
United States' Michael Phelps celebrates winning his gold medal in the men's 200-meter butterfly with his mother Debbie, fiance Nicole Johnson and baby Boomer during the swimming competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
2016 Rio Olympics - Swimming - Victory Ceremony - Men's 200m Butterfly Victory Ceremony - Olympic Aquatics Stadium - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - 09/08/2016. Michael Phelps (USA) of USA greets his son Boomer after he won the gold medal. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS.
United States' Michael Phelps fiancee, Nicole Johnson, holds his baby son Boomer during the swimming competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip )
Copyright 2016 U.S. News & World Report
More from US News: Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky Strike Gold in Rio Here's How Many Calories 6 Summer Olympic Sports Burn 7 Olympian-Approved Ways to Eat Healthier | It was all a part of an inside joke. | 248.9 | 0.7 | 0.9 | high | low | abstractive |
http://www.9news.com.au/national/2016/08/11/14/30/melbourne-nun-turns-100 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160812185912id_/http://www.9news.com.au/national/2016/08/11/14/30/melbourne-nun-turns-100 | Melbourne nun celebrates 100th birthday | 20160812185912 | Sister Angela was given an Apostolic Blessing from the Pope. (9NEWS)
Witnessing the arrival of TVs, cars and the internet, a Melbourne nun has celebrated the “biggest day” of her life with not only a letter from the Queen, but an Apostolic Blessing direct from the Pope.
Born Kathleen Mary O’Donoghue in 1916, she became Sister Mary of the Angels when she joined the Sisters of the Good Shepherd at Abbotsford in 1939, before later returning to the Convent in 1961 as Sister Angela.
Sister Angela with her family. (9NEWS)
Today, Sister Angela celebrated becoming a centenarian surrounded by close friends and family at the Mercy Place aged care home in Abbotsford.
Her niece, Mary Ryan, said the family were immensely proud of all she had achieved.
“Her mind and spirit are just so amazing,” Ms Ryan told 9NEWS.
“We’ve got a strong family history of faith that’s passed on down the generations, and she’s really lived that out in the most exemplary way.”
Sister Angela celebrated the big day at the Abbotsford Convent. (9NEWS)
Sister Angela previously spent time as an Executive Assistant at Shell, with an impressive typing speed of 60 words per minute before she entered the Convent.
“[Joining] was the right thing to do,” Sister Angela said.
A letter from the Queen. (9NEWS)
She is also said she is an avid fan of Hawthorn Football Club, since “forever”.
“They’ll win a flag,” she said.
She credits her age and health to “good friendship”.
And with the wisdom of a woman who has lived a rich and fulfilling life, her message to the youth of today is simple: “Go where your heart is”.
© Nine Digital Pty Ltd 2016 | Witnessing the arrival of TVs, cars and the internet, a Melbourne nun has celebrated the “biggest day” of her life with not only a letter from the Queen, but an Apostolic Blessing direct from the Pope. | 8.571429 | 0.904762 | 17.380952 | low | medium | extractive |
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/10/business/dealbook/taking-a-hard-look-at-a-campaign-critical-of-a-fiduciary-rule.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160812231919id_/http://www.nytimes.com:80/2016/06/10/business/dealbook/taking-a-hard-look-at-a-campaign-critical-of-a-fiduciary-rule.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2FAnother+View | Taking a Hard Look at a Campaign Critical of a Fiduciary Rule | 20160812231919 | Last week, the United States Chamber of Commerce was among a number of groups that sued Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez to block a new fiduciary rule.
The fiduciary rule requires money managers who advise tax-advantaged plans like 401(k)’s to put client interests ahead of their own financial interests when recommending investment products. The White House Council of Economic Advisers estimates that as a result of this conflict of interest, workers saving for retirement lose $17 billion a year, much of which flows directly into Wall Street’s coffers.
As a component of its campaign against the rule, the chamber created a webpage featuring 25 small-business leaders and others “speaking out” against the rule. Nearly all argued that the new rule would harm small businesses.
We tried to contact each of the featured small-business leaders. Public Citizen is now publishing a report, “Sacrificing the Pawns,” revealing our findings. Highlights include:
■ One Chicago nonprofit leader did not realize he was listed on the webpage as opposing it and asked us, “Who do I call to get this down?” He said he did not have a view on the rule. He subsequently called the chamber and his name was removed.
■ One small-business owner argued for an even tougher rule.
■ One California small-business owner, who argued on the chamber’s webpage that the current system helped her increase employment at her business over the last 12 years, acknowledged that she had only one employee.
■ Eight people were not small-business owners but were officials at chambers of commerce, paid lobbyists or other officials. We presume their testimonials were added to the chamber’s webpage to pad the numbers.
In brief, we found the chamber’s portrayal of these small-business leaders’ opposition to the fiduciary rule to be misleading and in some cases downright false. Far from a groundswell of grass-roots organizing, the chamber’s list appears to be the product of an AstroTurf campaign.
Featuring small businesses as the public face of its lobbying is central to the chamber’s communications strategy on many issues. The chamber frequently uses small businesses and nonprofits to argue against rules that do not affect them or, as in the case of the fiduciary rule, are explicitly designed to protect them.
The president of the chamber, Thomas Donohue, has acknowledged his strategy of using small-business owners as “foot soldiers” to provide “political cover, for issues big companies want pursued.” As in chess, he is sacrificing the pawns.
In its lawsuit against the fiduciary rule, the chamber cites harms to small businesses. We hope that by exposing the chamber’s charade, courts reviewing the rule will understand that the alleged costs to small business are the imaginings of Washington’s largest and most powerful lobby.
Daniel Dudis is director of Public Citizen’s Chamber Watch and Bartlett Naylor is financial policy advocate for Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division. | A U.S. Chamber of Commerce webpage cites small-business owners supposedly opposed to the new regulation. But the report isn’t all it’s said to be. | 19.066667 | 0.833333 | 1.566667 | medium | medium | mixed |
http://time.com/4126983/richard-dawkins-ahmed-mohamed-isis/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160813111809id_/http://time.com:80/4126983/richard-dawkins-ahmed-mohamed-isis/ | Richard Dawkins Links Ahmed Mohamed to ISIS Killer | 20160813111809 | Richard Dawkins has sparked outrage after comparing Ahmed Mohamed, the Texas teenager whose homemade clock was mistaken for a bomb, to an child forced by the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria to behead his victim.
Mohamed was arrested in September after bringing in a homemade clock to school that was mistaken for a bomb. He has since been honored by Google and visited the White House on U.S. President Barack Obama’s invitation.
Dawkins took to Twitter on Tuesday, in reaction to the news that Mohamed’s family was demanding $15 million in damages and an apology from Irving, Texas, officials over the way the 14-year-old was treated.
Calling Mohamed “Hoax Boy,” Dawkins, a scientist and leading atheist, tweeted that the teenager had “hoaxed his way into the White House.”
Don't call him "clock boy" since he never made a clock. Hoax Boy, having hoaxed his way into the White House, now wants $15M in addition!
— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) November 24, 2015
This is not the first time the evolutionary biologist has been vocal in his belief that teenager’s clock had been a “hoax.” In September, he took umbrage at the use of the word “invention” to describe Mohamed’s work. On Tuesday, he further questioned the teen’s motives of taking a clock out of its case and putting “it in a box.”
@Mukhtarishaq2 He didn't make anything. He opened a clock, took out the innards and put them in a box so they looked like a bomb
— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) November 24, 2015
His tweet was met with a swift response, with users chiding Dawkins for “picking on a kid.” This led to the scientist linking an International Business Times article about a child being forced by ISIS militants to decapitate a Syrian regime army officer. He wrote: “And how old is this “kid”?”
The tweet caused a wave of criticism on the social media site where users charged him of “sloppy thinking” and Islamophobia.
@RichardDawkins I used to look up to you. Your books opened my mind w I was a kid. Now you're doing sloppy reactionary thinking; saddens me.
— Renée Stephen (@ReneeStephen) November 24, 2015
@RichardDawkins Why do you hate Mulims Mr. Dawkins? For some who upholds reason above all, I find your tweets disturbing.
— boringfileclerk (@boringfileclerk) November 24, 2015 | He also said Mohamed "hoaxed his way into the White House" | 37.076923 | 0.846154 | 4.076923 | high | medium | mixed |
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390443589304577635801333547784 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160813115910id_/http://www.wsj.com:80/articles/SB10000872396390443589304577635801333547784 | Tracing Your Roots Via DNA Testing Is Getting Cheaper and Easier | 20160813115910 | Searching for your roots? Tools that help compare your genetic makeup with others' are getting more sophisticated and more affordable.
In recent decades, DNA tests were mainly used to prove paternity. But since 2000, a handful of companies have commercialized tests that connect a wider array of relatives, sometimes going back centuries to find common ancestors.
As recently as 2007, such tests cost as much as $1,000. Today,... | Such tests cost as little as $100 now and can connect you to a wider array of relatives, some of whom lived centuries ago. | 3.074074 | 0.666667 | 2.296296 | low | low | mixed |
http://time.com/4110016/job-interview-salary-negotiation/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160813125049id_/http://time.com:80/4110016/job-interview-salary-negotiation/ | How to Do It During a Job Interview | 20160813125049 | Discussing salary is always a bit uncomfortable — but it’s especially tricky when a hiring manager asks what you currently make during a job interview.
Why? There are a few reasons.
First, maybe they were going to offer you, say, $90,000 — but you tell them you currently make $65,000. Once they hear that, they might decide to offer you just $70,000.
Second, maybe they can only offer you $60,000 because that’s all they have in the budget for this particular position. When you say you currently earn $65,000, they might think they can’t afford you or assume you wouldn’t be willing to take a pay cut, and therefore decide not to move forward with you as a candidate.
Third, if you make much less than the average person in your job, the employer might assume you’re not a highly valued employee. If you’re paid a lot more than the average worker in your position, they might assume you’re overqualified.
And lastly, it’s just awkward to discuss how much you earn, especially with a stranger.
But whether you like it or not, there’s a good chance this question will come up in the interview process.
We spoke to Lynn Taylor, a national workplace expert and the author of Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant: How to Manage Childish Boss Behavior and Thrive in Your Job, who provided tips for handling this query. Here’s what she said:
Enter the interview armed with all the knowledge you can about the salary range for the position, so you’ll put your best foot forward, says Taylor. “Visit salary sites like Payscale.com, Glassdoor.com, Indeed.com, and Salary.com to get insight — but also tap into your contacts on LinkedIn and other networks.”
She suggests talking to people you may know who work at the company, used to work there, or people who know others who have worked at the firm. “Know in advance your desired salary range and try to be realistic based on your research.”
You might be fortunate enough to get the inside scoop during your discussions with HR before getting into the interview. “That would certainly give you a leg up in your salary negotiations,” she says. “But many companies will want to vet your experience more closely before divulging their budget.”
“It’s often a game of who’ll blink first, but it’s well worth trying, using a great deal of diplomacy: ‘Well I’m flexible on salary. The position and its growth potential are much more important to me than compensation. Would you be willing to share the rough salary range you have in mind for this position?'” Taylor suggests.
The interviewer might be easy on you and give you a ballpark. In the worst case, they’ll say, in effect, “I asked you first,” putting you back in the hot seat.
If you think your desired salary is too high, inquire about other compensation factors, such as 401(k)s or vacation policies, versus a higher or equal salary. If your salary is extremely below market (one of the reasons you may be leaving your current job), explain why.
“Maybe you’ve taken on greater responsibility lately, which isn’t yet reflected in your salary, or your department has downsized,” says Taylor. “You don’t want to alarm the interviewer into believing you’re underqualified.”
Either way, you’re adding depth and context to your answer, versus a terse answer: “I make X.” “You’re also dialing down the ‘deal killer meter’ by inviting discussion, talking up your strengths and asking questions,” she says.
Keep in mind that this is one of those opportunities to judge the hiring manager, too, Taylor says. “Do they give you a chance to explain your larger objectives beyond salary, or rush to judgment? A good prospective boss will listen with interest to your true long-term goals. A bad boss will practically abort the interview if you’re even slightly outside the salary parameters — end of story,” she explains. In the latter case, you might have just dodged a big bullet.
If your hiring manager is steadfast and lobs the ball back in your court, just answer truthfully, says Taylor. “But it’s good practice to immediately put back emphasis on the position itself, as an addendum: ‘Compensation is certainly important, but I’m really looking for other factors in my next job, too — such as growth potential and making a difference with a great product and team. Perhaps you can you tell me what is budgeted for the position and we can discuss it?'”
Whatever you do, don’t tell mistruths or exaggerate about your current salary — up or down; it could backfire through a little investigation, she says. “Not only could you lose the opportunity, it could damage your professional reputation.”
7. Keep the focus on your passion for the job
By placing more emphasis on your passion for the position and how you can contribute to their bottom line (i.e., make them money) — versus your salary — you will have their attention and maximize your bargaining power, she says.
“With some advance preparation and the proper strategy, you can warm up this chilly question with a two-way conversation that leads to a meeting of the minds,” Taylor concludes.
This article originally appeared on Business Insider | Be honest and diplomatic | 267.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | high | low | abstractive |
http://www.wsj.com/articles/los-angeles-home-with-beauty-parlor-sells-for-30-million-1421867563 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160813125148id_/http://www.wsj.com:80/articles/los-angeles-home-with-beauty-parlor-sells-for-30-million-1421867563 | Los Angeles Home With Beauty Parlor Sells for $30 Million | 20160813125148 | A newly constructed, roughly 14,700-square-foot home in the Holmby Hills section of Los Angeles, Calif., has sold fully furnished—and with beauty salon included—for $30 million, according to the seller, Stuart Liner.
Mr. Liner, a 52-year-old litigator, and his wife, designer Stephanie Liner, bought the roughly 1-acre property in 2012 for about $9.5 million through a limited-liability company, according to public records. The couple tore down an existing 1930s home on the lot and built this six-bedroom, eight-bathroom... | Newly constructed, the roughly 14,700-square-foot Holmby Hills home also has a pool, tennis court and guesthouse with a gym and screening room | 4.153846 | 0.692308 | 1.307692 | low | low | abstractive |
http://time.com/4298401/netflix-nflix-stock-earnings-report/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160813125241id_/http://time.com:80/4298401/netflix-nflix-stock-earnings-report/ | Netfix Earnings Beat Projections After International Expansion | 20160813125241 | Netflix exceeded its own projections for subscriber growth after rolling out its streaming video service in 130 additional countries in the first quarter of the year.
The company added 4.5 million international subscribers during the quarter; it had projected adding only 4.3 million. In the U.S., Netflix added 2.2 million subscribers, beating its own projections of 1.7 million new members. Overall, the service now has more than 77 million paying members globally.
Revenues for the quarter totaled $1.96 billion, just off analysts’ estimates of $1.97 billion. Earnings were six cents per share, double analysts’ expectations of three cents per share.
In a letter to shareholders, Netflix attributed its strong performance to its growing emphasis on original programming. New shows such as Fuller House and Love debuted during the quarter, as well as returning seasons of existing programs like Daredevil and House of Cards.
Still, the company faces intense pressure from Wall Street to continue growing at a breakneck pace. Netflix stock plunged more than 10% in after-hours trading Monday. That’s not because the firm’s current figures aren’t impressive, but rather because it’s only expecting to add 2.5 million subscribers globally during the second quarter, including a paltry half-million in the United States. Netflix added 3.3 million customers in the second quarter of 2015. | Even though it added millions of new subscribers | 31.375 | 0.625 | 0.625 | medium | low | abstractive |
http://www.wsj.com/articles/bosses-step-in-to-help-workers-find-extra-cash-1464733685 | http://web.archive.org/web/20160813134000id_/http://www.wsj.com:80/articles/bosses-step-in-to-help-workers-find-extra-cash-1464733685? | Bosses Turn to Loans to Help Employees | 20160813134000 | Pam Dimitro, the controller at JNET Communications LLC, realized employees were often turning to payday lenders or high-interest credit cards in a financial pinch.
So the Warren, N.J., employer of call-center workers and cable installers began offering employees a new benefit: low-interest loans to help pay for things such as car repairs and... | Worried about their financially strapped workforce, a handful of companies are stepping in to offer employees alternatives to payday loans and other expensive financial products. | 2.481481 | 0.444444 | 0.518519 | low | low | abstractive |
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/11/world/africa/safari-tour-guide-kenya.html | http://web.archive.org/web/20160813233202id_/http://www.nytimes.com:80/2016/08/11/world/africa/safari-tour-guide-kenya.html?module=WatchingPortal®ion=c-column-middle-span-region&pgType=Homepage&action=click&mediaId=wide&state=standard&contentPlacement=2&version=internal&contentCollection=www.nytimes.com&contentId=http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/11/world/africa/safari-tour-guide-kenya.html&eventName=Watching-article-click&_r=0 | Safari Guide Accused of Killing Tourist in Masai Mara Reserve in Kenya | 20160813233202 | NAIROBI, Kenya — In the vaulted dining room of the Keekorok Lodge, guests gathered Monday night for a feast overlooking one of the most spectacular vistas in Africa: the game-studded Masai Mara National Reserve.
Suddenly an argument broke out at one of the tables, apparently over who was going to sit where. The authorities said an enraged Chinese safari guide whipped out a pocketknife and sank it into the chest of a Chinese tourist, killing her.
On Wednesday, Kenyan police officials said they were holding the safari guide, whom they identified as Li Changquing, 47, a Chinese citizen who speaks little English but decent Swahili, on suspicion of murder.
“I won’t say we are surprised — we are shocked,” said Abdi Jillo Galgalo, a Kenyan police commander. “This is a place where you go to relax with the family and leave the stress behind. We’ve never heard of anyone even slapping someone out here.”
The Masai Mara reserve is one of Africa’s brightest jewels. It is an undulating sheet of wavy grass and thorn trees covering hundreds of square miles, home to lions, leopards, cheetahs, rhinos, zebras, elephants, gazelles, vultures, crocodiles and hippos.
At this time of year, it also hosts thousands of tourists. They flock in from all corners of the world to witness the “Great Migration,” when an estimated 1.5 million wildebeests and zebras trudge across the Masai Mara in seemingly endless herds looking for fresh grass to eat, while being stalked by lions and other predators.
Mr. Galgalo said that he had spoken to the assailant.
“He looks like somebody who has a lot of anger,” Mr. Galgalo said, adding that the assailant was “strong and stout” and did not show much emotion.
The Kenyan authorities said that Mr. Li also attacked the victim’s husband, who remains hospitalized with stab wounds to his stomach. They said that members of the Keekorok Lodge staff rushed to stop Mr. Li before he could kill him.
The Daily Nation, a Kenyan newspaper, reported that Mr. Li had a favorite table at the lodge and that the argument had started after he asked the couple to sit at a different table and they refused.
Mr. Galgalo said that when he asked Mr. Li why he had attacked the couple, the assailant replied in Swahili, “They insulted me.”
Mr. Li, who the Kenyan authorities said was a professional safari guide who had been in the country for several years, is being held in a jail in Narok, a town near the Masai Mara. The reserve is about a six-hour drive west of Nairobi, the capital.
An earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to Li Changquing at several points. He is Mr. Li, not Mr. Changquing.
Follow Jeffrey Gettleman on Twitter @gettleman.
A version of this article appears in print on August 11, 2016, on page A6 of the New York edition with the headline: Safari Guide Is Accused of Killing Kenya Tourist. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe | After an argument broke out at a lodge, apparently over where people would sit, the guide is alleged to have sunk a pocketknife into a woman’s chest. | 19.096774 | 0.806452 | 1.774194 | medium | medium | mixed |
http://time.com/4449934/california-channel-islands-foxes-endangered/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160814001227id_/http://time.com:80/4449934/california-channel-islands-foxes-endangered/ | Cute California Island Foxes Have Made A Dramatic Comeback | 20160814001227 | A small species of fox that lives only on islands off the California coast has made a dramatic comeback from the brink of extinction.
On Thursday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said that the foxes of San Miguel, Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz islands were being taken off the endangered species list, marking the 37th time a subspecies has been de-listed due to recovery. The foxes represent the fastest mammal recovery in the Endangered Species Act’s 43-year history. (The Santa Catalina island fox was downlisted to threatened.)
The foxes, which Christina Boser, the Nature Conservancy’s island fox ecologist, says have a “naive, adorable little personality,” began dying off in Channel Islands in the 19th century when settlers arrived, the Washington Post reports. As the cat-sized animals were picked off by eagles and died of canine distemper, their numbers dropped to fewer than 200 by the late 1990s, a drop of more than 90%. They were declared federally endangered in 2004.
“It’s remarkable to think that in 2004, these foxes were given a 50 percent chance of going extinct in the next decade. Yet here we are today, declaring three of the four subspecies recovered and the fourth on its way,” said Service Director Dan Ashe in a release.
In 2015, there were more than 5,000 foxes on the four islands. | It's the fastest mammal recovery ever recorded | 33 | 0.625 | 2.125 | medium | low | mixed |
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/08/11/do-politicians-exploit-grief/political-candidates-benefit-when-grief-inspires-hope | http://web.archive.org/web/20160814113109id_/http://www.nytimes.com:80/roomfordebate/2016/08/11/do-politicians-exploit-grief/political-candidates-benefit-when-grief-inspires-hope | Political Candidates Benefit When Grief Inspires Hope | 20160814113109 | If you want to understand how important national conventions can be to a presidential candidate then look at the latest round of polls. The well-executed Democratic convention provided a fulcrum for Hillary Clinton that shows her well ahead in most polls -- strength that the Republican convention didn’t give Donald Trump.
The contrast between the two events was stark in tone, and voters noticed. But there is one common denominator each convention employed: the voices of grief. The Democratic and Republican convention had speakers who shared their stories of grief in profound fashion before a national audience. And it may well be the reason the polls turned so dramatically. As Americans we pride ourselves on fairness and righting wrongs. In the case of those who voiced their grief, there is nothing we can do to bring their loved ones back. That is why the voices of the Newtown survivors, law enforcement officers, Mothers of the Movement, as well as Patricia Smith and the Khans are so powerful. There is always a risk that the survivors of tragedy will experience backlash when they share their grief so publicly in such a highly charged political environment. There is never any guarantee they can change minds. But for most the loss suffered far outweighs the risk of political attacks and scrutiny. The worst has happened to them already. That doesn’t mean the slings and arrows of words, the harsh spotlight, and the online trolls don’t cause pain. They most certainly do. But by speaking up, the hope is that it will bring change to ensure others don’t suffer similar losses. So their loss may not be in vain. And that may be the real difference in the two conventions. In the Democratic convention, solutions were offered, including gun control, which had been the focus of the campaign and continues in its wake. In the Republican convention the focus was on blame and criticism, which continues today as well. America is a country built on hope and redemption; the belief that we can always do better and we must. The voices of grief deserve to be heard and they are often the most powerful. The candidate who can harness that powerful message to bring change is the one who will always benefit with voters. It is also the hope of everyone who suffers loss and gives voice to their grief. | When it comes to grief, redemption, not blame or criticism, is the more powerful message that politicians should harness. | 19.173913 | 0.782609 | 1.130435 | medium | low | abstractive |
http://www.aol.com/article/2016/02/22/these-delicious-dessert-tacos-put-the-perfect-twist-on-taco-nigh/21316641/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160814162318id_/http://www.aol.com:80/article/2016/02/22/these-delicious-dessert-tacos-put-the-perfect-twist-on-taco-nigh/21316641/ | These delicious dessert tacos put the perfect twist on taco night | 20160814162318 | Before you go, we thought you'd like these...
Taco night is something I always look forward to at my house.
But even though I love a traditional taco, I am always looking for new and exciting
to try out, like these
And when I spotted this recipe for a delicious chocolate dessert taco, I couldn't wait to make it myself.
Watch the video below to see just how easy it is put a sweet twist on taco night with these ice-cream-filled chocolate tacos.
Will you be making them at home yourself? Let us know in the comments.
this tasty dessert recipe with friends and family! | Everyone loves a traditional taco, soft or crispy, but it's time to take that love to the next level with this unique recipe. | 4.777778 | 0.555556 | 1 | low | low | abstractive |
http://time.com/4288465/lonely-island-will-smith-tribute/ | http://web.archive.org/web/20160814163238id_/http://time.com:80/4288465/lonely-island-will-smith-tribute/ | See The Lonely Island's Will Smith Tribute at MTV Awards | 20160814163238 | Before Will Smith accepted his Generation Award at this weekend’s MTV Movie Awards, the actor and viewers were treated to a musical tribute in his honor from The Lonely Island.
The trio of Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone, who will be seen on screen in the upcoming Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, performed a medley of Smith’s most memorable hits, including “Parents Just Don’t Understand,” “Summertime,” “Men in Black,” and “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It.”
Queen Latifah and Halle Berry were also on hand to celebrate Smith at the Movie Awards ceremony. Accepting the Generation Award, the actor joked that he thought it was code for “old-ass dude award.”
He also used his speech to reflect on his three-decade-long career. “I released my first record when I was 17. This June marks 30 years in this business for me. I really want to say I’m humbled, and I just want all of you to know I’m dedicated to being a light in this world. There’s a lot of suffering – a lot of people are suffering in this world. When you see my material, and when I present myself in public, and what I’m trying to build with my family and friends, I just want all of you to know I’m dedicated until I die to light and to love. So thank you all.”
Head here to see the full list of winners from the MTV Movie Awards, and watch the full Lonely Island performance below.
This article originally appeared on EW.com | Will Smith won the Generation Award | 52 | 0.833333 | 2.166667 | high | medium | mixed |
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