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From: Gregory Brown To: undisclosed-recipients:; Bcc: jeevacation@gmail.com Subject: Greg Brown's Weekend Reading and Other Things.. 05/17/2015 Date: Sun, 17 May 2015 07:14:37 +0000 Attachments: The_Odd_Couple_Fighting_Against_Predatory_Payday_Lending_Sean_McElwee_The_Atl antic_Mar._19,_2015.docx; When_You're_Poor„Moneyis_Expensive_Derek_Thompson_The_Atlanticiuly_14,2014 .docx; Joe_Biden,Domestic_Violence_Is_A_Public_Health_EpidemiciMelissajeltsen_Huff_Pos t_March_20,2015.docx; Global_warming_is_now_slowing_down_the_circulation_of_the_oceans_— _with_potentially_dire_consequences-Chris_Mooney_TWP_Mar._23„2015.docx; Consumer_protection_agency„for_first_timejakes_aim_at_payday_lenders_Chico_Harlan _TWP_March_26,2015.docx; It_wasn'tjust_Walter_Scott„The_North_Charleston_Police_Department_has_a_shocking_r ecord of abuse allegationsieff_Stein_Salon_April_8,2015.docx; Top_T0 juperfirods_Huff_Post_05.03.15.docx; B.B._King_bio.docx Inline-Images: image.png; image(1).png; image(2).png; image(3).png; image(4).png; image(5).png; image(6).png; image(7).png; image(8).png; image(9).png; image(10).png; image(11).png; image(12).png; image(13).png; image(I4).png; image(I5).png; image(16).png; image(17).png; image(I8).png; image(19).png; image(20).png; image(21).png; image(22).png; image(23).png DEAR FRIEND The Scourge of Domestic Violence Inline image 1 Domestic violence (also domestic abuse, spousal abuse, intimate partner violence, battering or family violence) is a ugly pattern of behavior which involves violence or other abuse by one person in a domestic context against another, such as in marriage or cohabitation. Intimate partner violence is domestic violence by a spouse or partner in an intimate relationship against the other spouse or EFTA00856687 partner. Domestic violence can take place in heterosexual or same-sex relationships. Domestic violence can take a number of forms including physical, emotional, verbal, economic and sexual abuse, which can range from subtle, coercive forms to marital rape and to violent physical abuse that results in disfigurement or death. FAST FACTS • Globally, 35 percent of women experience sexual or physical violence (World Health Organization) • Each year, 3 million girls face the risk of female genital mutilation or cutting (UNFPA) • Sixty percent of women whose first sexual experience was forced go on to experience further sexual violence later in life (UNFPA) Last month at a conference in Washington, •. at the Futures Without Violence seventh biennial National Conference on Health and Domestic Violence, Vice President Joe Biden called domestic violence a "public health epidemic" that requires urgent attention in an address Friday to an audience of the country's preeminent medical, public health and domestic violence experts. "All of you in this room who are doctors, nurses, researchers, social workersfrom all across the country, thefact that we are talking today about domestic violence as a public health epidemic is because of you," he said. "We have come such a long way in ourfight against this epidemic, but we have to keep making the case even strongerfor prevention and intervention." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that nearly one-third of U.S. women will experience domestic violence in their lifetime. Domestic violence is associated with an array of health problems. In the short-term, physical violence can result in serious injuries or even death. At least one-third of all female homicide victims in the U.S. are killed by male intimate partners. But studies have found that domestic violence has long-term health consequences as well. 'According to the CDC and other research, the chronic stressfrom domestic violence is toxic to the body," Biden said, calling the science "compelling." "It's associated with long-term health problems like asthma, diabetes, anxiety, depression, alcohol and drug abuse." Domestic violence has been a signature issue for Biden for decades. In 1990, he introduced the landmark Violence Against Women Act, which was signed into law in 1994. Biden said when he first took on domestic violence, he was told he was going to break up families. "We knew that we had to bring this dirty little secret out into the publk," he said. Throughout his speech, the vice president emphasized that domestic violence survivors should not feel responsible for the violence they've suffered. "It is never, never, never, never, never the victim's fault," he said to rousing applause. Biden addressed his comments to more than 1,100 health care professionals attending the conference to discuss the relationship between domestic violence and health, and to learn about the latest research. Earlier in the program, Marylouise Kelley, PhD, Family Violence Prevention and Services Program Director at the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said health care professionals are in a unique position to prevent, screen and treat survivors. "We know that many domestic violence survivors will not go to a shelter," she said, "but they may be more likely to talk to a friend orfamily member or to a medical provider." EFTA00856688 In his speech, Biden applauded progress made by the Affordable Care Act, which requires health plans to cover domestic violence screenings at no cost. Biden said those screenings, in which a health professional asks a patient questions about their exposure to intimate partner violence, have a real tangible impact. 'The mere fact you asked the question lets them know that they're not alone," he said. Yolanda Haywood, a practicing emergency physician and associate dean at George Washington School for Medicine and Heath Sciences, shared her own harrowing story of being treated for a domestic violence-related injury over 3o years ago. She said she made a late-night emergency room visit after her husband punched her in the mouth. While she encountered many medical professionals in the course of her visit, no one asked her what happened or if she was safe. Finally, she said, after her doctor sutured her lip, he asked her who caused her injury. "I became hopeful," she told the audience. "I answered, 'My husband." His reply: "You need to learn how to duck."' Haywood said she spent the next several years learning to duck instead of finding support to leave. She said providers should be trained to educate patients about domestic violence so that they can make wise decisions. "What was lost that night in the ER was the opportunity to offer hope and compassion to a young woman who needed help," Haywood said. "Hope and compassion are great medicine, not just nice words that pacify." But together, we can and must change the status quo and create a world where domestic violence, rape, and other forms of violence against women become a thing of the past. Republican States Are More Dependent On Government lid int. ill EFTA00856689 When I was growing up the old people in my neighborhood use to have a saying, "you are your own worst enemy." It is said when someone acts in such a way which causes their own misfortune. And no better example of this are Republicans from Red States as those states are often more dependent on the Federal Country on average than the liberal Blue States that they revile. That's according to a recent analysis from the personal finance site WalletHub, which ranked states based on how much they rely on Uncle Sam to support their state finances. To calculate states' dependence, WalletHub analyzed three metrics: how much a state gets in federal funding per every dollar it pays in federal income taxes, the percentage of state funding that comes from the federal government and the number of federal employees per capita, both military and civilian. Check out the map below to see how dependent your home state is compared to the rest of the country. The most-dependent states are shaded white, and least-dependent states are shaded blue. A ranking of 1 indicates least-dependent, while 50 represents most-dependent. Check out the map via the web link below to see how dependent your home state is compared to the rest of the country. The most-dependent states are shaded white, and least-dependent states are shaded blue. A ranking of 1 indicates least-dependent, while 5o represents most-dependent. Web Link: html As you can see, New Mexico is the most-dependent state in the U.S., according to WalletHub's data. The state gets $2.19 in federal funding for every dollar paid in federal income taxes. In contrast, New Jersey, which is the least-dependent state, gets only about 5o cents in federal funding for every dollar paid in taxes, WalletHub calculated. For instance New Mexico is ranked 5o, Mississippi 49, Kentucky 48, Alabama 47, Montana 46 and West Virginia 45, whereas New Jersey rants 1, Delaware 2, Illinois 3, Minnesota 4, Kansas 5 and California 6. As you can see from the analysis; Red States, or those that voted Republican in the 2012 presidential election, were much more likely to depend on the government than Blue States. That's somewhat ironic, considering the Republican Party's general reluctance to support federally funded initiatives like Medicaid expansion, and its long-term dedication to across-the-board budget cuts to slash the federal deficit. Think about it.... If Ted Cruz whose core supporters are ultra-conservatives from Red States becomes President he promises to cut government programs that Red States and his core supporters are most dependent on.... So we have to ask why do they support him and Republican Conservatives like him. Raise the wage: Paul ICrugman shatters the myth that we can't afford to boost workers' pay We can pay workers more -- if we want to EFTA00856690 Inline image 2 Three things are inevitable in this life: death, taxes, and conservative claims that we simply can't afford to give low-wage workers a pay boost. Nobel Prize-winning economist takes on the latter inevitability in his New York Times column today, seizing on recent developments to illustrate why arguments against wage increases don't withstand serious scrutiny. Take McDonald's announcement this week that it would pay its workers $1 above the minimum wage per hour at the 1,500 outlets owned and operated by McDonald's itself. (The move, which still falls well short of what workers and their advocates seek, affects 90,000 workers, but it doesn't apply to the 750,000 workers employed by McDonald's 3,100 American franchisees.) While modest in scope,McDonald's move — coming on the heels of similar wage boosts by bold-faced names like Walmart and Target — suggests that "maybe it's not that hard to give American workers a raise, after all," Krugman writes. While free market fundamentalists might retort that global competition will sink firms that boost worker pay, Krugman responds by noting that most American workers are "employed in service industries that aren't exposed to international trade." What about technology? Isn't it an unassailable maxim of modem economics that we can afford to pay larger wages only to highly skilled workers — ones who can't be replaced by machines? As Mike Konczal wrote recently, technology is but a small part of the larger inequality phenomenon. The key factors, he pointed out, include tax policy, the financialization of the American economy, deunionization, and the conscious political choice not to raise the minimum wage. What's more, Kingman observes, "Workers are people; relations between employers and employees are more complicated than simple supply and demand." This truism is borne out in empirical EFTA00856691 evidence, with comparisons of states that raised their minimum wages with neighboring states that didn't showing that higher pay does not mean fewer jobs. Paul Krugman — Huffington Post— May 17, 2015 Why It is Important for Your Teenager to Find Their Passion Inline image 1 If you live with a high school senior like I do, you most likely are finally happy that the ritual of choosing a college/university, then getting an acceptance from a school and (in today's environment, "schools" as some students apply to 12 to 14, just in case they don't get into their first choice), and then watch your child go through the agonizing task of committing to one of the four or five (in our case nine chokes, including his top three). Yet, this ritual begins much earlier, starting in middle-school to insure that the child has dialed into education, taken the pre-requisite classes, as well as a sport. And then do the extra-curricular activities that might give them an edge when colleges chose students. As a result of the contraction of the job market, due to the financial crash in 2008, that sent unemployment into the stratosphere, even at this stage, high school seniors have to take a serious at career choices after colleges. (Because I believe that today's generation needs at least a college degree or trade school education to develop a skill set, if they are to be able to compete against their counterparts around the world.) As a result, more and more Millennia's are making career choices earlier than my generation, The Baby Boomers, who believed that a career choice didn't have to be made until the summer before your junior year in college. The good news is that the Labor Department says job prospects for recent college graduates deteriorated slightly last year despite an improvement in the overall job market. The unemployment rate for Americans age 20 to 29 who received a four-year or advanced degree last year rose to 12.4 EFTA00856692 percent from 10.9 percent in 2013. But the figures are volatile, and many recruiters and campus officials say hiring this spring will be strong. For graduates with bachelor's degrees, unemployment climbed to 14.9 percent last year from 11.5 percent in 2013. For those with advanced degrees, unemployment slid to 5.4 percent from 9.3 percent. Overall, the economy generated 3.1 million jobs last year, the most since 1999. And the overall unemployment rate has fallen to 5.5 percent in March from 6.7 percent at the end of 2013. College graduates in the class of 2015 with bachelor's degrees in electrical engineering can expect an average starting salary of $57,000. Computer engineering graduates are close behind, with average salaries of $56,600. Next come mechanical engineering graduates with starting salaries of $56,000. For the last 20 years, Phil Gardner, who runs Michigan State University's employment office, has been in charge of a broad-based survey that gathers starting salary information from thousands of employers across the country. Gardner works through Michigan State's Collegiate Employment Research Institute, where he is the director. This year CERI collected data from mid-August to mid- September, tapping the employment offices at 200 schools, which gathered starting salary data from 3,300 employers. Gardner says that engineering degrees have come out on top since he first took charge at CERI. "Students with these majors are highly technical and deeply trained so they have a more immediate value to employers," he says. "They can apply their knowledge quickly to the workplace, so they can command a higher salary." After the top two engineering degrees, employers are paying the most for grads with degrees in software design and computer programming. "Everybody is looking for graduates with expertise in computer science," says Gardner. "There's just a huge demand." While engineering and computer science graduates will command strong starting salaries next year, CERI's research also shows a sobering statistic: The majority of employers, 62%, plan to keep salaries at the same level as last year, which means a slight decline in wages, given inflation. Only 37% of employers are planning to increase salaries, and then only by 3%-5%. A smaller group, 18% of employers, plan to hike salaries by more than 1096. Those increases will come in the following sectors: manufacturing, finance and insurance services, and professional, business and scientific services. As for company size, small- and fast-growth companies will have the greatest increases, with 23% of those firms offering compensation that is io% higher than last year. If engineering and computer science are at the top of the list, what's at the bottom? Advertising, social work and psychology all pay below $37,000. A major the table lists as "Humanities and Liberal Arts" fares a bit better, with a starting salary of $39,000. (The salaries in the table include only base salaries and not commissions, stipends, bonuses, housing and moving allowances or other incentives.) So if you have a high school senior who has just committed to a college or university and haven't dialed into an initial career choice. (Today almost no people spend their career at a single company or even in a single industry.) It is important that they get focused as early as they can and identify a career that matches their passion. Because it is almost impossible to be successful if you aren't passionate. And even if you are successful, if you are not doing something that you enjoy The money isn't worth it... It wasn't just Walter Scott: The North Charleston Police Department has a shocking record of abuse allegations EFTA00856693 Inline image t We would like to believe that the horrendous shooting of unarmed Walter Scott on April 4, 2015 in South Carolina by police officer Michael T. Slager is an anomaly but a review of public court records shows that the North Charleston Police Department has a shocking record of abuse allegations. One example: Journalist Jeff Stein recently wrote about Sheldon Williams, who was sleeping at a Budget Inn in North Charleston, South Carolina, when five police officers entered his motel room. After finding Williams hiding under a mattress, the officers pinned the unarmed man to the concrete floor, handcuffed him, and then began stomping on his face. Williams, an African-American, was unarmed and never accused of resisting arrest. Williams would later be diagnosed with several broken facial bones, but the five officers first brought him to the jail. Jail officials had to turn Williams away because of the severity of his injuries. More than two hours after he was beaten, Williams finally arrived at the Roper St. Francis Hospital and was diagnosed with a fracture to his cheekbone, a depressed fracture to the left orbital floor of his face, and a third fracture of the left sinus wall. When Williams was released, the hospital staff gave law enforcement explicit instructions that he would have to see a special surgeon within one week. That information was somehow ignored, and Williams' broken facial bones were never treated. Needless and agonizing pain followed: Williams now struggles to sleep at night and faces long-term neurological damage. Sometimes, because of the extent of the nerve damage, Williams "experiences a sensation of insects crawling on the left side of hisface." EFTA00856694 Inline image The above account comes from just one of the many federal lawsuits filed against the North Charleston Police Department over the last to years. That police force is now under the national spotlight for the outrageous slaying of Walter L. Scott, an unarmed black man who was gunned down as he was running away from police, according to a report in the New York Times. North Charleston Police Officer Michael T. Slager, who is white, was charged with murder on April 7, 2015, only after a video emerged showing the shooting of Walter Scott and its aftermath in excruciating detail. When I looked at the video it reminded me of the shooting of Michael Brown who was shot fleeing from police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. And yes there was a close contact altercation between Brown and Wilson, but everyone agrees that Brown fled and to believe that he somehow turned back and charge a police officer after being shot is truly difficult to believe. And the one thing that the cities of Ferguson and North Charleston have in common is that both police departments have a history of abuse allegations. No one denies that police officers have hard jobs, but they volunteer to enter that line of work. There is no draft. So these disparities cannot go unaddressed and uncorrected. To be held in high esteem you must also be held to a higher standard. And no one denies that high-crime neighborhoods disproportionately overlap with minority neighborhoods. But the intersections don't stop there. Concentrated poverty plays a consequential role. So does the school-to-prison pipeline. So do the scars of historical oppression. In fact, these and other factors intersect to such a degree that trying to separate any one — most often, the racial one — from the rest is bound to render a flimsy argument based on the fallacy of discrete factors. Yet people continue to make such arguments, which can usually be distilled to some variation of this: Black dysfunction is mostly or even solely the result of black pathology. This argument is racist at its core because it rests too heavily on choice and too lightly on context. If you scratch it, what oozes out reeks of race-informed cultural decay or even genetic deficiency and predisposition, as if America is not the progenitor — the great-grandmother — of African-American violence. And yes, racist is the word that we must use. Racism doesn't require the presence of malice, only the presence of bias and ignorance, willful or otherwise. It doesn't even require more than one race. There are plenty of members of aggrieved groups who are part of the self-flagellation industrial complex. They make a name (and a profit) saying inflammatory things about their own groups, things that are full of sting but lack context, things that others will say only behind tightly shut doors. These are often people who've "made it" and look down their noses with be-more-like-me disdain at those who haven't, EFTA00856695 as if success were merely a result of a collection of choices and not also of a confluence of circumstances. Today, too many people are gun-shy about using the word racism, lest they themselves be called race- baiters. So we are witnessing an assault on the concept of racism, an attempt to erase legitimate discussion and grievance by degrading the language: Eliminate the word and you elude the charge. The death of Walter Scott is a racist act. And a review of public court records shows that both North Charleston and Ferguson's Police Departments have a history of abuse against people of color and particularly Black men. Racism is interpersonal and structural; it is current and historical; it is explicit and implicit; it is articulated and silent. Biases are pervasive, but can also be spectral: moving in and out of consideration with little or no notice, without leaving a trace, even without our own awareness. Sometimes the only way to see bias is in the aggregate, to stop staring so hard at a data point and step back so that you can see the data set. Only then can you detect the trails in the dust. Only then can the data do battle with denial. I would love to live in a world where that wasn't the case. Even more, I would love my children to inherit a world where that wasn't the case, where the margin for error for them was the same as the margin for error for everyone else's children, where I could rest assured that police treatment would be unbiased. But I don't. Reality doesn't bend under the weight of wishes. Truth doesn't grow dim because we squint. We must acknowledge — with eyes and minds wide open — the world as it is if we want to change it. And if we really want to change it police departments have to be more transparent and willing to root out the bad apples within their ranks. Hopefully the senseless and blatant killing of Walter Scott has to be treated like Ebola — a united country that refuses to accept the loss of one life, whatever color or creed And this is my rant of the week.... WEEK's READINGS When You're Poor, Money Is Expensive Predatory Payday Lending EFTA00856696 Inline image 1 Last year journalist Derek Thomspon wrote an article about Alex who lost his job when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and had to quit his job. Alex and his wife Melissa have a young son who has severe autism. Their medical costs suddenly soared as their incomes dwindled and in a flash, their lives changed dramatically. To manage their finances as responsibly as they knew how, Alex and Melissa chose to live on cash. But they weren't making enough money to meet their bills. Without a credit history, they couldn't qualify for a bank loan. Desperate for some money to tide them over, Melissa visited a payday lender. Trapped in a cycle of dependency a $450 loan ended up becoming $1,700 with fees in a New York minute. Payday lending is currently a $46 billion industry in the United States. About 12 million Americans borrow $7.4 billion annually from over 22,000 storefronts — roughly two for every Starbucks — .across the country. The industry has come under increasing scrutiny over the past decade from critics who accuse it of being exploitative, and of trapping low-income borrowers in a cycle of debt. A nexus of federalism and money in politics have slowed reform efforts at the federal level. The much- anticipated Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regulations set to come out soon will not include a cap on interest rates. In the absence of federal regulation, advocates and policymakers are taking the battle to the state level. Example: Lenders in South Dakota charge an average annual rate of interest of 574 percent. In practical terms, if residents of South Dakota borrow $300 to make ends meet, five months later they will owe $660. South Dakota is one of seven states, along with Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Delaware, Texas, and Wisconsin that do not cap payday-lending rates. The trouble for South Dakota began in 1978, during the era of deregulation, when the Supreme Court decided that a national bank could charge customers in any state the interest rate of the state in which the bank was chartered. In effect, this eliminated the efficacy of usury laws, since a bank could simply move to a state with higher ceilings, setting off a race to the bottom. South Dakota won. It eliminated its usury ceiling in 1980. Citibank, soon followed by Wells Fargo, First Premier, and Capital One, requested and received permission to charter in the state. South Dakota's financial sector expanded rapidly, giving it the clout to press for further deregulatory measures in the 1990s and 2000s that opened the state to high-interest, short-term loans, like payday lending and car-title loans. "South Dakota pretty much reinvented usury when it invited Citibank in to do its credit operations," Heidelberger said. The result, as Nesiba points out, is a nominally free market in loans that offers few protections for borrowers: "One does not need to be a South Dakota EFTA00856697 fisherman to understand thatfreedomfor the northern pike in the Missouri River is notfreedomfor the minnow." The loans are tempting. Borrowers turn to payday lenders when they're facing a short-term crunch, but often find themselves in a permanent bind. Kim B., a resident of South Dakota, is on a fixed Social Security Disability income and struggles with chronic back pain. She took out payday loans in 2008 when her brother moved in and they couldn't afford their medical bills. "Pretty soon I had several loans because I couldn't afford to pay off thefirst loan and they would write me another loan," she said, "they just kept re-writing so I didn't have to make a payment." She finally got out of debt after two years of payments. In 2013, when her daughter lost her job and moved in with Kim, bringing her infant son, Kim turned to payday loans again. Eventually, she had seven loans, with annual rates varying from 120 to 6o8 percent. She had to default in July of 2014. "I couldn't afford to pay them back, I had loans to cover loans,"she said. Her sister tried to bail Kim out with $1,200, but it just wasn't enough. At one point, 75 percent of her income was going to pay off her payday loans. There was "nothing"left for food or electricity, she said. "If I lose my electricity, I lose my housing, then. be evicted and• be homeless,"she said. "It took usfour months to get caught up on electricity, and we needed assistance, but we were close to being homeless." Across the country, the payday-lending industry has a vise-like grip on legislatures. A campaign to end payday lending in Montana began bringing forward "every kind of bill you could imagine"to cap interest rates, said Tom Jacobson, a Montana State Representative. But it found itself unequal to the opposition. "They were paid lobbyists and we were advocates,"explained Jacobson. "We were never once able to get it out of committee." After 10 years of stonewalling in the legislature, advocates pushed forward with a ballot initiative to cap rates at 36 percent. The measure that couldn't even get to the floor in the legislature won an astonishing 72 percent of the vote at the polls. So far, payday-lending reformers have successfully fought four ballot initiative battles nationwide. In 2005, Texas voters stopped an initiative that would have allowed the legislature to exempt commercial loans from laws setting maximum interest rates. In 2008, Ohio voters passed an initiative capping payday loans at a 38 percent interest rate. In Arizona, the payday-lending industry tried to use a ballot initiative to secure its continued operation but lost, 59.6 percent to 40.4 percent. Payday lenders used their vast resources to attempt to derail these campaigns to cap limits. The National Institute on Money in Politics estimates that the industry spent $35.6 million in Arizona and Ohio to influence ballot initiatives. In Ohio, the industry spent $16 million on the ballot initiative, while their opponents spent only $265,000. In some cases, however, the industry has succeeded, primarily by keeping the issue off of the ballot. In Missouri, the payday-lending industry spent $600,000 (compared to the $60,000 raised by advocates) to successfully keep the issue off the ballot. Payday lenders' influence is strongest in Tennessee, where Advance America and Check Into Cash, two of the largest payday-lending corporations, got their start. Here again, money was integral to the industry's rise. Between 1995 and 2001, payday lenders donated $250,000 to political campaigns for state legislators and the governor. Maryville College professor Sherry Kasper, who studies the state's payday lending industry extensively, wrote, "Industry members appear to have deftly converted some of their profits into political contributions to both state andfederal legislators who influence the legislative debate to modify the structure of this industry in theirfavor." The Tennessee Cash Advance Association donated $125,000 to various state legislators to get the Deferred Presentment EFTA00856698 Services Act passed on October 1, 1997. In 1998, when the sunset provision in the law required that it be re-evaluated and extended, the industry forked over another $22,500 in donations to House Democrats and $8,000 in donations to State Senator Robert Rochelle, who sponsored the extension. Data from the Center for Responsive Politics and the National Institute for State Money in Politics shows that the industry has spent an inflation-adjusted $143 million between 1990 and 2014. This includes campaign contributions and lobbying at the federal level, as well as state campaign contributions. There is no comprehensive data on state-level lobbying or local spending, but they would undoubtedly raise the total sum. Inline image 2 In addition to currying favor with state legislators, this money has been effective at the federal level. The CFPB's new regulations for the payday-lending industry are built on extensive research into its practices. Fulmer notes that less than one-half of one percent of the complaints the CFPB has received were related to payday lending and argues that complaints against illegal lenders increase when caps drive licensed payday lenders out of the state. "They're going to have a less viable alternative, which will have a higher cost and be unregulated. In previous states that have restricted payday lending, there was a spike in complaints," he said. Melanie Hall, the Commissioner of Financial Institutions in Montana, reports that Montana's experience, since implementing a 36 percent cap, bears out that point. "We have certainly had an increase in the number of complaints that we receive against unlicensed lenders,"she said. While these regulations may prove welcome, the CFPB is not legally allowed to cap rates, so the debate will still play out at the state level. "It's not going tofix thefundamental issue f it doesn't include a rate cap," Hickey said. Here, too, the story is tainted with money. Originally, Senator Christopher Dodd had intended for the CFPB to be able to regulate payday lending. But Tennessee's Senator Bob Corker intervened. In the end, the body was left without independent authority to enforce regulations against payday lenders. Corker received $31,000 in donations from Check Into Cash since 2001 and another $1,00o from the Tennessee Community Financial Services Association. Corker denies that such donations influenced his decisions. There is a broad academic consensus against payday lending. Pew Research found that 69 percent of first time borrowers use payday loans to pay for regular bills, not for unexpected expense. Lenders target low-income people and people of color. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that the median income of payday loan borrowers is $22,476. Almost half of borrowers took out ten or more payday loans over the year-long period they studied. In total, the median borrower took out ten EFTA00856699 loans and paid $458 in fees, spending 55 percent of the year in debt. The industry is ripe for exploitation: 37 percent of borrowers say they would have taken a loan with any terms. These borrowers say they are being taken advantage of and one-third say they would like more regulation. Chris Morran of Consumerist notes that, "the average payday borrower is in debtfor nearly 200 days." A recent Howard University study examining payday lending in four Southern states found that "vulnerable minority and ethnic groups and lower-income residents are disproportionately affected by the negative economic consequences of these operations." The study concluded that the cumulative impact on the economy was modestly positive in Mississippi, but negative in Florida, Alabama, and Louisiana. A separate study of payday lending in North Carolina found that payday lenders target communities of color. Even after controlling for other factors, researchers found that lctayday lenders tend to locate in urban areas with relatively higher minority concentrations, younger populations, and less-well-educated citizens." A 2011 study found that the payday lending cost 14,000 jobs and an economic loss of $1 billion through reduced household spending and increased bankruptcies. Economist Brian Melzer found that, as borrowers shift income to paying off loans, they are more likely to rely on food stamps and less likely to make childcare payments. Defenders of the industry claim that most borrowers are paying for one-time purchases, but the data suggest otherwise: most people borrow for routine expenses and continuously roll over their debt. The Center for Responsible Lending estimates that the high APR loans cost consumers $3.5 billion in extra fees each year. Payday lenders prey upon the unbanked and underbanked population, which id estimated to be 7.7 and 20 percent of the population, respectively. However, the crisis is even worse among people of color, at 20.5 percent and 33 percent for Blacks and 17.9 percent and 28.5 percent for Hispanics. In addition, 54 million Americans, or the combined populations of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, are not scoreable—they simply don't have a credit score. The unscorable population is disproportionately poor and people of color. Not being able to access credit forces them into bad lending like payday loans and forces them to pay more to rent apartments and other basic services. There are now innovations to bring the unbanked population from the margins and help them access the necessary credit. One such program, Lending Circles, which is managed by the Mission Asset Fund, currently has 2,935 clients, and has issued $3,651,307 in zero-interest loans. The program helps unscorable people build credit by creating small groups that lend money to one another with zero- interest loans. Everyone in the circle makes a monthly payment, and one member of the circle receives the loan. In 2016, America will elect a new president and a new Congress. Voters in many states will consider a flurry of ballot measures, many pushed by special interests. In South Dakota, a populist alliance of Republicans and Democrats could well spell the end to an exploitative industry that has trapped many residents in spiraling debt. That effort is echoed by similar campaigns in Alabama, Utah, and Idaho, three other poorer states with out-sized payday lending industries. Supporter of payday reform are optimistic that the money and political heft of the payday-lending industry will eventually be muted by the power of the voters. Hopefully this happens soon as the scourge of these egregious loans are taking a hideous toll on millions of Americans. EFTA00856700 In late March the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau unveiled a new plan that it said would help rein in the $50 billion payday lending industry and prevent low-income borrowers from facing spiraling levels of debt. The proposal, which still must face months of review, marks the first attempt by the federal government to regulate payday lenders, whose loans — designed to help borrowers in a pinch — often come with triple-digit annualized interest rates. The CFPB, in its plan, suggests that payday lenders from the outset should determine whether borrowers have the ability to repay without defaulting or re-borrowing. That notion takes aim at a pillar of the payday business model, because lenders have long made profits from a far more desperate scenario, where borrowers take out new loans, often many times over, to pay back the initial loans and their fees. Borrowers could in some circumstances still roll over loans, but not ad infinitum; after three loans there would be a 6o-day cooling off period. Hopefully this helps and at least it shows that government is trying to address abuses in this increasingly predatory industry. Your phone on steroids Inline image 1 With 5G mobile, wireless will go even faster than fibre NEW MOBILE networks come along once every decade or so. Starting around 1980, the first generation of cellular phones relied on analogue technology. When the second-generation arrived in 1991, the networks began to go digital. By 2001, the third-generation swapped clunky old circuit- switching for efficient packet-switching. Around 2010, fourth-generation networks adopted IP (internet protocol) technology in a big way, providing mobile devices with broadband access to the internet. Each generational change brought new frequency bands, higher speeds and greater emphasis on streaming data rather than simply transmitting voice. Lately, wireless operators have begun wondering what to include in fifth-generation (5G) networks. There is a feeling of urgency as outside heavyweights like Google and Facebook threaten to upset their cosy business. If the mobile carriers can agree among themselves, they hope to have their fifth- generation networks in place by 2020. That may be a bit ambitious. Years of haggling lie ahead while policy-makers and standards bearers lobby for technologies their national carriers and telecoms firms deem vital for their own wellbeing. However, the hope burns bright that, unlike previous generations EFTA00856701 of mobile technology, 5G will be a true global standard — allowing travellers to use their personal phones anywhere in the world, without the hassle of having to swap their SIM cards for local ones bought on arrival. What to expect from 5G? At this stage, one of the few things that can be said about 5G with certainity is that — if it is to meet society's growing demands for ubiquitous and instantaneous connectivity — such networks will need to have a latency" (ie, response time) of about one millisecond. The speed at which two devices can begin to communicate with one another over today's 4G networks is about 50 milliseconds, and around 500 milliseconds for the still widely used 3G services. Even 4G is nowhere near fast enough for, say, cloud-based systems to transmit emergency instructions to driverless cars threading their way through traffic. Nor is it good enough to provide seamless language translation between participants sharing a teleconference, let alone to guide a scalpel while a surgeon is performing a life-saving operation remotely. Many real-time wireless applications will need latencies of a millisecond at most. Another cornerstone requirement is going to be a data rate of at least one gigabit per second (iGbps) to start with, and multiple gigabits per second thereafter. Mobile users will need such speeds if they are to stream ultra-high-definition (ie, 4k and soon 8k) video formats to their phones and tablets. Today, 4G networks based on UTE (long-term evolution) technology can manage between 10 and loo megabits per second (Mbps), depending on the setup and amount of traffic. Most mobile carriers are still rolling out their LIE services, while a few have started to install the latest LTE-Advanced equipment (ie, true 4G as opposed to the half-baked versions carriers have been pretending are the real thing). The peak bit rate of LTE-A is claimed to be iGbps. In the real world, however, it is more like 25oMbps. So, how much of an improvement will 5G offer over the best of 4G? Difficult to say. But given the ten- fold improvement seen over previous generations, an average 5G download speed of iGbps seems realistic — with the possibility of up to loGbps as the technology ripens with age. Such wireless bit rates are beyond even the scope of the optical-fibre currently used to deliver internet access and high- definition television to the home. Two technical features—carrier aggregation and MIMO antennas — are responsible for giving LTE-A its big boost over earlier iterations. Neither technique is particularly new, but both are expected to play a big role in helping 5G fulfill its promise. For its part, carrier aggregation is a way of boosting download speeds by plucking signals from a number of local base stations, instead of simply the most powerful one in the vicinity. These different channels — often with different frequencies from different bands in the spectrum — are combined into what is effectively a single fat pipe capable of delivering data at a far higher rate than would otherwise be possible. In LTE-A, up to five component carriers, each offering up to 20 megahertz of bandwidth, can be aggregated into a single carrier looMHz wide. Given the global shortage of spectrum, most mobile telecoms firms have snapped up frequencies wherever they can. As a result, few of their chunks of spectrum are contiguous. Fortunately, carrier aggregation not only allows mobile operators to boost their data rates, but it also permits them to patch together their disparate blocks of spectrum. This is going to be even more important when 5G enters service in the more crowded wireless world of five or more years hence. EFTA00856702 Much the same goes for MIMO (multiple input/multiple output). This works by transmitting two or more data streams via two or more antennas, and having the receiving antennas process all the incoming signals instead of just the strongest one. It has been likened to replacing a country road with a single lane for traffic with a multi-lane highway. Today's MIMO implementations tend to have three or four antennas on both the transmitting and the receiving ends. But what if each end had tens of antennas or even hundreds? That would translate into a significant increase in download speed, and a far more efficient use of the available spectrum. Which spectrum that will be, though, has still to be decided. Today's wireless devices operate in the crowded 70oMHz to 2.6GHz part of the radio-frequency compass. It is not as though once 5G hits the airwaves, chunks of spectrum used today by 4G and even 3G networks will suddenly become vacant. Mobile carriers will still have to continue their legacy services for the millions of subscribers who do not immediately upgrade to the latest devices—and may not do so for years to come. The obvious answer for 5G is to migrate from today's UHF frequencies to either the SHF (super high frequency) band between 3Ghz and 30GHz, or even to the EHF (extremely high frequency) band from 30GHz to 3ooGHz. Current occupants of these rarefied frequencies (also known as "millimetre waves" because of their wavelength) include satellite television, microwave relay links, air-traffic radar, radio astronomy and amateur radio. In most regions of the world, a chunk of spectrum around 6oGHz has been designated for public use. With their new 8o2.nad standard, the WiFi community plans to exploit the unlicensed 6oGHz band for streaming ultra-high-definition video around the home. In typical configurations, 802.nad can beam more than 6Gbps over modest distances. As always, there are drawbacks. One is that such extreme frequencies are easily blocked by walls and even people moving around. They also get absorbed by the atmosphere, by causing oxygen molecules in the air to resonate—though the absorption effect only becomes significant at distances greater than 100 metres or so. However, by going to 70GHz and above, atmospheric absorption disappears altogether. Nokia, a Finnish network-infrastructure firm, is said to achieved speeds in 70GHz trials of n5Gbps over short distances in the laboratory. All of which suggests that 5G will need base stations closer to users than current cellular towers. As it so happens, that is already a trend. So far, microcells—no bigger than a WiFi modem — have been used mainly inside buildings, to overcome poor mobile reception. To handle 5G's needs, hundreds of microcellular access points will be required to fill the gaps between existing cellular base stations. With the tiny antenna boxes attached to lamp-posts and the sides of buildings, few people will ever notice them, let alone object to their presence — as is so often the case when new cellular towers are erected these days. It is tempting to think that, even when the "intemet of things" adds billions of more digital devices chatting over the airwaves, the technology underpinning 5G will offer so much potential bandwidth as to render future generations of mobile networking unnecessary. Indeed, some network architects expect 5G to be the end of the line; everything thereafter, they suggest, will be merely some EFTA00856703 evolutionary improvement. A nice thought. But the past teaches otherwise, and the future always finds ways to thwart even the smartest of prognosticators. ****** Failure Is Not An Option Inline image I agree with Doug Bandow who recently wrote in The Huffington Post, Conclude the Nuclear Deal With Iran: Failure Is Not an Option. Because Iran has been one of Washington's chief antagonists for nearly four decades and finally the framework for a broad deal to keep Tehran from building nuclear weapons has been reached. Yet somehow this agreement faces significant opposition here in America -- including many Republican members of Congress — who for some reason fear peace more than war. But why? Though an ugly regime, Iran does not threaten America. Let's be real here. The U.S. is the globe's greatest military power with the most sophisticated nuclear arsenal and finest conventional force. For this reason alone, Tehran is unlikely to attack America. Iran would cease to exist. As Bandow pointed out — Tehran's leaders are malign actors, but nevertheless have reason to feel insecure. In 1953 Washington helped overthrow democratically elected Prime Minister Mohamed Mossedegh. The U.S. gave refuge to the brutal Shah after he was overthrown in 1979 and then backed Saddam Hussein's aggressive war against Iran. In the aftermath of the 2003 Iraq invasion a number of American analysts publicly advocated attacking Iran. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama regularly declared military action to be "on the table." Israeli leaders also called for attacking Iran. S aid Ariane Tabatabai of the Belfer Center "In the past few years, the threat of an Israeli attack became a major concern for many Iranians." And then politicians such as Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) who is one of a chorus here in America that continually clamor, "A nuclear-capable Iran is the gravest threat facing America today." And as we know from Iraq, an America in fear will pull the trigger first... Washington still has good reason to oppose Iranian acquisition of nuclear weapons. Nevertheless, the importance of the Middle East has been inflated. The energy market is global. Regional instability is perpetual. An Islamic nuclear bomb already exists, in ever-dangerous Pakistan. Starting another, bigger Middle Eastern war would be more dangerous for America than living with an Iranian bomb. EFTA00856704 Israel is concerned over a possible Iranian nuclear weapon, but when asked in 2011 whether Iran would drop a nuke on Israel, former Defense Minister Ehud Barak responded "Not on us and not on any other neighbor." In December 2010 former Mossad head Meir Dagan said that Tehran's Islamic government is "rational" and "considering all the implications of their action." Israeli Defense Force's Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz made a similar point: "I think the Iranian leadership is comprised of very rational people." The Iranian leadership are not idiots and as much as they bluster I am sure that they recognizes Israel's overwhelming retaliatory capacity, even without America and NATO. No one knows the extent of Tehran's nuclear ambitions. But it was Washington's ally the Shah, who started the Iranian program. Tehran's motive, noted former Mossad head and national security adviser Efraim Halevy, "is not the confrontation with Israel, but the desire to restore to Iran the greatness of which it was long deprived." And although they have continued to develop the technology, today Iran does not appear to have an active weapons program. In November 2007 the National Intelligence Estimate concluded: "We judge with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program," though it was keeping its options open. The IAEA stated that Iran's program "was stopped rather abruptly" that year. The IAEA and U.S. later found some activities that could be weapons-related, but, reported James Risen of the New York Times, the "information has not been significant enough for the spy agencies to alter their view that the weapons program has not been restarted." Risen cited a U.S. intelligence official who said: "Mossad does not disagree with the U.S. on the weapons program." In January 2012 James R. Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, told the Senate: "We assess Iran is keeping open the option to develop nuclear weapons, in part by developing various nuclear capabilities that better position it to produce such weapons, should it choose to do so. We do not know, however, if Iran will eventually decide to build nuclear weapons." In October 2013 David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, told the Senate: "Although Iran is engaged in nuclear hedging, no evidence has emerged that the regime has decided to build nuclear weapons." In the aftermath of Washington's 2003 Iraq invasion Tehran offered to negotiate, only to be spurned by the Bush administration. Negotiations began to move seriously after the 2013 election of Hassan Rouhani as Iran's president. The interim Joint Plan of Action, reached in November 2013 and extended through March, froze Iran's number of centrifuges, ended 20 percent enrichment, reduced (with the objective of ultimately eliminating) stockpiles of 20 percent enriched uranium, froze supplies of five percent enriched uranium, stopped work at Arak nuclear reactor, and increased IAEA surveillance . When the negotiations were extended Tehran agreed to convert its remaining 20 percent enriched stockpiles, restricted its nuclear =, and added snap inspections of centrifuge production. By all reports Iran has fulfilled its commitments. Said the Arms Control Association's Daryl Kimball, the agreement has "halted the most worrisome projects that Iran has." Admittedly, these restrictions are not enough, since, for instance, Iran continues to enrich uranium to 3.5 percent. Moreover, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano acknowledged that "we are not in a position to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran." However, only negotiation is likely to yield additional limits. Amano noted that the agency needed Tehran's cooperation. For years hawks erroneously predicted that Iran was about to build nuclear weapons. Instead, negotiations have reduced Tehran's "breakout" capacity, the time necessary to enrich enough uranium to make one bomb. Before the JPOA Iran's breakout time was a month or so. Now it is two to three EFTA00856705 months. The U.S. hopes to push the breakout time up to a year. Tehran will remain a threshold nuclear state, but it already is one--legally under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The basic dispute today is whether the West demands complete termination of Iran's nuclear activities or agrees to limits on centrifuges and provisions for intrusive oversight to provide advance warning of any Iranian breakout attempt. The choice is a classic example between the unattainable perfect and realistic good. Iran is unlikely to surrender: there is broad domestic support for Iran's nuclear program and even friends of the West do not favor national humiliation. In contrast, a more limited pact could discourage development of a nuclear bomb. Ryan Costello of the National Iranian American Council pointed out: "No nation has ever built a nuclear weapon under the watch of IAEA inspectors, including the six non-nuclear weapon states that enrich uranium on their own soil." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a dramatic appearance on Capitol Hill to oppose the talks, but none of his objections were persuasive. There is no evidence that Iran is bent on conflict. New York Times columnist Roger Cohen noted that "greater economic contact with the world and the gradual emergence of a young generation of Iranians drawn to the West" could moderate Tehran's foreign policy. Cheating is possible but less likely if Tehran gains more than it loses from the agreement. New threats actually would increase Iran's incentive to build nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, the prime minister's remarks, argued Rep. Jan Schakowsky, (D-Ill.), were "an effort to stampede the United States into war once again." (Netanyahu advocated America's disastrous invasion of Iraq.) Uranium enrichment may be the most important area of dispute. While technical arguments fly freely, the issue is fundamentally political. Noted the Crisis Group, Tehran has no need for so many centrifuges, other than to reject Western interference in Iran's affairs, just as the allies have "no need to exaggerate the breakout risks of Iran's current inventory of a few thousand obsolete IR-i centrifuges, which are under the most stringent IAEA inspection regime." Compromise is required. Tehran believes that it should be permitted to enrich uranium and conduct nuclear research, while accepting barriers between civilian and potential nuclear programs, including steps to hinder reversibility, with meaningful international oversight. Both Washington and Tehran must receive sufficient benefits upfront to justify battling powerful vested interests against peace. Steady progress in future years will be necessary to preserve support for the deal. It might be necessary, suggested the Crisis Group, to "postpone some difficult concessions until both sides have become accustomed to a new relationship." Such an approach likely is the best the West can expect. Having endured years of escalating penalties, Tehran isn't likely to accept less. Even many Iranians inclined toward the West back the program. Iran's leaders have no reason to trust Washington, while U.S. officials who blithely imagine an easy military solution would be setting the stage for another extended Middle Eastern disaster. Compromise also is the best that Tehran can expect. Only reintegration into the international economy would meet Iran's economic and security needs. Rejecting limits on its nuclear activities would ensure persistent economic crisis and geopolitical isolation and risk an Israeli and/or U.S. EFTA00856706 military strike. Iran cannot hope for more than the old Reagan adage, "trust but verify,"since Tehran has not always been forthcoming. There are other issues between the West and Iran. The Washington Post complained that the administration "has declined to counter increasingly aggressive efforts by Iran to extend its influence across the Middle East." Netanyahu claimed much the same: "the world should demand that Iran ... stop its aggression against its neighbors in the Middle East." Yet Tehran, in contrast to America (as well as Israel and even Saudi Arabia), has not bombed, invaded, or occupied neighboring states. The Islamic regime's military spending trails that of Israel, Iraq, and Qatar. Saudi Arabia devotes more than five times as much money as Tehran to the military. Let's acknowledge that the regional environment remains extremely hostile to Tehran. For decades the U.S. has intervened all around Iran. Washington backed Hussein's Iraq in attacking Iran. Israel has bombed and invaded its neighbors when deemed necessary. Saudi Arabia backed the Taliban in Afghanistan, funded radical Sunni groups in Syria, and intervened militarily in Bahrain, which has a Shiite majority. Who is the most aggressive power? Demanding a regional Iranian surrender would risk the nuclear talks. In contrast, resolving the nuclear issue would improve the chances of addressing other disputes. A more prosperous Iran would naturally have more regional influence, but there are important areas for U.S.-Iran cooperation. The two governments could work together in Afghanistan and anti-piracy operations. Iran is a de facto ally against the Islamic State (and before that against both al-Qaeda and the Taliban). Further improvements in relations with Washington could draw Iran away from some of its more radical attachments. Said Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council: after signing a nuclear agreement the two nations "can behave in a way that they do not use their energy against each other." Nevertheless, negotiation critics promise a better result by rejecting the proposed deal. "Call their bluff," insisted Netanyahu. Even Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency, warned U.S. officials that expanding sanctions would wreck the talks. But radical GOP hawks don't care. Sen. Cotton insisted: 'The United States must cease all appeasement, conciliation and concessions towards Iran, starting with the sham nuclear negotiations." His position is simple: Iran should surrender. Ironically, such a demand would encourage Iran to again expand its nuclear capability. Even many Iranians well- disposed toward America support their nation's nuclear program and do not want to be ruled from abroad. President Rouhani would face well-founded criticism for "appeasement" if he proposed yielding to such demands. Noted NIAC's Trita Parsi: Rouhani "wants and needs a deal, but can't afford one that will end his political career in Iran." Iran did not respond to prior pressure by crawling to Washington. Noted Parsi and Reza Marashi of NIAC: "When Washington imposed on Iran the most comprehensive sanctions regime in history, Tehran did not capitulate. Rather, it responded to pressure with pressure." Iran added centrifuges and increased reprocessing capabilities. Only the 2013 JPOA halted this process. A congressional demand for Tehran's capitulation would risk restarting Iranian efforts, ending enhanced inspections, and encouraging Tehran to follow North Korea in leaving the NPT entirely. EFTA00856707 Finally: Having blown up the negotiations, the U.S. then would find it difficult to maintain international support for sanctions. China and Russia already have reason to break with America. Europeans looking forward to business with Iran would blame Washington for the renewed crisis. War might be the only alternative to a nuclear Iran. Yet that would entail bombing a nation which had not threatened America and, indeed, had good reason to aim in response to Washington's threats. Moreover, a military strike likely would only delay rather than stop the program. T ehran then would have reason to move ahead as swiftly as possible, since nothing else would protect Iran from further attack. Thus, negotiations remain the only realistic option to prevent an Iranian bomb. The West must convince Tehran that it doesn't need a bomb. Pressure only goes so far. Equally important are benefits for abandoning any military designs. Noted James Clapper: "Iran's technical advancement, particularly in uranium enrichment, strengthens our assessment that Iran has the scientific, technical, and industrial capacity to eventually produce nuclear weapons, making the central issue its political will to do so." In his view Tehran would base its decision on a cost-benefit basis, including such interests as security and prestige. Thus, the benefits of any settlement must exceed the costs. Nearly four decades of hostility and conflict between the U.S. and Iran have malformed America's relations with the entire Middle East. Washington has found itself constantly at war, permanently allied with authoritarian regimes, and repeatedly suffering the consequences of previous mistakes. A possible Iranian nuclear weapon is as much an unintended consequence as cause of U.S. policy. However, the ongoing negotiations provide a unique opportunity to simultaneously limit the spread of nuclear weapons and reduce tensions in the Middle East. Americans should embrace the possibility of peace. Tehran is an ugly regime, but that only makes an enforceable nuclear agreement more critical. And as Bandow says, "The Obama administration has no more important responsibility today than tofinalize a workable nuclear agreement with Iran. For the people of America and Iran,failure is not an option." ***** Global warming is now slowing down the circulation of the oceans Inline image 1 Web Link: http://wapo.st/19flaox It is universally accepted by the international scientific community that the planet is going through a profound climate change and now according to a new study just out in Nature Climate Change by Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and a group of co-authors, we're now seeing a slowdown of the great ocean circulation that, among other planetary roles, helps to EFTA00856708 partly drive the Gulf Stream off the U.S. east coast. The consequences could be dire — including significant extra sea level rise for coastal cities like New York and Boston. A vast, powerful, and warm current, the Gulf Stream transports more water than "all the world's rivers combined," according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But it's just one part of a larger regional ocean conveyor system — scientists technically call it the "Atlantic meridional overturning circulation" — which, in turn, is just one part of the larger global "thermohaline" circulation ("thermohaline" conjoins terms meaning "temperature"and "salty"). For the whole system, a key driver occurs in the North Atlantic Ocean. Here, the warm Gulf Stream flows northward into cooler waters and splits into what is called the North Atlantic Current. This stream flows still further toward northern latitudes — until it reaches points where colder, salty water sinks due to its greater density, and then travels back southward at depth. This "overturning circulation" plays a major role in the climate because it brings warm water northward, thereby helping to warm Europe's climate, and also sends cold water back towards the tropics. Here's a helpful visualization, from Rahmstorf and the Potsdam Institute, of how it works: Inane image 2 So far, the study finds, we're looking at a circulation that's about 15 to 20 percent weaker. That may not sound like much, but the paper suggests a weakening this strong has not happened at any time since the year 900. Moreover, this is already more weakening than scientifically expected — and could be the beginning of a further slowdown that could have great consequences. The M.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in 2013, said it was "very likely" that the Atlantic overturning circulation would weaken over the course of this century, but gave a gigantic range of from 1 to 54 percent, with best estimates at 11 and 34 percent. We're already in that window, suggests the new study, and it's only 2015. So what would happen if the circulation weakens even more substantially or even shuts down? Why the U.S. suffers from a Gulf Stream system slowdown EFTA00856709 One thing that will not happen from a shutdown of the circulation is a sudden, dramatic freezing of Europe. It will certainly cool, relative to a world in which the circulation remains robust — but that will be offset by rising average temperatures due to global warming, says Rahmstorf. The "Day After Tomorrow" scenario will not come to pass. However, there are many other effects, ranging from dramatic impacts on fisheries to, perhaps most troubling of all, the potential for extra sea level rise in the North Atlantic region. That may sound surprising, but here's how it works. We're starting out from a situation in which sea level is "anomalously low" off the U.S. east coast due to the motion of the Gulf Stream. This is for at least two reasons. First, explains Rahmstorfs co-author Michael Mann of Penn State University, there's the matter of temperature contrast: Waters to the right or east of the Gulf Stream, in the direction of Europe, are warmer than those on its left or west. Warm water expands and takes up more area than denser cold water, so sea level is also higher to the right side of the current, and lower off our coast. But there's another factor, too, involving what is called the "geostrophic balance offorces" in the ocean. This gets wonky, but the bottom line result is that "sea surface slope perpendicular to any current flow, like the Gulf Stream, has a higher sea level on its right hand side, and the lower sea level on the left hand slide," says Rahmstorf. (This would only be true in the northern hemisphere; in the southern it would be the opposite.) We're on the left hand side of the Gulf Stream. So weaken the flow, and you also raise the sea level. Indeed, researchers recently found a sudden, 4-inch sea level rise of the U.S. East Coast in 2009 and 2010, which they attributed to a slowdown of the Atlantic overturning circulation. Rahmstorf says that "for a big breakdown of the circulation, [sea level rise] could amount to one meter, in addition to the global sea level rise that we're expecting from global warming." Shutting down the circulation would also almost certainly have effects on global weather — changing around major planetary heat transport processes tends to do that — though scientists don't know yet what those would look like. So in sum: It appears that we've just seen yet another surprise from the climate system — and yet another process, like the melting of Antarctica, that seems to be happening faster than previously expected. And indeed, much like with that melting, the upshot if the trend continues is an especially bad sea level rise for the United States — the country more responsible than any other on Earth for the global warming that we're currently experiencing ****** Top 10 Superfoods While traditional wisdom holds that an apple a day keeps the doctor away, these days we find ourselves looking to superfoods more and more to get our nutrition. The definition for superfoods is loose but the idea is straightforward — loaded with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and flavonoids, these foods promote wellness and help combat cancer, cholesterol and other health threats when eaten regularly. Some of the items on our list are familiar (blueberries), some are foreign (teff) and some are surprising (dandelion root), but all are readily available and easily incorporated into your daily diet. EFTA00856710 Take a look at GAYOT's Top to Superfoods to find fruits, vegetables, grains and spices that not only taste great, but will make you feel great, as well. Antioxidant-rich Arai Inline image 1 Growing on palm trees in the Amazonian rainforest, this Brazilian berry is rumored to be the best superfood around. With its high fiber, high protein and low sugar content, acai can be found in smoothies, frozen yogurts, juices and even alcoholic beverages. Though their nutritive benefits are on par with blueberries, cranberries and strawberries, acai berries boast ten times the amount of antioxidants found in red grapes. Antioxidants, as the name implies, counter the effects of cell oxidization, protecting against free radicals and possibly reducing high blood pressure and helping to prevent heart disease. Sweeten up Your Diet with Cinnamon R. Inline image 2 Used in dishes from Indian curry to all-American apple pie, the once rare bark of the cinnamon tree is now ubiquitous. As this sweetly scented spice helps balance blood sugar, it can be beneficial to prevent diabetes (or: it can be a beneficial addition to the diets of diabetics). Moreover, cinnamon's anti- inflammatory properties can alleviate the symptoms of arthritis. Among its many other uses, cinnamon also inhibits the growth of food borne bacteria, thereby not only acting as a food preservative, but aiding digestion and preventing some stomach ulcers as well. EFTA00856711 Blueberries Boost Vision and Memory Inline image 3 Blueberries, native to North America, are also known as whortleberries, bilberries and hurtleberries. They owe their deep blue color to flavonoids — natural compounds that protect the brain's memory- carrying cells (neurons) from decay. Long used by Native Americans for medicinal purposes, antioxidant-rich blueberries are packed with B complex vitamins, vitamin C and vitamin A. During World War II, British pilots reported improved night vision after eating bilberry jam. Though this claim may have seemed bizarre at the time, it turns out that blueberries are full of anthocyanosides, a potent antioxidant that improves eyesight. Ancient African Grain Inline image 4 Looking for a powerful new Paleo grain? We're excited to present teff! A staple in Ethiopian cooking for thousands of years, teff was one of the earliest domesticated plants, and remains an important part of the North African diet due to its versatility and ability to grow in harsh conditions. One of the smallest grains in the world, teff is high in dietary fiber, protein, calcium and other essential vitamins EFTA00856712 and minerals — and it's also gluten-free. While Ethiopians traditionally grind teff into a flour to make injera, a sourdough-risen flatbread, this adaptable grain can also be steamed or boiled whole to be served as a side dish, or mixed in with soups and salads for an extra nutritional punch. As a great gluten-free alternative to wheat flour, teff can be used in pancakes, wraps, breads and other baked goods. Garlic, a Potent Heart-Helper Inline image 5 Don't shrink from the stink just yet; the pungently scented bulb lowers blood pressure as well as reduces the risk of getting bacterial infections. Garlic also acts as an anti-inflammatory, alleviating ailments such as arthritis and asthma. We all know that garlic contributes to bad breath, but one advantage of this potent spice is that you don't have to eat large quantities of it. Just two cloves per week is sufficient to enjoy garlic's benefits. Not Just a Pesky Plant Inline image 6 EFTA00856713 While the dandelion may be considered a weed, home gardeners should think twice before discarding this small flowering plant. Long used as an herbal remedy in both Native American and Eastern medicine to treat everything from kidney disease to upset stomach, the dandelion is high in essential minerals like potassium, magnesium and zinc, as well as B-complex vitamins, beta-carotene and vitamin C. As a natural diuretic, the dandelion can also help improve kidney and liver function and lower blood pressure. Although the entire dandelion is edible, we prefer the root, which can be taken in supplement form or as an herbal tea whose slightly bitter taste has led some to use it as a caffeine-free coffee substitute. Pomegranates Promote Heart Health Well-represented in ancient art and literature, pomegranates have been slow to migrate away from the Mediterranean and Middle East. Only recently have the seeds of this superfood been found sweetening dishes, such as soups and salads, in Western countries. Drinking the juice of this seedy red fruit promotes a healthy heart as well as helps combat stroke, hypertension and Alzheimer's disease. In Ayurvedic medicine, pomegranates are used as a traditional remedy for diarrhea, dysentery and intestinal parasites. Mineral- and Antioxidant-Packed Pumpkins Inline image 7 Full of flavor and health benefits, pumpkins don't merely belong carved up on your front porch at Halloween or in your pie at Thanksgiving. The meat, seeds and oil of this fall-favorite squash possess vital nutrients that reduce signs of aging as well as the risk of prostate cancer in men. In addition to boasting a high mineral content, pumpkins are also anti-diabetic, antioxidant, anti-carcinogenic and anti-inflammatory. Control Hunger with Chia Seeds EFTA00856714 Inline image 8 The same seeds you know for sprouting grass-like plants in a terra cotta figurine are not only edible, they also pack a nutritional punch. Just two tablespoons of tiny chia seeds distributed over the course of the day provide your body with high levels of protein, fiber and omega-3, for effects that are energizing, detoxifying and heart-healthy. When consumed raw, chia seeds are crunchy and not unlike poppy seeds in their texture and size. Almost flavorless, they allow you to sneak them into many foods without even noticing their presence. Try them in your yogurt, oatmeal or salad for an added dose of calcium, iron, copper and zinc. Soak chia in any liquid (Mexicans do it with fruit juice to create a drink known as chia fresca) and they expand into a gel several times the size of the original seed. Research suggests that this reaction also takes place when raw chia seeds mix with the fluids in your stomach, creating a feeling of being full. The ancient Aztecs believed that one tablespoon of chia could sustain a warrior for 24 hours. Skip Scurvy, Eat More Watercress! Inline image 9 In some regions of the world, watercress is regarded as a weed, in others as an aquatic vegetable or herb. Boasting so many health benefits, watercress is definitely not a weed! Most potent when consumed fresh and raw, this leafy perennial helps combat a variety of cancers and has long been used to treat scurvy. Due to its high iodine content, watercress has a strengthening effect on the thyroid gland, which makes it beneficial for sufferers of hypothyroidism. EFTA00856715 THIS WEEK's QUOTES Random Thoughts As We Age... Wouldn't it be great if we could put ourselves in the dryer for ten minutes; come out wrinkle-free and three sizes smaller! Last year I joined a support group for procrastinators. We haven't met yet! I don't trip over things, I do random gravity checks! I don't need anger management. I need people to stop pissing me off! Old age is coming at a really bad time! When I was a child I thought Nap Time was a punishment ... now, as a grown up, it just feels like a small vacation! The biggest lie I tell myself is ... "I don't need to write that down, I'll remember it." Lord grant me the strength to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change things I can and the friends to post my bail when I finally snap! I don't have gray hair. I have "wisdom highlights." I'm just very wise. My people skills are just fine. It's my tolerance to idiots that needs work. Teach your daughter how to shoot, because a restraining order is just a piece of paper. EFTA00856716 If God wanted me to touch my toes, he would've put them on my knees. The kids text me "p/e which is shorter than please. I text back "no" which is shorter than "yes." I'm going to retire and live off of my savings. Not sure what I'll do that second week. When did it change from "We the people" to "screw the people"? I've lost my mind and I'm pretty sure my wife took it! Even duct tape can't fix stupid ... but it can muffle the sound! Why do I have to press one for English when you're just gonna transfer me to someone I can't understand anyway? Of course I talk to myself, sometimes I need expert advice. Oops! Did I roll my eyes out loud? At my age "Getting lucky" means walking into a room and remembering what I came in there for. FUNNY.... FUNNY.... FUNNY.... For you fitness buffs! EFTA00856717 Inline image 1 Alaska's new High adrenaline fitness program! Getfit or die trying! BEST VIDEO OF THE WEEK Stop complaining about getting OLD! Inline image I Web Link: EFTA00856718 Four to Five days a week Ida Pieracci, (who was born in San Jose, California) gets up at and is at the Golf Course by at least 7am, having been given a key to the gate so that she can play anytime she is in the mood. Aside from being 101 years old she holds the San Jose Country Club course record with ii holes-in-one and says, "I practically own this course." YES.... YOU.... DO.... Go get it girl THIS WEEK's MUSIC B.B. King This week I would like to invite you to enjoy the music of Blues icon B.B. King who died this week on May 14, 2015 at the age of 89 died as a result of a series of small strokes attributable to his longstanding battle with type 2 diabetes. Three years ago when B.B. King returned home to Mississippi to play to family and friend, British writer Ed Vulliamy joined him to hear from the maestro about his rise from the cotton fields to international stardom which he published in The Observer newspaper on October 6, 2012. Here are some excerpts. Riley B King was born on 16 September 1925, great-grandson of a slave. He moved soon after with his mother to Kilmichael, in Hill Country, to work as a farmhand and listen to his aunt's Blind Lemon Jefferson records. His uncle, the great bluesman Bukka White, would visit from Memphis — play and sing. First BB's mother died, then the grandmother in whose care he had been placed. "The blues," he would later write, "was bleeding the same blood as me." Picking cotton for 75 cents a day, BB had coveted the local preacher's guitar and was even allowed to "play a few chords he taught me". He then EFTA00856719 made his own, he says: "We used to make it with wire, the kind you use to make a cotton bail, and tie it to a broom handle. Clamp it down, the sound changed, and I'm playin' music." Later, his employer, a white man called Flake Cartledge, advanced him the $15 he needed for a real one. There followed an unhappy period with his father's family way south in Lexington. There, BB witnessed the lynching and castration of a young black man by a white mob — his crime had been to wolf-whistle at a white girl. Riley King fled Lexington, and his father's new family, cycling alone "like a bat out of hell, never to return", back to Itta Bena. Nine-year-old Riley King was now back in the Delta, where he worked the fields, picking "Delta Pinelet". "Cotton was a force of nature. There's a poetry to it, hoeing and growing cotton," he later wrote. Under the pecan tree, he adds: "Though it didn't make none of my people rich. I figured out that I must have walked around the world, all those hours and days and weeks behind a mule." His biographer Charles Sawyer once asked King: "How can you play in 90-degree heat in a 3-piece suit?" To which BB replied: "I used to work all day in the hot sun in Mississippi." Sawyer shook his head and said he would pass out if I tried to play under all those layers of fabric. BB replied: "Well, Charlie, you're white". On Saturday nights, workers left the fields for town. "I was peeping through the slats at a place I'm playing later tonight they call Club Ebony," recalls BB, "to hear Count Basie play, Charlie Parker, too — and see all those beautiful women in tight dresses jivin' away." Young Riley King sang gospel on the street corners of this town, and learned soon that "the churchfolks that liked my singing didn't slip me a dime much as the otherfolks did when I changed sidewalks to the other side of town and changed praising the Lord to praising a lady", which is another cornerstone of the blues King learned early: it is not just the words of a song, it the mood that matters, convoyed by the larynx, as instrument. That is what defined and defines BB's extraordinary voice. Then there is the instrument itself, the guitar. Several adventures later, BB fulfilled his dream of reaching Memphis to play. He recalls a crucial moment in the history of the guitar style which became his and his alone — the vibrato that is instantly recognisable as BB King's after only a single note. He was staying with Bukka White, and "Bukka used to play slide using a bottleneck, or just a piece of pipe. I wanted to do that, and I tried and he showed me how — but I got stupidfingers, see, and I just couldn't do it." However: "The sound Bukka made went all through me, and I devised my own techniquefor producing the tremolo without the slide." He calls it "the butterfly. I swivel my wristfrom my elbow, back andforth, and this stretches the string, raising and lowering the pitch of the note rhythmically. With my otherfingers stretched out, my whole hand makes a fluttering gesture, a bit like a butterflyflapping its wings." Thus the BB King sound was born — a sound that expresses mood, feeling, blue or otherwise. In Brewer's film, there is a montage in which most of the great guitarists of their generation acknowledge it, and the ability to recognize it. King himself says it another way: "I tried to connect my singing voice to my guitar an' my guitar to my singing voice. Like the two was talking to one another." Jon Brewer confirms a detail which explains the dialogue between voice and guitar differently: "BB's secret is that he can't sing and play at the same time." BB King called his guitar Lucille after someone else's fight in a juke joint knocked over a container of kerosene that was the heating system. The place caught fire, the crowd fled, but BB realised he had left his guitar inside and ran to get it. Chastised for his recklessness, he discovered that the fight had been over a girl called Lucille. "I named my guitar Lucille," he says in The Life of Riley, "to remind myself not to do something like that again, and I haven't." EFTA00856720 The blues went north, with the great migration from the mechanised cotton fields, in pursuit of work in the big cities. For the most part they accompanied the majority of the black exodus to the burgeoning megalopolis of Chicago. Each musician from what became the golden age of the blues mutated the Delta sound to form their own style — Elmore James, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf — within that Windy City electric sound. But BB King chose a different scene, on Beale Street in Memphis, closer to home up the Mississippi reaches. He came to forge a more rounded, less feral timbre than Muddy or the Wolf, with a bigger band including brass and rhythm sections. Blues Boy King — shortened to BB — became a radio star at WDIA, the blues station in Memphis. He built his band, he ensured that he tour on a bus, he made lifelong friends, he left his first wife and indulged his love of women — and released his first hit, "Three O'Clock Blues". Attached please find both a Wikipedia bio and the Observer article but for now I invite you to enjoy the music of one of the greatest of the greats, the legendary "King of the Blues," Mr. B.B. King.... B.B. King - The Thrill Is Gone -- https://youtu.be/4fk2prKnYnl B.B. King - Lucille -- https://youtu.be/-Y8QxOjuYHg B.B. King — Sweet Sixteen -- https://youtu.be/eKMLIcLIFTI B.B. King — I Believe To My Soul -- https://youtu.be/sQ_Q_vI47CGc B.B. King - You're Gonna Miss Me -- https://youtu.be/mnVWF5g 8LU B.B. King — Why I Sing The Blues -- https://youtu.be/UOnzDKvn7YI B.B. King - I Like To Live The Love -- https://youtu.be/FI IruWGGbn4 B.B. King - Ain't Nobody Home -- https://youtu.be/b59Zh7I-ZZ8 B.B. King - How Blue Can You Get -- https://youtu.be/6jCNXASjzMY B.B. King - Rock Me, Baby -- https://youtu.be/OK_AwCjK0Ak B.B. King - Three 0 Clock Blues -- https://youtu.be/d9ozjCQkqZs B.B. King - Nobody Loves Me But My Mother -- https://youtu.be/OIW4ARVbhrw B.B. King Calls This One Of His Best Performances -- https://youtu.be/LWLAAzOBoBI B.B. King & Ray Charles - Sinners Prayer -- https://youtu.be/JIa0tNfM0PI B.B. King & John Mayer — King Of Blues -- https://youtu.be/9VxYAAe6CdI B.B. King Jams with Slash and Others -- https://youtu.be/6L6sGd0R6FI B.B. King & Pavarotti - The Thrill Is Gone -- https://youtu.be/xE_NEO2UfBO B.B. King, Etta James, Gladys Knight & Chaka Khan — Ain't Nobody's Business -- https://youtu.be/bVd7pTfcDYO EFTA00856721 I hope that you have enjoyed this week's offerings and wish you and yours a wonderful summer and a great week.... Sincerely, Greg Brown Gregory Brown Chairman & CEO GlobalCut Fanners. LLC Tel: Fax SL EFTA00856722