The U.S. House of Representatives Thursday approved a $4 trillion fiscal 2018 budget blueprint, a major step forward toward the introduction of a Republican tax cut bill.

The measure narrowly passed (216-212) despite last-minute resistance from the ranks of Republicans.

House passage makes enactment of an eventual tax bill more likely in the Senate, although decisions on numerous thorny issues lie ahead.

Approval of the budget resolution was a victory for President Donald Trump and Republican congressional leaders, who have vowed to rewrite the tax code, a feat that has not been accomplished in more than four decades.

“President Trump has always made cutting taxes for hard-working American families, creating more jobs for American workers, and simplifying the rigged and burdensome tax code a priority, and he looks forward to further cooperation with Congress to advance the Administration’s pro-growth and pro-jobs agenda,” the White House said in a statement.

Democrats oppose plan

The Republican plan is opposed by Democrats, who contend it would benefit primarily the wealthy and corporations.

“The struggle Republicans had in passing the budget shows how uncomfortable many of them are with eliminating the state and local deduction. In the weeks ahead, Democrats will do everything we can to preserve it and work to defeat any tax proposal that favors the wealthy few over the middle class many,” Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.

 
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From: MeNeedIt

Actress Ashley Judd says she escaped Harvey Weinstein’s sexual advances by making a deal.

She says she told him, yes, she would submit to him only after winning an Oscar in one of his movies.

Then she says she fled from his hotel room where, two decades ago, she had arrived as a young actress for what she thought would be a business meeting.

Appearing on Thursday’s “Good Morning America,” Judd says she remains of two minds about how she handled the confrontation. She says she feels ashamed. She also credits her snap decision as brilliant.

Judd was among the first of what has become dozens of women alleging sexual harassment or assault by Weinstein, who is now under criminal investigation for rape in London, New York and Los Angeles.
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From: MeNeedIt

A 10-story-tall tree moved two city blocks on giant rollers last summer has new growth and appears happy in its new location, a tree expert said Wednesday.

Tree mover David Cox of Environmental Design examined the 800,000-pound (363,000-kilogram) sequoia in Boise, Idaho, and pronounced the tree fit.

“She looks pretty good,” he said. “But it’s still too early to tell. You still need about two or three growing seasons to really say that she’s recovered. We’re not in any danger zone. We feel like the tree is still happy.”

Moving the tallest tree ever attempted by the company required cutting back the root system that’s now being monitored for moisture content with underground sensors at the tree’s new location on city property.

Three of the four sensors Cox examined indicated the root system was not getting enough moisture, so he ordered a water truck. One was already scheduled to visit once a week this winter, but hadn’t started.

An irrigation system that includes misting hoses at the top of the tree was recently turned off by city workers in preparation for winter, and the area dried out quicker than expected, Cox said.

Cox also said he’s a bit concerned about some broken bark and smoothed-over bark at the base that might have been caused by animals or vandals or somebody climbing. He said the bark is about 9 inches (23 centimeters) thick so the living part of the tree under the bark isn’t being damaged.

Naturalist John Muir, who played a key role in establishing California’s Sequoia National Park, sent the tree as a seedling to Boise more than a century ago. It was planted in the yard of a doctor’s home.

St. Luke’s Health System in June paid $300,000 to move Idaho’s largest sequoia — which are not native to the state — to make way for a hospital expansion. Cutting down the most notable tree in the city’s urban forest could have risked a public relations backlash, and the hospital has said it never considered that option.

The tree suffered at its old location because it was shaded by a tall building. Cox also said the building created a kind of wind tunnel that caused part of the tree to dry out and turn brown. But those needles have fallen off at the new location and have been replaced with green, healthy needles.

The tree’s future health is uncertain in its new spot next to one of the city’s busiest traffic routes and only about eight blocks from the city’s core downtown area.

“We’re in a new environment here, a little more open,” Cox said. “We don’t know if we’re going to be better off or worse off. Se we’re going to prepare for drying winds.”

Winter treatments

He prescribed treatments in November, December and January to spray the tree with a type of substance to prevent it from drying out in cold winter winds, likening the process to a person applying hand lotion to prevent skin from drying out.

“It goes on kind of oily and dries waxy,” he said.

The treatments will cost about $1,500 each. St. Luke’s spokeswoman Anita Kisee said she did not know if the company will pay, and Boise’s Parks and Recreation department did not immediately respond to a telephone message seeking comment.

Cox under the contract with the hospital is serving only as a consultant, but said the company could chip in to partially fund expenses.

Brian Jorgenson, a city forester, checks on the tree and neighbors also appear to be watchful. He said he was challenged once by someone wanting to know if he was supposed to be poking around under the tree.

“I think the tree looks better in its current location,” he said. “It’s a lot more visible than it used to be, and we’re proud to have it on park property now.”

Cox said he plans to make site visits in January and again in March or April to consider treatments for the growing season for the sequoia, which are known to live for several thousand years in the right conditions.
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From: MeNeedIt

Ivanka Trump teamed up Wednesday with Republican legislators to try to ensure the tax overhaul package under construction on Capitol Hill includes an expansion of the child tax credit.

The White House adviser and presidential daughter, appearing at a Capitol Hill news conference with GOP lawmakers, framed the tax credit as crucial for working families.

“It is a priority of this administration and it is a legislative priority to ensure that American families can thrive,” she said.

Also attending were Republican Senators Marco Rubio of Florida, Mike Lee of Utah, Tim Scott of South Carolina, Shelly Moore Capito of West Virginia and Dean Heller of Nevada; and GOP Representatives Kristi Noem of South Dakota, Kevin Yoder of Kansas, Claudia Tenney of New York and Martha Roby of Alabama.

Rubio and Lee have worked closely with Ivanka Trump on the issue. Details are still being worked out, but Rubio and Lee would like to see the $1,000 credit doubled and made fully refundable.

The GOP tax plan would cut the corporate tax rate from 36 percent to 20 percent, reduce taxes for most individuals and repeal inheritance taxes on multimillion-dollar estates. The standard deduction would be nearly doubled, to $12,000 for individuals and $24,000 for families; the number of tax brackets would shrink from seven and the child tax credit would be increased.

Democrats and liberal family advocacy groups say the overall plan would provide limited benefits to low-income families while offering major cuts to the wealthy — and they say that any boost to the child tax credit must be viewed in that context.

Speaking to reporters earlier in the day, Rubio expressed optimism about the child tax proposal, saying the provision is needed because without it, people could “see a tax increase, which nobody around here is prepared to justify, because you can’t.”

Rubio praised Ivanka Trump, saying that “having the White House making it a priority of theirs has strengthened our chances.”
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From: MeNeedIt

Don’t want Amazon boxes sitting on the porch? The company hopes you’ll let a stranger inside to drop them off.  

Amazon said Wednesday it will launch a service called Amazon Key next month that will let people allow the door to be unlocked when they’re not there so packages can be left inside. 

The proposal drew plenty of humorous reactions on social media, as well as concerns about safety or delivery employees being mistaken for intruders. Amazon said the drivers would be well-vetted, while one expert said the company has built up trust with customers and younger customers were more likely to try it out.   

An in-home delivery program also falls in line with Amazon’s strategy of trying to make shopping with it so convenient that consumers don’t think about buying elsewhere. And with the option requiring a specific camera that it sells, the move helps Amazon tie customers even closer to its gadgets as well as the items it delivers. 

Customers who want to use the service would need to be Amazon Prime members and would have to buy a camera and a Wi-Fi-connected lock from the Seattle-based company that starts at $250. Shoppers will then be able to choose in-home delivery as an option in the Amazon app.

When the delivery person shows up, they will knock first and scan the package. Amazon will make sure the person is at the right home and unlock the door. No codes or keys are needed, and the indoor camera will record the in-home delivery. The Amazon Cloud Cam also lets users watch a livestream or recorded video on Amazon’s Fire tablet, Fire TV or its voice-activated Echo devices that have a video screen.

The service is likely to be more of a hit with younger families, said Timothy Carone, an associate teaching professor at University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. He said millennials are already comfortable posting photos and their whereabouts on Facebook, Instagram and other social media.

“They’re less concerned about privacy than older generations are,” Carone said.

Walmart is testing a similar service in California’s Silicon Valley, which lets delivery people drop off packages or stock the fridge with groceries bought from Walmart.com. The delivery person is given a one-time code to open the door and Walmart said customers will get an alert on their smartphones when someone enters.

For Amazon, the in-home delivery service helps it enter the fast-growing home security camera market, competing with Google’s Nest cameras, said Martin Garner, a device and internet analyst at CCS Insight. Tying the camera in with the in-home delivery service gives people a reason to buy it, said Garner.

“They’ve been on a mission to do this,” said Garner.

Amazon.com Inc. said in-home delivery will be available Nov. 8 in 37 cities, including Atlanta, Cleveland and Denver. The company says the service is covered by the Amazon Key Happiness Guarantee, which applies to delivery issues, property damage or theft. And Amazon said the deliveries are carried out by drivers who are vetted with background checks and driving record reviews.

The company said the smart lock can also be used to let in out-of-town guests who want to make themselves at home. And in the coming months, it can be used to grant access to housekeepers to scrub the kitchen or dog walkers to take your furry friend for a stroll.

But for package deliveries, you may need to keep your dogs and cats a bit contained: Amazon doesn’t recommend using the in-home delivery service if pets can get to the front door on delivery day. 
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From: MeNeedIt

Head to the roof of the New York City Lab School for Collaborative Studies and you’ll discover row upon row of solar photovoltaic panels.

The solar panels generate about 159 kilowatts of renewable energy, just a drop in New York City’s energy bucket, and are part of a citywide initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent below 2005 levels by 2050.

But not everyone is taking advantage of solar power’s promise of reduced energy bills and the rise of jobs in a new green workforce.

“Eighty percent of America is locked out of the solar market because they cannot install solar on their own rooftop,” said Steph Speirs, co-founder and CEO of Solstice, a community-shared solar power startup.

In New York City, where the majority of residents are apartment renters, the benefits of solar power are elusive. Many don’t have the means to install panels much less get access to their roof.

But community-shared solar programs are now offering city dwellers a chance at solar power. In the process, they’re also lowering barriers for access to renewable energy.

Solar in the City

At the NYC Lab School, city officials recently put out a call to solar project developers for the installation of solar panels atop 14 of New York City’s public housing properties. If all goes according to plan, up to 6,600 low and moderate-income households will be powered by 25 megawatts of solar power by 2025.

Rooftop spaces “are often underutilized,” said Mark Chambers, director of the New York City mayor’s office of sustainability. “They have a huge potential for us.”

The New York City Housing Authority will lease rooftop sites to solar project developers for a maximum of 25 years. Developers will set up and maintain the solar systems and sell power to residents.

Solar energy was the fastest growing power source in the world last year, according to the International Energy Agency.Solar capacity increased 50 percent in 2016, more than the growth of coal, wind and gas. Solar growth can be attributed to decreasing production costs and increased government support.

For city dwellers, community-shared solar programs are a way to tap into solar power’s benefits.

Like a Community Garden

Apart from using city rooftops, companies like Solstice work with off-site solar farms to provide shares of the farm to urban communities and thus allow people in inner cities to lower their electricity bills. The Boston-based startup currently has nine solar projects in Massachusetts and is expanding to New York.

“It’s like a community garden, but for solar,” said Speirs.

Solar shares are sized according to how much electricity customers use. Solstice works to enroll neighborhoods in community-shared solar programs, managing the customer experience for solar project developers.

Speirs said the average savings on a typical electricity bill is 10 percent.

“The electricity from the shared farm goes back to the grid and you as a participant see the credit show up on your utility bill every month,” said Speirs. In low and moderate-income households where every penny counts, those savings mean money can be diverted to other essentials.

Growing up, Speirs said she watched her mom struggle to pay the electricity bill. “Our product can help people like my mom save money,” she added.

Building a Green Workforce

In an industry that shows few signs of slowing down, community-shared solar programs can also provide jobs.

New York City works with Green City Force, an AmeriCorps program that trains youth from low-income communities for careers in environmental fields, including installing solar panels on city roofs.

New Yorker Miguel Rodriguez is a graduate of the program and now works as a program assistant for Green City Force. The adoption of green technologies, Rodriguez said, will inevitably change public perceptions of the public housing community, as well as perceptions among its residents.

“People will see firsthand how this will impact their community, not just in energy saving,” Rodriguez said, “The value of life around the community will be much better.”
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From: MeNeedIt

Only about 1 in 5 politicians in the US is female, even though women make up just over half of the US population. With many saying 2018 could be “The Year of the Woman” in American politics, new tools have become available for women running for office. VOA’s Carolyn Presutti shows us some high-tech and social media sites geared toward female candidates.
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From: MeNeedIt

The United States is suffering through an unprecedented, deadly wave of opioid and prescription drug overdoses. The drug crisis comes nearly 50 years after the government declared a “War on Drugs.” VOA’s Chris Simkins looks back at the War on Drugs and how experts say mistakes of the past cannot be repeated in this new battle against opioid drug abuse.
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From: MeNeedIt

Pumpkins are everywhere across the United States each fall – flavoring lattes and ice cream, baked into pies and cookies, cut into jack-o-lanterns … and, in one New York City back yard, smashed into pieces. Faith Lapidus explains.
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From: MeNeedIt

Hope is the thing with feathers, poet Emily Dickinson wrote. For Richard Thorns, the feathers are pink.

Thorns’ hope? To prove that a colorful duck is not extinct. This week, he launches a seventh expedition into the inaccessible wilds of Myanmar to search for the pink-headed duck that hasn’t been seen alive since 1949, and that was in India. No one has seen the bird alive in Myanmar in more than a century.

Thorns, a British writer who quit his shop clerk job 20 years ago after reading about the pink-headed duck in the book “Vanishing Birds,” has spent $20,000 of his own money on previous fruitless trips. His birder brother called him mad.

“I could have had a lot of nice things,”  the 53-year-old said. “I don’t want nice things. I want to see a pink-headed duck.”

This time, he is backed by the Global Wildlife Conservation group, which launched a hunt for “lost species” — 25 quirky and elusive plants and animals beginning with the duck. A sports optic company and cheesemaking company are also helping pay.

Thorns and three others plan to head to the wetlands north of the vast Indawgyi Lake during the rainy season where they believe they have a better chance of spotting the duck. And Thorn thinks he has a secret weapon: elephants.

He used canoes in the past and thinks he probably spooked the shy birds. Now he plans to bring elephants stomping through the wetlands.

“Clearly a bird isn’t going to hunker down if there are 2-ton elephants,” said Thorn.

As crazy as it may seem, Thorns may be onto something, said ornithologist Kevin McGowan at Cornell University who isn’t part of the expedition.

“Fairly regularly birds get rediscovered,” says McGowan, who has gone on unsuccessful expeditions for the ivory-billed woodpecker. “We don’t see all the world that is in front of our eyes.”

A Cornell student found Bermuda petrels, rare seabirds thought to be extinct for 300 years. Other rediscovered animals include a crow species in Asia and a nocturnal parrot in Australia. These birds survive by not being noticed “so what’s your certainty that it’s gone?” said McGowan.

One thing that keeps Thorns going is the thought that someone else might find the pink-headed duck first.

Every time he goes out, the bird “breaks my heart,” he said. “Sometimes I wish I hadn’t seen that picture.”
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From: MeNeedIt

There are only two places in the entire world where children have caught polio this year: Afghanistan and Pakistan. In these countries, the virus is not circulating throughout, but only in very remote or very small areas.

Nearly 30 years ago, the polio virus paralyzed 1,000 children a day in 125 countries.

The numbers have dropped so dramatically thanks to a global effort to wipe out the polio virus.

Carol Pandak of Rotary International calls the effort “herculean.” “Hundreds of thousands of frontline health care workers are out there every day immunizing children in urban areas, in remote areas, in all sorts of settings,” Pandak says.

Rotary International was the first organization to promote the global effort to end polio. It has since become a partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), which includes the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

At one time, health workers in some countries risked their lives to immunize the children. Pandak says the vaccinators are now people from the communities they work in which has helped alleviate some of the safety issues. In areas of conflict, Pandak says security personnel accompany them.

Dr. Flavia Bustreo at the World Health Organization says the challenge now is to get to zero cases and to maintain that level for at least three years, just to make sure the virus is no longer circulating. The key to that, she says, is strong surveillance so every single case is detected and children are immunized.

The GPEI has developed a network of laboratories around the world that can identify the disease. Maintaining these laboratories and the cost of distributing the vaccine is both a huge undertaking and an enormous expense.

The polio virus is a disease that is only found in humans. It doesn’t infect animals, which is why it can be eradicated.

Dr. David Nabarro at the UN says getting to the end is actually the hardest part of the campaign because governments and organizations have to keep up their commitment until there are no more cases. “We’ve got to remain vigilant and focused until the last case has been found and that we have got everybody protected.”

Once the final case of polio is recorded, it will take three years to ensure that the last case is, in fact, the final one. That means that if the final case is seen this year, all of these programs will continue to need funding and volunteers until 2020. That’s why the theme of this year’s World Polio Day is “We’re Not Done Yet.”
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From: MeNeedIt

A US government bunker, originally built in case of nuclear war, is now offering protection for a happier purpose. VOA’s Karina Bafradzhian shows us how America’s entertainment history is preserved in an underground space near Washington.
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From: MeNeedIt