https://searchhrsoftware.techtarget.com/news/252457168/Trumps-H-1B-work-visa-plan-cuts-employers-costs-not-criticism

President Trump, a critic of the H-1B visa program, has implemented a rule change that will reduce the visa filing cost for employers. But it may also make visa holders more expensive.

President Trump's effort to restrict H-1B work visas has taken a rare turn. His administration is cutting the cost of filing for a visa and is making it easier for a firm to file for a visa. It's doing this with an electronic registration system.

This new registration system, which will begin in the 2021 fiscal year, means an employer will be able to register a visa candidate in a visa lottery "without submitting a completed [visa] package," said Shanon Stevenson, an immigration attorney at Fisher Phillips. This new process is "going to save employers time and money because they're not going to have to submit an H-1B petition for someone who isn't selected in the lottery," she said.

The administration's registration plan will help HR departments save "a lot of wasted time and effort," said Becki Young, an immigration attorney at Grossman Young & Hammond. Companies today now put together thousands of visa petitions "which never even get looked at," she said.

The electronic registration system is not the only change the White House is making to the H-1B work visa. It is also reordering the visa lottery system to favor people who have earned a U.S. master's or higher degree, a change that will take effect for this year's H-1B work visa lottery. But this change is more in line with Trump's efforts to restrict visa use. In its recently published rule change, the administration said it may help raise the wages of H-1B workers.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/09/world/europe/london-zoo-tiger.html



LONDON — The courtship went on for 10 whole days. They were kept apart, but tantalizingly close so that each could see, hear and smell the other.

When the matchmakers believed that the time and the place were right — Friday at London Zoo — the rare Sumatran tiger called Asim and a female named Melati were put in the same enclosure together.

He promptly killed her — moments after they were introduced for the first time.

The animal’s handlers scrambled in vain to intervene, the zoo said, “using loud noises, flares and alarms to try and distract the pair, but Asim had already overpowered Melati.”

Keepers eventually were able to shepherd Asim into a separate paddock so that they could safely get to Melati, the zoo said. Vets then confirmed that she had died.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/05/perspectives/state-of-the-union-trump-economy/index.html

President Trump frequently touts the strong economy as one of his great achievements, and he will likely do so again in his State of the Union address Tuesday. He should take credit while he can. Sure, he inherited an economy moving solidly down the tracks, but he is set to leave one that is headed off the rails.

Nearly a year ago, Trump pushed massive deficit-financed tax cuts through the Republican Congress that temporarily juiced up the economy. But they came at a steep cost. Businesses and wealthy households received a windfall, but the Treasury had to borrow hundreds of billions of dollars from global investors to cut the checks.

Growth now, as the stimulus wears off, has slowed to where it was prior to the tax cut. Trump's argument that the corporate tax cuts would incent businesses to invest more and support sustainable stronger long-term growth looks more and more like a pipe dream. Corporations' effective tax rate — the taxes they pay as a percent of their profits — was cut in half to an all-time low but has yet to unleash more investment.

The president also argued that the tax cuts would pay for themselves. Not even close. Tax revenues are plunging, and the nation's budget deficit is ballooning. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan government agency that does the bean counting, if we don't take a U-turn on the president's tax and spending policies, our collective finances will end in a train wreck.

Trump's trade war is also corrosive on the economy. Higher tariffs have cut into corporate profits — General Motors warned last summer that tariffs on imported cars and parts could force the company to cut jobs. In November it announced plans to close four US plants and cut thousands of jobs.

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/02/middleeast/yemen-lost-us-arms/

Hodeidah, Yemen (CNN) – Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners have transferred American-made weapons to al Qaeda-linked fighters, hardline Salafi militias, and other factions waging war in Yemen, in violation of their agreements with the United States, a CNN investigation has found.

The weapons have also made their way into the hands of Iranian-backed rebels battling the coalition for control of the country, exposing some of America's sensitive military technology to Tehran and potentially endangering the lives of US troops in other conflict zones.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, its main partner in the war, have used the US-manufactured weapons as a form of currency to buy the loyalties of militias or tribes, bolster chosen armed actors, and influence the complex political landscape, according to local commanders on the ground and analysts who spoke to CNN.

By handing off this military equipment to third parties, the Saudi-led coalition is breaking the terms of its arms sales with the US, according to the Department of Defense. After CNN presented its findings, a US defense official confirmed there was an ongoing investigation into the issue.

The revelations raise fresh questions about whether the US has lost control over a key ally presiding over one of the most horrific wars of the past decade, and whether Saudi Arabia is responsible enough to be allowed to continue buying the sophisticated arms and fighting hardware. Previous CNN investigations established that US-made weapons were used in a series of deadly Saudi coalition attacks that killed dozens of civilians, many of them children.

The developments also come as Congress, outraged with Riyadh over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year, considers whether to force an end to the Trump administration's support for the Saudi coalition, which relies on American weapons to conduct its war.

https://wokesloth.com/roosh-says-liking-womens-butts-turns-you-gay/jessi/

Notorious longtime jerkwad Daryush “Roosh” Valizadeh, whom you might remember from Gamergate, among other such terrible things, found himself roasted hard on Twitter this weekend after tweeting that liking women’s butts is a “gateway” to homosexuality.

In the video, Roosh V. (as he is known), who calls himself the “King of Masculinity,” declares himself a “boob man” for the aforementioned reason and goes on to brag (?) that he’s never done anal sex, although he makes sure to mention that some girls have definitely wanted him to (uuuugggghhhh).

https://twitter.com/rooshv/status/1089683819714760704

Roosh, who in 2016 tried to organize a meetup of pro-rape men and had to cancel it because a group of female boxers threatened to show up and kick everyone’s asses, and then he got death threats and had to go stay at his mom’s house, goes on to explain that he knows what comes out of a (woman’s) “back hole” because he also has a “back hole” and it’s “gross” and “there’s doodoo there.” He adds that maybe he’d be into it if he watched anal porn all day, but he definitely doesn’t. (Nothing convinces people you don’t watch something quite as much as randomly proclaiming you don’t.) He also calls his penis a “benis.” People, I listened to all minute and 11 seconds of this video so you don’t have to.

https://www.boredpanda.com/short-story-man-pulling-woman-pressure/

At one point or another, in all relationships, you are bound to feel resentment. Maybe, they didn’t take out the trash when they said they would, or arrived late to dinner yet again – whatever the reason, you probably thought ‘come on try a little harder.’ Well, the next time one of these things happens, perhaps try changing your perspective.

The illustration and story below, while short, is the perfect example of why sometimes switching your view on a situation can go a long way in your relationships. Scroll down below to get some wise words that could make your day better for you and those you love!

From Shaun King:
Meet Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas - The new faces of American terror. Yesterday they shot 4 police officers in Houston, Texas. Conservatives covered it all day long while they assumed it was somebody Black who shot the cops. Today, they are silent. Imagine for a moment had the shooters been undocumented immigrants or Muslims or ANYTHING other than white. Imagine the outrage. Imagine the new policies they would demand we all agree to. But now that it’s clear that it was a white couple - crickets.

From Heavy:



https://heavy.com/news/2019/01/dennis-tuttle-rhogena-nicholas/