CNN Military Analyst Releases Bombshell 'Black West Africa & BokoHaram are Not a Priority to the West'

How Obama and the Democrats lost the election - CNN Analyst

Gloria Borger, CNN Chief Political Analyst
Back in 1994, when Newt Gingrich led the GOP to take over the House, it was historic. A sea change. An earthquake.

Why? Because Democrats had held control of the House for the previous 40 years. As in four decades. Imagine that.  Hard to believe it ever worked that way. Now voters demand change elections more often than they don't. Consider this: Republicans win the Senate in 2002, then lose it in 2006. The Democrats hold the Senate until losing control of it last night -- predictions are that they might be in a good position to take it back in two years.

At some point, someone might start listening: Voters are steaming. They're anxious. They're also not expecting Democrats and Republicans to suddenly write poetry together. But here's one thing they do expect: competency. As in: figure out a way to do your job without continually kicking the proverbial cans down the road

 In a pre-election interview with CNN earlier this week, Vice President Joe Biden told me that the "President and I have to figure out how to better communicate."

The Ideology of 'Free' Health Care In Canada

Bacchus Barua  | HuffPost

"Don't touch my free health care," is a common refrain from defenders of the status quo whenever anyone broaches the topic of reforming Canada's health-care system.

While politicians and interest groups no doubt share a portion of the blame for perpetuating the myth of a $0 price tag for health care in Canada, their ability to carry public opinion with them stems from the murky manner in which health care is funded.

Individuals and families never see a bill for medical services, are not subject to any level of cost-sharing, and only pay a small so-called "premium" for health insurance (in provinces that impose them) that in no way represent the true cost.

The truth of the matter is that Canadians actually pay a substantial amount for health care through their taxes. But no one really knows how much.

And that is the key to the illusion.

Instead of using a dedicated health insurance tax that earmarks tax money for the specific purpose of funding health care, the government funds it through general tax revenue -- taking a few dollars from here and there so that it's impossible for families to add up the number for themselves.

Scottish Independence | After vote to stay in UK, Scots must heal divide

Following a long night that brought floods of relief for some and bitter disappointment for others, Scotland awoke with a hangover Friday after voting to reject independence.

Now, the task was to heal the divide - and use the energy the referendum unleashed to hold London politicians to promises of more powers for Scotland.

The result - 55 percent to 45 percent - was more decisive than pollsters had foreseen and prompted Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, who led the unsuccessful Yes campaign, to resign.
But it meant almost half of Scotland's more than 5 million people woke up in a country, the United Kingdom, that they wished to leave.

Queen Elizabeth II, who has kept out of the political debate, said Friday that "all of us throughout the United Kingdom will respect" the result.

In a statement from her Scottish home at Balmoral castle, the monarch said "despite the range of views that have been expressed, we have in common an enduring love of Scotland, which is one of the things that helps to unite us all."

Still, Yes supporters have first to get over their bitter disappointment.

"This time, I thought my vote would count for something," said truck driver Calum Noble, 25, his voice cracking with emotion as a drizzly mist enveloped the Scottish city of Glasgow.

"I wanted a better country, but it's all been for nothing. I don't believe we will get any of the things the London politicians promised."

Salmond's impassioned plea to launch a new nation fell short, with Scots choosing instead the security of remaining in union with England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Yet the independence drive tapped a wellspring of youth and energy that campaigners vowed would endure.

The '10,000-hour' rule revisited: Why practice may not make perfect

Did Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates need 10,000 hours of practice to become the success he is today? (Susan Walsh/Associated Press)

When Malcolm Gladwell published Outliers, his bestselling book proposing that practising a certain task for around 10,000 hours is necessary before one can ever achieve great success, he gave hope to millions of wannabe Bill Gateses, Carl Sagans, Tiger Woodses, Yo-Yo Mas and yes, even Malcolm Gladwells.

But he also dashed the dreams of millions of slackers hoping to justify their poor work habits, believing no matter how hard they tried, they could only get so far.

However, just in time for school, there may be a sliver of good news for the terminally lazy.

"Our data suggests that overall on average, practice is important but not nearly as important as, say, Malcolm Gladwell would claim — that it accounts for everything or almost everything,"
said Brooke Macnamara, an assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

It was Macnamara, along with fellow psychologists Frederick Oswald of Rice University and Zach Hambrick of Michigan State University, who decided to launch a comprehensive look at the claims popularized by Gladwell by examining 88 studies that looked into the relationship between practice and performance. The psychologists wanted to find what, if any, correlation there was between the two.

What they found and recently published in the journal  Psychological Science was that while practice does play a role in one's ability to say, play chess, or the violin, it's certainly not the defining element for success.

It also depends on what the task is. For games, like chess, practice played a larger role. For this task, the researchers found it accounts for about 26 per cent of one's overall ability. Music was 21 per cent, sports 18 per cent, education four per cent and professions less than one per cent.

All this means, according to the study, is that no matter how hard one practises a particular task, they can only become so good at it, or, in some cases, remain so mediocre.

Top 10 Weirdest Music Lyrics Of All Time

But seriously, are we humans? The Killers’ lead singer Brandon Flowers. Photograph: Carsten Windhorst/WENN.com

What are the weirdest lyrics of all time? The Killers have topped a survey which lists the most nonsensical lyrics of all time. But aren’t there more avant-garde examples out there? 

Who would have thought it, Mormon stadium rock band The Killers are the weirdest band in the world. Well, at least their lyrics are said to be: the group’s 2008 single has been named the possessor of the oddest phrase in music - “are we human or are we dancer?” - beating those other eccentric wordsmiths such as Black Eyed Peas, Lionel Richie and Taylor Swift.

The survey, set up by streaming service Blinkbox, quizzed 2,000 adults about the most bamboozling phrases in song. Managing director Mark Bennett said: “It’s true that song lyrics are sometimes as crazy as a box of frogs, but then that’s show business. It would be a really boring world if everything was logical and made sense.”

Here’s the Top 10 in full:
1 The Killers, Human
“Are we human, or are we dancer?”

2 The Beatles, I Am The Walrus
“I am the eggman, they are the eggmen, I am the walrus, goo goo g’joob.”

3 Michael Jackson, Earth Song
“What about elephants? Have we lost their trust?”

Could MH17 Cause Worldwide War

Emergency workers on Saturday carried a body from the site of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crash in the Donetsk region. For many, the disaster brought home a struggle that had seemed distant. Credit Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters       

From the start, the telephone call did not go well. Dispensing with pleasantries, President Vladimir V. Putin launched into an edgy and long-winded complaint about the new American sanctions imposed on Russia the day before.

President Obama, on the phone from the Oval Office on Thursday morning, responded that Russia was arming rebels in Ukraine — citing among other things the antiaircraft weapons that the United States believed they had been sent. “This is not something we’re making up,” Mr. Obama said, according to an American official.

 

Then, more than halfway through the tense, hourlong call, Mr. Putin noted, almost in passing, that he had received a report of an aircraft going down in Ukraine.

 

Mr. Putin was vague about the details, and the conversation moved on. But in that instant, the monthslong proxy war between East and West took a devastating turn, one that would shift the ground geopolitically amid the charred wreckage and broken bodies in a Ukrainian wheat field.

 

The downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 rippled across multiple continents — from Amsterdam, where friends and family had just seen off their loved ones, to the distant shores of Asia and Australia that had been waiting for 298 passengers and crew who would never show up.

How Inflation is Killing off the Canadian Middle Class

Some recent research finds that while inflation remains relatively low, the benefits of rising prices are going to business and the top one per cent while everyone else gets poorer. (CBC)

If it feels like you are getting poorer despite relatively low inflation, new research indicates that's because you are.

This week, new figures from Statistics Canada show annual inflation hit 2.4 per cent. That's up from 2.3 per cent last month, the ninth month in a row of a rising inflation rate. And while the things you buy are more than two per cent dearer (three per cent if you live in Ontario) than they were a year ago, wages have not been keeping pace.

Over the same period, StatsCan data shows that Canadian wages rose only 1.9 per cent. In Ontario, where prices were up three per cent, wages rose a mere 0.7 per cent. That means if you live in Ontario and spend what you earn, you are effectively 2.3 per cent poorer than you were only one year ago.

'If we value the prosperity and stability associated with middle-class society ... then we should really pay attention to what generates that middle-class affluence'-

Jordan Brennan, York University economist

And according to York University economist Jordan Brennan, that is bad for the Canadian middle class. Brennan represents a new kind of economist who rejects the traditional story that he learned in Economics 101 and once believed wholeheartedly.

"If we value the prosperity and stability associated with middle-class society — the things that we ascribe to Canadian citizenship — if we value those things, then we should really pay attention to what generates that middle-class affluence," says Brennan.  "And letting the free market rip does not seem to the main generator of that affluence."

Brennan says his latest research confirms what others have also discovered, that while inflation remains relatively low, the benefits of rising prices are going to business and the one per cent while everyone else gets poorer. 

Today's Canadian numbers confirm it. And in slightly different words, that's exactly what U.S. Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen said earlier this week: that the returns of the U.S. economy are disproportionately going to capital, with less going to labour.

Can We Have United States of Africa?

 

The journalist and black nationalist leader Marcus Garvey wrote a poem about it. The reggae great Bob Marley sang about it. And the Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi poured his oil wealth into it. But none lived to see a United States of Africa.

 

This history of disappointed hopes will provide the backdrop in early August when President Barack Obama hosts the inaugural U.S.-Africa summit in Washington. Only a few of Africa's 54 leaders—including Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, who is still the target of U.S. sanctions—haven't been invited.

 

The U.S. wants to discuss continent-wide issues, such as security and terrorism, and to promote regional initiatives, such as shared electricity. To stress the breadth of the meeting's aims, Mr. Obama plans to meet with the African heads of state as a group, not individually—a move that has ruffled some diplomatic feathers.

Africa Unite!

From Marcus Garvey to Bob Marley, see leading figures who championed a United States of Africa.

The vision of an impoverished continent of countries coming together as one, flexing its muscle in geopolitics and the global economy, has long enticed activists, poets and politicians. But today's Africa remains divided, largely along hastily drawn colonial-era borders. The question now is whether the still-remote idea of political unity can find new life in the more modest goal of an integrated economic community.

 

The obstacles are formidable. Congolese women who trade eggs can't cross borders without giving away part of their load to officials and facing threats of sexual assault, according to a 2012 World Bank report; South Africa has feuded with Nigeria and Kenya over visa rules for their citizens; and a territorial row between Malawi and Tanzania over a lake separating them has hampered oil exploration.

 

"They hold hands, kiss each other—sometimes even shed tears," says one senior bank official who has attended pan-Africa summits in which leaders rhapsodize about fused economic futures. "Monday morning, there's nothing. It's all forgotten."

 

Some Africa experts warn that the Obama administration's effort to deal with the continent as a whole may be counterproductive, both diplomatically and strategically. "It's uniquely American. It's different. It's also high-risk," says Stephen Hayes, president of the Corporate Council on Africa, a Washington, D.C., trade organization.

 

The U.S. plays down such concerns. Mr. Obama will set aside "lots of time for the leaders during the summit," Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield said earlier this month, adding that protocol and security would be handled in a way that shows "respect for African leaders."

 

The more substantive question is whether this is the best approach for promoting U.S. interests on the continent. Several U.S. competitors have focused more on the immediate needs of individual African states than on the long-term possibilities of a united continent.

 

Read full story on wsj

How WorldCup Affects Work Productivity

Despite estimates of lost productivity during World Cup matches that costs businesses into the billions, employers weighing whether to let workers watch the games are “damned if they do, and damned if they don’t.”

Tuesday marks the tournament’s first semi-final, between Germany and host country Brazil. While major sporting events like the World Cup and the Olympics bring fans together as they cheer on their home country’s athletes, events that fall during working hours can disrupt business operations and cost companies money.

One eye-popping estimate suggests the United Kingdom’s economy lost some $7.3 billion during the 2010 World Cup, despite England’s elimination in the round of 16.

Even in the United States, where soccer isn’t number one among sports fans, businesses were expected to lose about 14 minutes of productivity a day, according to sales and data intelligence firm InsideView. During the 2010 World Cup, American companies lost an estimated $121 million in productivity.

But companies are getting creative in an effort to maintain relatively normal operations during this year’s World Cup. With mobile streaming capabilities and easy remote access to the office, businesses are doing everything from streaming games in conference rooms to relocating operations to local pubs to keep their soccer fans happy -- and productive.

Other employers are blocking access to sites streaming World Cup games.

“You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t, probably,” Hugh Gunz of the Institute for Management and Innovation at the University of Toronto, “I like the idea of moving to a pub for a month. It’s the sort of thing you can probably do if you’re an advertising agency. Not so easy to do if you’re an electricity utility. On the other hand, if you don’t do something like that, people are probably going to be (watching games) anyway.”

The latter outcome leads to another problem. When a business network is deluged with a spike in streaming traffic, the company-wide internet connection can slow for everybody, including those not interested in watching.

Such concerns spurred publisher Time Inc. to send a memo to employees asking that they not stream last week’s U.S.-Belgium match. Rather, they were encouraged to gather in conference rooms to watch the game.

WorldCup Drama: The Heavy Loss of Neymar

Marcelo went to the aid of his teammate Neymar, who sustained a fractured vertebra when he took a knee in the back from Colombia’s Juan Camilo Zúñiga. Credit Leonhard Foeger/Reuters        

A Colombian defender named Juan Camilo Zúñiga ended the World Cup for the Brazilian star striker Neymar on Friday with a nasty knee into Neymar’s back that fractured one of his vertebrae. It was an ugly play and a bad foul. It deserved, at least, a yellow card.



Yet within any game, there is always a road map to every flash point. The beauty of soccer’s continuous flow is that one thing leads to another (and another and another), and that makes it possible to trace a path to a game’s most memorable moment. In a game like Friday’s, doing so makes it easier to see where things went wrong.

     

So what happened to Neymar? How did the face of this tournament end up in a hospital? Brazilian fans will not like to hear it, but while Zúñiga was directly responsible for causing Neymar’s injury, Neymar’s teammates — specifically Fernandinho, though there were others — as well as the referee, Carlos Velasco Carballo, deserve their share of the blame, too. They did not commit the crime, but they contributed to an environment of lawlessness that led to Neymar’s being battered.

 

If that sounds harsh, consider that Brazil’s coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, made a point of saying before the game that there was no historical rivalry between Brazil and Colombia and that games between the teams were “friendly matches.”

Where is Canada in 'Good Country Index'

 

 

 

 

A new index ranks national decency

SEEN from space, our pale blue dot of a planet is a borderless sphere floating amid the stars. But worldly men know better: the land is carved up into countries.

Borders divide us; they encourage us to seek our self-interest rather than reach for a common, planetary solidarity. But the Good Country Index, released on June 24th by Simon Anholt, an independent policy advisor, aims to overcome this. It ranks countries based on how much they do for others globally.

 Ireland and Finland come on top; Libya is rock bottom. The measure is based on 35 datasets broken down into seven areas, such as technology, health and culture. The idea is clever but the execution is tricky.

The index often scales countries on a GDP basis to give poor countries a chance against rich ones. That's nice, but is Cyprus really a tech leader or Malta a cultural paragon? And the "peace and security" area is flawed: it penalises countries involved in armed conflicts abroad or that sell arms. Couldn't one argue that this fosters a stable world?

Still, the index is a worthwhile pursuit by imagining how countries might compete when they aim to serve others.

Economist

Rob Ford’s 'cranes in the sky' line examined by economists

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford says you can tell his city is 'booming' by going outside and looking at the construction cranes. (Mark Blinch/Reuters)

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford says his city is “booming” since he took office and the number of construction cranes in the sky are the proof.

But is counting cranes really a solid method of evaluating a city’s economy?

Toronto currently has 147 high-rise buildings under construction, according the city’s chief planner, Jennifer Keesmaat. In an election year, Ford has latched onto a good campaign sound bite — construction cranes and new glass towers are a simple and evocative way to judge the city's economy.

“Go outside. Go look at the cranes," Ford recently told CBC Radio’s Metro Morning when asked to inspire voters.

“When you see 150 cranes in the sky, every crane is equivalent to 1,000 jobs,” said Ford.
The Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD), which monitors developments across the GTA, has a different number.

Rob Ford mayoral debate: Skirting around the crack issue

'People have heard the story. It’s rewind, rewind, rewind,' Toronto Mayor Rob Ford said at the first televised mayoral debate, when asked about the crack cocaine scandal. (Nathan Denette/Canadian Press)

It may be that the four Toronto mayoral candidates sharing the stage with Rob Ford Wednesday night just wanted to appear statesmanlike and not sully themselves with the details of the scandal that's made the chief magistrate an international sensation. 

But there must have been some satisfaction among the four when, nearly 75 minutes into the 90-minute first televised mayoral candidate debate,CityNews reporter Cynthia Mulligan bluntly raised the issue with the mayor.

Google Crazy Acquisition of dozen Companies

Google is now the second most valuable U.S. company. The tech giant's market capitalization is $395.42 billion U.S. Apple is number one with $463.55 billion. (Reuters)

Take a look at a list of Google’s 144 latest acquisitions and you’ll notice most seem to have little in common. The seemingly random pattern of buyouts has a number of technology experts wondering just what the company is up to.

This week Google bought SlickLogin, an Israeli startup that uses high-frequency sound waves as the basis of a smart-ID login system. A few weeks ago Google bought Nest, a company that develops thermostats and smoke alarms that are connected to the internet.