Calista241
Calista241's JournalUPDATE: GDP grows at stronger-than-forecast 3% rate in third quarter
Source: Morningstar
The numbers: The U.S. grew at a solid 3% annual pace in third quarter despite damage from two hurricanes, according to Commerce Department data (https://www.bea.gov/national/index.htm#gdp). That's above economist expectations of a 2.7% growth rate, according to a MarketWatch survey, and only slightly below the 3.1% growth rate in the second quarter.
The last time the economy had two consecutive quarters of above-3% growth was in 2014. The government said it couldn't say exactly how much hurricanes Harvey and Irma sliced from growth in the July-September quarter. Because Puerto Rico is not a state, hurricane Maria does not factor in the government's GDP calculations.
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Nonresidential, or business, investment rose 3.9%. Inventories added 0.73 percentage points to growth and the trade sector added 0.41 percentage points. Excluding those volatile categories, final sales for domestic product rose 2.3% in the third quarter, down from a 2.9% rate in the prior period. Government spending was also up after the hurricane. Housing investment slumped for the second straight quarter.
Core inflation as measured by the PCE price index increased at a 1.3% annual rate, up from 0.9% in the second quarter.
Read more: http://www.morningstar.com/news/market-watch/TDJNMW_20171027285/economy-grows-at-3-rate-in-third-quarter-despite-negative-impact-from-hurricanes.html
Visitor from Far, Far Away: Interstellar Object Spotted in Our Solar System
Source: Space.com
A visitor from interstellar space has likely been spotted in our solar system for the first time ever.
The object, known as A/2017 U1, was detected last week by researchers using the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope in Hawaii.
"We have been waiting for this day for decades," Paul Chodas, manager of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at the NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said in a statement.
"It's long been theorized that such objects exist — asteroids or comets moving around between the stars and occasionally passing through our solar system — but this is the first such detection," Chodas added. "So far, everything indicates this is likely an interstellar object, but more data would help to confirm it."
Read more: https://www.space.com/38580-interstellar-object-spotted-comet-asteroid-mystery.html
California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoes proposal to codify federal regulations on campus sexual harassmen
Source: Washington Post
To the Members of the California State Senate:
I am returning Senate Bill 169 without my signature.
This bill would codify a combination of federal regulations and guidance on sexual harassment — some of which has been repealed, some of which is still in effect — as well as some language from model policies that have been developed by California universities.
This is not a simple issue. Sexual harassment and sexual violence are serious and complicated matters for colleges to resolve. On the one side are complainants who come forward to seek justice and protection; on the other side stand accused students, who, guilty or not, must be treated fairly and with the presumption of innocence until the facts speak otherwise. Then, as we know, there are victims who never come forward, and perpetrators who walk free. Justice does not come easily in this environment.
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Since this law was enacted, however, thoughtful legal minds have increasingly questioned whether federal and state actions to prevent and redress sexual harassment and assault — well-intentioned as they are — have also unintentionally resulted in some colleges’ failure to uphold due process for accused students. Depriving any student of higher education opportunities should not be done lightly, or out of fear of losing state or federal funding.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/10/16/california-gov-jerry-brown-vetoes-proposal-to-codify-federal-regulations-on-campus-sexual-harassment/?utm_term=.22c3e9013ebf
California lowers penalty for knowingly exposing partners to HIV
Source: CNN
Starting January 1, 2018, it will no longer be a major crime in California to knowingly expose a sexual partner to HIV without disclosing the infection. Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation on Friday that lowers the offense from a felony to a misdemeanor.
The California legislature passed SB 239 on September 11.
The law previously punished people who knowingly exposed or infected others with HIV by up to eight years in prison. This new legislation will lower jail time to a maximum of six months.
The new law also reduces the penalty for knowingly donating HIV-infected blood from a felony to a misdemeanor.
Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/07/health/california-hiv-bill-signed/index.html
CBS fires executive for 'deeply unacceptable' post after Vegas shooting
Source: LA Times
CBS Corp. fired a vice president in business affairs Monday for comments she made on social media regarding the mass shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas.
Hayley Geftman-Gold, wrote on her Facebook page that she was not sympathetic to victims of the shooting because, she claimed, most country music fans are Republican.
Geftman-Gold also wrote: “If they wouldn’t do anything when children were murdered I have no hope that Repugs will ever do the right thing. I’m actually not even sympathetic bc country music fans often are Republican gun toters.”
The comments were deleted but not before they were picked up on a number of right-wing blogs and websites. A petition was posted online that called for her firing.
Read more: http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-las-vegas-shooting-live-updates-cbs-fires-executive-for-deeply-1506969657-htmlstory.html
U.S. Supreme Court grants stay of execution to Georgia killer
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay of execution tonight to condemned killer Keith Tharpe, three and a half hours after he was scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection.
In a 6-3 decision, the court’s justices were apparently concerned about claims that one of Tharpe’s jurors was racist and sentenced Tharpe to death because he was African-American.
Three justices — Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch — dissented.
The high court will now decide whether to hear Tharpe’s appeal, and, if it doesn’t, the court said the stay of execution shall terminate automatically. But that will not happen tonight.
Read more: http://www.ajc.com/news/supreme-court-grants-stay-execution-georgia-killer/gV7r2RtzmLz3udW8dsGL7K/
U.S. appeals court agrees that University of Cincinnati can't suspend student accused of sex assault
Source: WCPO Cincinnati
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal’s 3-0 ruling agreed with a federal judge’s 2016 preliminary injunction after the student appealed his University of Cincinnati suspension. He claims his constitutional rights to due process were violated.
Judge Richard A. Griffin, writing the appeal court’s opinion, said the judges are “sensitive to the competing concerns” in the case and agree UC has a strong interest in eliminating sexual assault on its campus and providing appropriate discipline for offenders.
The University of Cincinnati student referred to as “John Doe” contends he was denied a fair hearing without confronting his accuser, who failed to appear at his university disciplinary hearing. He contends their sex at his apartment in 2015 was consensual, while she had reported it wasn’t. He met the woman referred to in court documents as “Jane Roe” through a dating app.
The court ruling said with the “he said/she said” nature of the case, UC officials needed to provide fundamental fairness to a state university student facing long-term exclusion.
Read more: http://www.wcpo.com/news/education/higher-education/uc-news/us-appeals-court-agrees-that-university-of-cincinnati-cant-suspend-student-accused-of-sex-assault
Chelsea Manning says she was denied entry to Canada
Source: Reuters
Chelsea Manning was turned back at the Canadian-U.S. border because she was convicted of espionage for passing information to Wikileaks, the former U.S. intelligence analyst said on Monday.
Manning told Reuters via direct message on Twitter that she drove up to the Canadian border in Lacolle, Quebec, on Thursday evening, planning to vacation in Montreal and Vancouver.
She said she was stopped at the border and detained overnight before being handed a report stating she was inadmissible “on grounds of serious criminality,” according to a picture of the report she posted online.
The offenses Manning was convicted of under the U.S. Espionage Act “would equate to an indictable offence, namely Treason” if committed in Canada, the report reads.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-immigration-manning/chelsea-manning-says-she-was-denied-entry-to-canada-idUSKCN1C02OW
Nasa facility honors African American woman who plotted key space missions
Source: The Guardian
Katherine Johnson, the mathematician whose calculations influenced some of the most important missions of the space age, on Friday helped Nasa open a new research and development facility that bears her name.
The 99-year-old cut the ribbon for the Katherine G Johnson Computational Research Facility at the Langley research center in Hampton, Virginia, where she was honored as a trailblazing human computer.
In a pre-taped video message, Johnson laughed when asked how she felt about a building being named in her honor.
You want my honest answer? I think theyre crazy, she said. I was excited at something new, always liked something new, but give credit to everybody who helped. I didnt do anything alone but try to go to the root of the question and succeeded there.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/sep/22/hidden-figures-mathematician-katherine-johnson-nasa-facility-open
From her Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Johnson
Johnson co-authored 26 scientific papers.
President Barack Obama presented Johnson with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of 17 Americans so honored on November 24, 2015. She was cited as a pioneering example of African-American women in STEM.
In 2016, Johnson was included in the list of "100 Women", BBC's list of 100 influential women worldwide.[40] NASA stated, "Her calculations proved as critical to the success of the Apollo Moon landing program and the start of the Space Shuttle program, as they did to those first steps on the country's journey into space."
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