Brittany Hobson APTN NewsFamily, friends and supporters of Colten Boushie are trying to move forward after another shocking blow this week.On Wednesday, the Crown prosecutor’s office said it won’t appeal the not-guilty verdict for Gerald Stanley, the man accused of killing Boushie.Alvin Baptiste, Boushie’s uncle, says the possibility of an appeal was the family’s last chance at justice.Now they no longer have that.“There’s a lot of disappointment,” he said. “A lot of people who feel that all Indigenous people, including my community, feel like they were denied justice again. They keep telling us to have faith but how can we have faith when we were denied justice?”Last month, a 12-person jury found Stanley not guilty in the shooting death of the 22-year-old from Red Pheasant First Nation.In order to appeal, the prosecutor’s office said there has to be an error in law.“The Crown cannot appeal a disagreement over the facts, the interpretation over witness evidence or because a particular perspective leads to the opinion that the verdict was unreasonable,” said senior prosecutor Anthony Gerein.The verdict prompted several cross-Canada rallies in solidarity with the family.Autumn Eaglespeaker was the organizer for the event in Calgary.She disagrees with the crown’s reason for not appealing and says evidence that came out during the trial point to a sloppy investigation.“There are so many things that point to gross errors and for the crown to say that it was handled in the best manner possible is a complete farce,” she said.But the Crown says it cannot use police complaints to grant an appeal.A public investigation has been ordered to investigate police conduct during the case.For now Boushie’s family is looking for a way to move forward.“It’s been hard for the family what we’ve been going through,” said Baptiste. “But we are a strong family and we will continue.”
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Trudeau government lied to Kashechewan as residents flee – ORegan too busy
Nation to NationMost people welcome spring unless you live in Kashechewan.Springtime on the land of the First Nation in northern Ontario can only mean one thing.It’s time to leave.The ice will soon break on the Albany River and the first of 2,500 members were to begin flying out last Monday.“They don’t look forward to spring because spring means uncertainty, spring means losing school and spring may mean losing their home,” said NDP MP Charlie Angus on Nation to Nation Thursday.“That’s not what we should be feeling when we see the temperature change and the sound of geese coming. It is traumatic on a number of levels.”The community was built on a flood plain and the dyke built by the former Harper government doesn’t work, nor can it be fixed said Angus.Things were supposed to change under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Promises were made to move the community to higher ground.But Angus said those promises were never kept.“It’s clear in the (2019 federal budget) there was no money to move people to the high ground and people are feeling like one more time the government has misrepresented the facts to them and lied to them,” said Angus.“Nobody should ever have to leave their homes, certainly not every single year because government doesn’t have a plan.” Nation to Nation wrote the office of Indigenous Services Minister Seamus O’Regan Tuesday inviting the minister on the show to address another year of displaced people in Kashechewan.It was explained the interview could be done on Skype, much like the interview with Angus who was in Timmins, Ont.After not getting a response, a follow-up email was sent Wednesday morning triggering a response from O’Regan’s spokesman, Kevin Deagle, who said he was working on securing a time.Later that afternoon Deagle wrote again.“Unfortunately the Minister does not have availability for an interview today or tomorrow. Can we keep in touch over the next weeks to see if there is an alternative time that works? Thanks!” said Deagle.Over the next weeks?Nation to Nation stressed the urgency to Deagle as people were fleeing and unless it was a personal matter O’Regan should reconsider his availability. No such personal issue was flagged by Deagle, O’Regan simply wasn’t available even via Skype.It was also pointed out that O’Regan’s Facebook page had several funding announcements and selfies in Newfoundland and Labrador through the week when residents were fleeing.Nation to Nation didn’t hear back.Angus said Kashechewan, and even himself, believed this problem would have been addressed by now.“I think what makes this year worse was there was a real sense in 2017, when we signed the new agreement with the government, that maybe the Trudeau government was serious about following through,” he said.“They need a partner and right now that partner is the Trudeau government and they quite frankly have just been like any other government of broken promises and empty words.”N2N@aptn.ca
Minnesota governor sides with environmentalists on pipeline
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Tuesday that his administration will keep pursuing an appeal of an independent regulatory commission’s approval of Enbridge Energy’s plan to replace its aging Line 3 crude oil pipeline across in northern Minnesota, siding with environmental and tribal groups in his biggest and most controversial decision since becoming governor last month.The state Public Utilities Commission approved the project last summer. Then-Gov. Mark Dayton’s Department of Commerce appealed that decision in December, as did several groups opposed to the project. The Minnesota Court of Appeals last week dismissed those appeals as premature and sent the dispute back to the commission for further proceedings. That move forced the Walz administration to take a stand by Tuesday after weeks of studying whether to continue to appeal or let the matter drop.The Commerce Department argued under Dayton that Enbridge failed to provide legally adequate long-range demand forecasts to establish the need for the project, but the commission concluded the Calgary, Alberta-based company met its requirements. Other groups fighting the project say it threatens oil spills in pristine waters in the Mississippi River headwaters region where Native Americans harvest wild rice and claim treaty rights, and that it would aggravate climate change.“When it comes to any project that impacts our environment and our economy, we must follow the process, the law, and the science,” Walz said in a statement. “The Dayton Administration’s appeal of the PUC’s decision is now a part of this process. By continuing that process, our Administration will raise the Department of Commerce’s concerns to the court in hopes of gaining further clarity for all involved.While Line 3 opponents applauded Walz for heeding the department’s concerns, Republican legislative leaders said the Democratic governor made a big mistake. Enbridge said it expects to ultimately prevail.Enbridge wants to replace Line 3, which was built in the 1960s, because it’s increasingly subject to cracking and corrosion, so it can run at only about half its original capacity. It says the replacement will ensure reliable deliveries of Canadian crude to Midwest refineries. It’s already in the process of replacing the Canadian segments and is running the short segment in Wisconsin that ends at its terminal in Superior.Walz had been under increasing pressure to decide whether to fight Enbridge’s plan. On Friday, faith leaders connected with Interfaith Power and Light gathered in his office to urge an appeal, and left gifts of wild rice for him and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, while a mostly Republican group of 77 lawmakers sent him a letter urging him to let the project move forward. Last month , a group of scientists went to Walz’s office to say the project would worsen climate change by facilitating further use of fossil fuels.The appeals court said the next step for opponents was to refile petitions for reconsideration with the commission.At a news conference with other Republican lawmakers, Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka said he was frustrated and surprised that the governor decided to keep up the legal fight. “It only further delays a project that we think will inevitably happen. … The science is sure that this would be environmentally much safer, to replace a 51-year-old pipe with a new pipe,” he said.Opponents of Line 3 urged Walz not to buckle.“This dirty tar sands pipeline would threaten our clean water, communities, and climate, all for the sake of more oil our state does not need. We will continue to urge the administration to do everything in their power to stop Line 3,” Margaret Levin, director of the Minnesota chapter of the Sierra Club, said in a statement.Enbridge called the decision “unfortunate” but said it will continue working with the administration to secure the necessary permits to begin construction while the challenges proceed. While Walz does not control the independent commission, he does control state agencies that issue the permits Enbridge will need.“The Commission’s approval came at the end of a thorough review of the facts, spanning four years, thousands of hours of environmental and cultural study, and substantial public comments. Enbridge believes the Commission will deny petitions for reconsideration as they have in the past,” the company said in a statement.Steve Karnowski, The Associated Press
Mangala sits as vicechair of G24 meeting several proposals made
They also noted that the IMF is central to the Global Financial Safety Net and encouraged greater cooperation between the IMF and the Regional Financial Arrangements. “Commodity prices are stabilizing, providing commodity exporters the opportunity to continue undertaking reforms, rebuild buffers, further diversify their economies and stimulate growth. We remain concerned about the medium-term downside risks, which include a potential increase in protectionism, sudden tightening of global financial conditions, roll back of regulatory reforms, and geopolitical risks. International cooperation and policy coordination in key areas are essential to minimize adverse spillovers on growth and financial markets. Multilateral commitment is necessary to maintain an open, rules-based trading system,” they said. G-24 welcomed the IMF’s review of country experiences in addressing systemic risks arising from volatile capital flows and called for a fair assessment of the intent, content and design of macro-prudential and capital flow management measures available to and used by countries to deal with capital flow volatility.“We call for all countries to implement the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Climate Agreement, reflecting the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, in light of country-specific circumstances and in the context of poverty reduction and sustainable development. Extreme weather events have substantial adverse human and economic consequences in developing countries, in particular LICs and small island states, which have contributed very little to climate change. We call for a strong global response to the recent devastating hurricanes that hit the Caribbean. We call for supporting the efforts of developing countries to cope with and build resilience to climate-related natural disasters. We look forward to developed countries delivering on their commitment to provide US$100 billion per year new and additional financial resources by 2020 to support developing countries’ climate actions. We urge them to authorize the use of reflows to enhance financing from the Clean Technology Funds,” G-24 said.G-24 called for continued support from International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and the international community to developing countries that are disproportionately affected by the refugee crisis, including internally displaced populations, and encourage the continued pursuit of developmental approaches to address this serious challenge. “We welcome the ongoing review of the IMF’s toolkit, including possible new instruments, to meet adequately the liquidity and precautionary needs of its member countries and look forward to its early conclusion. We call for evenhanded surveillance and lending decisions, and for the extension of the mandate of the IMF’s Evenhandedness Committee to include the Fund’s lending activities. More work is needed to address and minimize the stigma attached to IMF’s facilities. We support further work to broaden the role and use of the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) as a reserve currency,” the G-24 members said.In the 2018 review of the IMF’s Facilities for Low-Income Countries (LICs), G-24 supports a more comprehensive engagement with LICs. This includes substantially expanding the resources of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT), increasing access commensurate with countries’ needs, and introducing a precautionary instrument for LICs. Ministers of the Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four on International Monetary Affairs and Development held their ninety-eighth meeting in Washington D.C. yesterday (Thursday) with Abraham Tekeste, Minister of Finance and Economic Cooperation of Ethiopia in the Chair; Mangala Samaraweera, Minister of Finance of Sri Lanka, serving as First Vice-Chair; and Julio Velarde, Governor of the Central Bank of Peru as Second Vice-Chair.At the meeting, the Group of Twenty-Four welcomed the increasing momentum in global growth, trade and investment. The G-24 members noted that emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) will continue to account for the bulk of global growth. G-24 also urged the IMF and the World Bank Group (WBG) to continue strengthening their assistance in improving domestic resource mobilization and enhancing its contribution to inclusive growth through progressive tax policies, as well as more efficient and better targeted public spending. (Colombo Gazette) “We call on IFIs to monitor and address the macroeconomic and development consequences of tightening migration regulations in some countries. We call on IFIs to strengthen their support for conflict affected, fragile, and small states, including deploying innovative financial instruments and partnerships. While we welcome global efforts against money laundering and financing of terrorism, we call for more concrete global actions to address the decline of correspondent banking relationships in some countries. We call for stronger multilateral cooperation to effectively combat illicit financial flows,” G-24 said.
Federal Reserve raises key interest rate by quarterpoint ending 7 years of
WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve is raising interest rates from record lows set at the depths of the 2008 financial crisis, a shift that heralds modestly higher rates on some loans.The Fed coupled its first rate hike in nine years with a signal that further increases will likely be made slowly as the economy strengthens further and inflation rises from undesirably low levels.Wednesday’s action signalled the central bank’s belief that the economy has finally regained enough strength 6 1/2 years after the Great Recession ended to withstand modestly higher borrowing rates.“The Fed’s decision today reflects our confidence in the U.S. economy,” Chair Janet Yellen said at a news conference.The Fed said in a statement after its latest meeting that it was lifting its key rate by a quarter-point to a range of 0.25 per cent to 0.5 per cent. Its move ends an extraordinary seven-year period of near-zero borrowing rates. But the Fed’s statement suggested that rates would remain historically low well into the future, saying it expects “only gradual increases.”“The Fed reaffirmed that the pace of rate hikes would be slow,” James Marple, senior economist at TD Economics wrote in a research note. “The Fed’s expectations for rate hikes next year are set alongside a relatively cautious and entirely achievable economic outlook.”Stocks closed up sharply higher. The Dow Jones industrial average, which had been up modestly before the announcement, gained 224 points, or 1.3 per cent, for the day.The bond market didn’t react much. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose slightly to 2.29 per cent.Rates on mortgages and car loans aren’t expected to rise much soon. The Fed’s benchmark rate doesn’t directly affect them. Long-term mortgages, for example, tend to track 10-year U.S. Treasury yields, which will likely stay low as long as inflation does and investors keep buying Treasurys.But rates on some other loans, like credit cards and home equity credit lines, will likely rise, though probably only slightly as long as the Fed’s rate hikes remain modest.Shortly after the Fed’s announcement, major banks began announcing that they were raising their prime lending rate from 3.25 per cent to 3.50 per cent. The prime rate is a benchmark for some types of consumer loans such as home equity loans. Wells Fargo was the first bank to announce the rate hike.Among other things, the Fed’s low-interest rate policies have helped jump-start auto sales, which are on track to reach a record 17.5 million this year. And the Fed’s first hike may not slow them.Steven Szakaly, chief economist for the National Automobile Dealers Association, says dealers will press financing companies to keep loan rates low. And competition for buyers will spur them to take other steps to hold down rates, such as accepting lower profits.“The rate squeeze will happen between the dealer and its finance company rather than the dealer and the consumers,” Szakaly said. “Consumers won’t even feel it.”For months, Yellen and other Fed officials have said they expected any rate hikes to be small and gradual. But nervous investors have been looking for further assurances.Yellen indicated that Wednesday’s rate hike was partially defensive. If rates stayed at near zero, the Fed might not have the tools to combat a recession.“We’ve worried about the fact that with interest rates at zero, we have less scope to respond to negative shocks,” she said at her news conference.When growth struggles, the Fed often cuts rates to help increase the amount of cash flowing through the economy. But by staying close to zero, the Fed would be unable to cut rates or it would be forced to have negative rates for the first time in its history.An updated economic forecast released with the policy statement showed that Fed officials predict that their target for the federal funds rate — the rate that banks charge on overnight loans — will end next year slightly above 1 per cent. That is in line with the consensus view of economists.The Fed’s action was approved by a unanimous vote of 10-0, giving Yellen a victory in achieving consensus.The statement struck a generally more upbeat tone in its assessment of the economy. It cited “considerable improvement” in the job market. And it expressed more confidence that inflation, which has been running well below the Fed’s 2 per cent target, would begin rising. It suggested this would happen as the effects of declines in energy and import prices fade and the job market strengthens further.In addition to the funds rate, the Fed is raising three other rates: It lifted the interest it pays on the reserves that banks hold at the Fed to 0.5 per cent from 0.25 per cent. It raised the rate it pays on a type of short-term loan to 0.25 per cent from 0.05 per cent. The Fed plans to use those two rates to help meet its new higher target for the funds rate.In addition, it announced a quarter-point increase in its discount borrowing rate to 1 per cent from 0.75 per cent. This is the rate banks pay when they borrow emergency loans from the central bank. This rate typically moves up in conjunction with the Fed’s benchmark rate.___AP Business Writers Paul Wiseman and Josh Boak in Washington and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to this report.___Watch AP video: https://youtu.be/e8fwVFSgx9E by Martin Crutsinger, The Associated Press Posted Dec 16, 2015 12:08 pm MDT Last Updated Dec 16, 2015 at 10:20 pm MDT AddThis Sharing ButtonsShare to TwitterTwitterShare to FacebookFacebookShare to RedditRedditShare to 電子郵件Email Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen answers a question during a news conference in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015, following an announcement that the Federal Reserve raised its key interest rate by quarter-point, heralding higher lending rates in an economy much sturdier than the one the Fed helped rescue in 2008. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) Federal Reserve raises key interest rate by quarter-point, ending 7 years of near-zero rates
Map of the worlds top 100 websites
Websites seem so disconnected from the places where they are based, but for each and every one there is a person (or group of people) sitting somewhere and working away on them. This is especially true of the net’s largest sites, all of which need teams of people to maintain them. So where are the world’s top 100 sites based?According to Google Ad Planner the top 100–from Facebook to the Japanese version of MSN.com–are very much clustered. There are a few surprise locations, like Bentonville, Arkansas (Walmart), but most sites are clustered in and around big cities. The Bay Area has the plurality, with 26 sites, but then we also see other big ones, likes Seattle, Beijing, and Tokyo as all being centers of activity. Make sure to zoom in though, as the maps cluster locations at higher levels (for example SF is combined with Seattle if you are zoomed out too much).Give it some time, it’s definitely worth poking around, guessing which sites are in which locations and learning, say, which of the world’s 100 largest sites is located in Kiev.Map of Top 100 Websites Worldwide
Windows Phone 8 prêt pour défier toute concurrence
Windows Phone 8 prêt pour défier toute concurrence ?Microsoft aurait présenté son prochain système mobile à ses partenaires. Le blog Pocketnow.com aurait récupéré quelques infos…Le nom de ce fameux système: Apollo. Ce dernière permettra aux fabricants d’utiliser de nombreuses capacités de leurs smartphones, notamment au niveau matériel. Les mobiles qui embarqueront Windows Phone 8 pourront avoir différentes tailles d’écran, être multi-core, le NFC sans-fil sera pris en charge également. En terme d’application, le code de ce système nouvelle génération sera presque similaire à celui de l’interface Metro sur Windows 8 notre photo), semble expliquer Microsoft, et plus précisement au niveau du kernel, de la couche de connectivité, de la sécurité ou encore de la prise en charge multimédia. Microsoft aurait annoncé la compatibilité avec des logiciels comme Zune (qui aurait une nouvelle application Xbox Companion) et SkyDrive ainsi qu’Internet Explorer 10 (avec compression des pages sur les serveurs de la firme).Le géant américain ne s’arrêterait pas là et travaillerait actuellement sur des applications natives, ce qui inciterait les éditeurs à faire le portage de leurs jeux iOS ou Android sur le nouveau système de Microsoft. De même, pour les professionnels, Apollo serait plus chiffré, plus sûr, ce qui pousserait les sociétés à déployer leurs applications internes sans problème. A en croire ces informations, Microsoft tenterait donc de frapper un grand coup sur le marché du mobile avec son système nouvelle génération très polyvalent qui risquerait donc de plaire fortement aux fabricants. Apollo devrait arriver fin 2012 sur le marché. IOs et Android n’auront qu’à bien se tenir.Le 3 février 2012 à 21:00 • Maxime Lambert
Einsteins Theory of Relativity Confirmed 100 Years Later
Albert Einstein’s idea of gravitational microlensing was first proven in 1919, when astronomers noticed background stars were displaced by the eclipsed sun.Now, nearly 100 years later, Einstein’s general theory of relativity has been confirmed again.An international research team led by Kailash C. Sahu this week published what is believed to be the first report of a particular type of “gravitational microlensing” by a star outside the solar system.In the early 20th century, Einstein predicted that if two stars aligned exactly, the background star would be distorted by the gravity of the foreground star, creating a so-called “Einstein ring” of light.But what Sahu & Co. found was an asymmetrical version of an Einstein ring: The distant star appeared off-center from its true position.“This part of Einstein’s prediction is called ‘astrometric lensing,’ and Sahu’s team was the first to observe it in a star other than the Sun,” according to Terry Oswalt of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.Sahu, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Maryland, used the Hubble Space Telescope on eight dates between October 2013 and ’15 to measure shifts in a distant star as its light was deflected around nearby white dwarf star Stein 2051 B—the sixth-closest white dwarf to the Sun.To a layperson, the news sounds like gibberish. But among astronomers, these findings are hugely significant.The research “solves a long-standing mystery about the mass and composition of Stein 2051 B,” Oswalt said, adding that “we now know [it] is perfectly normal.”Perhaps more importantly, this new tool “will be very valuable,” according to Oswalt, an astronomer and chair of the Department of Physical Sciences at Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach campus.Over the next decade, stargazers like Sahu and Oswalt will continue high-definition monitoring, keeping their fingers crossed for more chance alignments.“Einstein would be proud,” Oswalt said. “One of his key predictions has passed a very rigorous observational test.” Applying Einstein’s Equivalence Principle to the Rest of the UniverseStephen Hawking’s Big Bang: Final Theory Published Posthumously Stay on target
Photo of Lake Stevens man at Boston bombings goes viral
EVERETT — A 78-year-old Washington state man running his third Boston Marathon was near the finish line when he was knocked down by one of two bomb blasts and caught in a news photograph that quickly went viral.Bill Iffrig, of Lake Stevens, told The Herald of Everett that he heard a noise Monday and found himself on the ground.“It was only 5 feet away from me,” he said. “It was really loud.”He said he ended up with a scrape on his knee, and that a race official helped him to his feet.A photo of Iffrig on the ground in front of three Boston police officers has been picked up by news sources around the country and internationally. Iffrig said most of the other runners near the area weren’t as close to the explosion as he was. He walked across the finish line and another half-mile to his hotel. Iffrig said of his proximity to the explosion that it was a “close one” and the experience “scared” him.The runner’s son, Mark Iffrig, of Seattle, told The Associated Press he was tracking his father’s race progress online and didn’t realize what had happened until he went on Facebook to post about his dad finishing the race. He quickly turned on the TV and called his dad.
Missing Child Alert issued for 17yearold Homestead girl
Copyright 2019 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Please share this post A Florida Missing Child Alert has been issued for 17-year-old Cashe Westbrook of Dade County. pic.twitter.com/VGS7nQuQOI— FDLE (@fdlepio) December 25, 2018Westbrook was last seen in the area of the 1900 block of 19th Ave., wearing a gray and blue hooded sweater, ripped blue jeans, white socks and Champion flip flops.According to officials, the girl has a black ankle monitor, medium length dreads and may be carrying a multi-colored backpack.If you have any information on Westbrook’s whereabouts, you are asked to contact 911 or the Homestead Police Department at (305) 247-1535. HOMESTEAD, FLA. (WSVN) – Authorities are asking for the public’s help in locating a missing girl from Homestead last seen on Christmas Eve.A Florida Missing Child Alert was issued Tuesday for 17-year-old Cashe Westbrook. Christmas Day, she remains missing.
Cant Pay Your Student Loans The Government May Come After Your House
James Yang for NPROn Adriene McNally’s 49th birthday in January, she heard a knock on the door of her modest row-home in Northeast Philadelphia.She was being served.“They actually paid someone to come out and serve me papers on a Saturday afternoon,” she says.The papers were from a government lawsuit that represents something more than just an unwelcome birthday gift — it’s an example of a program the federal government has brought to 19 cities around the country including Brooklyn, Detroit, Miami and Philadelphia: suing to recover unpaid student loans, like the ones McNally owes.Every day, 3,000 people default on their federal student loans — and those lack of payments amount to an unpaid bill of $137 billion for the federal government. For decades, the government has tried to get borrowers to pay up by hiring debt collection agencies to call and send letters. But now the government is trying this new lawsuit strategy.McNally filed for bankruptcy in 2006 and cleared out all her creditors — except for student loans, which are nearly impossible to get rid of in bankruptcy. As she and many others have found out, it’s not easy escaping federal student loan debt.“Your whole body heats up with frustration,” McNally says. “I’m so frustrated over all this. It’s been so many years that they’ve been sending me mail and threatening me on the phone.”In the last two years, more than 3,300 student loan borrowers have been sued after defaulting, according to the Department of Justice. In nearly every one of those suits, the borrower loses and the government wins.What does the government win? A lien on the borrower’s assets — meaning that the debt is now attached to his or her most valuable belongings, like a home.Jennifer Schultz, an attorney with Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, says that a lien traps a person, like house-handcuffs.“I describe a lien as a kind of marker on the house,” Schultz says. “Any time a person tries to do a transaction involving their house — a new mortgage, a refinance, or if they try to sell it — they’re going to be expected to clear up any debt that’s attached to that house.”The government has long been able to garnish wages, take income tax returns and divert Social Security and disability benefits. But targeting property is a way of applying even more pressure to get former students to pay up.“It’s to try to awaken the avoider from their slumber,” says Drew Salaman, a debt-collection attorney in Philadelphia.Salaman doesn’t work with student loans, but he’s familiar with debt avoidance. He says some of the borrowers are playing “catch me if you can.” These lawsuits ensure that people take responsibility for their debts.“After all,” he says, “if we don’t have systems in place to recover debts, how can credit be extended?”The end result of these suits — the liens — can be seriously threatening to borrowers. For many it’s a matter of housing preservation, says Joanna Darcus, an attorney on the student loan team at the National Consumer Law Center.“For folks already living on the margins financially, the fear of losing that house can be palatable,” Darcus says.Once a lien is in place, the government can force the sale of a former student’s home. That’s “exceedingly rare,” officials say, but it does sometimes happen.The federal lawsuit program is expected to keep expanding, and with more than 8 million people currently behind on their federal student loans, it doesn’t look like the private firms will run out of work any time soon.Copyright 2017 WHYY, Inc.. To see more, visit WHYY, Inc.. Share
Kirk Whalums Gospel According to Jazz Invokes Divine Encounters
Kirk Whalum, Grammy Award-winning jazz musician. (Facebook Photo by Anna Webber)WASHINGTON — Kirk Whalum, the Memphis-born, Grammy Award-winning jazz musician whose saxophone has accompanied and legendary singers Whitney Houston, Barbara Streisand, Al Jarreau and Luther Vandross, guitarist Larry Carlton and music producer Quincy Jones, is back with a new album/docu-musical entitled The Gospel According to Jazz, Chapter IV. “The Gospel According to Jazz is about the radical hospitality of the creator, God, and the welcome that he has gone out of his way toissue to every human being,” Whalum said during an interview during his recent visit to the Washington area. “It’s a creative way of presenting that.” This new installment, which follows three other highly successful “Gospel According to Jazz” albums, combines concert film with a documentary that addresses some pressing contemporary issues, including healthcare, homelessness and gun violence with what Whalem said is Christian love, peace, and redemption.“I think Jesus would be very upset about a volunteer policeman accidentally killing someone, or a policeman in South Carolina shooting somebody in the back as they’re running away as if they’re some kind of animal,” Whalum said, referencing the recent shootings of unarmed black men Eric Harris and Walter Scott.It was gun violence that inspired him to cover this topic in his work, he said. It was the December 2012 shooting in Newtown, Conn., in which 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children and 6 adult staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School.“For me it was more so the demographic,” he said. “It was little kids. It could have been any color kids. Something about that setting where you’ve got little kids in their little elementary school and someone comes in with an assault weapon. That is what really just got me going.”The events at Sandy Hook have made him question one of the tenants of the Constitution.“How can we say that [the right to bear arms] is fundamental to our culture as a country?” he mused. “I question if everyone should be able to bear arms, and not even get into assault weapons. They would classify me as radically left. I don’t think that’s left at all.”Whalum has moved back to Memphis, where he said he enjoys volunteering helping the homeless.“I endeavor to live in solidarity with the marginalized,” he said. “In my lane, it happens to be homeless people. I’m a volunteer barber at a place called Manna House in Memphis.”Founded in 2005, Manna House offers homeless people access to showers, clothing, gently used walking shoes, and of course, haircuts three days a week.“We share humanity,” he said. “It’s not about us giving charity, which is a downward motion. It’s more like I am endeavoring to create a space where we can all give.” Whalum says, describing the way he shares his grooming skills in exchange for the chance to learn from someone’s incredible story, for example.Some of the stories he has learned and some of the people he has met have influenced his music.His new album includes tributes to some of Whalum’s family, friends, influencers and heroes, including Nelson Mandela, President Barack Obama, the late bassist Waymon Tisdale, composer and singer Curtis Mayfield and saxophonist John Coltrane.It also includes keyboardist George Duke, who performed on the three previous installments of The Gospel According to Jazz, but died before he could contribute to them most recent album.The second song on the album is Whalum’s rendition of Paul McCartney’s hit song “Let ‘Em In.”“That song is axiomatic to what it is to issue forth the welcome for people to know their God,” Whalum said. “He does not want you to jump through any hoops. God does not have a form for you to fill out. There is no purity test.”It’s all a part of what Whalum calls the “radical welcome of God,” which he said is the central theme of his latest musical feat.
DC Native Opens New Market Place in Ward 7
District native Mary Blackford is set to premiere the Market 7 Flea Market on July 30 in the parking lot of 3701 Benning Road, NE. Market 7 Flea is a grassroots initiative structured to provide food and retail options that are currently unavailable in Ward 7. The launch will include various other Black food and retail businesses in the District.Mary Blackford started a flea market in Ward 7 in an effort to get residents to eat healthier. (Courtesy photo)“I’m blessed enough to have a job that pays enough for me to kind of go around the city and live in multiple areas of the city. A lot of people don’t. So, they’re subject to the retail options over there and I don’t think that’s right. And so, the only way to fix it is to essentially gentrify and move them out. But I’m like, well then there goes my community. So, I’m like there has to be a medium here. There has to be a way to keep people in their homes and keep the culture here and then also have sustainable places for us to eat, shop, and grow,” Blackford told the AFRO.Eager to preserve the people and culture of Ward 7, Blackford looked for Black businesses interested in bringing their talents and services in closer proximity to East of the River residents. The concept of Market 7 was inspired not only by the desolate needs of Ward 7 residents, but also by a trip Blackford took to Ghana in 2011.Blackford attended the Business and Finance Academy at HD Woodson Senior High School in Northeast D.C. While studying at Babson College in Massachusetts, Blackford and fellow students had the opportunity to teach an entrepreneurship course in Takoradi, a small fishing district of Ghana. It was during this visit that Blackford witnessed community members operating their own centralized market, serving as the hub of their community. Blackford said she was determined to duplicate this efficient model to her own Black community in Ward 7.“Ghana is like little hustle nation. People don’t get jobs, they start businesses. And so, what is so cool about the community is that they have a centralized market place. Although the community wasn’t rich it had its total autonomy and it owned everything around it because they provided everything they need themselves, so all-natural resources, all food, their clothing, all products you need you could get from this centralized market,” Blackford said.Once Blackford returned from her travels and moved back home to Ward 7, she discovered exactly how disparaged her community was after comparing it to what she had learned. As a vegetarian, she faced difficulty finding healthy food options close to her home. These conditions, which do not support healthy living, motivated her to attend Advisory Neighborhood Commission meetings to speak on the lack of food and retail in her home community.“People want to see a thriving city, but often-times the cost of that is a high one. It’s not cheap to change a city over or neighborhood over. And so, what people generally do when they want to change over a community is that you know, you raise property values, you build nice, fancy condos, and that attracts retail and that attracts a certain level of investments. And then you see kind of the community change over and that’s what we’ve been seeing all around the city. What is so dissatisfying about that is you see the native culture go out,” Blackford said.Market 7 Flea will be showcasing a variety of local businesses such as local Black Farmers, providing fresh food for residents to purchase, as well as clothing, jewelry, art, skin care, and more. As of July 18, market vendors include: G Styles (African clothing), Earl’s Closet (vintage clothing), Bailiwick Clothing (clothing), Shea Yeleen (beauty and skin care), BINC Hair (hair care), Chloe (book seller), Nail Glam by Jove Co. (beauty/nail care), Jude’s Farm Stand (UDC- farmer), Mr. Carltion’s Ice Cream (food), Brown Girl Prints (art), Carrots DC (art/photography).
Samsung is going to stop Galaxy Note 7 explosions with a software
Samsung has a bit of a nightmare on its hands at the moment due to the faulty batteries that shipped with the recently released Galaxy Note 7. They overheat, they explode, and they are causing serious harm to some owners. So risky is using a Note 7 that the FAA has asked people not to use them on aircraft. Meanwhile, Samsung has suspended sales while it voluntarily recalls 2.5 million handsets.Even with the recall underway, the word hasn’t got out to all owners and injuries are still happening. So Samsung looks set to take a further, more drastic step through a software update.This update will introduce a relatively simple change: it limits the battery charge to 60%. So you’ll experience significantly less battery life when using your Note 7, but at the same time it avoids the whole issue of the handset exploding in your hand or pocket. It also introduces a nice added incentive to get the battery replaced, because you won’t be able to avoid noticing 40% less battery life each day.The software fix is currently only confirmed for South Korean users, with the update being made available on September 20. I can’t see a reason why Samsung wouldn’t also make it available to all other regions where faulty handsets were sold, though. Replacement batteries are set to start shipping the day before on September 19, again in South Korea first.Recalls and replacement programs are always difficult and costly. If Samsung hasn’t yet, then it would do well to start sending out regular text alerts to every Note 7 reminding owners their device is dangerous. Combined with the terrible battery life being introduced, I’m sure most owners will soon opt to go through the hassle of replacing their Note 7.
Discussing hard hitting realities of religion
At a time when India and Pakistan are at loggerheads, individuals from a broad spectrum converged over a single stage recently to discuss and raise questions around what religion in our country means, the meaning of being a Muslim in India, and how appearance determine the caste of a person. Organised by The Raza Foundation at the India International Centre, the programme titled ‘Vichar Vinod’ witnessed young intellectuals and academics raise their voice and ask ‘what is the question’, when we talk about Muslims, caste, religion and citizenship in India. Also Read – Add new books to your shelfProfessor Apoorvanand of the Delhi University initiated the discussion with an appeal to the Indian government to use the opportunity of the release of Indian Air Force pilot Abhinandan Varthaman to have an honest dialogue with Pakistan and come to a peaceful conclusion which does not entail war. “The discussion today is taking place at a time when there are rising tensions about the possibility of war between India and Pakistan. We all convey our deep worries about the possibility of war between India and Pakistan,” he said. Also Read – Over 2 hours screen time daily will make your kids impulsiveAs all the members of the conference agreed to what the Professor said, ‘Vichar Vinod’ further progressed to discussing if religion is in crisis. Speaking on the same issue, Sanjay Srivastava asserted that there is a new religious movement like the Art of Living and Dera Sacha Sauda cropping up now, which is based on the ‘amalgamation of culture and consumerism which is feeding ideas to the modern middle class’. “The Swami Narayan movement which culminated in the form of Akshardham temple and many other temples is a perfect example of consumerism being offered in the form of spirituality. As new middle class wants to be a global citizen, they adapt the change rapidly,” Srivastava further added. Another speaker, Valay, added that people have gone astray from the true path of what religion used to be and that now Godmen use ancient religious scripts for political gains and material benefits. Irfanullah Farooqui, Huma Hasan, Heba Ahmad, and Amir Ali meanwhile raised the various commonly ignored problems faced by the people of the Muslim community in India, with Farooqui asserting that in the 21st century in India, ‘religious looks lead to a kind of performative anxiety.’ Grown up in communal hit city Aligarh, Heba Ahmed, on the other hand pointed out the ‘narrow perspective’ of the media of looking at Muslim women just because of their religion and how, after 2014, the love for Muslim women suddenly grew and everyone was talking about ‘rescuing’ Muslim women from atrocities. Amir Ali expressed that being a liberal on top of being a Muslim is difficult. Apart from that, the session also witnessed Umar Khalid joining the discussion about citizenship in the country, and focused mainly on the rural and tribal parts of the country by saying that one has to bring in a more historical and democratic approach within the system of gram sabha and tribals for more equality.
The New World of InnovationasaService
November 10, 2017 Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Free Workshop | August 28: Get Better Engagement and Build Trust With Customers Now This hands-on workshop will give you the tools to authentically connect with an increasingly skeptical online audience. Technological disruption is shattering all those truisms we’ve held on to for so long: Social media has cast new meaning on the phrase, “A stranger is just a friend you’ve never met.”Related: How Crowdsourcing Can Help You With Ideas, Content and LaborThe explosion in cryptocurrencies has made expressions like “Another day, another dollar” somewhat antiquated.And if you’ve been holding any Bitcoin of late, the last few weeks have been a deluge of cyber wealth.But here is a truism that seems impervious to all this technological disruption: “You can’t capture lightning in a bottle.” We generally understand this to mean that genius can’t be shackled and turned into a process. Brilliant ideas will happen on their own, not pulled from the mind under duress.Yet there is a growing community of entrepreneurs and academics who think that genius can be distilled into a process. What if lightning could be captured in a bottle? What if the exasperating pursuit of breakthrough ideas and technologies could be distilled into the push of a button or an act as simple as scrolling through an app like Instagram?Of course I am oversimplifying this a touch, but the concept is one that is actually attainable, according to technology transfer expert Clifford Gross whom I caught up with the other day on the phone.Innovation is driving companies to look outside their interrnal R&D teams, said Gross, who is the founder and CEO of Tekcapital, a University IP company. “There is only so much creative production that can be demanded from a finite number of people,” he said. “In the end, companies will find that the vast majority of innovation taking place in their industry is occurring outside of their own four walls, however advanced their innovation system.”Related: 5-Step Guide to Crowdsourcing Like a ProAcknowledging that most of the innovation happening in the world is taking place outside of the confines of your company will not be particularly meaningful for that company unless you have some way to harness it. Now, thanks to technology, you do.Crowdsourcing, the process of relying on large, unstructured groups of people to create a single, structured outcome, is being applied to numerous tasks with great success. From Kickstarter to Mechanical Turk, we’re seeing the power of harnessing groups of minds to accomplish big things. Now, businesses are working to harness the crowd to expedite innovation.Recently, for example, General Electric launched GE Fuse, an open-innovation platform that seeks the input of engineers all over the world to solve technical challenges.“The ultimate goal is to accelerate product and technology development,” Amelia Gandara, community leader at Fuse, told Forbes. “This is truly a community of curious minds eager to apply their technical skills to a project that challenges them as engineers, scientists and problem-solvers.”By leveraging the resources of the crowd, the amount of brain power being applied to any given problem can be exponentially increased. In the case of GE, the problem itself is determined by the company, at which point the crowd begins to work on it. But for many entrepreneurs who do not have the resources or funds to organize their own “crowd,” it is better to see what good ideas the crowd already has.To do that, entrepreneurs need to find ways to gather, collate, and disseminate breakthroughs.“Of the 15,000 research institutions in the world, about 4,000 produce 80 percent of the world’s new university IP,” Gross explained. “By leveraging a search algorithm that surfaces new research coming out of these institutions, it is possible to disseminate the biggest technological advances in the world in near-real time.”The ability to capture new innovations from the university knowledge pool and make them accessible to the corporate world is essentially ‘innovation-as-a-service.’”Innovation? It’s always been an arms race. Since the time before Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla battled over the right to take electric-current technology to market, entrepreneurs have been scrambling to stay ahead. In the 20th century, companies spent billions of dollars on sophisticated R&D departments.Related: Driving Innovation With CrowdsourcingMore recently, acquisitions have become a central part of staying ahead. Capturing innovation from the crowd is now streamlined enough to become a part of any company’s survival kit. But because there is no finish line in the race to get ahead, we can expect innovation-as-a-service to continue evolving.Manesh Nair, writing for Entrepreneur, explained it this way: “Ninety-five percent of startups fail within their first year due to lack of any new ideas,” he wrote. “So, clearly, every startup needs to make innovation a part of its DNA, if it wants to get ahead of competitors and retain that position.” 5 min read Enroll Now for Free
Cher spills tea on Broadway musical The Cher Show
The Believe singer has hinted the production will be highly personal, saying: ‘You have to know something more about me after the musical. That’s important to me.’Asked by the NYT if the show’s premise – a teenage Cher, pop star Cher, and mature Cher interacting – was her idea, the star replied: ’No, that was the idea of Rick Elice [the show’s book writer] always had.‘It was what kept me coming back to him. It took years to develop this show. But I think it’s a great idea because I’ve lived for so long that I really have been distinct personalities.’ Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:Like Loading… Cher in the album artwork for Dancing Queen | Photo: Dancing Queen Read the full article on Gaystarnews: :https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/cher-spills-tea-on-broadway-musical-the-cher-show/ GAYSTARNEWS- Cher furthermore added of actress Micaela Diamond, who will play teen Cher character: ‘[She] is so brilliant. She just graduated from high school, and it was either go to college or come do this show. She took a big gamble. And she’s so much like me when I was young that she doesn’t even have to do anything. But they’re all working to find me at different points in my life. That’s the great hook.’Cher serves as a co-producer on the musical.‘Sometimes you break down’Further elaborating on the show, Cher added: ‘I want it to be true and fun and like life is: sometimes you’re great, and sometimes you’re pathetic. Sometimes you’re tired, and sometimes you break down. It should be like that. And nothing should be glossed over.’The Cher Show opens in New York City on 3 December.Before then, Cher will release Dancing Queen, her album of ABBA covers, on 28 September.FIRST LISTEN REVIEW: Cher’s new single is the gayest thing we’ve ever heard Got a news tip? Want to share your story? Email us . eTN Chatroom for Readers (join us) Cher has opened up about the eagerly-anticipated Broadway musical inspired by her life.
Cozumel looking to install 40 security cameras for 2019
“We contribute 20 percent of the total, which this year was 11 million peso,” she said noting that there are 209 police members that the corporation has who would benefit from the Fortaseg.Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) Cozumel, Q.R. — The director of public safety projects for Cozumel says they want to install 40 security cameras and are hoping to send a financial proposal in February. “We have seven cameras and we want to place 40. If everything goes well, it could be done in the first quarter,” she explained. This project, unlike the previous ones, would be integral and include a request for resources for the purchase and maintenance of cameras. She says this is what happened with the first installation of security cameras on the island, adding that city council plans to request resources from the state to install new cameras. “We make the proposal and in February we present ourselves in Mexico to validate the proposal and see if there is any change,” she said adding that it could be between 10 and 14 million peso. Nancy Velázquez Arita, director of public safety projects for city hall, says they currently have only seven cameras but would like to have 40. She explained that when resources for things like security cameras were budged in the past, the budget did not include maintenance. She noted they would carry out this project with Fortaseg money (Programa de Fortalecimiento para la Seguridad), adding that they are waiting for the requirements to submit their proposal to the executive sdecretariat of the National Public Security System in February. 
Tourism vital to economy
Tourism Research Australia has released its Tourism Businesses in Australia report for June 2010 to June 2012, revealing that there were approximately 280,000 businesses in Australia in June 2012. International visitor arrivals are forecast to grow 5.8 percent in 2013−14 to 6.6 million, while domestic visitor nights are forecast to increase by 2 percent in 2013−14 to 293 million. In related news, the outlook for the Australian tourism industry has been upgraded according to Tourism Research Australia’s new Tourism Forecasts, released last week. These businesses represented 13 percent of Australia’s 2.1 million businesses. The report also revealed that growth in tourism businesses was generally limited to Melbourne and Sydney between June 2010 and June 2012, while regional areas across all states suffered a decline. “While the number of tourism businesses fell by 2,900 (or 1 percent) in June 2012, their contribution to tourism’s gross value added per business increased by around 13 percent,” Tourism Research Australia chief economist Dr Leo Jago said. Australia’s tourism businesses contribute immensely to the nation’s economy, despite the number of businesses falling last year, according to new research. Source = ETB News: P.T. “This reminds policymakers and industry that tourism businesses – large or small, play a significant role in the economy,” Dr Jago said. More than 90 percent of tourism businesses are small – possessing between 1 and 19 employees – while the remaining 10 percent are medium to large businesses. However, the medium to large businesses generate more than two thirds of total overall revenue. Image: ETB News “The fall in the Australian dollar is expected to lead to increased inbound tourism and reduce the growth in outbound tourism, which should benefit the domestic market”, Dr Jago said.
Thomas Cook India furthers facilities under clicks and bricks model
Thomas Cook India has revealed the progress of its so-called ‘clicks and bricks’ distribution strategy, which aims to serve the needs of India’s second and third tier cities with technology-enabled travel stores.The clicks and bricks model provides customers with a range of travel-related products and services, including foreign exchange, visas and insurance, combining human travel agents with in-store technology such as tablet devices. So far in 2015, the company has set up 33 new stores across the country, including locations in Amritsar, Ahmednagar, Bareily, Nellore, Ranchi, Palarivattam, Ludhiana and Valachery.“At Thomas Cook India, we foresee significant growth emerging from ‘Middle India’ and hence were quick to transition to online and online-assisted selling via our focused hybrid omni-channel ‘brick and click’ model,” said Madhavan Menon, Managing Director of Thomas Cook India. “Our technology assisted outlets will operate via tablets and mobile apps that enable transactions across the Thomas Cook range of products and services, including domestic and international holidays, flights, hotels, insurance and foreign exchange”, he added.Citing a McKinsey report, Thomas Cook said that India’s middle class is set to reach 43.6 million households by 2025.“Middle India will continue to be a powerhouse in our success story and our extensive network now offering travel hungry customers enhanced access, convenience and the reassurance of human touch via our Thomas Cook experts, is timed perfectly for our Summer 2016 launch”, said Menon.