Hasta La Gadget!

By Phil Stewart and Lucy Nicholson

WASHINGTON/VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (Reuters) – The U.S. military on Tuesday cheered a successful, first-ever missile defense test involving a simulated attack by an intercontinental ballistic missile, in a major milestone for a program meant to defend against a mounting North Korean threat.

The U.S. military fired an ICBM-type missile from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands toward the waters just south of Alaska. It then fired a missile to intercept it from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Experts compare the job to hitting a bullet with another bullet and note the complexity is magnified by the enormous distances involved.

The Missile Defense Agency said it was the first live-fire test against a simulated ICBM for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD), managed by Boeing Co , and hailed it as an “incredible accomplishment.”

“This system is vitally important to the defense of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat,” Vice Admiral Jim Syring, director of the agency, said in a statement.

A successful test was by no means guaranteed and the Pentagon sought to manage expectations earlier in the day, noting that the United States had multiple ways to try to shoot down a missile from North Korea.

“This is one element of a broader missile defense strategy that we can use to employ against potential threats,” Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters.

Prior to Tuesday’s launch, the GMD system had successfully hit its target in only nine of 17 tests since 1999. The last test was in 2014.

North Korea has dramatically ramped up missile tests over the past year in its effort to develop an ICBM that can strike the U.S. mainland.

The continental United States is around 9,000 km (5,500 miles) from North Korea. ICBMs have a minimum range of about 5,500 km (3,400 miles), but some are designed to travel 10,000 km (6,200 miles) or farther.

Riki Ellison, founder of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, described the test as “vital” prior to launch.

“We are replicating our ability to defend the United States of America from North Korea, today,” Ellison said.

Failure could have deepened concern about a program that according to one estimate has so far cost more than $40 billion. Its success could translate into calls by Congress to speed development.

In the fiscal year 2018 budget proposal sent to Congress last week, the Pentagon requested $7.9 billion for the Missile Defense Agency, including about $1.5 billion for the GMD program.

A 2016 assessment released by the Pentagon’s weapons testing office in January said that U.S. ground-based interceptors meant to knock out any incoming ICBM still had low reliability, giving the system a limited capability of shielding the United States.

(Additional reporting by Idrees Ali in Washington; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and James Dalgleish)

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What kind of company would fight attempts to limit its workers from working excessively long hours, then turn around and try to sell disability insurance policies to those same workers?  Uber, of course.

Uber is fighting, in its inimitable tooth and nail style, a proposal in Massachusetts that would limit drivers to a mere 12 consecutive hours, or 16 hours in a single day.  That’s right:  Uber wants its drivers to be able to drive for more than sixteen hours in a day, every day.

Maybe Uber hasn’t read the literature:  fatigue causes accidents.  That research shows that fatigue can cause slower reaction times, more errors and decreased cognitive ability.  Fatigue worsens hand-eye coordination. As one report put it, “Drowsy driving can make your driving worse than if you have been drinking alcohol.”  Uber shrugged off these concerns in a letter to Massachusetts regulators, saying that it found a 70-hour per week limitation on driving “particularly problematic,” since “many individuals in many different industries work 70 hours in a seven-day period.”  Maybe so.  But for drivers carrying passengers, the  Department of Transportation has rules specifying generally that these drivers can’t be on the road for more than 60 hours over 7 consecutive days.

If you think Uber’s opposition to this reasonable rule is shocking, wait until you hear this:  while Uber wants its drivers to be able to drive unlimited hours, it will sell them insurance against the accidents that are sure to occur.  The company has recently announced a new accident insurance plan that it is piloting in eight states, including Massachusetts.

Just as Uber is taking no responsibility for its drivers’ and passengers’ safety, it is not paying for this new insurance:  drivers and consumers are.  According to news reports, the company’s new plan involves charging its riders a five-cent-per-mile surcharge for Uber-provided personal injury insurance to benefit drivers in case of work-related injuries. Drivers who want to opt in will have to pay 3.75 cents a mile to be covered by insurance.

Insurance is a good thing: taxi jobs are among the most dangerous in the country, with five times the rate of death on the job as other occupations. But instead of paying workers’ compensation premiums to cover all of its workers, as responsible businesses do, Uber will charge for the medical care and time-loss benefits that the rest of us get by virtue of being employed at a job, without having to pay for it out of our own pockets.

Uber’s benefits will be inferior to those provided under traditional workers’ compensation law. Press reports say the insurance will cover medical expenses, up to half of a driver’s average weekly earnings, and survivor benefits up to a maximum of $150,000. By comparison, under Massachusetts law,  workers don’t pay for workers compensation and injured workers are entitled to 66% of lost wages.  Survivor’s benefits cover two-thirds of the decedent’s wages, and are paid until the spouse dies or remarries.

But Uber isn’t just cheating workers. It is continuing a well-developed strategy of misleading its riders while it underpays its drivers. Consider this: all consumers are being charged for insurance for drivers, but only drivers who are willing to pay the freight are actually covered. You may think you are doing a good thing by paying a higher fare to help your driver out, but you may not be helping anyone but Uber.

There is a much simpler answer to both of these problems. Employees get overtime pay, in order to lessen the temptation by employers to overwork their employees.  Employees also get workers’ compensation.  While Uber has doggedly refused to treat its workers as employees, state agencies in Massachusetts could follow those in California, Oregon, and Alaska and audit the company, collect the payroll taxes they are owed, and provide real protections to Uber drivers. Given its history of thumbing its nose at virtually everyone, it’s pretty clear that Uber is not going to do that on its own.

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This week I talked with Amie Klujian, Co-Founder of Back Lot Bash Chicago’s most attended women’s festival that takes place over two weekends kicking off on June 16th with fabulous events running June 23rd through June 25th during Chicago’s LGBTQ Pride week. Back Lot Bash started in 2004 in response to the lack of women’s events and the limited presence of female artists in the Chicago LGBTQ community. What started as a one-day event has morphed into a 4-day festival becoming an iconic staple of Chicago pride week that draws over 6000 attendees from Chicago, the Midwest and around the world. Co-founders Christina Wiesmore and Klujian strive to bring the community together by showcasing emerging and established talent and activating citizens by helping to raise money for community organizations. Every year Back Lot Bash partners with local organizations such as HRC Chicago, CMSA and AIDS Ride Chicago with a portion of the proceeds donated to a number of charitable organizations including A Sister’s Hope, Girls in the Game, UCAN and other groups focused on Women’s LGBTQ issues. I talked to Amie about who will be performing at this year’s Back Lot Bash events and give us her spin on our LGBTQ issues.

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When asked how she sees our LGBTQ community moving forward in a Trump administration Klujian stated:

I think there are two important components to this that are intertwined and interdependent on each other. I see an important community of LGBT organizations national, state and local that have a huge voice within the institutional structures of our society whether that’s health, youth rights, civil rights, media, marriage rights and within those I really see leadership and membership that are invigorated and motivated by what we see going on in the change of the administration. Motivated to lead where needed and to resist where needed and to collaborate where needed with other non-LGBT organizations and to activate where needed because I think this administration spews toxicity and threatens our rights, dignities and our lives by targeting us often times as ‘less than’ in their policies and ignoring or denying real issues that exist such as bullying kids in schools and things like that. So, I believe that these organizations need to continue educating, advocating for and protecting where necessary rights for equal standing and this helps all of us. The second component I think is important is about us, the individuals, the people and the members of our community. I’m seeing so much individual engagement, moments of courage and more singular grassroots efforts and efforts on the part of individuals actively supporting LGBT causes and to support organizations, voice their opinions and stand up for themselves. So I see an emboldened and passionate future for our community and I’m so thankful for that because it just takes one person to spark better understanding and change. I’m very confident through our organizations and through individuals speaking their voice and even events like Back Lot Bash and similar events that take place around the country where we build more and more solidarity and collective voice each passing day. I’m proud and know we will be successful and get through this.

Amie Klujian earned a degree in politics from Princeton University and a master’s in integrated marketing communications from Northwestern University. She’s an HRC Federal Club Member and serves with pride on the Executive Board of Directors at Girls in the Game, a nonprofit that helps girls become empowered game changers. The fabulous entertainment lineup for Back Lot Bash 2017 includes DJ Whitney Mixter, Madison Paige, Sea and Gunn (Daniela Sea & Gunn Lundemo), Rebel & Basketcase (music from Evan Rachel Wood and Zach Villa), Bria and Chrissy, Catfight, JD Samson, Kiyomi Valentine, DJ Goodboy and Tory Whodat among others.

For Info & Events: backlotbashchicago.com

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Donald Trump responded to Kathy Griffin’s controversial photo on Twitter Wednesday morning. Images of the comedian holding a bloodied head made to look like the president went viral Tuesday, sparking widespread backlash.

“Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself,” the president wrote. “My children, especially my 11 year old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!” 

Trump’s son Donald Jr. also responded to the image, writing on Twitter, “The #kathygriffin phony apology would be a lot easier to believe if there wasn’t a video of her mocking the response she knew was coming.”

The gory image of Griffin holding a fake, blood-covered head caused an uproar almost instantly, and rightfully so, with many people on social media condemning Griffin’s actions. The Secret Service also responded to the images, implying they were looking into the situation as a threat. 

The comedian has since apologized for the photo, which was taken by Tyler Shields, saying, “I’m a comic, I cross the line. I move the line, then I cross it. I went way too far.” 

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Cricket is a game of technique. Throwing the perfect out-swinger, or hitting a clean square drive takes a tremendous amount of practice and skill. If you’re watching a professional match at home, it can be hard to keep up with the mind games or under…