DALLAS (TIP): Rick Perry ascended from Lieutenant Governor to Governor of Texas in December 2000 when thengovernor George Bush resigned after being elected the 43rd President of the United States. Perry will retire in January with the tenth longest gubernatorial tenure in U.S. history. Perry made job creation one of his principle mantras, and he has overseen remarkable employment gains under his watch with 2.1 million jobs added during his tenure.
The total represents 30% of the jobs added in the U.S. since 2000 and more than twice as many as any other state. The so-called “Texas miracle” does not show any signs of slowing either with 413,000 jobs added over the last 12 months. Texas is expected to have the nation’s fastest annual job growth rate at 2.7% over the next five years, according to data from Moody’s Analytics. Texas has low taxes and light regulation, but Perry’s record also has benefited from the headwinds at his back regarding energy. Oil prices hovered around $30 a barrel between 1986 and 2002 before a stunning climb that peaked at $145 in 2008. Prices plummeted during the Great Recession and over the past month, but oil is still trading around $80 a barrel. The higher prices have propelled massive investments in Texas both financially and in regards to human capital. “Texas has done well primarily because it is an energy center.
You really can’t get around that,” says Edward Friedman, an economist who tracks Texas for Moody’s Analytics. “Every major energy and oil company has realized over the last 15 years that the only place to be is Houston.” Texas’ prosperity and pro-business environment have led companies outside of the energy sector to flock to the state in recent years. Toyota announced plans to move its North American headquarters from California to a new campus in Plano that will create 4,000 jobs. The Texas Enterprise Fund granted Toyota $40 million to sweeten the pot.
San Francisco brokerage firm Charles Schwab is moving hundreds of jobs out of California with Austin and El Paso targeted for company expansion. Apple is undergoing an expansion that will roughly double its Austin workforce by hiring 3,600 new employees. Texas ranks first for both its current economic climate and growth prospects in our annual study on the Best States for Business. There are 118 of the largest companies in the U.S. based in Texas, including heavyweights like AT&T ,Exxon Mobil and Dell .
Tag: Texas
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Texas Leads Best States For Future Job Growth
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University of Dallas Breaks Ground on New Home for the Satish & Yasmin Gupta College of Business
SB Hall to be a state-of-the-art centerpiece of UD’s business school, ‘global meeting ground’ for students, faculty, staff
IRVING, Texas (TIP): A benign Sun shone on the venue of groundbreaking celebration on Friday, Oct. 17, to officially mark the start of construction on SB Hall, the new state-of-the-art home of the Satish & Yasmin Gupta College of Businessin the University of Dallas. When completed in early 2016, the $12 million, 45,000-square-foot academic building will be the centerpiece of UD’s acclaimed Satish & Yasmin Gupta College of Business, which grants master of business administration (MBA), Master of Science, doctor of business administration and bachelor’s degrees.
The college is accredited by AACSB International – a distinction earned by fewer than five percent of business schools worldwide – and was renamed in 2013 after Dallas-based global steel entrepreneurs Satish and Yasmin Gupta, whose gift will fund the building. The Guptas are graduates of the university’s MBA program. “We are thrilled to break ground on a wonderful new facility that will advance students to the cutting edge of technology and business,” said Satish Gupta.
“The University of Dallas was like a new home for us when we first came to the United States from India, and we hope this new home for the college of business will play an equally important role in the lives of University of Dallas students, faculty and staff.” “It is a privilege for to us to be able to give back to the university and help empowertomorrow’s leaders,” said Yasmin Gupta. “We hope SB Hall and the college of business will become a global meeting ground for students of all cultures who will go forth into the world and have a positive impact on their communities.”
She noted that 20 percent of the university’s business students are international, representing 40 different countries. The Guptas’ $12 million gift to build SB Hall is the single largest donation in the University of Dallas’ 58-year history. The new academic facility is designed by Perkins+Will, a national leader in higher education architecture, and is being constructed by The Beck Group, a thirdgeneration, family-owned Dallas firm. Additional funding is necessary for the purchase and installation of fixtures, furniture and computer hardware, as well as for the completion of landscaping and parking facilities.
In total, the project will exceed $16 million, giving Dallas/Fort Worth another premier, elite higher education facility. Situated amid the rolling hills of the 222-acre University of Dallas campus in Irving, SB Hall will stand at one of the highest points in the area. When completed, the facility will support the university’s commitment to energy efficiency and green architecture. The building will incorporate classrooms on every floor, community gathering places and study lounges, and numerous meeting spaces for student groups. SB Hall will boast an abundance of natural light and interactive classrooms and is designed to evolve through the decades, allowing reconfiguration of spaces as the campus population and its needs change.
“It’s going to be a jewel for the entire campus,” said Robert Scherer, dean of the Satish & Yasmin Gupta College of Business. “We’re so thankful to Satish and Yasmin Gupta for helping us build a facility that will have a transformative effect – not only on the college of business but on the entire University of Dallas community.” The groundbreaking of SB Hall is the latest milestone in the half-century evolution of the University of Dallas’ business program. Since the university opened in 1956, offerings in business and economics have been an important component of the curriculum. In 1966, the Braniff Graduate School was established and began offering an MBA program.
UD later launched the Graduate School of Management. Today, the Satish & Yasmin Gupta College of Business enrolls 1,400 graduate and undergraduate students. “The groundbreaking of SB Hall marks an important new chapter in our university’s history,” said University of Dallas President Thomas W. Keefe. “I’d like to thank Satish and Yasmin Gupta for their extraordinary generosity and their steadfast commitment to the university and the entire community.” In 1981, while a business graduate student at the University of Dallas, Satish Gupta founded SB International, Inc., a privately held global steel company headquartered in Dallas.
SB International is one of the largest suppliers of oil country tubular goods (OCTG) to the North American oil and gas industry. The company and its affiliates and subsidiaries manufacture, supply and distribute high-quality steel products, as well as invest in the global supply chain of natural resources for the energy sector. Yasmin Gupta is the company’s executive vice president. The Guptas serve Dallas/Fort Worth through various organizations related to cultural education and outreach, including the Gupta Agarwal Charitable Foundation, which Satish Gupta founded. They also support the Primary Care Clinic of North Texas and the Greater Dallas Arya Samaj Cancer Clinic, a system of non-profit health care facilities providing medical care to local uninsured adults. SB International, Inc. was founded in 1981 and is a privately held steel manufacturing and distribution company headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
The company is primarily focused on the energy sector and is one of the largest suppliers of high-quality oil country tubular goods and line pipe to the oil and gas industry in North America, as well as an importer and exporter of specialized steel products. The company began as an exporter of metals and secondary steel, subsequently expanding into importing and exporting stainless steel products, becoming a global trader of prime products in the domestic and international markets. Today, SB International’s reach within the energy sector spans servicing the drilling industry to investing in the global supply chain of natural gas and other resources to emerging markets.
For more information, visitwww.SBISteel.com. The University of Dallas is a leading Catholic university widely recognized for academic excellence by well-known publications, organizations and accrediting bodies. It offers distinctive individual undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs in the liberal arts, business and ministry that are characterized by an exceptional, engaged faculty, a commitment to shaping principled, well-skilled leaders and academic rigor in the Catholic intellectual tradition. For more information, visit www.udallas.edu. -
EBOLA IN NEW YORK CITY
NEW YORK (TIP): Craig Spencer, a 33-year-old Doctors Without Borders physician who recently returned from Guinea, became the fourth person ever diagnosed with Ebola on U.S. soil on Thursday, October 23 night. He was rushed to Bellevue Hospital Center by paramedics in hazmat suits and placed in the site’s isolation ward. But New York officials quickly insisted that the city’s first Ebola case will be handled completely differently than Liberian Thomas Eric Duncan’s in Texas.
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A doctor in New York City who recently returned from treating Ebola patients in Guinea tested positive for the Ebola virus on October 23, becoming the city’s first diagnosed case. The doctor, Craig Spencer, was rushed to Bellevue Hospital Center on Thursday and placed in isolation while health care workers spread out across the city to trace anyone he might have come into contact with in recent days.
A further test will be conducted by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to confirm the initial test. While officials have said they expected isolated cases of the disease to arrive in New York eventually, and had been preparing for this moment for months, the first case highlighted the challenges surrounding containment of the virus, especially in a crowded metropolis. Even as the authorities worked to confirm that Spencer was infected with Ebola, it emerged that he traveled from Manhattan to Brooklyn on the subway on Wednesday night, when he went to a bowling alley, and then took a taxi home.
The next morning, he reported having a temperature of 103 degrees, raising questions about his health while he was out in public. People infected with Ebola cannot spread the disease until they begin to display symptoms, and it cannot be spread through the air. As people become sicker, the viral load in the body builds, and they become more and more contagious. Dr Spencer’s travel history and the timing of the onset of his symptoms led health officials to dispatch disease detectives, who “immediately began to actively trace all of the patient’s contacts to identify anyone who may be at potential risk,” according to a statement released by the department.
It was unclear if the city was trying to find people who might have come into contact with Dr Spencer on the subway. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority directed all questions to the health department, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the issue. At Dr Spencer’s apartment in Harlem, his home was sealed off and workers distributed informational fliers about the disease. It was not clear if anyone was being quarantined.
Health authorities declined to say how many people in total might have come into contact with Dr Spencer while he was symptomatic. Mayor Bill de Blasio, speaking at a news conference Thursday evening before the diagnosis, said Dr Spencer has given health workers a detailed accounting of his activities over the last few days. “Our understanding is that very few people were in direct contact with him,” de Blasio said. Dr Spencer had been working with Doctors Without Borders in Guinea, treating Ebola patients, before returning to New York City on Oct. 14, according to a city official.
He told the authorities that he did not believe the protective gear he wore while working with Ebola patients had been breached but had been monitoring his own health.Doctors Without Borders, in a statement, said it provides guidelines for its staff members on their return from Ebola assignments, but did not elaborate on those protocols.”The individual engaged in regular health monitoring and reported this development immediately,” the group said in a statement.
Dr Spencer began to feel sluggish on Tuesday but did not develop a fever until Thursday morning, he told the authorities. At 11am, the doctor found that he had a 103- degree temperature and alerted the staff of Doctors Without Borders, according to the official. The staff of Doctors Without Borders called the city’s health department, which in turn called the fire department. Emergency medical workers, wearing full personal protective gear, rushed to Dr Spencer’s apartment, on West 147th Street. He was transported to Bellevue and arrived shortly after 1pm.
He was placed in a special isolation unit and is being seen by the pre-designated medical critical care team. They are in personal protective equipment with undergarment air ventilation systems. Bellevue doctors have prepared for an Ebola patient with numerous drills and tests using “test patients” as well as actual treatment of suspected cases that turned out to be false alarms. A health care worker at the hospital said that Dr Spencer seemed very sick, and it was unclear to the medical staff why he had not gone to the hospital earlier, since his fever was high.
Dr Spencer is a fellow of international emergency medicine at NewYork- Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, and an instructor in clinical medicine at Columbia University. “He is a committed and responsible physician who always puts his patients first,” the hospital said in a statement. “He has not been to work at our hospital and has not seen any patients at our hospital since his return from overseas.”Even before the diagnosis, the Centers for Disease Control dispatched a team of experts to assist in the case, before the test results were even known. More than 30 people have gone to city hospitals and raised suspicions of Ebola, but in all those cases, health workers were able to rule it out without a blood test. -
IS militants entered U.S. via Mexico
IS militants entered U.S. via Mexico, Claimed a spokesman for Rep Duncan Hunter
DALLAS (TIP): U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter said Wednesday, October 8, he has information that more than 10 militants with ties to the terror group known as the Islamic State have been caught at the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, a claim that was immediately denied by U.S. security officials and Mexican officials.
“A well-placed source informed Congressman Hunter that foreign nationals with known association to IS were apprehended along the Texas-Mexico border,” said Joe Kasper, a spokesman for Hunter, R-Alpine. “Beyond that, we confirmed that every day, border officials are apprehending foreign nationals from countries of security interest, including Syria. And it should concern every American, whether in Texas or beyond, that these individuals are getting that close to the border in the first place.”
In an appearance on Fox News Channel Tuesday night, Hunter cited an anonymous source in the Border Patrol for his information.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials said Wednesday there was no truth to the reports that terrorists affiliated with the Islamic State, which also goes by the names of ISIL and ISIS, have penetrated the United States via Mexico.
“The suggestion that individuals who have ties to ISIL have been apprehended at the Southwest border is categorically false, and not supported by any credible intelligence or the facts on the ground,” said Marsha Catron, a DHS spokeswoman. “DHS continues to have no credible intelligence to suggest terrorist organizations are actively plotting to cross the southwest border.”
Tom Vinger, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, also denied Hunter’s claim. “The department does not have any information to confirm that statement,” Vinger said.
The Mexican embassy called Hunter’s suggestion “categorically false.”
“We reaffirm that those declarations are neither based on real events, nor on credible evidence or intelligence. Mexican authorities have no indication whatsoever of the presence of groups or individuals of Islamic extremists in Mexico. Authorities from Mexico and the United States maintain permanent communication and continually exchange information, and there is nothing to even suggest what Congressman Duncan Hunter stated,” the embassy said in a statement emailed late Wednesday evening.
“The Government of Mexico is constantly working to strengthen its security and justice institutions in order to provide peace and well-being to our citizens, and we take all measures within our reach to impede any terrorist activity in our territory in compliance with existing law and our international obligations.”
Several weeks ago, DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said he heard reports of people affiliated with a terror group attempting to enter Texas. However, Johnson added at the time, “I don’t know the accuracy of the reports or how much credence to give them.”
Asked if DHS has since investigated and disproved those reports, Catron didn’t immediately respond.
Also Wednesday, Judicial Watch, which identifies itself as a conservative, nonpartisan watchdog organization, published a claim on its website that four people with ties to terror were captured this week. “Sources tell Judicial Watch that four (people) have been apprehended in the last 36 hours by federal authorities and the Texas Department of Public Safety in McAllen and Pharr” in South Texas, the organization wrote on its website.
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Thomas Eric Duncan: First Ebola death in U.S. – Anxiety in Dallas
DALLAS (TIP): Thomas Eric Duncan left Liberia for the United States, by official accounts, a healthy man. Just over two weeks later, he passed away at a Dallas, Texas, hospital with Ebola.
Duncan was admitted into isolation at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital on September 28 with common symptoms of Ebola: fever, vomiting and diarrhea. He later tested positive for the virus that has killed more than 3,400 people in West Africa.
He was started on the experimental drug brincidofovir on October 4 — far too long after he arrived at the hospital, his family has said. On Tuesday, October 7, the hospital reported that Duncan was on a ventilator and his kidneys were failing. Duncan died on Wednesday, October 8 at 7:51 a.m.
Ebola anxiety was ratcheted up in the afternoon, as Dallas TV stations broke into regular programming with live video of an ambulance headed to Presbyterian from a health clinic in Frisco.
Inside was a Dallas County sheriff’s deputy who had been briefly inside the Vickery Meadow apartment where Duncan stayed before he was hospitalized. The deputy had come down with a stomachache. Local and national health officials said it was unlikely that this was a new Ebola case. “We can’t afford to make a mistake,” Frisco Fire Chief Mark Piland said, explaining the abundance of caution. About the time the ambulance carrying Deputy Michael Monnig arrived at Presbyterian, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention described Duncan as the “face we now associate with Ebola.” For American health care workers, Ebola “needs to be top-of-mind,” said Dr. Tom Frieden. Duncan’s death will have no effect on the system being used to track anyone he had contact with when he was sick enough to pass along the infection, said Zachary Thompson, Dallas County’s health department director. Ten people are considered at highest risk, with 38 others being monitored daily. None has shown any sign of illness, officials said.
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Scam targets Dallas Morning News subscribers
DALLAS (TIP): Subscribers of The Dallas Morning News are being targeted in a scam that asks readers to send hundreds of dollars to an out-of-state address to renew their subscription to the paper. The scam resembles those aimed at subscribers to other newspapers across the country. In the most recent local incident of a scheme that’s apparently been going on for several months, The News’ subscribers reported receiving a notice in the mail last weekend that asked for nearly $600 for a year’s worth of newspapers. The paperwork encouraged them to order or renew their subscription by paying online or sending payment to an Oregon P.O. box. The Dallas Morning News is aware of the scam and has taken action to stop it from succeeding, said the newspaper’s chief marketing officer, Jason Dyer, who oversees circulation. “At times, these things pop up and we deal with them,” he said. Dyer said the newspaper sent an email to subscribers several weeks ago warning them of the scheme and also posted social media alerts after the most recent incident. He said The News has alerted authorities in Texas and Oregon. Separately, the paper’s advertisers have received requests for credit card information from people posing as representatives of The News. The company sent letters to its advertisers about this last month. Last weekend’s subscription notices set off red flags for some readers who worried that other subscribers, particularly the elderly, might get confused and succumb to the fraudulent bill. “I knew it was a scam immediately,” said Patricia Biczynski of North Dallas. “Probably we were targeted because we are seniors … you know, just some vulnerable seniors who might just go ahead and pay.” Though the mail didn’t fool her, Biczynski warned other readers to look out for the nondescript envelope that asks for return payment to Readers Payment Services. The scam has been going on since at least August under several names, including Associated Publishers Network and Publishers Distribution Services. Vince Felchle, who said he has subscribed to the paper for more than two decades, said he also received the notice over the weekend. Alarm bells went off for Felchle because he has an auto-payment tied to his credit card and the envelope for return payment didn’t say anything about The News, he said. “I was tempted to cut out my name and send it back and say, ‘Nice try,’” he said. “But you don’t want to give these people anything to go on.” He advised others to stay “very alert” and pay attention if “it doesn’t feel right” to avoid falling victim to the scheme. Any authentic subscription renewal notices from this paper will ask that payments go to: The Dallas Morning News, P.O. Box 630054, Dallas, TX 75263-0054. When in doubt, call Customer Care at 1-800-925-1500 or email customercare@dallasnews.com.
(Source-Dallas News)
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Soaring Dallas apartment costs haven’t put a dent in rentals
DALLAS (TIP): An average new apartment in Dallas’ popular Uptown neighborhood can cost you twice as much as the mortgage payment on a mid-priced North Texas home.
And developers can’t build apartments fast enough, even though most of their new renters – a combination of young professionals and affluent empty nesters – could save money buying a house in the suburbs.
Of course, they don’t want to live there. They are willing to pay more for the luxury rental lifestyle and an address in the heart of Dallas. “A lot of them are people moving into town – people coming from other urban experiences,” Dallas developer Lucy Billingsley told developers at an apartment seminar this week. “We know we have lifetime renters who will be with us now.” While spending $1,800 to $2,000 a month for a unit of less than 1,000 square feet may sound crazy to many Dallas residents, there are thousands of tenants signing up for the newest wave of apartments. So far this year, more than 13,000 renters have signed leases in North Texas. New projects woo residents with luxe lifestyle amenities and hotel-style services. “Renting apartments is a much more attractive option than it used to be,” developer Dirik Oudt with Lang Partners says. “We are fiercely competing for tenants, and the only way to differentiate our project is with better amenities and better design. “Some of the apartments we live in now are like resorts.” A generation ago, apartments in Dallas were the waiting rooms for homeownership. That’s not the case anymore. Starter homes stall Changes in the job market and tougher mortgage qualifying standards have pushed home buying down on young America’s list of must-haves. “Thirty-five years ago when I started in the business, apartments were feeders into singlefamily homes,” said apartment builder Brad Miller with Encore Multi-Family. “Now, singlefamily homebuilders are not building starter homes anymore. “And people have to wait longer to be able to afford to buy a house.” While they are waiting, they want deluxe digs. Top-of-the-market apartment rents in Dallas are eye-popping, but they are still cheap compared to a lot of other major U.S. markets. Dallas ranked 15th among top apartment rental markets in a new report by Zumper Inc. Rents are, of course, less here than on the coasts. But we are also less expensive than Denver, Atlanta and Minneapolis, a new report shows. Thousands of residents who are moving to North Texas from California, Chicago and the Northeast to fill new jobs in Dallas-Fort Worth find our apartment rents a bargain. “We import people from all over the country,” said Drew Kile with Institutional Property Advisors. “For them, our apartments are cheaper, and they want to live in town.” Bargain for some Recently, I bumped into an exec working in Toyota Motors’ new headquarters up in Plano who just rented in Uptown. He’s moving from New York and knows all about urban lifestyle. The run-up in Dallas apartment rents still is big enough to make some industry analysts nervous. Zumper’s report on rents said that Dallas had the fastest month-over-month average rent increase among the 25 major markets it surveyed. And overall rents here are up about 40 percent from a decade ago. Greg Willett, vice president with longtime Dallas apartment market firm MPF Research, warns, “we need to pay attention to the affordability factor.” “You are pushing rents above the wage growth level,” Willett told developers meeting in Dallas this week. “You can do that for a while but not indefinitely. “A big share of the people that want that product don’t make near enough to afford it.”
(Source: Dallasnews)
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Dallas voted ‘Best International Skyline’
DALLAS (TIP): Social media was buzzing throughout a USA Today contest as architecture buffs and residents of the various stakeholder cities weighed in with their opinions. But in the end, everything is still bigger in Texas. The highly recognizable Dallas skyline took over 40% of the popular vote. The two experts who nominated Dallas described its worthiness this way: A skyline known around the world with the syndication of the soap opera that bears this City’s name, Dallas has continued to stay flashy.
Controversially, it has done this not with the height or style of its newest architecture, but rather through an internal race to adorn its existing and new icons with colorful interactive lighting that cannot be ignored. Having become initially identifiable by the opening credits of an infamous ’80s TV show, the contemporary Dallas skyline tells a story of big banking, big oil, big money, and occasionally big bust. On an aesthetic order, the overall skyline presents a fairly balanced height gradient.
(Source: USA Today) -
Appeals court weighs stay on ruling over Texas abortion law
AUSTIN, TX (TIP): Most of the abortion clinics in Texas could close by the weekend depending on what happens in a New Orleans courtroom Friday, September 12. The U.S. 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will get its first look at the latest challenge to Texas’s tough new abortion law Friday morning as a three-judge panel weighs half an hour of arguments each from supporters and opponents of two regulations under dispute.
At stake is the fate of at least a dozen abortion clinics that were saved from closure or allowed to reopen, thanks to an Austin-based federal judge’s ruling last month against provisions requiring clinics to meet the standards of hospital-style surgical centers and abortion doctors to obtain admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. State lawyers appealing the district judge’s decision are asking permission to enforce the requirements as the case continues. If the appellate court agrees, all but seven of the abortion facilities in the state are expected to close almost immediately.
“I think we’re all just holding our breath,” said Amy Hagstrom Miller, CEO of Whole Woman’s Health, which operates two of the clinics hanging in the balance and filed the lawsuit in April along with other abortion providers. Legal briefs filed by lawyers for the providers and the state show that the arguments Friday likely will mirror those during the week-long trial here last month: the providers will argue the requirements severely reduce abortion access without improving women’s health, while the state will say the requirements protect women and leave enough access to satisfy federal law.
The state will have the burden of showing why it is important for the appeals court to step in and allow enforcement of the law to continue while the trial court judge’s ruling is appealed. “The State will suffer irreparable injury absent a stay because the district court’s injunction prevents the State from enforcing a duly enacted statute,” Attorney General Greg Abbott wrote in his motion for an emergency stay.
Esha Bhandari, an attorney for the providers, said they will argue there is no irreparable harm because one of the provisions at issue has not yet been enforced and enforcement is “not the type of thing a few months down the road can’t be rectified.” The district judge already has rejected a long-shot request by the state to stay his own ruling. While Friday’s arguments in New Orleans will concern only the request for a stay, advocates on both sides will be watching closely for any indication of how the court may be leaning on the overall appeal.
The 5th Circuit is considered one of the most conservative courts in the country, and it acted last fall to uphold a separate part of the tough new Texas law. Both sides acknowledge the state likely caught a break with the outcome of a random selection of the threejudge panel that will hear the arguments Friday. One of the judges on the panel, George W. Bush appointee Jennifer Walker Elrod, was on the panel that unanimously upheld the law last year. Another, Ronald Reagan appointee Jerry E. Smith, was on the panel that upheld another Texas law requiring women seeking an abortion in Texas to first get a sonogram. The third judge, Stephen A. Higginson, is an appointee of President Barack Obama who recently voted to strike down a Mississippi law that was similar to the Texas measure. -
Federal Officials Propose Texas Immigration Lockup
AUSTIN (TIP): Federal authorities want to build a new South Texas immigration lockup for families amid an unprecedented surge in the number of youngsters pouring across the U.S. border, a federal official said Thursday, September 11. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is proposing a residential center in the town of Dilley, about 70 miles southwest of San Antonio, agency spokeswoman Adelina Pruneda said. “Structures on the site may be used temporarily to house up to 680 residents while the new facilities are built,” she said.
Pruneda said ICE isn’t discussing further details, including how many adults and children the 50-acre facility would house, how much it would cost or when it might be ready. ICE is working to “finalize contracts with construction and service providers” for the South Texas facility, she said.
The spike in unaccompanied children and families crossing the border has strained federal authorities’ capacity to house those arrested on immigration charges. Many of the immigrants say they are fleeing drug and gang violence in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Some are seeking asylum. Others are held in detention while awaiting deportation or placement with relatives already in the U.S. Last month, federal authorities converted an all-male facility in Karnes City, southeast of San Antonio, to accept 532 mothers and their children. Another immigration center for families in Pennsylvania and a temporary site in New Mexico have a combined capacity of about 800.
“ICE’s family residential centers are an effective option to maintain family units as they await the outcome of immigration hearings or return to their home countries,” Pruneda said in a statement. “ICE ensures that family detention facilities operate in an open environment that includes play rooms, social workers, medical care, and classrooms with state-certified teachers and bilingual teachers.” -
South Texas, Dallas area have minor earthquakes
DALLAS (TIP): Minor earthquakes have been recorded in the Dallas area and hundreds of miles away in South Texas but officials had no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The U.S. Geological Survey says a 2.9 magnitude quake happened at 3:21 a.m. CDT Thursday in North Texas. The quake was centered 2 miles north of Irving. USGS reports a 3.2 magnitude quake happened at 11:53 a.m. Wednesday and was centered 2 miles southeast of Charlotte. The area is 41 miles south-southwest of San Antonio. Emergency officials in Dallas and Atascosa counties say they had no reports of quake damage or people being hurt.
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Dallas City Council, in broad strokes, backs proposal to privatize Fair Park
DALLAS (TIP): The Dallas City Council on Wednesday, September 3, offered broad support for a proposal to hand over Fair Park’s operations and management to a private, nonprofit group. A special Fair Park task force briefed the council – and the Dallas Park and Recreation Board – on that and other plans to revitalize the 277-acre, city-owned park.
The ninemember group was tasked by Mayor Mike Rawlings to come up with “dramatic ideas.” Topping the list was the idea to overhaul Fair Park’s labyrinth governance structure and replace it with a model that’s been successful at the Dallas Zoo. Other proposals included improving access to Fair Park and establishing a community park on its southern side. And though there were no formal votes, council members were clearly impressed.
“Today was to talk about this and measure the passion – that was my goal,” Rawlings said. “And I got a lot of passion. … There is some real gold in the visions you laid out.” Now the hard part begins, especially as it relates to Fair Park’s operations and management. Council members had lots of questions:
What might privatization actually look like?
How would the nonprofit be organized?
Who would serve on the group’s board?
How would the surrounding community be involved?
And quite simply, what’s the next step?
Task force members acknowledged that there aren’t easy answers in untangling the bureaucratic web that’s held back Fair Park for years. And they deferred to the council and park board in coming up with the best way to implement any recommendations. But the panel was clear that a new governance model – combined with improved funding – was critical.
“You have to fix the governance first, the money second, and good things should happen,” said Jack Matthews, a Dallas developer who serves on the task force. The Fair Park task force – led by Linda Perryman Evans, president of the Meadows Foundation – featured prominent officials like former City Manager Mary Suhm, former City Council member Diane Ragsdale and Park Board President Max Wells.
Over the last several months, the group gathered nearly 30 times in meetings that were closed to the public. The end result was a 46- page report that echoed many past Fair Park studies, including a comprehensive development plan that was completed in 2003.
The task force’s report, however, was noteworthy in its keen focus on Fair Park’s governance. The city owns and operates Fair Park. The State Fair of Texas takes over the park during its annual run, but the Dallas Park and Recreation Board and ultimately the City Council otherwise set the park’s policy and direction. And that’s only the beginning of a cavalcade of city departments, appointed boards, nonprofit entities, preservationists, private companies and other groups that have a say in how things are done at Fair Park.
The task force proposes to cut through that maze by creating a new nonprofit that would be the park’s sole governing body. The group would still report to the city, and its board would represent the various stakeholders in and around Fair Park. But with its own executive director and staff, the nonprofit alone would handle scheduling, maintenance, operations and marketing. That would eliminate red tape, encourage more investment and create an avenue for other major improvements to follow, officials said. “I’m with this 100 percent,” Council Member Dwaine Caraway said.
“This is … where we should’ve been a long time ago.” There were some reservations. Some council members complained about the task force’s secrecy and relative lack of community involvement. Some pointed out that the suggested financial infusions – Fair Park’s capital needs are $478 million – had to be weighed against other dire demands in the city. Several also made a point to highlight that the park department has done a pretty good job running Fair Park, all things considered.“The park department works hard to maintain this jewel with what they have,” Monica Alonzo said. Some council members also focused on other recommendations. Rawlings, for instance, stressed that a proposal to lower Interstate 30 near Fair Park and to cover it with a deck park is “one of the most transformative ideas in the city of Dallas.”
But most were curious about how the proposed governance model might work. Jennifer Staubach Gates and Scott Griggs pressed for more details on the structure and responsibilities of the proposed nonprofit organization. Tennell Atkins emphasized that there needs to be a timeline outlining how everything would come together. And Rawlings cautioned that there are legal and logistical hurdles in making it all happen. Officials, however, aren’t wasting any time. Wells, the Park Board president, pledged that his board would “move quickly.” -
GIRL, 5, TRAPPED IN SPINNING WASHING MACHINE, SURVIVES
AUSTIN (TIP): A five-year-old girl is recovering in hospital after she became trapped in a washing machine in an American launderette. The child, who has not been named, was churned inside the drum for several minutes as it started its cycle on Tuesday.
An employee at Le’s Washeteria cut the electricity supply when the alarm was raised and managed to get her out, ABC reported. Police said the girl climbed into the machine in Pasadena, Texas, while the woman she was with was not looking. The customer had been unable to get the machine to work and had gone to find a different washer. It was unclear how the door managed to close and lock the girl inside but the spin cycle was activated for several minutes before the woman noticed what had happened.
Vance Mitchell, from Pasadena Police, told Fox News: “Unfortunately she spun around in that washing machine for several minutes and apparently it was on high speed. “She was tumbling pretty fast in there.”One person walked by and said they saw something flopping around in there they thought it was just a dress or something because it was moving pretty fast.
“The child was airlifted to hospital as a precaution but here injuries were not said to be lifethreatening. Police are treating it as an accident.In 2010 a baby died in the US after being put into a washing machine with a pile of laundry for 40 minutes. Two girls aged two and four also died in China last year after their parents claimed they climbed inside and accidentally switched their machine on before shutting the door. -
Dallas Sikh Congregation threatened to leave country by man posing as IRS Officer
DALLAS, TX (TIP): On August 10th , a man walked into Gurdwara Singh Sabha of North Texas claiming to be an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) officer there to do an audit. He confronted one of the gurdwara members, and accused the gurdwara of not having paid its taxes. He said the IRS would be raiding the gurdwara very soon, and started to walk out of the building towards the parking lot.
Narinder Singh Sekhon followed him and asked him why he was there. Sekhon stated, “As I approached the perpetrator, he called me, and our community, terrorists and said you have 48 hours to leave the country or I will finish you.” Threatening and yelling racial slurs, he then drove off the gurdwara premises. The man’s picture and license plate number have been recorded and reported to the authorities. A human rights and advocacy group UNITED SIKHS has claimed that it is helping the gurdwara management committee to work with local law enforcement, the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Justice, Community Relations Service to investigate this act of racism and hate.
Surinder Singh Gill, a member of the Board of Directors at Gurdwara Singh Sabha commented on this incident stating, “We will continue to assist law enforcement with their investigations and work on this until complete justice is served.” Gurdwara committee member, .Harjeet Singh Hothi, added “I request the Sikh community to be vigilant. This individual claimed to be an IRS agent, used offensive language, and tried to intimidate us and threatened us.” This incident occurred right after second anniversary of the Oak Creek, Wisconsin Gurdwara massacre in which six Sikhs lost their lives after a white supremacist opened fire at the congregation. Since then, Sikhs across the country have been vigilant during large gatherings and have worked with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to better secure our gurdwaras.
A prime example of this is the State of New Jersey where UNITED SIKHS worked with local gurdwaras and the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness (NJOHSP) to develop security protocols for congregations. Along with protocols, NJOHSP identified and trained congregation members on how to identify suspicious activity and other security related issues concerning the gurdwara. Similar incidents have recently occurred in New York City. A week ago, Dr. Jaspreet Singh Batra was first verbally abused, called a ‘terrorist’ and then attacked by a group of ten teenagers in Roosevelt Island. Dr Batra was walking with his mother at the time to have dinner.
Earlier, in Queens, NY, Sandeep Singh was called racial slurs, told to “go back to his country” and then run over by a truck driven by the perpetrator. Sandeep was dragged almost 60 feet with the truck after being mowed over, but miraculously survived. With all these incidents occurring around the same time, the Sikh community at large is grieving and remains on high alert.
Our efforts for justice will continue as we work with the Gurdwara Singh Sabha of North Texas to ensure this case is being properly investigated. Harvinder Singh Randhawa, another member of the Gurdwara’s Board of Directors, stated: “We appreciate UNITED SIKHS’ efforts in assisting the sangat in this trying time and look forward to collaborating further.” UNITED SIKHS urges Sikh communities across the nation to remain vigilant and report any kind of suspicious activity to local law enforcement.
We also encourage installation of cameras on gurdwara premises and parking lots to help capture such incidents to better assist law enforcement track perpetrators. -
Dallas Indian Americans Celebrate India’s Independence Day with gusto
Report & photos by Zia Khan
DALLAS (TX): The rain and the muddy ground failed to dampen the spirit of Indian Americans in Dallas to celebrate the 68th Independence Day of India on Saturday, August 16. A record number of over 15,000 persons of Indian origin gathered to celebrate the Independence Day of the country of their origin at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas.
In evidence was the deep enthusiasm of the community to showcase their rich culture and heritage. The visitors took full advantage of the opportunity to enjoy the delectable Indian cuisine of a large variety. They shopped around at various booths where religious, political and business organizations displayed their wares. The Independence Day celebration proper started with the singing of the National Anthem of both India and USA.
An impressive, parade with people waving Indian and USA flags, was led by the Grand Marshal Padma Shri Ashok Kumar Mago. Padma Shri Dr. Sant Singh Virmani was the Guest of Honor. There was plenty of entertainment from Bollywood stars who gave a breathtaking nonstop musical performance. In addition, an excellent cultural program was presented by the IANT youth.
Grand Marshal Padma Shri Ashok Kumar Mago addresses the gathering
Spectacular display of fireworks gave a finishing touch to an enchanting and memorable evening of celebrations. The grand event was organized by India Association of North Texas, under the care and supervision of President Swati Shah and Chair Dr Srinivas Reddy Gunukula.
(Zia Khan can be reached at dallasphotogapher@ymail.com and cell no. 214. 207.7922)
Padma Shri Dr. Sant Singh Virmani, the Guest of Honor extends greetings
IANT President Swati Shah welcomes , greets and speaks about the event
Greetings from a guest
Grand Marshal Padma Shri Ashok Kumar Mago is honored
Padma Shri Dr. Sant Singh Virmani, the Guest of Honor is honored
A song number
Organizers all
The young dance to the lilting music
A captivating dance number
The musicians
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US GURDWARAS ENDORSE THE CAMPAIGN TO CHANGE PERCEPTION OF SIKHS AND PLEDGE FINANCIAL BACKING
WASHINGTON (TIP):
Gurdwaras across the country convened in Washington D.C. August 16-17for an unprecedented grassroots meeting called by the newly formed National Sikh Campaign (NSC) to shape the Sikh image in America. Over 100 Representatives from Gurdwaras from all over the United States pledged their support to the National Sikh Campaign’s plan to engage top US political operatives and media firms for presenting the community positively.
During the strategy session, Geoff Garin of Hart Research, who served as Hillary Clinton’s former top political strategist and Isaac Baker of AKPD Message and Media, President Obama’s media firm, outlined a roadmap of how Sikhs can change perceptions in the United States and how crucial the campaign will be to the future of Sikhs. Mr. Garin, also gave the meeting’s participants an exclusive update on the National Sikh Campaign’s groundbreaking messaging research that will underpin the effort and inform the community how it can effectively communicate to the American public.
Gurwin Ahuja, Executive Director of the National Sikh Campaign, while welcoming the Sikh leaders, said, “The Sikh community in US has never been more educated, more wealthy, and more successful than today and we’ve also never had this many Gurdwara leaders together in a room. We have never been more primed to do something big. This is perhaps the first time a thorough scientific data will be made available to the community within and without to set the next path of our campaign.”
After hearing from the strategists, the meeting held a closed door strategy session, which lasted several hours and focused on specific action steps to make lasting change in the United States. Sikh Leaders worked together to create a realistic region by region breakdown of US Gurdwaras and fundraising strategies were also discussed and approved to reach an overall target of $5 Million USD.
Dr. Rajwant Singh, President of the Sikh Council on Religion and Education and Senior Advisor to NSC, who facilitated the discussion among the Gurdwara leaders, said, “The consensus was that there is a critical need for this kind of media strategy for the Sikh community. Secondly, all possible efforts need to be made to include as many Gurdwaras as possible in the network as partners.
Thirdly, our goal is to keep the focus on introducing Sikhism and the Sikh identity while showing the positive contribution of the community in the media.” He added, “Almost every person said that this type of campaign should have been launched long time ago and would have prevented many hardships that many members of the community have had to face since 9/11.” Dr. Kulwant Singh Dhaliwal, President of the Oak Creek Gurdwara from Wisconsin, said, “As I understood the aim of the campaign is to counteract the negative image and perceptions Americans have about Sikhs and Sikhism and create a positive image of Sikhs and our faith.
We are 100% behind this campaign. It is well conceived and planned and I am sure it will also be well executed by the team. This is about taking a proactive approach, or as in medicine we would say, a preventative approach– ‘Prevention is better than a cure’ approach. Hopefully that will prevent future tragedies for our people.” Sikh representatives came from the following states: Illinois, Connecticut, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, California, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Indiana, Delaware, and over 70 people joined from others states over the phone.
In addition, 30 youth from high school and college age held their separate meeting as part of the organizing for this campaign. Gagan Kaur, an active leader at Guru Gobind Singh Foundation, who attended the meeting said, “I think what stuck with me the most about this conference was watching the transformation in people’s perceptions and attitudes by the end of the conference.
It was obvious that the organizers had done their homework as everyone left feeling excited and ready to do their part for the campaign in their respective states and organizations.” She continued, “We have waited long enough- now is the time to stop the victim mentality and become proactive in how we are perceived. I urge all Sikhs to take this campaign seriously and make sure that our voice is heard.”
Another attendee from the Sikh Religious Society in Chicago, Jasvir Kaur Singh, said “I was honored to be a part of the strategy session. It’s long overdue that Sikh organizations and Gurdwaras work together to take a proactive approach to the challenges Sikhs face in America. This was the first time I’ve attended a Sikh event where we hoped to check our egos at the door and have a candid conversation about the lack of progress we’ve made despite our attempts and personal, professional successes.”
Dr. Inderpal Singh, President of the Gurdwara in Atlanta, GA said: “This Campaign will provide research-based solutions to the awareness crisis facing the Sikh community in America and all over the world. We have a story to share about the Sikh values, which are American values. The National Sikh Campaign is our hope and aspiration for a better world through awareness and collaboration.”
Swaranjit Singh Khalsa of the Sikh Sewak Society International based in Connecticut stated “The National Sikh Campaign will not only educate our fellow Americans about Sikhism but I think this will also provide a common platform to all Sikhs institutes to work together and show their unity.” Surinder Singh, treasurer of NSC, said, “Each moment in which something happens is the right moment. It is relevant to our current effort, no matter how belated. There is unity of purpose and now we have to create harmony of actions. This will be relevant to our collaborative effort and participation by the entire community.”
Jivan Singh Achreja, the National Strategy Director who facilitated the fundraising strategy, said, ” Although the task of raising 5 million dollars seems difficult, looking at the overwhelming response we have seen since this campaign was launched in March 2014, this task seems surmountable. A large section of the community will be tapped through Gurdwaras and online sources in a creative fundraising strategy that will involve all levels of the community.”
Dr. Manjeet Kaur of North Carolina said “I am so pleased to see that Gurdwaras and representatives from throughout the world showed that they are willing to come together and work on this project with full enthusiasm for the future. Only by working together can we achieve lasting change in this country. This cause is too vast to be done alone, only through the combined effort of the US sangat (community) can we make this a reality.” Charandeep Singh from Sikh Channel in the UK left the meeting saying, “The National Sikh Campaign has marked a historically important first step in changing the American perception of the Sikh identity.
A clear, transparent and achievable funding structure has been developed requiring support from the global Sikh Diaspora. This endeavor is imperative for the future of the American and ultimately global Sikh community.” The meeting also heard presentations from Gurwin Singh Ahuja, the Executive Director, Dr. Rajwant Singh, Senior Adviser, Jivan Achreja, National Strategy Director, and Surinder Singh, Treasurer. The event was organized by Misha Kaur, Nuri Kaur, Sehejneet Kaur, Hana Kaur, Jagjot Kaur, Jasraj Singh, Gurwinder Singh, Maninder Singh, and Harpreet Singh. -
TEXAS GOV. RICK PERRY TURNS HIMSELF IN; PLEADS ‘NOT GUILTY’
AUSTIN (TIP):
Texas Gov. Rick Perry has pleaded “not guilty” to felony counts that he abused his authority to try to force out the Travis County district attorney. Perry entered the plea in a document filed in state district court in which he also waived his Friday arraignment in the case.
The Republican governor was booked Tuesday, August 19 after being indicted on one count of abuse of official capacity, a first-degree felony punishable by five to 99 years in prison, and one count of coercion of a public servant, a third-degree felony carrying a punishment of two to 10 years in prison. Perry repeatedly has suggested the indictment is outrageous, saying he acted properly.
The waiver of arraignment, filed by his lawyer David L. Botsford, is dated Tuesday, August 19. Perry has hired a high-powered legal team to deal with the indictment and is keeping up a busy travel schedule as he eyes a possible 2016 presidential bid. Plans call for him to be in New Hampshire Friday, August 22.
The case involves Perry’s promise last year to veto funding for a public corruption unit overseen by Democratic Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg unless she resigned in the wake of an ugly drunken-driving arrest and guilty plea. Lehmberg served time but stayed in office.
Perry vetoed the money for the Public Integrity Unit, saying Lehmberg had lost the public’s confidence. Texans for Public Justice, a liberal government accountability group, filed a criminal complaint saying that Perry was wrong to use his power to try to force out a locally elected official. A grand jury indicted Perry last Friday, August 15. -
Oil prices up on reviving Middle East supply fears
SINGAPORE (TIP): Oil prices rose in Asia on Aug 12 on reviving fears of supply disruptions in the Middle East, analysts said. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for September delivery rose 14 cents to $98.43, while Brent crude for September gained 19 cents to $105.60 in mid-morning trade. “We haven’t seen signs so far that the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East could cause disruptions, but those concerns are still there at the back of investors’ minds,” Desmond Chua, market analyst at CMC Markets in Singapore, said.
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NORTH TEXAS SCHOOL DISTRICTS DON’T EXPECT BIG IMPACT FROM IMMIGRANT CHILDREN
DALLAS (TIP):
It is time to think of schools. As the start of school nears, it’s difficult for most districts to prepare for a possible influx of immigrant children because of so much uncertainty as to where they will end up, officials said. North Texas schools are unlikely to see as many as initially expected. That is partly because a proposal to house nearly 2,000 in Dallas County was scrapped and partly because many children moving out of temporary immigration shelters are being resettled with family members across the country.
David Anderson, general counsel for the Texas Education Agency, recently told legislators that school officials don’t know how many children are in federal custody or how many will be released to sponsors or guardians in Texas, making those students eligible to attend public school. “We just don’t know those numbers,” he said. “We will either be surprised or not.” About 63,000 unaccompanied immigrant children have fled to the United States – mostly through Texas – since Oct. 1. A majority have come from Central America.
Catholic Charities of Dallas estimates that about 4,000 children have settled in North Texas this year. Anderson noted that federal constraints discourage school districts from asking students their immigration status because doing so could be considered illegal. On Tuesday, the TEA passed along to Texas school districts federal guidance about dealing with immigrant children, as well as potential resources. Federal officials reminded school officials in May that practices that “chill or discourage” children from enrolling based on their immigration status are against federal law requiring districts to provide all children with equal access to education. So school districts that are likely to enroll such students are doing what they can to be ready to serve such students just in case.
The Fort Worth and Dallas districts already have refugee services in place because they annually serve hundreds of such children. Fort Worth officials said they are in constant communication with agencies that provide services to the unaccompanied children, such as Catholic Charities, to monitor where the kids are resettled. So far, most going through those programs are moving to other parts of the country, with only a handful enrolling in Fort Worth, said Michael Steinert, executive director of student support services. “It’s not going to be this huge influx that many were thinking initially when the news of this started,” he said. “But ultimately, we don’t know how many.”
The Dallas school district hasn’t seen a noticeable increase in immigrant children either, said spokesman Andre Riley. But the district’s Refugee Intake Center is prepared to help such students, connecting them to services for tutoring, clothing and more. “We’re going to educate any student that comes through our doors,” Riley said. “We already have strong systems in place by virtue of being a big urban district and located where we are.” Anderson told legislators that smaller districts could be hit hardest because they don’t have such infrastructure in place.
If they suddenly see such students arriving, districts will have to work fast to hire some of the most difficult staffers to find – bilingual teachers and counselors. Anderson said Texas could absorb most of the educational costs for 25,000 to 27,000 such students with the current appropriations in the state budget. And some federal dollars might arrive through programs for helping poor or homeless children. But it would probably take time for districts to get reimbursed, he said. -
Texas teen makes Wal-Mart his home for 2 days:
Store’s security questioned
DALLAS (TIP): A runaway Texas teenager ate, slept and changed clothes for two days, undetected inside a 24-hour Wal-Mart near Dallas, according to police and news reports. The 14-year-old boy had set up two hideouts at the 200,000-square-foot Supercenter in Corsicana – one behind baby strollers, the other behind the paper towels and toilet paper, KTVT-TV reported. He had apparently lived there since fleeing his aunt’s house July 28 while his parents were away.
His parents told police their son had run away before, hiding in other businesses, abandoned buildings and creek beds. To avoid detection, he changed clothes every few hours and wore diapers rather than use the restrooms, employees said. He even snagged a pet goldfish.
Late the night of July 30, store employees called police after finding the teen, who was not identified. “We just didn’t have any knowledge that this child was missing, and certainly not in one of our stores,” Wal- Mart spokesman Brian Nick reportedly told police and media. Some shoppers questioned the store’s security. -
In lawsuit against Texas law, judge explores how far is too far to travel for an abortion
AUSTIN (TIP):
A federal judge presiding over a lawsuit against new Texas abortion restrictions says he has a problem with anyone traveling 150 miles for medical care if the procedure could be done closer. U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel on Wednesday, August 13, didn’t issue a ruling following closing arguments in a trial challenging a Texas law that would ban abortions at more than dozen clinics starting Sept.
1. But Yeakel honed in on the question of how far is too far for a woman to obtain the constitutional right of ending a pregnancy. The law requires all Texas abortion facilities to meet more stringent hospital-style operational standards. That would eliminate all abortion providers in the western half of the state.A ruling is expected in the coming weeks. -
US Army starts questioning Bergdahl about capture
HOUSTON:
The US Army and a defense attorney say military investigators have begun questioning Bowe Bergdahl about his disappearance in Afghanistan that led to five years in captivity by the Taliban. Eugene R. Fidell says his client is cooperating with the investigation in Texas on Wednesday. Fidell declined to comment on what Bergdahl is being asked. An Army spokeswoman says Bergdahl was advised of his rights.
The investigation’s findings will help determine whether the 28-year-old is prosecuted for desertion or faces any other disciplinary action. Bergdahl had been receiving care since returning to the United States on June 13 after his release by the Taliban on May 31. Earlier this month, the Army announced Bergdahl was given a desk job. -
A scene from the movie 12 Years
supervision of voter registration in states and individual voting districts where such tests were being used. The act had an immediate and positive effect for African Americans. In 1965, Mississippi had the highest black voter turnout at 74% and led the nation in the number of black public officials elected. Atlanta elected its First black mayor, Andrew Young, as did Jackson, Mississippi, with Harvey Johnson, Jr., and New Orleans, with Ernest Morial. Black politicians on the state level included first Southern woman Barbara Jordan, elected to the Texas house of as Representatives.
Julian Bond was elected to the Georgia State Legislature in 1965. On April 4, 1968 Dr King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, and Riots broke out in black neighborhoods in more than 110 cities across the United States in the days that followed, notably in Chicago, Baltimore, and in Washington, D.C. The damage done in many cities destroyed black businesses and homes, and slowed economic development for a generation. But Americans were not deterred. America ushered into an era of real vibrant Democracy with participation of all. But it took America nearly two hundred years to let all enjoy the fruit of freedom and liberty, with real equality still eluding the nation. Economic inequality was destroying the American Dream. The deindustrialization of the late 1960s and early 1970s manipulated by American Bankers and Multinational companies to enhance their own fortunes, forced income inequality to increase dramatically to levels never seen before.
On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr., prominent figure of the Civil Rights Movement, stood before the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC and delivered his iconic “I Have A Dream” speech. Here was a turning point in the history of America.
Supporters of this illconceived deindustrialization wrote death warrants for American Dream, domestic Industry and the Middle Class; the economists and most policy makers across the isles pointed to the fact that consumers could buy so many goods, even with the inflation of the 1970s, as evidence that the general shift away from manufacturing and into services was creating widespread prosperity. In 2008 economic disasters hit the country and indeed the entire world. 8.8 million jobs were lost and many for forever by July 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The worst recession since the great depression began with the collapse of housing prices and the construction industries all around USA.
Wall Street in New York: Symbol of America’s economic power
Millions of mortgages mostly averaging about $200,000 each had been bundled into exotic financial instruments/securities called collateralized debt obligations that were resold worldwide. Many banks and hedge funds had borrowed hundreds of billions of dollars to buy these securities, which were now “toxic” because their value was unknown and no one wanted to buy them. Number of largest US and European banks collapsed; some went bankrupt, such as Lehman Brothers with $690 billion in assets; others such as the leading insurance company AIG, the leading bank Citigroup, and the two largest mortgage companies were bailed out by the government.
Congress voted $700 billion in bailout money ($418 billion actual disbursement) under the program, and the Treasury and Federal Reserve committed trillions of dollars to shoring up the financial system, but the measures did not reverse the declines. Banks drastically tightened their lending policies, despite infusions of federal money. The government for the first time took major ownership positions in the largest banks. The stock market plunged 40%, wiping out tens of trillions of dollars in wealth; housing prices fell 20% -30% nationwide wiping out trillions more. By late 2008 distress was spreading beyond the financial and housing sectors, especially as the “Big Three” of the automobile industry; General Motors, Ford and Chrysler were on the verge of bankruptcy, and the retail sector showed major weaknesses.
The Critics of the $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) expressed anger that much of the TARP money that has been distributed to the rich at Wall Street rather then saving the common people who lost their jobs, houses and life savings. In an international study, Americans ranked 11th in happiness and a discouraging 24th in economy. Another study of 8th graders found only 7 percent of American students rated advanced in mathematics compared to 47 and 48 percent in Singapore and South Korea. Our President, according to a Forbes power rating, comes in second behind Vladimir Putin. Yet, the United States is the world leader and likely to remain there for decades. It has the greatest soft power in the world by far.
The United States still receives far more immigrants each year (1 million) than any other country in the world. The United States leads the world in high technology (Silicon Valley), finance and business (Wall Street), the movies (Hollywood) and higher education (17 of the top 20 universities in the world in Shanghai’s Jaotong University survey). The United States has a First World trade profile (massive exports of consumer and technology goods and imports of natural resources).
It is still the world’s leader for FDI at 180 billion dollars, almost twice its nearest competitor. The United States, spending 560 billion dollars a year, has the most powerful military in the world. Its GDP (16 trillion dollars) is more than twice the size of China’s GDP. As the first new nation, it has the world’s longest functioning democracy in a world filled with semidemocratic or non-democratic countries. Its stock market, at an all time high, still reflects American leadership of the global economy.
For the past 80 years, the United States is the leader in fundamental advances in telecommunications and technology. AT&T’s Bell Laboratories spearheaded the American technological revolution with a series of inventions including the light emitted diode (LED), the transistor, the C programming language, and the UNIX computer operating system. SRI International and Xerox PARC in Silicon Valley helped give birth to the personal computer industry, while ARPA and NASA funded the development of the ARPANET and the Internet. In Physics and Chemistry, Americans have dominated the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine since World War II. US biomedical research has played a key role in the advancement of diagnosis, medicines, cure and patient care in the world. America’s Walmart is the world’s largest public corporation.
According to the Fortune Global 500 list in 2014, Walmart is the biggest private employer in the world with over two million employees with 11,000 stores in 27 countries, and the largest retailer in the world with a revenue of US $ 476.294 billion. US Entertainment Industry is world leader and generated $522 billion dollars in revenue in 2013. The United States with over $ 48 Billion Dollars; is the world’s leading donor of government aid to other countries, distributing twice as much as any other nation. Besides, another $30 Billion was given by US foundations, Corporations, religious organizations, Universities, Private and voluntary organization.
As the old political saying goes, you can’t beat someone with no one. And, right now, there is no one on the horizon that will overtake or even seriously challenge the United States, however ailing, for at least the next decade or two. I salute the great nation, its vibrant democracy and its people, as we celebrate Independence of America.
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Indian-American felicitated for strengthening Indo-US ties
TEXAS (TIP): A K Mago, an eminent Indian- American has been felicitated by top American lawmakers for his contribution to strengthening Indo-US ties. A K Mago, the chairman of a Dallas-based business and investment consulting company, was felicitated at an event organized by the US India Chamber of Commerce in Dallas. “If it weren’t for A K Mago, I would have not had the occasion to visit India,” top Republican Senator John Cornyn. Cornyn, who is co-Chair of the Senate Indian Caucus, and co-founded it with then Senator Hillary Clinton attributed the formation of this only country-specific Caucus to Mago.
“AK more than anybody I know, has nourished and encouraged people like me and acknowledge the contribution that the Indian American community has made in the United States,” he said. Praising the contribution of Mago in India-US ties, Congressman Pete Sessions said he played a key role in Texan understanding the people from this part of the world. “There are days and nights when AK would travel and talk and be proud of the country that he knows and loves well,” he said. The Indian Ambassador to the US, S Jaishankar, in a video message said, “He is a success story in the United States, a wonderful example of equality of opportunity that this society symbolizes.”
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Indian Health minister to meet US counterpart on first tour abroad
His visit aims to evaluate the progress of the US-India Health Initiative which was launched in 2010
DALLAS (TIP): India’s Health Minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan began a five-day US visit on Tuesday, June 24. He will meet his counterpart and explore scope for cooperation and collaboration. Vardhan, on his first official tour abroad since he assumed office, will meet the new US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sylvia Mathews Burwell, to evaluate the progress of the US-India Health Initiative, launched in 2010. He will attend meetings to discuss steps to consolidate the collaboration between the Indian government, United States Agency for International Development, United Nations Children’s Fund and others in ensuring an Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)-free generation.
Vardhan said, “We are on the cusp of exciting possibilities. I am looking to talks seeking collaboration on global health security, telehealth and preventive health care.” Vardhan had on Monday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to tell him on the agenda of his meetings. He will also attend the annual India-USEthiopia initiative against child mortality, Call to action: A promise renewed. Health ministers from 25 countries are set to attend the meeting. Vardhan will deliver the keynote address.
He will deliver a keynote address at the 32nd annual convention of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) in San Antonio, Texas, on Saturday. AAPI is the largest forum of ethnic medical professionals in the US with 138 local chapters. Website Swastha India, a joint initiative of AAPI and the Indian government, will also be launched. Vardhan said, “We are exploring more avenues for engaging AAPI in research, skill development and strengthening health care.” “The prime minister is engaged with AAPI and this association will be pursued to achieve health outcomes on the ground.”
