Some quotations from Jimmy Carter . We have a tendency to exalt ourselves and to dwell on the weaknesses and mistakes of others. I have come to realize that in every person there is something fine and pure and noble, along with a desire for self-fulfillment. Political and religious leaders must attempt to provide a society within which these human attributes can be nurtured and enhanced. — from 1975 book “Why Not the Best?” Our government can express the highest common ideals of human beings — if we demand of government true standards of excellence. At this Bicentennial time of introspection and concern, we must demand such standards. — “Why Not the Best?” I am a Southerner and an American, I am a farmer, an engineer, a father and husband, a Christian, a politician and former governor, a planner, a businessman, a nuclear physicist, a naval officer, a canoeist, and among other things a lover of Bob Dylan’s songs and Dylan Thomas’s poetry. — “Why Not the Best?” Christ said, “I tell you that anyone who looks on a woman with lust has in his heart already committed adultery.” I’ve looked on a lot of women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times. This is something that God recognizes I will do — and I have done it — and God forgives me for it. But that doesn’t mean that I condemn someone who not only looks on a woman with lust but who leaves his wife and shacks up with somebody out of wedlock. — Interview, November 1976 Playboy. This inauguration ceremony marks a new beginning, a new dedication within our Government, and a new spirit among us all. A President may sense and proclaim that new spirit, but only a people can provide it. — Inaugural address, January 1977. It’s clear that the true problems of our nation are much deeper — deeper than gasoline lines or energy shortages, deeper even than inflation and recession. ... All the legislation in the world can’t fix what’s wrong with America. ... It is a crisis of confidence. — So-called “malaise” speech, July 1979. But we know that democracy is always an unfinished creation. Each generation must renew its foundations. Each generation must rediscover the meaning of this hallowed vision in the light of its own modern challenges. For this generation, ours, life is nuclear survival; liberty is human rights; the pursuit of happiness is a planet whose resources are devoted to the physical and spiritual nourishment of its inhabitants. — Farewell Address, January 1981. We appreciate the past. We are grateful for the present and we’re looking forward to the future with great anticipation and commitment. — October 1986, at the dedication of the Carter Presidential Library and Museum. War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn to live together in peace by killing each other’s children. — December 2002, Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech. Fundamentalists have become increasingly influential in both religion and government, and have managed to change the nuances and subtleties of historic debate into black-and-white rigidities and the personal derogation of those who dare to disagree. ... The influence of these various trends poses a threat to many of our nation’s historic customs and moral commitments, both in government and in houses of worship. — From 2005 book “Our Endangered Values.” I think that this breakthrough by Barack Obama has been remarkable. When he made his speech (on race) a few months ago in Philadelphia, I wept. I sat in front of the television and cried, because I saw that as the most enlightening and transforming analysis of racism and a potential end of it that I ever saw in my life. — August 2008, commenting on then-Sen. Barack Obama’s candidacy. I think it’s based on racism. There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president. ... No matter who he is or how much we disagree with his policies, the president should be treated with respect. — September 2009, reacting to Rep. Joe Wilson’s shout of “You lie!” during a speech to Congress by President Barack Obama. I’m still determined to outlive the last guinea worm. — 2010, on The Carter Center’s work to eradicate guinea worm disease. You know how much I raised to run against Gerald Ford? Zero. You know how much I raised to run against Ronald Reagan? Zero. You know how much will be raised this year by all presidential, Senate and House campaigns? $6 billion. That’s 6,000 millions. — September 2012, reacting to the 2010 “Citizens United” U.S. Supreme Court decision permitting unlimited third-party political spending. I have become convinced that the most serious and unaddressed worldwide challenge is the deprivation and abuse of women and girls, largely caused by a false interpretation of carefully selected religious texts and a growing tolerance of violence and warfare, unfortunately following the example set during my lifetime by the United States. — From 2014 book “A Call to Action.” I don’t think there’s any doubt now that the NSA or other agencies monitor or record almost every telephone call made in the United States, including cellphones, and I presume email as well. We’ve gone a long way down the road of violating Americans’ basic civil rights, as far as privacy is concerned. — March 2014, commenting on U.S. intelligence monitoring after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks We accept self-congratulations about the wonderful 50th anniversary - which is wonderful - but we feel like Lyndon Johnson did it and we don’t have to do anything anymore. — April 2014, commenting on racial inequality during a celebration of the Civil Rights Act’s 40th anniversary. I had a very challenging question at Emory (University) the other night: “How would you describe the United States of America today in one word?” And I didn’t know what to say for a few moments, but I finally said, “Searching.” I think the country in which we live is still searching for what it ought to be, and what it can be, and I’m not sure we’re making much progress right at this moment. — October 2014 during a celebration of his 90th birthday. The life we have now is the best of all. We have an expanding and harmonious family, a rich life in our church and the Plains community, and a diversity of projects at The Carter Center that is adventurous and exciting. Rosalynn and I have visited more than 145 countries, and both of us are as active as we have ever been. We are blessed with good health and look to the future with eagerness and confidence, but are prepared for inevitable adversity when it comes. — From 2015 book, “A Full Life.”JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court should overturn Mississippi’s Jim Crow-era practice of from people convicted of certain felonies, including nonviolent crimes such as forgery and timber theft, attorneys say in new court papers. Most of the people affected are disenfranchised for life because the state provides few options for restoring ballot access. “Mississippi’s harsh and unforgiving felony disenfranchisement scheme is a national outlier,” attorneys representing some who lost voting rights said in an appeal filed Wednesday. They wrote that states “have consistently moved away from lifetime felony disenfranchisement over the past few decades.” This case is the second in recent years — and the third since the late 19th century — that asks the Supreme Court to overturn Mississippi’s disenfranchisement for some felonies. The cases use different legal arguments, and the most recent attempt in 2023. The new appeal asks justices to reverse a July ruling from the conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which said Mississippi legislators, not the courts, must decide whether to change the laws. Stripping away voting rights for some crimes is unconstitutional because it is cruel and unusual punishment, the appeal argues. A majority of justices in June when they cleared the way for cities to enforce bans on homeless people sleeping outside in public places. Attorneys who sued Mississippi over voting rights say the authors of the state’s 1890 constitution based disenfranchisement on a list of crimes they thought Black people were more likely to commit. A majority of the appeals judges wrote that the Supreme Court in 1974 reaffirmed constitutional law allowing states to disenfranchise felons. About 38% of Mississippi residents are Black. Nearly 50,000 people were disenfranchised under the state’s felony voting ban between 1994 and 2017. More than 29,000 of them have completed their sentences, and about 58% of that group are Black, according to an expert who analyzed data for plaintiffs challenging the voting ban. Related Articles To regain voting rights in Mississippi, a person convicted of a disenfranchising crime must receive a governor’s pardon or win permission from two-thirds of the state House and Senate. In recent years, legislators have restored voting rights for only a few people. The other recent case that went to the Supreme Court argued that authors of Mississippi’s constitution when they chose which felonies would cause people to lose the right to vote. In that ruling, justices declined to reconsider a 2022 appeals court decision that said Mississippi remedied the discriminatory intent of the original provisions in the state constitution by later altering the list of disenfranchising crimes. In 1950, Mississippi dropped burglary from the list. Murder and rape were added in 1968. The Mississippi attorney general issued an opinion in 2009 that expanded the list to 22 crimes, including timber larceny, carjacking, felony-level shoplifting and felony-level writing bad checks. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in a 2023 dissent that Mississippi’s list of disenfranchising crimes was “adopted for an illicit discriminatory purpose.”Stock market today: Losses for Big Tech pull US indexes lower
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Drake accuses record company of using bots to ‘artificially inflate’ Kendrick Lamar’s song ‘Not Like Us’ on SpotifyIn recent years, the field of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) has been advancing rapidly, with researchers around the world striving to develop technology that can directly connect the brain to external devices. This technology has the potential to revolutionize the way we interact with technology and even treat neurological disorders. Exciting news has emerged from China recently, as domestic researchers have made a significant breakthrough in the development of BCIs, bringing Chinese-made devices one step closer to clinical trials.
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The Salt Typhoon hack is one of the largest attacks on US telecommunications ever, officials say. The yearslong attack originated in China and targeted major telecom companies like AT&T and Verizon. The NSA says it believes Chinese hackers were targeting senior US political figures. US security officials have warned that millions of people's personal information could be at risk after a yearslong hacking campaign originating in China. The US government started investigating the hack in the summer after Microsoft — which named the hack the Salt Typhoon — sounded alarms about anomalies. Speaking to reporters on Saturday, White House Deputy national security advisor Anne Neuberger said that while data belonging to millions of Americans was likely compromised, the hack targeted senior US officials. "We believe the calls they recorded and took was really more focused on very senior political individuals," she said. A report from the Congressional Research Office said Chinese hackers may have sought access to presidential candidates' communications. "With that access, they could potentially retrieve unencrypted communication (e.g., voice calls and text messages)," the report says. A senior NSA official said in October that hackers from China accessed information from AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen Technologies, according to NBC. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner told The Washington Post that the hack is the "worst telecom hack in our nation's history by far." "This is an ongoing effort by China to infiltrate telecom systems around the world, to exfiltrate huge amounts of data," Warner told the outlet. The New York Times reported that hackers from China went undetected inside American telecommunications companies for over a year and obtained a nearly complete list of phone numbers that the Justice Department monitors in its "lawful intercept" system. The lawful intercept system is what allows law enforcement, through a court order, to wiretap or "bug" phone calls. The FBI warned that all US citizens should use a cellphone that automatically updates its operating system and use encryption and multifactor authentication for email and social media accounts. Neuberger said in an earlier press call on Wednesday that the government does not believe any of the targeted telecom companies have "fully removed" the Chinese hackers from their networks, and communications are still at risk. Senior White House officials on the call said the hack has been ongoing for "likely one to two years." "President Biden has been briefed multiple times on this compromise," Neuberger told reporters. She added that the White House "has made it a priority for the federal government to do everything it can to get to the bottom of this." Neuberger said that White House leaders are meeting three times a week to discuss the hack. The Senate Commerce Subcommittee will hold a hearing on December 11 to discuss security threats to communications networks and review best practices for providers to mitigate consumer risks. The committee will focus on the Salt Typhoon attacks in the hearing.Lennox International Inc. ( NYSE:LII – Get Free Report ) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, December 6th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of 1.15 per share by the construction company on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Lennox International has increased its dividend payment by an average of 12.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Lennox International has a payout ratio of 19.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Lennox International to earn $23.35 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 19.7%. Lennox International Price Performance Shares of NYSE:LII opened at $620.03 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $633.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $592.75. Lennox International has a 52 week low of $412.09 and a 52 week high of $682.50. The company has a market cap of $22.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. Insider Transactions at Lennox International In related news, Director Shane D. Wall sold 325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $612.97, for a total transaction of $199,215.25. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,247,393.95. This represents a 13.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink . Also, EVP John D. Torres sold 581 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $620.98, for a total transaction of $360,789.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,668 shares in the company, valued at $2,898,734.64. This represents a 11.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,106 shares of company stock worth $1,353,233. 10.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. Wall Street Analyst Weigh In A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Lennox International from $604.00 to $619.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Lennox International from $570.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. KeyCorp cut shares of Lennox International from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Lennox International from $648.00 to $656.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Lennox International from $624.00 to $674.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lennox International presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $579.38. Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on LII Lennox International Company Profile ( Get Free Report ) Lennox International Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets a range of products for the heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration markets in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The Home Comfort Solutions segment provides furnaces, air conditioners, heat pumps, packaged heating and cooling systems, indoor air quality equipment, comfort control products, and replacement parts and supplies; residential heating, ventilation, cooling equipment, and air conditioning; and evaporator coils and unit heaters under Lennox, Dave Lennox Signature Collection, Armstrong Air, Ducane, AirEase, Concord, MagicPak, Advanced Distributor Products, Allied, Elite Series, Merit Series, Comfort Sync, Healthy Climate, iComfort, ComfortSense, and Lennox Stores name. Read More Receive News & Ratings for Lennox International Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Lennox International and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .'Far too soon:' Olympic snowboarder Sophie Hediger killed by avalanche in Switzerland