July 10, 2016

Cuban economy minister details dire austerity measures

Cuba is drastically cutting electricity, imports and investment, as well as reducing fuel consumption by 28 percent through the end of the year, its economy minister said on Friday in a closed-door speech to the National Assembly published by official media on Saturday.

The measures are sure to put the import-dependent economy into negative territory, despite a tourism boom in the wake of a growing detente with the United States. They also represent a huge setback for a country struggling to reform an already decapitalized and often dysfunctional system.

Cuba's economy grew just 1 percent in the first half of this year after expanding 4 percent in 2015, according to the government, which says it imports 17 cents of inputs, such as raw materials, for every $1.00 equivalent of economic activity.

"We planned to import $14.416 billion to support 2 percent growth this year, but with the adjustments we will spend $11.973 billion," Economy Minister Marino Murillo said, a reduction of nearly $2.5 billion, or 15 percent.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/cuban-economy-minister-details-dire-austerity-measures-133806692--business.html

July 10, 2016

Judge sentences former Alabama House speaker ethics case

Former Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard was sentenced Friday to four years in prison and another eight on probation for breaking the state ethics law — a prison term handed down as his defense lawyer continued to argue Hubbard's innocence.

Lee County Circuit Judge Jacob Walker announced the sentence after a hearing in which prosecutors called Hubbard a remorseless figure motivated by greed while defense witnesses urged mercy for the man they described as a public servant.

A jury on June 10 convicted Hubbard on 12 counts of violating the state ethics law, including that he improperly solicited lobbyists and company executives for work and $150,000 in his investments in his debt-riddled printing business and used the power of his office to help his business clients.

Prosecutors argued that Hubbard, 54, betrayed the trust of voters who elected him to the Legislature and fellow lawmakers who chose him to lead the House of Representatives.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/judge-sentence-former-alabama-house-speaker-ethics-case-075618569.html

July 9, 2016

Remembering Si Ramo, America's pioneering renaissance man

The obituaries are all in, chronicling the amazing career of Simon Ramo, who died June 28 at the age of 103. But Ramo was one of those extraordinary individuals whose life can’t be confined, or defined, within columns of newsprint or the pixels on a screen.

I can’t do any better than the thorough obit written by my colleagues Peter Pae and W.J. Hennigan in outlining the milestones of Ramo’s career. I can, however, contribute a few personal observations, drawn from the regular lunches I spent with Ramo over the last few years.

Starting in mid-2010, when I first visited him to gather material for a profile, Si would invite me to see him every six or eight weeks. We usually met at the Los Angeles Country Club; it was a rare lunchtime that we weren’t interrupted by a well-wisher or former associate. Sometimes I would arrive with a question or agenda of my own, related to a column I was planning or a book project. It rarely mattered, because Ramo always had an agenda of his own, and his thoughts were invariably more interesting and illuminating than mine.

Si Ramo was a skilled amateur musician, an engineering pioneer, a management guru, a builder and teacher. The Utah-born Ramo had come west to study at Caltech in 1933 and joined General Electric before the war. He received his first patent just after his 28th birthday and the last of his portfolio of about 40 at the age of 100, making him the oldest inventor to earn a patent.

http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-ramo-20160707-snap-story.html

July 9, 2016

Dallas police chief lost son, brother and partner to violence

Dallas Police Chief David Brown stood before the television cameras Friday morning, hours after a gunman fatally shot five officers, and made one thing clear: His department was hurting.

“We don’t feel much support on most days,” Brown said. “Let’s not make today most days.”

He had spent a long night consoling the victims’ families, who were struggling just to understand why.

A three-decade veteran of the Dallas Police Department who grew up in the city and became chief in 2010, Brown, 55, is well-acquainted with tragedy. His former police partner was shot and killed in 1988. His brother was killed three years later.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-dallas-chief-profile-20160708-snap-story.html

July 6, 2016

‘I’m A Trump-Era Conservative,’ Says Horrifying Man 25 Years From Now

NEWPORT BEACH, CA—Explaining that the early–21st century Republican is by far the biggest influence on his political beliefs, Brandon Taggart, a man from 25 years in the future and all-around horrifying human being, told reporters Wednesday that he considers himself to be a Trump-era conservative.

“When I think of what it truly means to be a conservative, I immediately think of Donald Trump and the vision he had for this country,” said the deeply frightening individual, adding that the policies and worldview advocated by Trump continue to form the bedrock of his own political convictions more than two decades later. “Nobody since Trump has captured the imagination of an entire generation of voters the way he did back then—not just Republicans, but independents and even a few Democrats, who just got sick of government as usual and wanted America to be strong again.”

“Trump was the leader this nation needed,” added the atrocious man. “We desperately need another one just like him.”

Taggart, the terrifying ignoramus who in the year 2041 will repeatedly lament a GOP that had lost sight of its ideals, went on to say that he regards the era in which Trump was the face of the Republican Party as the pinnacle not only of modern conservatism but also the United States as a whole.

http://www.theonion.com/article/im-trump-era-conservative-says-horrifying-man-25-y-53182

Nice swipe at Reagan Republicans.

July 6, 2016

This Is How Retirees Live on $1 Million Dollars

For most, the word "millionaire," a term coined by a Frenchman in the 18th century, calls to mind images of lavish wealth and extravagant lifestyles. These days, millionaire describes a financial status nowhere near as prosperous as it was decades or centuries ago. The definition of the word is simple: A millionaire is a person whose net worth – assets minus liabilities – is $1 million or greater.

Simply having this much money once represented a ticket to life on easy street. As of 2016, thanks to inflation, cost-of-living increases and lifestyle changes, retiring on $1 million isn't as carefree. It now requires smart budgeting to ensure this nest egg lasts for a retiree's remaining years.

Though it does not provide for the sumptuous lifestyle of years past, having $1 million for retirement is still a blessing. Many retirees have nothing or next to nothing in liquid assets and have to rely on Social Security benefits to pay the bills each month (see What is the size of the average retirement nest egg?). This is a big reason why the poverty rate for Americans 65 and over is frighteningly high. A retiree with exactly $1 million may not be spending much time at the Breakers on Palm Beach, or the Plaza Hotel i New York, but invested smartly, this sum should ensure he can live in a typical U.S. big city, such as Chicago, Los Angeles or Houston, without worrying about poverty or inability to pay the bills.

Let's take a closer look at two of the key strategies shrewd retirees employ to stretch $1 million throughout the retirement years. One technique is to purchase an immediate annuity, which converts the retiree's lump sum into a guaranteed monthly paycheck for the remainder of his or her life. Another is to invest the money in a standard portfolio, typically one diversified with mutual fund, stock and bond investments, then withdraw a fixed percentage of that portfolio each year to pay living expenses.

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/102715/how-retirees-live-1-million-dollars.asp

July 6, 2016

A test of America's homeland missile defense system found a problem. Why didn't the Pentagon say so?

If North Korea ever unleashed nuclear-armed missiles against America, the defense of U.S. cities and towns would depend to no small degree on something called a divert thruster.

These small rocket motors would be counted on to keep U.S. anti-missile interceptors on target as they hurtled through space toward the incoming warheads.

If the thrusters malfunctioned – and they have a record of performance problems – an interceptor could veer off-course, allowing a warhead to slip through. The consequences could be catastrophic.

So a lot was at stake when the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency conducted the first flight test of a new and supposedly improved version of the thruster on Jan. 28.

http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-na-missile-defense/

July 6, 2016

Trump singing Bernie's praises on MSNBC live now

Because both said the primaries were "rigged".

July 5, 2016

Venezuela 'willing' to restore diplomatic ties with US

Crisis-hit Venezuela is willing to restore diplomatic relations with the United States after a six-year freeze, the socialist government said Monday.

The foreign ministry's announcement came two weeks after top US diplomat Thomas Shannon met with Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in a bid to help tackle the country's economic and political crisis.

In a message congratulating the United States on its Independence Day commemoration, the ministry expressed its "willingness to establish respectful bilateral diplomatic relations."

The two countries have not exchanged ambassadors since 2010 due to tensions between Washington and the government of Hugo Chavez, Maduro's mentor and late predecessor.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/venezuela-willing-restore-diplomatic-ties-us-205451292.html

July 5, 2016

Colombia FARC rebels stop levying 'tax' in peace drive

Colombia's FARC rebel force says it has halted recruiting fighters and demanding money from civilians as it works towards a historic peace deal with the government.

"Three months ago we stopped recruiting men and women to the ranks of the FARC," the force's leader Timoleon Jimenez was quoted as saying by the Colombian news agency Prensa Rural.

"I have also just given the order to the entire FARC command to suspend levying taxes on all legal economic activity in the regions," he added in the interview, published late Monday.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have been in a bloody territorial conflict with the Colombian state for 52 years.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/colombia-farc-rebels-stop-levying-tax-peace-drive-152920674.html