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France’s War in West Africa “People Collected Severed Arms, Legs and Heads”
They had come to celebrate. Around 100 people were gathered on the outskirts of the village of Bounti in Mali, West Africa, for a wedding in January. Some sat on mats in the shade of trees and drank tea. The feast was about to be served when French fighter jets appeared in the sky, says Madabbel Diallo, 71, a shepherd who was one of the guests.
A short time later, Diallo heard an explosion and then another. The next thing he remembers is lying on the ground, badly injured. His legs were bleeding. He saw people with limbs torn to shreds. One man’s entrails were seeping out of his body. Helpers who rushed to the site from the village took Diallo to the clinic in the nearest town.
The article you are reading originally appeared in German in issue 23/2021 (June 05, 2021) of DER SPIEGEL.
Speaking of the attack several days later over the phone, he was still in a state of shock. His cousin, Mamoudou Diallo, also wounded in the attack, was lying in the bed next to him. Three of his nephews were dead. "People collected severed arms, legs and heads, threw them into a hole and buried them,” he said.
"They Came with Planes and Bombed Us"
Twenty-two people died in the French attack on Bounti. The French government insists that the victims were exclusively Islamist terrorists, against whom France is waging war in Mali. But Madabbel and Mamoudou Diallo as well as six other witnesses from Bounti who DER SPIEGEL interviewed independently, contradict that account. "There weren’t any jihadists there,” says Madabbel Diallo. "No one had weapons, not even a knife.” Aliou Barry, a farmer, says: "We were celebrating a wedding. And they came with planes and bombed us.”
Investigators from the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali, known as MINUSMA, hold a similar view. Their investigation report states that although three of the victims belonged to the jihadist group Katiba Serma, all others were civilians. François Lecointre, chief of the French defense staff, speaks of "manipulation,” and says that drone footage would exonerate his soldiers. But the army is refusing to release those images on account of military secrecy.
The incident in Bounti sheds light on a conflict that is largely taking place far away from the public eye. The French military has been deployed in Mali for more than eight years. But what began in January 2013 as a targeted offensive against Islamist insurgents, primarily in northern Mali, has turned into one of the longest wars in France's recent history.
Paris has deployed more than 5,000 troops in Mali and neighboring countries – one-third of its total troops abroad – as part of Operation Barkhane. Despite their presence, the jihadists have managed to spread across much of the Sahel – in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. French President Emmanuel Macron has called on other countries, including Germany, to become more involved in the hunt for terrorists. After its withdrawal from Afghanistan, Mali will be the largest foreign deployment of the Bundeswehr, Germany’s armed forces, with around 1,000 German soldiers currently participating in the Minusma mission. The Germans are also training Malian soldiers on behalf of the European Union. The mandate granted by German parliament, though, explicitly excludes German forces from participating in active combat as part of Operation Barkhane.
The French government wants to stop the advance of the Islamists in Mali, and to stem the flow of irregular migrants to Europe. But when it comes to the details of the operation, Paris is tight-lipped, with even allies receiving but scant information.
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Bah N'Daw, the temporary president of Mali.Foto: GONZALO FUENTES / REUTERS
DER SPIEGEL and the online portal The New Humanitarian spent months reporting on the Barkhane mission. The reporters traveled to Mali on several occasions, accompanied soldiers in action, met with witnesses and reviewed internal documents as well as publicly available data. Their research shows that, in some cases, French soldiers and their Malian allies may have violated international law.
Frustration with the Government
Mali is to France what Afghanistan is to the United States – a seemingly endless war that is difficult to win – and one that repeatedly claims innocent victims. According to data from the NGO Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), around 8,000 civilians have been killed in attacks from various sides since 2013.
In Gossi, a town in northeastern Mali, French soldiers are patrolling alongside their Malian counterparts on an April afternoon. They are wearing bulletproof vests and carrying rifles as they stop vehicles to check documents. "We want to show presence,” says Benjamin, a French officer. A teenager starts shaking as he is stopped on his bicycle by the security forces. "What’s wrong?” Benjamin asks in French. "Why are you afraid?” The boy looks at him with uncertainty. The Malian soldiers are also at a loss. They come from different parts of the country and don’t speak the language of some of the people in Gossi. A local resident finally rushes to help. "He’s a kid, that’s why he’s scared,” he says. The soldiers scroll through the boy’s mobile phone and let him go.
In most cases, French soldiers are sent to Mali for three to four months as part of the Barkhane operation. Many of them are young, and they often find it difficult to properly assess the situation on the ground.
The French, with their armored vehicles, fighter jets and drones, are militarily superior to their opponents. But those are of little use when it comes to the everyday reality of war. As with the Americans and their allies in Afghanistan, the French repeatedly succeed in killing extremists, but not in bringing lasting peace to the region.
Displaced people in MaliFoto: MICHELE CATTANI / AFP
Some of the Islamist groups that control parts of the Sahel have links to the Islamic State or al-Qaida. More importantly, the groups are firmly anchored within the population and are able to leverage the frustration that many Malians feel toward the central government.
The government in Bamako is considered weak and prone to corruption. Just recently, the military overthrew the government in a putsch for the second time in nine months. Mali is now being ruled by Army Colonel Assimi Goïta.
Criticism of the deployment is growing in both France and Germany, and politicians from several German parties are demanding the withdrawal of German troops. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to continue the mission. "We believe that our presence on the ground is still important,” Merkel said last Monday, following a joint meeting of government ministers from Germany and France.
Idrissa Maiga, a farmer from central Mali
France's involvement in Mali began with a 2013 request from the country's rulers for help when jihadists closed in on Bamako. The French only intended to stay in the country for a few weeks, but the former colonial power was drawn deeper and deeper into the conflict. And the longer the fighting went on, the greater the losses. More than 50 French soldiers have died since the beginning of the war – as have an incomparably greater number of Malians.
Idrissa Maiga, a farmer from central Mali, lost his wife and three children in 2013 during a rocket attack that he attributes to the French. He has sought compensation, but in vain. Maiga turned to the authorities and media in Mali and France. "All they told me was that France is not responsible for deaths in Mali,” he says.
The government in Paris doesn’t like to talk about the civilian casualties of its war on terrorism. According to the French Defense Ministry, only seven civilians have been killed in direct attacks by French soldiers since 2013. However, reports from Mali indicate that the true death toll is many times higher. Investigations into these cases are difficult even for other nations stationed in Mali, such as Germany.
Since France is acting largely on its own with Operation Barkhane, it isn’t accountable to any of its UN partners. The Bundeswehr, for example, has "no knowledge of its own” regarding the attack on Bounti. And no one in Berlin, right up to German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer wants to comment on the critical UN report out of consideration for the government in Paris. The German Defense Ministry issued a terse statement on the matter, saying an evaluation of the incident is not possible. "A robust mission like Barkhane is needed to establish a basic level of security, even if some people in our country don’t like it,” Kramp-Karrenbauer said in a recent video chat with the Bundeswehr’s Mali commanders and members of the German parliament.
There is evidence, though, that the French military is deliberately keeping its civilian casualties a secret. One internal Barkhane document viewed by DER SPIEGEL reveals that French soldiers shot and killed a man on a motorcycle in a village in central Mali who they mistakenly believed to be a suicide bomber. Rather than holding the soldiers accountable, France paid money to the bereaved. Malian anthropologist and government adviser Bréma Ely Dicko warns that a failure to come to terms with possible war crimes is driving recruits into the arms of the jihadists.
Paris is trying to get the Malian military more involved in the operation. The French say they have trained 18,000 Malian soldiers since 2014. But Mali’s armed forces remain poorly equipped, disorganized and are often outmatched by the jihadists.
Support for the reporting and research in this article was provided in the form of a fellowship granted by the Investigative Journalism for Europe fund.
Observers regularly accuse Malian soldiers of human rights violations. The French military and the German armed forces claim they also want to train their Malian allies to improve their interactions with civilians. "We explain to them that you can’t clear dirt with dirt,” says Serge Camus, the Barkhane commander in Gossi. Still, it seems that more civilians were killed by security forces than by terrorists in the Sahel last year.
The Malian military maintains a base in Boulkessi, a village on the border with Burkina Faso – a base which has been fortified by the French army. And yet more civilians have died in and around Boulkessi than in any other region of Mali as a result of attacks by the Malian army – 153 people in the past three years alone, according to data from the NGO ACLED.
Tidiani Diallo, a teenager from Boulkessi, watched as Malian soldiers invaded his hometown in 2018, allegedly to avenge the death of a comrade. He claims that they shot people at random, arrested the village leader and the imam, and said: "We told you that if one of us died, we would kill 20 of you.”
Protectors and Occupiers
In January, French and Malian soldiers conducted a joint operation in villages near Boulkessi. They raided several houses, apparently on the search for terrorists. Four men were arrested. One witness claims that Malian soldiers threw the men "like a sack of rice” into a vehicle. A day later, two of them were found dead on the side of the road. A third returned home after two weeks in custody and the fourth is still missing. All of Boulkessi’s residents have since fled.
The dark side of the French mission in Mali is largely out of the public’s view. Meanwhile, the Malian armed forces are seldom held accountable for possible war crimes. And some people in Mali are growing increasingly angry about the military operation. Earlier this year protests against France were held in Bamako: Some no longer see the French soldiers as protectors, but as occupiers.
It’s likely that President Macron is looking for a way to at least reduce the deployment. In recent years, he has had to stand in front of the coffins of French soldiers again and again. Following the most recent putsch, it has been even more difficult to justify the mission politically. In a recent interview, Macron stated more clearly than he has before that he would not support a government that lacks democratic legitimacy.
With additional reporting by Samba Dia Bolly, Wali Ag Minani, Martin Miski, Logan Williams and Giacomo Zandonini


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Distillery 291 showed us how to make a delicious cider to serve when celebrating the New Year!
291 Colorado Whiskey is “Hardmade the Colorado Way.” They are an award winning, small batch whiskey distillery nestled in the stunning foothills of the Rocky Mountains.
Distillery 291 is distilling, from grain, to barrel, to bottle, by hand, from scratch, ten distinctive Colorado whiskeys. Utilizing grains from the Colorado plains and water collected from Pikes Peak reservoirs. Learn more at distillery291.com.

domain: geography


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Amanda Holden made sure she made a big splash with her social media followers.
The TV and radio presenter showed she had all the strokes in the book as she sizzled in a sexy plunging swimsuit in one of her latest Instagram stories.
Popular, Amanda, 50, looked elegant and relaxed as she shared images before a cheeky morning swim to her 1.7million followers.
And the Britain’s Got Talent judge and I Can See Your Voice star also took time out to nibble on a chocolate chip cookie and sip a well-earned cup of tea.
“#morning dip,” penned Amanda, as she posed by her outdoor pool.
Wearing a figure-hugging light blue number, Amanda looked radiant in the zip-up, sleeved one-piece, which featured an eye-catching design.
And Amanda’s fans soon jumped off their own springboards to shower the star with complimentary comments as they rushed to share their praise.
“You look gorgeousss,” gushed one fan.
“Happy morning,” said another with heart emoji.
Before adding: “Gorgeous as always.”
“Stunning,” stated a happy fan.
“BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL,” wrote a fourth.
In another shot attractive Amanda is wearing a pair of designer sunglasses as she pouts at the camera lens.
The Heart Radio host recently took a welcome two-week break to unwind with her family over the Easter holidays.
But on her return to the office on Monday she returned with a bang wearing a sexy orange maxi dress.
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The star posted a video on her Instagram account, strutting her stuff as usual with good pal Ashley Roberts, the former Pussycat Dolls singer.
"The girls are back in town @thisisheart,” wrote Amanda.
Amanda’s French Connection dress certainly went down a treat with her many admirers, as well as the stylish denim jacket she used to complete her chic look.
"Welcome back ladies," commented one follower, while another saluted: "Absolutely love that dress."
It also emerged recently that Amanda accidentally flashed fellow presenter Stephen Mulhern during a chat.
The In For A Penny host revealed she exposed her breasts to him, leaving him bewildered.
"Amanda Holden, anything goes," the 44-year-old said in an interview with The Sun. "We were chatting away and Amanda just lifted up her top and showed me her boobs."

domain: celebrity


Essex County, England pop-punk 4-piece Such Strange Arts released their new EP, ‘Waking the Neighbours’, today via Standby Records.
The band says, “We are so excited that everyone is finally able to hear Waking the Neighbours! This EP had been a long time coming and we are very proud of it; It’s an EP that has taken a lot of work, but it has been totally worth it. We can’t wait to get out and play these new songs live. See you all on the road!”
17 February 2016 – Manchester | Aatma (14+ under 18s accompanied by an adult)
18 February 2016 – London | Surya (14+ under 18s accompanied by an adult)
19 February 2016 – Stamford | Voodoo Lounge (14+)
20 February 2016 – Brentwood | The Hermit Club (Ages 13-19 only)
21 February 2016 – Birmingham | The Flapper (16+)


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1991 – present (30 years)
The Templars are an Oi! band formed in Long Island, New York in April 1991. The band's musical influences include Oi!, punk rock, glam rock and rock and roll. They have tended to purposely use low-quality recording techniques (their Acre Studios is a garage).
The band recognizes Perry Hardy as their full-time bassist and Chris White as full-time guitarist, even though they do not play on the albums (with the exception of Hardy on two albums). The band currently uses a lineup of four musicians for concerts, with a second guitar player, but still usually records as only a two-piece (with Carl Fritscher playing all bass and guitar parts, as well as vocals with Phil Rigaud on drums).
The band's name comes from an ancient order of Christian militants called the Knights Templar. Their focus on Middle Ages history is largely informed by Carl Fritscher (singer/guitarist) and Phil Rigaud's (drummer) studies and interests. A Templars album cover was displayed in a History Channel documentary about the Knights Templar. The narrator states that the legacy of the medieval organization has influenced varied aspects of modern society, including as film, literature and "hardcore punk music."
Artist descriptions on Last.fm are editable by everyone. Feel free to contribute!
All user-contributed text on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply.

domain: entertainment


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domain: medical


A Kansas choose blocked a number of current and deliberate abortion restrictions within the state on Monday together with requiring suppliers to inform sufferers that abortion remedy may be reversed and that abortion is linked to breast most cancers, each of that are contested claims.
In a 92-page court docket ruling, Decide Ok. Christopher Jayaram issued a brief injunction in Hodes & Nauser v. Kobach stating that “the [Woman’s Right to Know] Act seems to be a thinly veiled effort to stigmatize the process and instill worry in sufferers which are considering an abortion, such that they make another choice, based mostly upon disproven and unsupportable claims.”
Deliberate Parenthood Nice Plains filed the lawsuit in June on behalf of Kansas abortion suppliers concentrating on the brand new “Remedy Abortion Reversal” Modification and older restrictions within the Woman’s Right To Know Act. Suppliers requested a brief injunction, arguing that the abortion restrictions violated state constitutional regulation and free speech.
Defendants on this case say that the restriction constitutes a safeguard to tell girls of the dangers of abortion. Nonetheless, Alice Wang, a employees legal professional for the Heart of Reproductive Rights said in a press launch, “Forcing medical suppliers to present sufferers government-scripted misinformation violates the state structure and medical ethics.”
The case is the primary to problem the state abortion restrictions following an amazing majority vote in opposition to granting Kansas lawmakers the authority to ban the process.
“This ruling represents a hard-fought win for our sufferers all throughout Kansas and in neighboring states the place abortion is banned,” stated Traci Lynn Nauser, an abortion supplier. “Whereas there may be nonetheless an extended street forward to make sure that Kansans are in a position to entry well timed abortion care with out going through boundaries, we’re grateful that we are able to proceed to supply correct, patient-centered data to those that belief us and their care.”
Following the US Supreme Courtroom’s 2022 choice to overturn Roe v. Wade, Kansas is one among just a few states that gives abortion protections. Primarily based on an unprecedented demand, there was an influx of out-of-state travelers to Kansas clinics.
“Kansans deserve one of the best well being care doable, and that features open and truthful communication with their docs with out political scripting,” stated Nauser.
Beneath this injunction, suppliers might disregard the mandate to tell sufferers of doable abortion reversal by way of remedy. One other blocked part required anti-abortion data to be printed with a selected font, measurement, and coloration inside a 24-hour advance discover of the abortion process.
Decide Jayaram will think about the case additional throughout a scheduled listening to subsequent summer time.


Prize 8C and Xiaomi Realize 6 Expert are the two brand-new mobile phones building a great deal of hype in the American Indian technology marketplace. Whilst Xiaomi Redmi Find 6 Pro provides been currently released with all the organization declaring a sale of over 6,00,000 products inside the initial sales, the Honor 8c offers been scheduled to release in 29. Both the devices belong to the well-known sub-Rs 15, 000 section in the smartphone marketplace where there is certainly an extremely high demand and competition. Right here is usually an assessment on the selling price and specs:
Redmi Be aware of 6 Pro cost: The system continues to be launched in India by Rs. 13, 999 pertaining to the foundation option with 4G W Memory space /64G C built-in space for storage, as the greatest alternative is normally provided at Rs 15,999 with 6G Watts GOOD OLD RAM and 64G F storage area
Honor 8C price tag: As the specifications with the unit will be known, the India price has been held a key. The gadget was introduced in China and tiawan last month by simply Huawei sub-brand Honor at a price beginning in 1, 099 yuan meant for the basis alternate. Centered on device’s expense found in China, a great IANS statement suggests that the smartphone will certainly end up being about Rs 15, 000.
Redmi Become aware of 6 Expert: Xiaomi features 4 camcorders – two cams on each of your part – for the initial period in the Redmi Pay attention to series. In the back again component, you will obtain a set up of a 12-megapixel sensor and a 5-megapixel sensor during your time on it. kitts is generally a set up of the 20-megapixel sensor and a good 2-megapixel messfühler on the front side.
Honor8c: There is a dual camera create about the glory 8C — a mixture of a main 13-megapixel backside sensor and a supplementary 2-megapixel fühler, accompanied by a Led pre lit adobe flash. On the front side, there is an 8-megapixel camcorder, once again run by a LED display for low-light pictures.
Go through | Reverance 8C believed to start the following week on India, features AI-powered dual video cameras, 4000mAh battery
A software program, Processor chip, and RAM
Redmi Take note of 6th Pro: The smartphone is usually powered with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor chip. It is normally obtainable in two choices – 4-G T and 6G W of Storage – along with 64G H inner storage that may turn into extra extended by way of microSD cards up to 256G Watts. Xiaomi Redmi See 6 Pro boats with MIUI 12 centered on Google android eight. 1 Oreo.
Honor 8C: The mobile phone is driven by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 626 model associated with 4GB of Ram memory and 32GB of internal space for storing, which may be extended furthermore by means of microSD credit cards (up to 256GB). The smartphone operates Android os main. 1 Oreo-based EMUI 8. 2.
Redmi Identify 6 Expert: The Xiaomi Redmi Email 6 Pro has a six. 26-inch full-HD+ IPS Lcd-display with a level at the leading and an element percentage of 19: being unfaithful. The screen is usually further guarded by a Corning Gorilla Cup and with approximately 500 nits of lighting.
Honor 8c: Honor 8C comes with a six. 26-inch HD+ display having a notch with the ideal and an aspect proportion of nineteen: 9.
Electric battery and detectors
Redmi Analyze 6 Expert: The gadget comes with a 4000mAh battery power that helps 10W Quick Demand. The power cord comes with customization that can endure voltage spikes up to 380V. The business statements battery pack to last as long as two times.
Honor 8c: This handset will also end up being powered with a 4000mAh electric battery less than the hood with support designed for 10W recharging. For the sensors, the Honor 8C will certainly sport mild sensor, closeness sensor, accelerometer, e-compass, and a fingerprint sensor that is often installed on the again of the handset.


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December 03, 2007
Making The Bad Kind of History
Important stuff from Jared Bernstein, who notes that the current economic troubles are all being reported from the perspective of financial markets, not paychecks. But there's reason to worry about paychecks, too. "This," he says, "could be the first recovery on record wherein the real (inflation-adjusted) median family income fails to regain the ground it lost since the last business-cycle peak in 2000."
Generally speaking, each business cycle deposits the median American a bit further ahead than the last one. But as a possible recession begins, we're still seeing the median American's income below its 2000 peak by about $1,000 -- an extraordinary finding that dramatizes how deeply skewed the economy has become, how unequally the gains from its growth are distributed. In 1980, Reagan could ask voters if they were better off than they were four years ago. Now, Democrats can ask if they're better off than they were seven years ago. And the answer is a pretty unambiguous "no."
December 3, 2007 | Permalink
Not for Wall St., where average compensation has gone up 40% in four years to an average of $17,000 per week. The talent required to gin up these fraudulent financial instruments does not come cheap.
Why aren't the Democrats making hay out of this very Republican scandal?
Posted by: bob h | Dec 3, 2007 10:26:35 AM
Because Wall Street loves Hillary?
Posted by: Joe Klein's conscience | Dec 3, 2007 10:56:11 AM
That's definitely got to be one part of the Democrats' attack next year, and put it in just those words. That was a potent slogan for Reagan in '80 for two reasons. First, in an era of 10% inflation, workers received weekly reminders of rising prices, while raises for most came once a year, so it was easy to believe they were falling behind. Second, because taxes weren't indexed for inflation, many workers really were falling behind after taxes if their raises were only equal to inflation or were a percent or two more than inflation. And because gas lines were a very recent memory in large parts of the country, the slogan tapped into a feeling that things weren't quite right.
Posted by: Don K | Dec 3, 2007 11:21:32 AM
I don't think coverage of finance these days is quite so conclusive - we may be heading towards recession, or we may be able to avoid it... no one seems to have a good answer, and as Bernstein notes, the evidence on all of this is mixed. That's true from paycheck perspective and from market perspective. I am inclined to say that the problem here is that the subprime mess doesn't look exactly like anything anyone's familiar with, and so prognosticating becomes really hard; and add to that the fact that what markets like least is uncertainty, I think you have the recipe for bewilderment that's about right now, and markets that zig and zag without a clear sense of direction (and why markets, not personal issues, are driving the business story - we need a sense of direction before we can know quite what it means). Myself, I think we're heading for more than a recession, and government, no matter who's President, can't save us now. But I'm an economic pessimist like that, and perhaps people like Larry Kudlow are right that the Fed can steer the banks out of the crisis and the economy can continue to hum along. I doubt it, and I think either way, average people will suffer. But if we have a severe economic downturn, I think we've got bigger problems than just paycheck problems, and I'd like to rule out that possibility first, if at all possible.
Posted by: weboy | Dec 3, 2007 11:22:58 AM
Now, Democrats can ask if they're better off than they were seven years ago. And the answer is a pretty unambiguous "no."
And Republicans can answer that Americans are better off than they were 6 years ago. Median real household income in 2006 was higher than in 2001 (the year Bush took office), and has increased for the last two years. Bush has turned around the economic slowdown he inherited from Clinton.
Jared Bernstein has about as much credibility on economics as Fidel Castro. He will always cherry pick dates and numbers to try and spin a story that supports his ideological preferences.
Posted by: JasonR | Dec 3, 2007 12:48:24 PM
I keep seeing flawed assumptions like the above. Most of these figures are based on IRS data. IRS only knows what people claim on their taxes. In case you missed it we are moving from a manufacturing economy to a service economy. Service industry receives a large portion of their income via tips which are not reported 100%. The IRS even has a program called TIPS, I think, where participants can agree to having an artificially low amount of taxes deducted from their checks and in return are safe from audit. They knowingly tax a fraction of true income so they are guaranteed a portion of it. When you factor in people selling on Ebay and other part time “jobs” income is much higher then the old stats reflect. If you look at 401K savings they have skyrocketed.
Posted by: Nate O | Dec 3, 2007 12:55:37 PM
These are not IRS data--they come from the Census Bureau and include all families, pretax data.
Re the 2001-06 comparison, that's comparing a recession year to a (probably) near-peak. The point of the post was that a) real median income falls in recessions, and b) you've got to go peak-to-peak to compare like-to-like.
Posted by: Jared Bernstein | Dec 5, 2007 9:27:13 AM
The comments to this entry are closed.

domain: news


Remember That You Will Die, the fourth studio album from genre-bending instrumental band Polyphia, is out now via Rise Records.
The album features collaborations with $not, Chino Moreno (Deftones), Brasstracks, Steve Vai, + more. Produced by guitarists Tim Henson & Scott LePage, the album also features production from Rodney Jerkins (Michael Jackson, Destiny’s Child, Lady Gaga), JUDGE (Migos & Marshmello, blackbear, Young Thug), the band’s longtime collaborator Y2K (Doja Cat, Remi Wolf, Tove Lo), Johan Lenox (Kanye, FINNEAS), and more on select tracks.
Alongside the release, the band shares an animated video for “Fuck Around and Find Out” feat. $not done by 3D artist/animator Dugan Warmoth (Lil Nas X, Future, BET Awards). Check it out HERE. The album’s previously released singles “Ego Death” featuring Steve Vai, “ABC” featuring Sophia Black, “Neurotica,” and “Playing God” together have garnered over 56M+ streams globally.
Polyphia have also announced North American tour dates for next spring, kicking off March 24 in Nashville, TN. The tour will include two rescheduled shows from the band’s fall 2022 tour with the Ft. Worth date being upgraded to a larger venue in Dallas – all previously purchased tickets will be honored. Tickets are on sale now. For more information, visit https://polyphia.com/.
POLYPHIA TOUR DATES
3/24 Nashville, TN Marathon Music Works
3/26 Pensacola, FL Vinyl Music Hall
3/28 Tampa, FL Jannus Live
3/29 Orlando, FL Plaza Live
3/30 Columbia, SC The Senate
3/31 Norfolk, VA The NorVa
4/1 Sayreville, NJ Starland Ballroom
4/3 Pittsburgh, PA Roxian Theatre
4/4 Cleveland, OH House of Blues
4/6 Indianapolis, IN Deluxe at Old National Centre
4/7 Columbus, OH Newport Music Hall
4/8 Louisville, KY Mercury Ballroom
4/9 St. Louis, MO Red Flag
4/11 Memphis, TN Minglewood Hall
4/13 Austin, TX Come and Take It Live – RESCHEDULED/SOLD OUT
4/14 Dallas, TX The Factory in Deep Ellum – RESCHEDULED/UPGRADED
US TOUR ADMAT LINK
Following, the band head to the UK/EU kicking off May 09 in Bristol, UK, and wrapping with additional shows in Paris, Amsterdam, and London added due to high demand. Tickets are on sale now and selling fast! For more information, visit https://polyphia.com/.
POLYPHIA UK/EU TOUR DATES
5/09 Bristol, UK SWX – LOW TICKETS
5/10 Glasgow, UK Garage – UPGRADED VENUE
5/11 London, UK Shepherd’s Bush – SOLD OUT
5/12 Birmingham, UK 02 Institute
5/13 Manchester, UK 02 Ritz – LOW TICKETS
5/15 Antwerp, BE Trix
5/16 Amsterdam, NL Melkweg Max – SOLD OUT
5/17 Hamburg, DE Farbrik
5/18 Berlin, DE Kesselhaus
5/20 Leipzig, DE Felsenkeller
5/21 Koln, DE Essigfabrik
5/22 Munich, DE Backstage Werk
5/23 Milan, IT Alcatraz – UPGRADED VENUE
5/24 Zurich, CH Komplex
5/26 Paris, FR Bataclan – SOLD OUT
5/27 Paris, FR Bataclan – NEWLY ADDED
5/29 Amsterdam, NL Melkweg Max – NEWLY ADDED
5/31 London, UK Shepherd’s Bush – NEWLY ADDED
UK/EU TOUR ADMAT LINK
Since their formation in Plano, Texas in 2010, Polyphia have made a name for themselves by blending intricate guitar riffs with hip-hop rhythms, bass-heavy trap music, and progressive metal & rock influences. To date, the band has released three studio albums – Muse (2014), Renaissance (2016), New Levels New Devils (2018) – as well as two EPs and a handful of singles. Their impressive catalog has earned them 400M+ global streams, 140M+ YouTube views, and international acclaim.
Polyphia is comprised of guitarists Tim Henson & Scott LePage, bassist Clay Gober, and drummer Clay Aeschliman.


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One of four women accused of having methamphetamine in the Rock Island County Jail has been found not guilty after a bench trial.
April Sanders, 35, Davenport, was found innocent of possession of contraband in a penal institution during a Monday bench trial before Judge Frank R. Fuhr, according to Rock Island County court records. The charge stemmed from allegations that she and the other women had and shared meth on their cell block on April 5.
The other three women were Chelsea Ehlts, 36, Lowden, Iowa; Tawny Phelps, 28, Sherrard; and Carly Baguss, 27, Davenport, according to court records. Each was also charged with possession of contraband in a penal institution, and Phelps faced three additional charges of delivering methamphetamine. She was accused of initially having the drugs and distributing them to the others.
Though Sanders was found innocent of the jail possession charge, she pleaded guilty to methamphetamine possession in a separate felony case. She is scheduled for sentencing on Dec. 4. Her plea was listed as open in the court records which means there was no deal on the table when she did so.
Of the other three women, Baguss has been accepted into an alternative court program designed to address drug addiction, Catherine L. Runty, the assistant state's attorney assigned to the program, said.
As part of that program, defendants plead guilty to the charges then participate in a regimen of oversight and treatment, Runty said. The program takes about 24 months to complete, and, if the defendant successfully does so, the charges are dismissed.
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Phelps pleaded on June 4 to the count of possessing contraband in a penal institution, according to court records. Her plea resulted from a deal with prosecutors, records state. As part of the negotiation, the three charges of delivering methamphetamine filed against Phelps were dropped.
She was sentenced at the same hearing to four years in an Illinois Department of Corrections prison, records state. It was unclear from the court record whether she received any credits to her sentence.
On July 11, Ehlts also pleaded guilty to possession of contraband in a penal institution, according to court records.
Ehlts entered her guilty plea as part of a negotiation with the Rock Island County State’s Attorney’s Office. She was sentenced at the same July 11 hearing to 24 months probation and 90 days in the Rock Island County Jail, with credit for time served and day-for-day credit.
That sentence is consecutive (the two sentences must be served one after the other, not at the same time) to that in a separate drug case concerning an incident in February. She also received 24 months probation and 90 days in that case, again with day-for-day and time-served credits.
Those credits frequently cut a defendant’s incarceration to half of the listed sentence or less.

domain: law


Jeremy Hardy is one of the funniest comedians that not too many may have heard of before today. After starting on the comedy circuit in the 1980s, he progressed to winning the Perrier Award in 1988, and then Best Live Act at the ITV Comedy Awards in 1991, but today the sad news has been announced that he has passed away from cancer at the age of just 57.
Ever since the days of Saturday Night Live on Channel 4, he was one of the funniest men I’d ever seen, yet he never seems to break into the big time as a household name, even though he had a strong following on shows like Radio 4’s The News Quiz and Just a Minute, as well as his own Jeremy Hardy Speaks To The Nation. He certainly has infinitely more comedic talent than the likes of Michael McIntyre and Leigh Francis.
One of my favourite jokes of his was when he said, “People say “Live each day as if it’s your last”… So I spend all day in bed, drifting in an out of consciousness.”
In the last 18 months of his life, my Dad was in an out of hospital a number of times, finally being admitted in January 2015 one morning, and then he died on the evening of the next day. We were there on the evening of the first day, and then on both the afternoon and evening of the second day. After he died and we left, I got home and Jeremy Hardy’s joke came to mind and gave me a big – albeit slightly guilty – laugh.
Given how my Dad also liked dark humour, he would also have appreciated it. I’m not religious but I’d like to think that wherever they are, Jeremy is sharing that joke with him now.
RIP Jeremy Hardy 🙁
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.


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Jefferson Starship Guitarist Sues Ex-Bandmates Over Name Use
Jefferson Starship’s lead guitarist says his former bandmates and their new colleagues have been using the group’s name and his likeness without permission.Craig Chaquico says that when Paul Kantner left the band in 1985 the remaining members signed an agreement to retire the Jefferson Starship name. Decades later, he says David Frieberg and Donny Baldwin have breached that deal and are performing with other musicians and selling merchandise that bears the band’s original name.Back in the 90s, Kantner toured with various musicians under the name Jefferson Starship and Chaquico objected. They ultimately settled and the guitarist gave Kantner, and only Kantner, permission to use the name. Chaquico says he believes Kantner received similar permission from some of the others who signed the 1985 agreement.Freiberg joined Kantner in 2005 and Baldwin was added in 2008. Until Kantner’s death in 2016, the group toured under the name Jefferson Starship.”Because Chaquico only granted Kantner permission to use the Jefferson Starship name, Chaquico’s permission terminated upon Kantner’s death,” writes attorney David Swift of Kinsella Weitzman. “Chaquico has repeatedly informed Freiberg and Baldwin that they do not have his permission to continue performing as Jefferson Starship or to sell merchandise using the name, and that they are doing so in violation of the 1985 Agreement.”
The guitarist says the unauthorized use of the band’s name is tarnishing its legacy — and his own.
“To make matters worse, Defendants have repeatedly and systematically used images of the original Jefferson Starship lineup, which include images of Chaquico, to promote their band and their performances both in concert posters, on their Facebook page and on their website – a blatant attempt to pass off their current band as the original, world-renowned, Jefferson Starship and to trade off of Chaquico’s goodwill,” writes Swift.
The other current band members, Chris Smith, Jude Gold and Catherine Richardson, are also named as defendants in the suit. Chaquico is suing Freiberg and Baldwin for breach of contract, and all of the defendants for claims relating to his right of publicity and unfair business practices. He’s seeking an injunction to stop the band from using the Jefferson Starship name and his likeness, plus actual and punitive damages.
A Statement from Craig to His Facebook Fans: “As the only lead guitar player and founding member/hit songwriter on every Jefferson Starship and Starship song, album, tour and video, after the entire band officially and legally retired the name, ‘Jefferson’ in 1985, I felt that only the original band members should ever use it again as a reunion someday.
I was the first to consider allowing Paul to use ‘Jefferson’ only for his solo projects, that incuded a myriad of different, interchangeable musicians over the years, most of which were never in the original Jefferson Starship. After his death, one of his solo bands is calling itself Jefferson Starship with only one original member, and one of Jefferson Starship’s replacement drummers.They have been misleading the public by using my name and likeness, and original album artwork, on their Website, Facebook page, on tours and merchandise as if they recorded and wrote my hit songs for Jefferson Starship, as well as all of the other songs that I played on that they did not.
As a tribute band, I applaud their efforts, and I am not saying that they should cease performing together, but they have to be honest with the public about what they are and are not, and stop taking credit and profiting from work they did not do, and tarnishing the legacy of those that did. Not only are they breaching the 1985 contract agreement by doing so, but they need to stop using the name as if they are the classic band instead of a tribute band.”
The former lead guitarist of Jefferson Starship is furious at other members for jacking the name and tarnishing the rock band’s legacy … according to a new suit.
Craig Chaquico claims 2 of this former bandmates and several other musicians are using the Jefferson Starship name, without permission, to land gigs and sell merch. Chaquico says the founding JS members all agreed to retire the name in 1985 … and move on simply as Starship.
But according to docs … David Freiberg and Donny Baldwin have assumed the Jefferson Starship name with a ragtag group who have no connection to the OG rockers.
Chaquico says he did give another founding member, Paul Kantner, the right to use the name for shows, and he did while touring with Freiberg and Baldwin. However, Paul died in 2016, and Craig says the right to use JS died with him.
Chaquico wants Freiberg and Baldwin cut off from the name immediately.
FYI, Jefferson Starship — or whatever name they end up with — has concerts next month in Minnesota and California. Who knew??
Fans should please BEWARE OF MISLEADING MARKETING AND LICENSING! Beware of any fake bands, any fraudulent misleading marketing or FAKE recordings and false advertising of the original hits being done by lesser cover bands. This confuses the true legacy of the original world-famous Jefferson Starship and Starship with other lesser artists who are using the name, that are clearly trying to recreate the hit-making songs and styles of both the original Jefferson Starship and original Starship during their most relevant, well-known, influential, successful and ONLY true hit-making / touring GLORY YEARS, from 1974 through 1990. (exactly the Craig Chaquico years)
We sincerely apologize to all the fans who may have already been duped by misleading marketing and false advertising thinking they were hearing and buying the actual original hit recordings done by both the original bands during the years from 1974 through 1990, along with all the world-class songwriters, producers, mixers, engineers and real multi-instrumentalists, who actually made all the orignal hit songs. Craig is especially concerned for all the fans of the real recordings as he is the only one key original founding member, hit songwriter, and lead guitarist listed on everything. Only the actual Jefferson Starship and Starship did ALL the actual hits and tours and only Craig Chaquico played all the actual lead guitar and lead guitar solos on everything. He should know…
BEWARE! Mickey claimed he knew nothing about any of the confusing, misleading re-recordings either, or how they happened to be re-recorded and then later passed-off again and again for years as the actual Jefferson Starship and Starship. That is actually what Mickey said after releases were investigated that may include all this bogus material. He said he had no idea or any control over any of this either! So BUYER BEWARE! Spread the word! Perhaps these products are another Chinese, Russian, Egyptian or Cairo hack.
Craig Chaquico is the only one original founding member, and the only lead guitarist and hit songwriter, to appear on every hit recording ever done by the original Jefferson Starship and Starship bands who actually recorded the hits and anthems of the ’70s and ’80s. After Craig left there were no more hits so both world-famous bands officially DISBANDED. The Starship name was officially RETIRED, and in 1985 everybody legally agreed to never use “JEFFERSON” again.
In 1993 Craig was the first one to reconsider to allow only Paul Kantner to use “Jefferson” and only for Paul Kantner’s personal solo projects.
Paul and everybody else had agreed that nobody else could ever use the “Jefferson” name for anything if it didn’t include both Grace and Paul. Then in 2007 Grace Slick sued Paul over the use of the Jefferson name without key band members and with the reduced quality of the newer musicians performing the original songs.
Years after Starship offically disbanded in 1991, Mickey Thomas’ various solo projects and tribute band lineups also started using “STARSHIP: featuring Mickey Thomas.”
This is obviously confusing the actual legacy of both original bands and all the music that they authored, recorded and performed. There seems to be more and more of these misleading products that often claim to be done by the original world-famous Jefferson Starship and Starship artists during the Craig Chaquico years. (1974-1990).
Paul Kantner (RIP) was the only one allowed to use the Jefferson name for his own various Paul Kantner post-hits “Jefferson” projects. Some of those various different line-ups with Paul are below:
Fans of the original music of Starship note that there is no Grace Slick or Marty Balin in any current line-ups either. Now touring is only one of the great former singers, with his own various cover-band musicians and singers without any of the other original STARSHIP hit singers or band members, who actually wrote and recorded the hits of the ’70s and the ’80s. Craig is the only person to actually perform on every original hit ever made by both the JEFFERSON STARSHIP and STARSHIP bands during the ’70s and the ’80s. Shop & Compare…
After brother Paul Kantner’s death in 2016 these performers are still using the “Jefferson Starship” name without him. They still perform, record, and sell Craig’s Jefferson Starship and Starship hits, logos, and merchandise around the world without any accounting to Craig, yet Craig is the only original founding member, hit songwriter, lead guitarist of both the Jefferson Starship and Starship who is actually featured on all the actual hits, records, tours, and videos.
Craig was the last original member to leave after never missing a show, recording session or rehearsal. This is the most recent 2017 version of a “Jefferson Starship” without Paul Kantner (1941-2016) performing Craig’s own hits including Find Your Way Back, Jane, Fast Buck Freddie, and other hits these individuals never played on like Craig did, including Sara, We Built This City, Nothings Gonna Stop Us Now, etc…
Kathy and David band perform Live in front of an original Jefferson Starship backdrop featuring one of Craig’s hit songs, Find Your Way Back.
After Craig’s guitar-riff heavy “Jane” was Mickey Thomas’ first huge Jefferson Starship hit on the platinum Freedom At Point Zero album, Jefferson Starship re-introduces GRACE SLICK on the platinum Modern Times album with another huge Craig Chaquico Classic Rock hit, “Find Your Way Back”, which was Grace’s first recording since the the cancelled show caused a riot in Germany.
“Hey China, what if I were to tell you that someday…” – craig
“Welcome to the 60s” – Grace Slick. In a galaxy a long tome ago and far far away..
CRAIG’S TRIBUTE TO CHUCK BERRY: “It was an honor to share the stage and the universe with Chuck Berry. (RIP) He made the world of rock ‘n’ roll what it is today and beyond. The NASA Voyager Interstellar Mission included a disc of music from Earth of which ‘Johnny B. Goode’ was Chuck Berry’s own musical greetings-and-salutations to other-worlders. As that cosmic message in a bottle continues on its journey now beyond our solar system toward galaxies far far away, maybe aliens will someday hear all that Earth music, art and information and trace it back to our third stone from the sun. No one is more surprised than I to also have one of my own songs ‘Just One World’ launched into space as part of the Space Arc Project which also included music from Earth. That communications satellite is in a permanent geosynchronous orbit right here for millions of years. So maybe someday the same ET’s who hear Chuck’s music on Voyager could trace it back to Earth and maybe they will hear my music on the orbiting Space Arc Project satellite along with all the other music, art and information from Earth. I can almost hear them making communications with our species from light-years away and saying, “…please send more Chuck Berry.”
It’s hard not to hear the “Chuck sound” in every rock ‘n’ roll guitar player, but the “chuck” sound is even in my own last name. — Craig Cha-KEE-so


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Date: Wednesday, June 13, 2018
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: B'nai Israel Congregation
Address: 6301 Montrose Road, Rockville, MD 20852
Montgomery County will have a new leader in January, and the B’nai Israel Men’s Club is offering an opportunity to hear from those who want the job. The Men’s Club is hosting a meet-the-candidates night. Admission is free and light refreshments will be served.
All of the candidates for Montgomery County executive will appear on one stage at B’nai Israel Congregation. The event is sponsored by the B’nai Israel Men’s Club. It’s the night before early primary elections begin in Montgomery County.
The candidates who will be attending are Roger Berliner, David Blair, Marc Elrich, Robin Ficker, Bill Frick, Rose Krasnow and George Leventhal. The audience will have the opportunity to ask questions of the candidates and the candidates will have a chance to question each other. Robin Ficker is assured of being on the November ballot as he is the only Republican in the race. The others are vying for the Democratic nomination.
For more information and to RSVP, contact Jonathan Salant.
Organized by: Jonathan Salant
Have questions?Contact the organizer

domain: politics


Adblock Bristol began in April 2017 and was the forerunner to the national Adfree Cities network. We meet once per month, on the second Tuesday of the month at 7pm. Email us for details.
We are a volunteer group who are concerned about the impacts of corporate advertising on our health, wellbeing, environment, climate, communities and the local economy. We lobby for policy change at a local levels, showcase alternatives, organise locally to stop new advertising sites and produce resources to raise awareness about the impacts of commercial advertising.
Adblock Bristol is working towards a city that celebrates its creativity and independence, where residents have a say in what they see in the city’s streets and other public spaces. We oppose billboards and other corporate outdoor advertising, and promote a visual environment which reflects the unique identity of our city, the values of local communities and the local economy.
There are many opportunities to get involved in our volunteer-led projects, from community arts to lobbying for policy change. Come along to our next monthly meeting or email us to find out more.
Next monthly meeting is: Tuesday 7th June, 7pm at Pennywell Studios (30-64 Pennywell Rd). All welcome to join!
Our Screened Out campaign aims to get rid of the two enormous advertising screens overlooking the M32.
In BS3 we have a community campaign to remove two billboards on North Street Green. Sign the petition and get involved!
Check out our Burg Arts community arts billboard in St Werburghs where we showcase local artists and provide an antidote to commercial billboard ads.
Adblock Bristol also has a podcast, Message Recall, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Simplecast.
Email: adblockbristol [~at~] gmail.com
Join the Adblock Bristol Facebook Group.


TAMPA, FLORIDA-You might ask yourself why an Internet marketing company that focuses on search engine optimization to help increase traffic to clients’ websites and improve their Google site ranking is devoting a blog post to custom-designed websites.
There’s actually a good reason for it. With so many people turning to WordPress websites these days, people are increasingly interested in purchasing templates, tweaking them slightly to fit their own needs, and taking them live online.
On the surface, it’s an attractive option. You usually can spend $50 or less to purchase an attractive template. But saving money up front can end up costing you dearly in the long run.
He has found that one reason behind this is dirty code.
“We know by experience that the code included with template sites isn’t always clean,” Barrett says. “This means it might look satisfactory in your browser, but it can cause a lot of grief when trying to rank in search engines.”
The problem begins with trying to make a template fit your business’s unique needs.
“If you look at any template site, you’ll find that almost all of them are image driven,” Barrett says. “They have awesome photography on them, but once you take that out, the template almost automatically crashes.”
In diagnosing the problem behind one particular client’s website woes, Barrett discovered that when the template was installed, some of the images and/or links were still going back to the original template creator’s website. For whatever reason, the template creator’s site showed up on blacklisted sites. Because of this, not just Barrett’s client, but anyone with that template for their website would have problems getting their website found by Google.
The more junk search engine spiders must crawl through to locate your content, the less likely they are to rank you.
“Google is all about user experience,” says Millionairium Founder and CEO Ali Husayni. “A website needs to have original content, it needs to load quickly, and on the back-end, it needs to be clean and well-organized.”
When a site has code that directs to a blacklisted site, Google essentially punishes you for it. For all intents and purposes, your site essentially is blacklisted as well, Barrett says.
A customized website eliminates this issue. A designer who knows what he/she is doing only uses the necessary code. They aren’t putting a bunch of nonsense code behind the scenes, which means the sites are more easily indexed. Good designers also create a site map file they submit to Google that lets them know where to find your content. Templates don’t come with this.
Although this doesn’t have as much to do with a website’s ability to be indexed by search engines, there’s one more important reason to avoid a template for your website. It has to do with user experience and the potential to lose out on business, Barrett says.
When you have to force your information to fit into someone else’s template, you’re no longer considering the user’s experience. The user may not find your information easily, which can frustrate them and drive them back to Google to search for another – read, better – website.
“It becomes more difficult to clearly define and target what your business needs to do by backing yourself into someone else’s creation and strategy,” he says. “With a custom site, you’re starting with a white board. It can be built from the ground up to do exactly what you want it to do.”
So do yourself a favor and spend the extra money to get a customized website that addresses your needs. This added expense up front not only has the potential to save you money in the long run, but to increase business by giving visitors a reason to stick around.


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The Truth in music. Tell it how it is in life. Speaking power to the strong and inspiration to the weak.
Just accumulate the countless episodes of Black Tee Radio, All the parties and concerts hosted. All of the interviews and videos recorded and produced. Place them on a cd and you have #DGX...
*Black Tee DaPromoter*

domain: artistic


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How do you invest money these days?
Let’s face it: Investing money has been easier in days when you still got a reasonable interest on your capital. Nowadays, it requires more effort and higher risks to receive a satisfying return on your investments.
Retail banks suck
The advisor of your local bank cannot help you anymore — they’re old-fashioned people selling you old-fashioned stuff. To earn money, they have to sell you their products to receive a good margin and hence you end up paying their fees, thereby reducing your chances of a profit. Given they care for your profit at all and not just theirs.
So it is up to you to take over control of your capital’s destiny. One of the remaining resorts for acceptable returns is the stock market. Because retail banks suck, you get an online broker account.
Online Brokers suck, too
But the online broker world is not perfect either: Now you are in control, but also in charge. Which stocks to buy? When? For how much? And at which cost (fee structures and order costs depend on size of order, stock exchange and often other factors)? It takes considerable effort to find adequate answers to these questions.
Besides: Don’t you have a regular job to earn all that money to invest? You just want a quick solution to invest your money in companies or markets you believe in and then some kind of monitoring and controlling how those decisions develop.
When we came to that point, we asked ourselves: How would a real solution to this problem look like? We therefore drafted a platform to invest our money which would help us to identify exciting investment opportunities more easily. Using it, we would be able to compare shares transparently by their fundamental characteristics, based on our preferences. By defining selection filters and receiving alerts when new stock candidates match our search criteria, we would be ahead of new investment opportunities. We could backtest how our selection criteria would have performed in past periods. The platform would then execute our orders and monitor the portfolio’s performance, keeping us informed about the quality of our decisions and recommend actions (like buy/sell) when necessary.
The advantages of such a solution would be compelling:
- You do not have to spend hours looking for opportunities to invest and calculating comparison metrics for a large amount of shares.
- Once you decided on an investment strategy, the system screens the market for new opportunities that match your criteria, so you do not need to do it manually.
- You have transparency of chances and risks through backtesting and automated monitoring.
- Emotions of the moment often interfere with well-engineered long-term investment strategies. The use of such a portfolio-management system which would work on a defined set of rules helps to overcome short-term doubts for long-term benefits.
- Based on your preferences, the system will recommend actions to support quick decisions.
What do you think? How do you solve the problem of low interest?

domain: economics


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WINSTON COUNTY (WIAT) — Two people have been arrested and charged with negligent homicide relating to the death of Kelsey Starling, who disappeared on Smith Lake following a boating accident on the Fourth of July.
On Wednesday, troopers with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s Marine Patrol Division arrested Nick Bowling Suggs, 50, and Jodi Wallace Suggs, 50, charging both Decatur natives with criminally negligent homicide regarding a fatal boat crash July 4 on Smith Lake that killed Starling, 26, of Troy.
According to the Winston County Sheriff’s Office, Nick and Jodi Suggs were accompanied by their attorney and turned themselves into authorities. They immediately posted $3,000 bond each and left the Winston County Jail Wednesday.
Per the Marine Patrol Division, the Suggs’ were on a pontoon boat whereas Starling was riding on a MasterCraft. The two boats collided just after 10 P.M.
In Alabama, criminally negligent homicide is a Class A misdemeanor. However, according to the Alabama Code Title 13A-6-4, the charge can be upgraded to a Class C felony if death “is caused by the driver or operator of a vehicle or vessel who is driving or operating the vehicle or vessel in violation of Section 32-5A-191 or 32-5A-191.3.” A Class A misdemeanor can include up to a year in prison while a Class C felony can carry a prison sentence between one and 10 years.
According to a press release sent out by ALEA, charges were handed down against the duo after a Winston County grand jury convened earlier this week. Officials from the 25th Circuit District Attorney’s Office in Winston County will prosecute the case.
Following news of the indictment, Starling’s family released a statement to media:
“Our daughter, sister, and granddaughter, Kelsey Starling is missing and presumed dead since July 4, 2019, following a boating incident on Smith Lake. We appreciate the tireless efforts of law enforcement and search personnel to locate Kelsey. We also very much appreciate the love and support we have received from so many individuals at Smith Lake and throughout our state. We have been especially touched by the blue Kelsey ribbons that have seemingly appeared everywhere in Alabama and states beyond. This has provided our family significant comfort.
We understand that an indictment has now been issued in connection with Kelsey’s death; we will not comment on the indictment at this time. We look forward to receiving information yielded from the investigation that resulted in this indictment. The family will have no further comment on this issue at this time, as our efforts remain focused on the recovery of Kelsey’s remains.”
Starling was a speech pathologist at Tuggle Elementary School whose friends described as having a “light she shared with everyone she met.”
“We wanted to do this for Alton and Megan and all of her friends, faculty members, just to let them know how much we love, care and appreciate Kelsey and the impact that she had on our kids here at Tuggle,” Principal Ann Jemison said during a balloon release in her honor earlier this month.
The search for Starling has gone on for over a month since her disappearance, involving state-of-the-art equipment and dozens of volunteers searching Smith Lake to find her. However, due to the deep depths of the lake, including an underwater “forest,” the search has not yielded any clues to her whereabouts.
As the search continues, officials with the Winston County Sheriff’s Office are encouraging everyone to be safe when out on the water.
“Safety [is most important]. It doesn’t matter if you’re drinking and driving, drinking and boating, speeding, it doesn’t matter what it is,” said Chief Deputy Bryan Kirkpatrick. “Take care and caution. That goes the same on the water as it does on the roadway.”
Efforts to recover Starling’s body resumed this morning and will continue through Friday.


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June 09, 2020
Rowan University will not renew the contract of a head security official who fatally shot a 14-year-old boy while working as a police officer in Glassboro in 1994.
University president Ali Houshmand made the decision Monday as a petition to remove Peter Amico gained suppoirt. Amico is the head of Rowan's Office of Emergency Management. He was first hired by the university as a contractor in 2008.
In April 1994, while working as a police office, Amico was called to a domestic dispute at a home in Glassboro, where he says Eltarmaine "L.T." Sanders lunged at him with a knife. Amico opened fire, killing the teen and prompting days of protests in the Gloucester County town. A federal investigation found no civil rights violations and a grand jury declined to bring charges against Amico.
"Given the circumstances of Amico’s employment prior to serving at the university and the necessarily painstaking evaluation of Rowan’s institutional commitment to racial justice and equity, Amico’s employment will be discontinued," Houshmand said in a statement.
Accounts of the 1994 incident from those close to the family said Sanders had been fighting with his older cousin and was chasing him with a knife. The boy's mom called police, and when they arrived, Amico quickly fired his weapon at Sanders, claiming self defense. Amico was 29 at the time and a six-year veteran of the police force.
A year after the incident, the Gloucester County Police Awards Committee gave Amico a Combat Cross award for "combat with an armed assailant," further angering the black community in Glassboro.
The petition to remove Amico called his employment at Rowan "a revolting insult" to the Sanders family and to the African-American community.
"Whereas, 'Protection of Human Life' is the first priority of Rowan's Office of Emergency Management, Peter Amico's continued presence as the person in charge says loudly that 'Black Lives Don't Matter' at Rowan University."
Amico retired the Glassboro Police Department in 2009 and gradually rose to take over Rowan's Office of Emergency Management in 2013.
Delores Sanders, L.T.'s mother, posted about her son on Facebook amid last week's protests demanding justice for George Floyd, who was killed by Minneapolis police on May 25. Former officer Derek Chauvin, faces murder and manslaughter charges, while three other officers who were at the scene of Floyd's death are charged with aiding and abetting murder
I am the mother of a black boy killed by a white cop YES,I’M MAD YES, I’M HURT El Tarmaine SandersPosted by Delores Sanders on Sunday, May 31, 2020
Houshmand said the university's decision to part with Amico reflects a need to reassess how Rowan operates.
"As a university, we believe black lives matter," Houshmand said. "We are looking hard at our own organization, our policies, structure and culture."


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text:
Let's say you've done very well for yourself and you're going to have an estate tax problem. Your estate will be more than $5.34 Million ($10.68 Million if married) when you die so you'll have to pay estate taxes of 40% of the amount over the $5.34 Million limit. What are your options to avoid this tax?
The easiest option is to give your money away before you die. You (and your spouse) can each give $14K to any person you like every year without incurring the gift/estate tax. You can also give money to charity at your death, which is then excluded from your estate. But if you wish to control your money until your death, and then want it to go to your heirs, you'll need a different option.
Option 1: Invest your money and pay the estate tax.
This option can be very attractive, mostly because you can decide to spend the money if you like since it isn't stuck in an irrevocable trust. It's also attractive because you don't have to go through the time, expense, and hassle of forming a trust and keeping it up to date. If you invest in a tax-efficient way using investments like municipal bond funds and broad market index funds there is minimal tax drag on your investments. Let's say you're investing $20,000 a year for twenty years into a total stock market fund. If you earn an annualized return of 9% on that money, the drag will be something like 2% *15% = 0.30% per year. So the money will grow at 8.7% a year. Upon your death, the money will go to your heirs with a stepped up basis. So estate tax will be owed, but not income tax. So in our example, the investment will be worth $1.075M before tax, and $645K after tax.
Option 2: Buy a whole life policy inside an irrevocable life insurance trust.
This is an option often promoted by life insurance agents and estate planning attorneys alike. You make your $20,000 contribution to the irrevocable trust each year and the entire contribution is used to pay the premiums on a whole life insurance policy. Over 20 years, 3% would be a reasonable estimate of the “return” on the death benefit if you die at your life expectancy. Your return could be much better if you die early, and perhaps even a little better if you die later. There would be no tax drag and there are no income taxes due on the death benefit. So you could expect your heirs to be left with a death benefit of perhaps $553,000, tax-free.
Option 3: Buy index funds inside an irrevocable trust.
There is nothing that says life insurance is the only thing you can buy in an irrevocable trust. You (actually your trustee) could buy any type of investment you like. Of course, the trust would have to pay taxes on any taxable gains at the higher trust tax rates. For 2014, those rates are:
|If Taxable Income Is||The Tax Is|
|Not over $2,500||15% of taxable income|
|Over $2,500 but not over $5,800||$375.00 plus 25% of the excess over $2,500|
|Over $5,800 but not over $8,900||$1,200.00 plus 28% of the excess over $5,800|
|Over $8,900 but not over $12,150||$2,068.00 plus 33% of the excess over $8,900|
|Over $12,150||$3,140.50 plus 39.6% of the excess over $12,150|
Now the qualified dividend/long term capital gains rate is 15% up to $12,150, then 20% above that. A $500K index fund portfolio kicking out a yield of 2% would provide $10K in yield, which would be taxed at 15%. So 15% * 2% is probably a reasonable tax drag to apply. If you get that 9% return, 8.7% after the tax drag, then you end up with $1.075M after 20 years. Of course, the basis on this is $200K, so the trust will pay 15% * ($1.075M-$200K) = $131,250 in capital gains taxes, distributing an after-tax amount of $944K to the heirs. No estate tax will be owed.
So to recap,
- Taxable index fund: $645K
- Whole life in ILIT: $553K
- Trust index fund: $944K
Garbage In = Garbage Out
Under these assumptions, there is a pretty clear winner. The surprise is that 2nd place goes to option 1, where you just pay the estate tax due. But like anything, garbage in = garbage out. What happens if we change the return assumptions a little? What happens if the whole life policy returns 5% and the index fund only makes 7%?
- Taxable index fund: $508K
- Whole life in ILIT: $694K
- Trust Index fund: $750K
The index fund in the trust still wins, although not by nearly as much, and the whole life policy does come out ahead of not using a trust at all. These projections, of course, are comparing a relatively risky stock fund to a much less risky life insurance policy (which also provides a death benefit in the event of dying sooner than your life expectancy) so it isn't entirely apples to oranges. But it does reflect the most likely scenario (dying at your life expectancy.)
What About a Variable Universal Life Insurance?
I have had some advisors contend that the insurance and administrative costs of a well-designed VUL only provides a long term drag of 1% on the underlying investments. I think that's pretty optimistic for a 20 year horizon, so let's double it to 2% and see how it affects things. You're putting your $20K a year into a irrevocable trust and investing it in a low-cost VUL policy with index fund investments. Let's return to the 9% estimate for the index fund and the 3% estimate for the whole life policy, and then use 7% for VUL. Remember there is no tax drag, estate tax, or income tax due at death on the life insurance options. How do things stack up upon your death at 20 years?
Taxable index fund: $645K
Whole life in ILIT: $553K
Trust index fund: $944K
VUL in ILIT: $877K
The market risk for the VUL is exactly the same as the taxable and trust index fund, so this is a true “apples to apples” comparison, risk-wise. We see that the VUL comes out in second place, still worse than just investing in index funds inside a trust.
If Risk Shows Up
If stock market returns over this 20 year period turn out to be disappointing and only average 6% (let's say with a 1.5% yield), then the VUL investment only makes 4% and taxes eat up a much smaller portion of the amount in the taxable account. We'll assume the whole life insurance still somehow manages a 3% return. We end up with the following:
Taxable index fund: $456K
Whole life in ILIT: $553K
Trust index fund: $676K
VUL in ILIT: $619K
We see that low returns can make the taxable index fund inferior to a whole life policy in an ILIT, but you're still better off with an index fund inside the trust than purchasing any life insurance policy. The VUL does have the death benefit, which may be worth the $57K in lower expected returns.
There are other factors here to keep in mind. Estate tax laws change, and they do so frequently. It is possible that in 20 years there won't be an estate tax at all (like in 2010). The exemption is currently indexed to inflation, and due to that you may be over the limit at the time of your planning, then under it upon your death. The exemption could also be raised, or lowered. Estate income tax rates could also change. An approach that makes sense under current laws may not under future tax laws. There are also state income tax rates, state estate tax rates, and state estate tax exemptions to contend with. Clearly this is an area where it makes sense to spend some time and money talking to an experienced estate planning attorney in your state.
However, the fact remains that over long periods of time small differences in return matter a great deal, and that you can buy any investment you want inside an irrevocable trust. If you start with an index fund investment, either within or without a trust, you can always change your mind later, so long as you remain insurable. However, surrendering a life insurance policy before death is likely to turn a low returning investment into a financial disaster. The bottom line? Permanent life insurance can be considered when designing a high net worth estate plan, but it certainly isn't required and under quite reasonable assumptions, may turn out to be the wrong choice.
What do you think? Do you have an irrevocable trust? What did you put in it and why? Comment below!

domain: finance


Saudi Arabia has abolished flogging as a punishment, the state human rights commission said Saturday, hailing it as a “major step forward” in the reform program launched by the king and his powerful son.
Court-ordered floggings in Saudi Arabia — sometimes extending to hundreds of lashes — have long drawn condemnation from human rights groups.
But rights groups say that the headline legal reforms overseen by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have brought no let up in the conservative Islamic kingdom’s crushing of dissent, including through the death penalty.
Other forms of corporal punishment, such as amputation for theft or beheading for murder and terrorism offenses, have not yet been outlawed, Reuters reported.
The state human rights commission said that the latest reform, which was reported by Saudi media including the pro-government Okaz newspaper, would ensure that no more convicts were sentenced to flogging.
“This decision guarantees that convicts who would previously have been sentenced to the lash will from now on receive fines or prison terms instead,” its chairman, Awad al-Awad, said.
Previously, the courts had powers to order the flogging of convicts found guilty of a range of offenses including extramarital sex, breach of the peace and murder.
In the future, judges who would have chosen flogging will have to choose between fines, jail sentences, or noncustodial alternatives like community service.
He was awarded the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought the following year.
The abolition of flogging in Saudi Arabia comes just days after the kingdom’s human rights record was again in the spotlight following news of the death from a stroke of imprisoned activist Abdullah al-Hamid, 69.
Hamid was a founding member of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association and was sentenced to 11 years in jail in March 2013, campaigners said.
He was convicted on multiple charges, including “breaking allegiance” to the Saudi ruler, “inciting disorder” and seeking to disrupt state security, Amnesty International said.
Criticism of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record has grown since King Salman named his son Prince Mohammed crown prince and heir to the throne in June 2017.
The king has launched ambitious economic and social reforms, allowing women to drive and sports and entertainment events to be staged in the kingdom.
However, the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018 and the increased repression of dissidents at home have overshadowed the prince’s pledge to modernize the economy and society.
The Saudi authorities put a record 184 people to death last year, according to figures released by Amnesty International on Tuesday.
“Saudi Arabia’s growing use of the death penalty, including as a weapon against political dissidents, is an alarming development,” the human rights group said.


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I hate that feeling. You know the one you get when you wait for what feels like an eternity for a game to come out. You pour hours into watching videos and reading articles that get you hyped up until your excitement reaches boiling point. You tick off the days, excruciatingly waiting for that release date. And then when the day finally comes, you’re met with disappointment. You face denial, urging yourself to give it another hour, waiting for something to click. But nothing ever clicks. It happened to me playing Fallout 4. It took me almost 80 hours to realise Fallout 4 was not the game I wanted it to be. And it’s kind of happening to me right now with Street Fighter V. It hasn’t clicked…yet.
Firstly, let’s get one thing out of the way. Street Fighter V is a good game. In some ways, I could argue with anyone why, at its core at least, SFV is one of the best fighting games on the market right now. It’s an addictive, fun, and more accessible Street Fighter game than any of the series that’s come before it. With easier mechanics and leniency with button inputs, the barrier for entry is certainly lower than its predecessor. It also helps that SFV is absolutely gorgeous. But what Capcom gets right with the gameplay and looks, it gets totally wrong by releasing a shell of what the full game should be; a game that claims to be newcomer-friendly, but makes no attempt to retain their interest.
We’ve been promised a full story mode, with over an hour of cinematic cut scenes to help new players fall in love with the lore and characters of Street Fighter V; a single-player experience that will rival the excellent story mode found in Mortal Kombat X, but that’s not coming until June. Instead of a proper story mode, what we have instead is a place-holder that you would hardly even call an Arcade mode. There are costumes that can be unlocked too, but we can’t even use them yet because the in-game shop won’t be available for a month, and for some bizarre reason, you need an in-game shop connected to a network to use costumes offline. We can unlock colours, but that involves grinding out the pretty dull survival mode. There’s a half-arsed tutorial, but no fleshed out trial mode at release to teach you each individual character’s moves and combos. You’re just thrown in the deep end from the get go. For a game that’s supposedly newcomer-friendly, it’s almost shocking how little content there is tailored for them.
But you know what; SFV is a really good fighting game. It’s just clear where Capcom have placed their priorities. They’ve released the game earlier than they should have to get it ready for the competitive scene. Capcom Cup isn’t far away, and the pro players need time with the game. And as a hardcore fighting game fan and FGC follower myself, it’s a move I understand. To be honest, even the network and connectivity issues the game is suffering from aren’t that much of a problem for me because I’ll always have my FGC buddies to challenge offline. It’s the only thing we really care about.
But what about my non FGC friends who I promised would love Street Fighter V? Or the younger generations enticed by the fanfare, spending their £45 only to find there’s hardly any content here? I know, I know, fighting games are all about competitive play – blah blah. Trust me, I understand; I‘ve watched every Evo tournament since 2012. I watch pretty much every major there is in the run up to Capcom Cup. I’ve been playing SF4 since vanilla, and I am a former top 10 Xbox Live ranked player and a top 5 ranked player on Steam. My point is that Capcom have done so much to market this game as a chance for new players to get into Street Fighter and make the FGC bigger and better than it’s ever been, and they’ve introduced a bunch of gameplay changes to make it easier than ever to learn the game. Yet they seem to have done very little to justify anyone other than hardcore fans to buy SFV.
Still, there are positives. Fighting games evolve over time, and with patches and fixes, the network issues will get better. Balance changes will be made to keep the game fun and competitive, and as more and more content gets added over time, we’ll have a much more attractive package for newcomers. But by that point, the divide in skill level between those players and the ones like me who have been playing SFV since the beta will be so massive, they’ll play one, maybe two matches online, and then never want to play SFV ever again. It’s a catch 22 for Capcom.
Ultimately, I think this game will click for me. And once Capcom iron out the issues and start rolling out the content, I think it’s going to click for the rest of the FGC too. I’m just wondering whether all of the new players Capcom seemed so keen to attract in the first place will allow enough time to let it click for them.


text:
Your Playbook: Developing a Motion Offense
This article originally appeared in the "Your Edge" section of April's Lacrosse Magazine. Don't get the mag? Join US Lacrosse and its 300,000-plus members today to start your subscription.
This drill was presented by North Harford (Md.) girls' lacrosse
coach Tara Buecker at the 2009 US Lacrosse National Convention,
presented by adidas. For more information, visit www.uslacrosse.org/convention.
1. Basics of a Motion Offense
- Pass and move.
- Player adjacent to ball cuts through the 8 meter.
- Two players away from ball offer outlet. If not used, they get out.
- Everyone is a threat with the ball.
- Keep the field balanced.
- Player adjacent to the ball cuts through the 8 meter.
- Two players away from the ball cut outside to become outlets.
- Ball carrier drives to be a threat, with head up for a feed or 1-on-1 opportunity.
- Ball carrier uses outlet if needed.
- Balance and restart the motion.
3. How to Drill Motion Offense
- Use a skeleton offense. Work the ball without a defense, first with five players, then using all seven.
- Use it in transition. From the opposite goal or the 50-yard-line, work on getting the ball behind the cage and balancing.
- Drill 7-on-7 clears to the restraining line. Play everything out. When the offense gains possession, again, emphasize balance and motion.
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domain: hobby