Category Archives: Progress

Why Progress Software has pivoted to take on giants like GE and PTC Boston Business Journal In January, Progress (Nasdaq: PRGS) announced it would lay off about 450 employees, about three-quarters of which were connected with a new effort called DigitalFactory, announced last May, meant to provide website development and support tools to ...

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Why Progress Software has pivoted to take on giants like GE and PTC - Boston Business Journal

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) started 2017 off with a solid performance in the first quarter, after its results came in slightly ahead of expectations. That performance gave the company the confidence to reaffirm its full-year guidance.

Meanwhile, the company announced progress on several strategic initiatives during the quarter, which puts it on pace to potentially boost the dividend by year's end.

Data source: Kinder Morgan Inc. Chart byauthor. In millions of dollars.

The pipeline giant's results were down but still ahead of expectations:

Image source: Getty Images.

CEO Steve Kean commented on the results:

We are pleased with our operational performance, which is slightly ahead of guidance we provided in January for the quarter, and we remain on target for the year. We generated earnings per common share for the quarter of $0.18 and distributable cash flow of $0.54 per common share, resulting in $935 million of excess distributable cash flow above our dividend.

As Kean noted, the company didn't run into any problems during the first quarter, putting it on pace to meet its full-year guidance. Instead, the most noteworthy events during the quarter were its strategic moves. Founder Richard Kinder provided those details by noting that the company "made additional progress on our two largest growth projects: Trans Mountain expansion and Elba Island liquefaction." He continued:

These are signature energy infrastructure assets for North America, and we expect they will contribute greatly to Kinder Morgan's future growth. With respect to Trans Mountain, after receiving approval from the Canadian federal government and the province of British Columbia to proceed with the project, we completed our final cost estimate review process with the shippers. Despite the shippers' right to terminate their contracts during this process, 100% of the original committed capacity (707,500 barrels per day) remains under contract. Additionally, while making steady progress constructing our Elba Island liquefaction facility, we welcomed EIG Global Energy Partners as a 49% joint-venture participant in that project.

Kinder Morgan still does have some work left to do on Trans Mountain. The company's goal is to find a financing alternative for the project similar to Elba Island. The company continues to explore both a joint-venture option and an IPO of Trans Mountain and its other Canadian assets. The culmination of that process will enable the company to remain on track to hit its leverage target of around 5.0 times net debt-to-adjusted EBITDA. That will improve the company's financial flexibility so it can allocate capital to other options, including share buybacks, new growth projects, additional debt reduction, and a dividend increase.

Matt DiLallo owns shares of Kinder Morgan and has the following options: short January 2018 $30 puts on Kinder Morgan and long January 2018 $30 calls on Kinder Morgan. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Kinder Morgan. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Kinder Morgan Inc.'s Forward Progress Continues - Motley Fool

JEFFERSON CITY Senators have been holding up progress on adopting Missouri's 2018 budget and many other key legislative goals by holding a series of filibusters that repeatedly bring action to a standstill.

Members from both parties have been taking advantage of Senate rules that foster open discussion, using them to block items they oppose, or in retribution against lawmakers whose actions they haven't liked.

"They're acting like sixth-graders," said Rep. Shawn Rhoads, R-West Plains.

The delays and acrimony reached new heights on Thursday, in a Senate floor confrontation involving two Republicans, including Columbia Sen. Caleb Rowden.

Senators have given prolonged, rambling speeches, read passages from books and held conversations with sympathetic colleagues. Earlier this week, senators were in the chamber until after 5 a.m. as some lawmakers halted action on a controversial proposal to end a tax break for seniors who rent their homes. Other issues that have driven delays include disagreement over managed care plans for Medicaid.

Filibustering is a time-honored Senate tradition that is often used to force compromise, buy time for behind-the-scenes deals to occur or kill bills. But many lawmakers say the tactic is being abused this session. While there is a way to stop a filibuster a tactic informally known as "the nuclear option" Senate etiquette calls for not doing so.

And with the end of the session nearing, time is of the essence. Lawmakers were given Gov. Eric Greitens' draft of a budget later than usual, and the deadline to have their final version to Greitens is May 5.

With Republicans in charge of both chambers of the General Assembly and the governor's office, early expectations were that the party would have little trouble moving legislation, but often that hasn't been the case.

Progress on passing legislation this year has been slower than the past two years. By this point in 2016, 25 bills had been sent to the governor, and in 2015 that number was 24. This year, five bills have been sent to Greitens. In each of the past two years, the budget process was completed by this time, accounting for more than half of those bills.

The Senate was mired in gridlock again on Thursday.

Sen. Rob Schaaf, a frequent user of the filibuster, read from a book "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion" to eat up time, saying his actions were being taken in retaliation to the House's rejection of legislation he supports, and comments made about him by a member of the House. Both men are Republicans.

Schaaf handed out copies of the book. "If you would like to follow along, you can," said Schaaf to a nearly empty Senate floor. The Senate was supposed to be voting on a bill creating a "Blue Alert" system that would send out public notice if a police officer is shot and the shooter is at-large.Schaaf said the delay had nothing to do with the bill itself.

He was interrupted when the sponsor pulled the bill from debate for the day.

Sen. Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, questioned Schaaf's relationship with a lobbyist. Schaaf shot back that he had done nothing wrong and warned Rowden that he would investigate all of Rowden's bills in connection with campaign donors.

Senate leadership interrupted the hostile confrontation to gavel the Senate out of session for the week.

Rhoads, a House Republican, called senators' frequent filibusters "juvenile."

Rhoads said the Senate's long filibusters delay action on state business and cost money. He noted that senators are paid per diems to cover expenses for extra meeting days.

"Were in a spot right now where the budget might not get passed on time, but yet when someone feels like they've got a microphone and a camera in their face, they want to grandstand about something else. Or read a book," Rhoads said. "Its a waste of taxpayer money, and they should be embarrassed that thats what theyre doing with taxpayer money."

Senators are given a per diem payment of $113.60 for each day that they are in session, meaning that every day that all 33 are in attendance costs taxpayers $3,748. That doesn't include costs for staff, operating the building or mileage that senators get if they must travel to the Capitol extra times (they may receive reimbursement for mileage once a week), said Anne Marie Boy, Senate Communications Director.

Sen. Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, said the amount of time being spent on speeches and filibustering exceeds anything hes seen in his three years in the Senate.

"Obviously, theres a lot of advocating for different positions, but now it seems like theres even multiple members engaged in tactics of time-killing," Schatz said. "Even the members of our own party are sometimes engaged in slowing the process down and just wasting what I call wasting time."

Schatz said the slow progress in the Senate could mean that less gets accomplished, but that there is a difference between what lawmakers hope to do and what they must do.

"Theres wants versus needs," he said. "If we get a budget done, thats what we need to get done. Im certain theres a lot of people that want to get some more things done than that, myself included. But if we can meet our constitutional obligations and pass the budget, weve done what we needed to do."

Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, D-St. Louis, said she believes the Senate has run more smoothly this year. She noted the way that lengthy filibuster that Democrats conducted over a "religious liberty" bill last year was handled. That delay lasted more than two days.

"What we're having to deal with this year is the respect for every single senator and their priorities," Chappelle-Nadal said. "In my opinion, we're doing so much better than the last two years," she said, adding, "In part of that, it's taken flexibility of Republican leadership and the entire body."

House Speaker Todd Richardson saidhe's not concerned about progress on the budget.

"It takes a while to get to an agreement between the House and the Senate on the budget," said Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff. "I'm not sure this year is really any different, so I'm still very optimistic and we'll be able to work the differences."

Similarly, he said he's satisfied with the General Assembly's progress so far.

"I'm very very pleased with the progress of the session. I think we've been able to get some really important and big things done, and I think by the time we get to the end of session on the 12th of May we'll have added several things to that list," said Richardson.

Rep. Scott Fitzpatrick oversaw the House budget process. "Its frustrating whats happening in budget (in the Senate), but its not unexpected," said Fitzpatrick, R-Shell Knob.

Fitzpatrick said that regardless of when the Senate completes its work, a conference committee will need to work out the differences between it and the House version. If it's too close to the end of regular session, "we'll call a special session," he said.

Sen. Ed Emery, R-Lamar, cautioned that the system is meant to move at a deliberate pace.

"The legislative process is designed to go slow. It's designed to be inefficient on purpose," Emery said. "Our founders knew government had a tendency to go way too fast and way too far."

Emery said the implementation of term limits seems to have led to a "much more aggressive approach to filibustering, holding the floor, holding debate instead of engaging debate." He said that "there has been a sense of almost filibustering almost everything," in part because lawmakers know they are in office for a limited time, and building relationships doesn't appear to be as important to them.

He said he believes lawmakers have made a lot of progress this year, and that while a special session is possible, he believes work can be completed without one.

And he cautioned that while it may seem like all the filibustering should be stopped, doing so breaks with history.

"There is a real reluctance on all of our parts to say let's throw out the traditions and the rules of the Senate just to move forward in this session," he said.

Isabella Alves, Lucille Sherman, John Sadler, Meg Hilling, Dylan Jackson, Sky Chadde and Miranda Moore contributed to this report.

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Stonewalling, clashes slow progress to a crawl in Missouri Senate - Columbia Missourian

At the national level, preparedness for health emergencies improved slightly, but an annual index to track progress found worrying discrepancies at the state level that create a widening gap in the years ahead, especially in low-income areas and those that are vulnerable to public health emergencies.

The National Health Security Preparedness Index (NHSPI) was released today by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), which funds the effort. Originally developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the assessment is a collaborative effort by many groups that analyzes 130 different measures. Taken together, it provides a comprehensive snapshot of national health security and preparedness.

On a 10-point scale, it gave the United States an overall score of 6.8 for 2016, up from 6.7 last year and from 6.4 in 2013, when the index began.

Alonzo Plough, PhD, MPH, chief science officer and a vice president at RWJF, said today in a news release that the data highlight strengths and gaps. "Improving health security and preparedness is important for all communities across the country. In our highly mobile country, national emergency preparedness depends on having high levels of protection in every state, city, and region."

Of six main dimensionsranging from mobilizing resources after health incidents to involving stakeholders during crisesthe nation as a whole improved except for one area: the ability to prevent health impacts from environmental or occupational hazards. That area is the only one showing decline from 2013

Anna Hoover, PhD, MA, deputy director of the index and assistant professor of preventive medicine and environmental health at the University of Kentucky, told CIDRAP News that this category reflects food and water safety and environmental monitoring and that, for example, some states' public health laboratories have scaled back air quality monitoring, and it's not clear if they've dropped their programs or transferred them to other entities.

On the other hand, an area that continues to show strong gainsup 16% since 2013is mobilizing stakeholders to work together during crisis times. "Communities are doing better with cross-sector collaboration; that's promising to see," Hoover said.

In general, the report found preparedness improvements in two thirds of US states, but the Deep South and Mountain West states lagged behind Northeast and Pacific Coast states. A 31% gap separates the highest state (Vermont) from the lowest state (Alaska). The NHSPI analysis said the states with the lower scores face elevated risks of disasters, contain disproportionate numbers of low-income residents, and have fewer community resources.

Challenges some states face include grappling with health policy uncertainties because of health insurance proposals, a situation that detracts attention and energy from other health security needs. Also, the analysis found that extreme weather events are increasing in frequency and intensity in many parts of the country, putting extra burden on food and water systems and other infrastructure areas.

Though federal aid helps reduce fiscal capacity differences across states, federal preparedness funding falls far short in eliminating the health security gaps that separate affluent from poorer states, according to the report.

The group made seven key policy recommendations to ease the gaps between states and move the nation toward better preparedness. Some focus on leveraging existing coalitions and engaging the private sector. Another involves including health insurance coverage as a health security strategy, despite uncertainties, given that expanded federal and state coverage over the past 4 years has improved the nation's health security.

Another key recommendation is developing a health security emergency response fund to quickly tackle big problems like the Zika outbreak or the Flint water crisis. There have been several recent calls for a public emergency fund, including one from Trust for America's Health.

President Trump's proposed budget, released in the middle of March, contained deep cuts for federal health departments, including emergency preparedness. Though it had few details, Trump's Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) budget proposed the creation of a Federal Emergency Response Fund that would be administered by the CDC.

Hoover said more efforts are needed to define the costs and budget processes needed to establish an equitable health security infrastructure. "We want all the boats to rise together," she added.

The NHSPI group has added new tools to enhance the usefulness of the index, including a "preparedness innovator challenge" to collect and spread best practices for using the index to boost preparedness. Users are encouraged to submit their stories by Jul 31.

"An index that just sits there isn't worth a lot," Hoover said.

The group will also host a webinar series to create opportunities for states to pull ideas and strategies from different sectors, she said.

See also:

Apr 20 NHSPI press release

Apr 20 NHSPI key findings

Apr 20 NHSPI full report

NHSPI preparedness innovator challenge page

Apr 26, 2016, CIDRAP News story "Public health index finds US fairly well prepared"

Go here to see the original:

US preparedness index finds sluggish, uneven progress - CIDRAP

BBC News

'Phenomenal' progress in fighting tropical diseases BBC News The World Health Organisation said improving water and sanitation was key to driving further progress. The London meeting resulted in a pledge to control or eliminate 10 neglected tropical diseases - including guinea worm, river blindness and trachoma ... WHO Reports 'Record-breaking' Progress in Fighting Neglected Tropical DiseasesVoice of America WHO reports 'remarkable' progress after decade of fighting tropical diseasesDeutsche Welle Unprecedented progress against neglected tropical diseases, WHO reportsWorld Health Organization Devex -The Guardian -CTV News -Uniting to Combat NTDs all 60 news articles »

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'Phenomenal' progress in fighting tropical diseases - BBC News

Atletico and Leicester drew 1-1, sending Atleti through 2-1 overall, while Real won 4-2 in a wild game against Bayern. Relive the top moments from Tuesday's UCL matches, including Real Madrid's extra-time victory over Bayern Munich. Hitting a hat-trick and his 100th UCL goal, wasn't enough for Ronaldo to be effective overall says the FC panel.

Wednesday's latest stories from the world of football in ESPN FC's What's Trending...

REAL MADRID:Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to score 100 goals in the Champions League when he netted a hat trick against Bayern Munich on Tuesday -- then used the occasion to ask for more respect from fans.

-Zinedine Zidane said it was Real Madrid's efforts -- not a poor refereeing display -- that was most important in his team's dramatic 4-2 extra-time victory over Bayern that sent them through 6-3 on aggregate to the Champions League semifinals.

-Sergio Ramos has told Gerard Pique to look at Barcelona's 6-1 win against Paris Saint-Germain after he appeared to question the validity of Cristiano Ronaldo's first goal in Real's quarterfinal win against Bayern.

BAYERN MUNICH:Arturo Vidal called Bayern Munich's 4-2 second-leg loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League quarterfinals a "robbery" at the hands of referee Viktor Kassai, while adding it was the official, not Zinedine Zidane's team who had eliminated the Bundesliga leaders.

-Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer fractured his left foot in his side's 4-2 Champions League defeat against Real Madrid, that saw the Bundesliga leaders exit the competition at the quarterfinal stage in a 6-3 aggregate loss.

-Bayern attacker Thomas Muller said he felt his side had played "10 against 14" in their defeat at Real.

-Reports in Spain have alleged that police intervened after three Bayern players stormed into the referee's dressing room following their team's elimination from the Champions League.

ATLETICO MADRID:Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone admitted his team were "living in fear" of Leicester City before advancing to the Champions League semifinals 2-1 on aggregate.

LEICESTER:Jamie Vardy said he and his Leicester teammates could be proud after they gave everything in their unsuccessful bid to prolong the club's Champions League campaign on Tuesday night.

JUVENTUS:Dani Alves was back at Camp Nou on Tuesday for the first time since leaving Barcelona on a free transfer last summer, where he said a lot of things would have to change for him to ever consider returning to the club on a permanent basis.

BARCELONA:Barcelona coach Luis Enrique has advised supporters not to leave the Camp Nou after 80 minutes as he talked up his side's chances of producing another Champions League comeback against Juventus on Wednesday.

LIVERPOOL:Liverpool are not interested in signing Joe Hart from Manchester City as they consider him inferior to their current goalkeeper options, a senior Reds source has told ESPN FC.

MAN UNITED:Former Manchester United forward Federico Macheda has told La Gazzetta dello Sport he will always be grateful to Sir Alex Ferguson after finding form again with Serie B club Novara.

FIFA:Brazil's Supreme Court finally named Sport Recife the winner of the 1987 league title on Tuesday.

BRIGHTON:Brighton chairman Tony Bloom says his club will not spend "huge amounts" ahead of their first season in the Premier League.

BOURNEMOUTH:Jack Wilshere's season looks set to be over after fears he has suffered a broken leg, according to reports in several UK papers.

MLS:Construction delays will prevent MLS expansion club Atlanta United from opening Mercedes-Benz Stadium in July as planned, the team announced on Tuesday.

Follow @ESPNFC on Twitter to keep up with the latest football updates.

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Trending: Real Madrid, Atletico progress as Bayern, Leicester exit - ESPN FC (blog)

Two- and three-hour daily commutes. In-law units with no kitchens. Couch surfing after an eviction.

City and district officials said they were moved by the teachers testimony and vowed to do better. They havent.

The teacher housing working group, composed of officials from the school district, teachers union and the Mayors Office of Housing, hasnt met since the hearing and has no meetings scheduled.

When they have met, sources in the room say theyre still hung up on whether its legal to build housing just for teachers under the federal Fair Housing Act. This, even though they touted former state Sen. Mark Lenos successful passage of a state bill clarifying it as legal seven months ago.

The working group has looked seriously at two school district sites for housing. One is a 2.4-acre plot at Seventh Avenue and Lawton Street thats alternately used as a pumpkin patch, Christmas tree farm and dog park. The other is the Francis Scott Key Elementary School annex on 43rd Avenue between Irving and Judah streets.

But Olson Lee, director of the Mayors Office of Housing and a member of the working group, claimed he had no idea which sites are under consideration.

For us, were working on the concept right now, irrespective of the site, he said. With a summer deadline set by Lee himself for picking the site fast approaching, being stuck in the concept stage seems problematic. Lee has also said a request for proposals to develop the site will be issued by the end of the year.

Mayor Ed Lee, who isnt a member of the working group, said the slow progress of the teacher housing project is a little frustrating.

I think we need the school district to partner with the private sector and the city in a much more deliberate, strategic way, he said.

But in a sign of how poor the lines of communication are between the school district, city and teachers union, the mayor said the union doesnt even want teacher housing.

When we asked the teachers union, they werent interested in housing just for teachers, the mayor said. Theyre about housing all over the city.

He then segued into a pitch for the inclusionary housing legislation sponsored by Supervisors London Breed and Ahsha Safai, which would allot a bigger portion of the citys subsidized units to middle-income earners making up to $126,000 for a family of three. Two married teachers with a child would qualify for help under the legislation, while they wouldnt under a competing proposal from Supervisors Jane Kim and Aaron Peskin. The latter would keep more units available for low-income earners.

Obviously, teachers cannot pay market rate, so they have to be included in inclusionary housing, the mayor said.

Matthew Hardy, spokesman for the United Educators of San Francisco, said the teachers union actually backs the Kim/Peskin proposal because it wants more of its low-income students families and low-paid classroom aides to qualify for help. Also, the union very much supports a teacher housing complex, Hardy said.

We desperately want educator housing, he said, noting he was surprised the mayor suggested otherwise.

Then Hardy had a novel suggestion. You should come in and mediate this group, he told me.

Um, no thanks. Teaching calculus to second-graders would probably be an easier task.

Its possible that teacher housing help wont come from San Francisco at all but from Sacramento. Assemblyman Evan Low, D-San Jose, was an aspiring teacher before he realized hed never be able to afford housing in that career. Now he has introduced a bill to help.

It would create and fund a pilot program for teachers in four of the most expensive counties in the state: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Clara and San Diego.

Run by the states Housing Finance Agency, the program would provide one-time down-payment assistance, up to 20 percent of the homes sales price. It would also provide rental stipends of up to $1,500 a month.

Due to be heard in the Assemblys housing committee on Wednesday, Low said teachers wouldnt start getting help for at least a year even if the bill passes.

We didnt get here overnight, and we wont fix it overnight, he said.

Lets hope this doesnt follow the timeline of teacher housing in San Francisco.

Fresh off her soda tax win in November, Supervisor Malia Cohen has a new health crusade. On Tuesday shell introduce legislation banning the sale of flavored tobacco in San Francisco.

The federal government in 2009 banned the sale of cigarettes flavored like cloves, candy or fruit. New York City has taken it further by banning the sale of flavored tobacco except for menthol cigarettes, the most popular.

Cohen wants to implement the nations strongest ban by prohibiting the sale of all flavored tobacco, including menthol cigarettes.

The tobacco industry has an established history of targeted marketing to children, young adults and people from vulnerable communities, Cohen said. They are not unlike the sugary drinks industry in this way. In fact, big soda got their playbook from big tobacco.

It seems Cohen now has a health-based playbook of her own.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Tuesdays and Fridays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf

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No progress seen on housing crunch for SF teachers - San Francisco Chronicle

In its final months as a standalone company, Yahoo! Inc. is showing signs it can move toward growth.

Yahoo made progress in its last quarterly earnings report before the sale of its main internet operations to Verizon Communications Inc., posting adjusted revenue and profit that topped analysts estimates. The web portal, which had said the Verizon deal would close in the current quarter, on Tuesday narrowed the time frame to June.

The sale, which comes after Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayers tumultuous tenure leading Yahoo, was threatened by two massive hacks that exposed user account data. The companies agreed to reduce the value of the deal by about $350 million in February to about $4.5 billion after the telecommunications giant had earlier suggested concessions closer to $1 billion.

As we enter our final quarter as an independent company, we are committed to finishing strong and planning for the best possible integration with Verizon, Mayer said in a statement on the results.

Revenue, excluding sales passed on to partners, was $833.8 million, compared with analysts average estimate of $814 million, according to data compiled Bloomberg. Profit, before certain items, was 18 cents a share. Analysts projected 14 cents.

Before Tuesdays announcement, the company had failed to meet estimates for revenue and adjusted earnings in four of the last nine quarterly reports.

Shares of Yahoo were little changed in extended trading after closing at $47.56 in New York.

Mayer, who arrived in July 2012 from Google to fanfare, pushed Yahoo into more mobile services and tried to attract better talent to improve products. But that never translated into much sales growth -- and early last year the company began entertaining offers that led to the Verizon deal.

Exclusive insights on technology around the world.

Get Fully Charged, from Bloomberg Technology.

In September, investors got a surprise when Yahoo said the personal information from at least 500 million user accounts was stolen in 2014. An attack that breached the security of more than 1 billion user accounts in 2013 was revealed in December. By last month, the company said its general counsel was resigning, and Mayers compensation was trimmed. Later in March, the U.S. government accused Russia of directing some of the worlds most notorious cybercriminals to break into the web portals systems.

The acquisition offers some interesting assets for Verizon. It gets a large, mature, consumer internet service with hundreds of millions of users in areas such as video, email, news and search. The operations will become part of a unit called Oath that includes Verizons earlier acquisition of AOL, another web portal that rose to prominence in the 1990s.

Mayers focus on mobile revenue from smartphones and tablets showed positive results in the first quarter, increasing 58 percent to $412 million, the company said.

What remains are the most valuable parts of Yahoos current company: the stakes in Alibaba Group Holding Inc. and Yahoo Japan that are worth more than $40 billion. Those holdings will become part of a new company called Altaba Inc., and will be led by CEO Thomas McInerney, a current Yahoo board member.

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Yahoo Shows Some Progress in Last Stretch as Stand-alone Company - Bloomberg

The protests over President Trumps refusal to release his tax returns are the latest manifestation of a popular movement with which Republicans increasingly have to contend.CreditPHOTOGRAPH BY RADHIKA CHALASANI / REDUX

Saturday was mild and cloudy in Philadelphiagood marching weather for the thousands of anti-Trump protesters who gathered at City Hall and made their way down Market Street to Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. The atmosphere was upbeatfestive, almost. Many members of the crowd were carrying homemade signs, and their chants filled the spring air: What do we want? Trumps tax returns. When do we want it? Now. We want a leader, not a tax cheater. We want a leader, not a friggin tweeter.

Eighty-five days into the Trump Presidency, similar scenes played out across the country: from Los Angeles to Boston, from Seattle to Raleigh. In Palm Beach,about three thousandpeoplekicked up a racket near Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort, where the President was spending yet another weekend.

The First Golfer wasnt pleased. To avoid the protesters, one of whom was carrying a sign that said, Twinkle Twinkle Little Czar, Putin Put You Where You Are, his motorcade was forced totake a circuitous route backfrom Trump International Golf Club, where he had played his sixteenth round since taking office. (That figure comes courtesy ofa tally by the Palm Beach Post.) The following morning, Easter Sunday, Trump took to Twitter, grumbling, Someone should look into who paid for the small organized rallies yesterday. The election is over!

The protests werent small, of course, and nobody paid for them. They were the latest manifestation of a popular movement that Trump himself has inspired, one that has established itself as an important presence on the national political scene, and with which Trump and his Republican allies and enablers increasingly have to contend.

During their two-week Easter break, many G.O.P. members of Congress were confronted by constituents upset over the Republican effort to dismantle Obamacare. Politico, which dispatched reporters to nearly a dozen town-hall meetings, reported, for example, that the Colorado representative Mike Coffman, a relative moderate, wasconfronted by a lifelong Republicanwho demanded that he commit to limiting premiums for people with prexisting conditions. In Graniteville, South Carolina, a crowd chanted You lie! at Joe Wilson, theRepublican congressman who famously shouted out the same phrase duringa 2009 address to Congress by former President Obama.

Of course, most of the people who are marching and protesting at Republican events might not be G.O.P. voters. But they arent all Democratic activists, either. Indeed, what is striking is how many people Trump has mobilized who previously didnt pay very much attention to what happens in Washington. He has politicized many formerly apolitical people; ultimately, this may be among his biggest achievements as President.

At anti-Trump rallies, the organizers tend to be activists, but the protesters are of all sorts: college graduates outraged by Trumps nativism; office workersangry that he wont release his tax returns; doctors and nurses worried about the health-care system; retirees worried about their grandkids; and Americans from all walks of life who think that Trump isnt fit for office and represents a grave danger to the country.

The troubles that Trump has encountered in office, far from diminishing the protest movement, have only encouraged itand for good reason. If the past three months have demonstrated anything, it is that, even in a political system tainted by money and influence-peddling, political participation does matter. Federal officials, judges, Democratic and Republican congressmen, even Trump himselfthey all pay attention to public activism and public opinion.

Take the Administrations two attempts to enact an anti-Muslim travel ban. Would the federal courts have blocked the measures without the mass protests that the first ban engendered? Or recall the Ryan-Trump health-care bill. While the defectionsof the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus played a big role in the bills failure, so did the protests at G.O.P. town-hall meetings and the campaign to highlight how the measure would undercut affordable coveragefor the old and sick.

These were two successes for the anti-Trump forces, as was the downgrading of Steve Bannon, the White Houses chief political strategist. To the extent that the goal of the resistance is to make sure the checks and balances in the American political system work as intended, and to prevent the emergence of an overweening Presidency, or a potential despot, it seems to be succeeding. Although Trump would never admit that he is backtracking, he has been forced to make some concessions to reality.But there is no room for complacency. Far from it.

Despite the tax-day protests, the President has no intention of releasing his returns, much less of setting up a proper blind trust for his business assets, or of separating his family from the conduct of government. Inside the White House, he appears to be relying more and more on his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Elsewhere in government, as theTimesreported over the weekend, he is busy installing former lobbyiststo oversee their former clients.

In many policy areas, the Trump Administration remains determined to roll back the clock in ways that will be difficult to stop. Protest marches wont prevent the E.P.A. from whittling away at environmental regulations, the Justice Department from failing to enforce civil-rights laws, or the National Labor Relations Board from ruling in favor of big businesses.

Then there is Trump himself. Throughout his career, he has shown a willingness to do virtually anything, and to take huge risks, to protecthis position. There is no reason to expect anything different now. In the past couple of weeks, he has pivoted to national security, ordered the bombing of Syria, presided over the detonation in Afghanistan of one of the biggest conventional weapons in the U.S. arsenal, and made threatening noises toward North Korea.

In foreign policy, unfortunately, Presidents are given wide latitude.Particularly during crises, Congress tends to defer to the Commander-in-Chief, and the judiciary cant pullhim back from the brink. But there is still the right to protest. And this seems like a good time for some peace rallies.

Read more here:

The Trump Resistance: A Progress Report - The New Yorker - The New Yorker

Valtteri Bottas takes over from Lewis Hamilton for Wednesday's running, after the Briton spent day one focusing on some new parts evaluation and tyre runs.

Mercedes is adamant that unlocking stronger pace in the race is key to it beating Ferrari, and Hamilton felt progress had been made on the opening day.

Bahrain test day one report: Hamilton fastest, more Honda strife

"Our focus was on advancing our understanding of the tyres and also the rear of the car so that we can improve our long runs - particularly during the race and on the super-soft compound," said Hamilton after his test came to an end.

"We came here with a specific goal, so it was positive to get on top of that with the team."

World championship leader Sebastian Vettel will return to normal testing duties for Ferrari on Wednesday, having spent Tuesday working on Pirelli's 2018 evaluation project.

Ferrari's challenge is slightly different from Mercedes, in that Vettel's team is on top of its race performance but has proved lacking on single-lap pace.

The team may well choose to concentrate on that because, with overtaking more difficult in 2017, not being able to control the race from the front is a disadvantage.

Pierre Gasly is taking over for Red Bull, with Daniel Ricciardo's running on Tuesday having been cut short by an engine failure.

Force India will split running between Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez as it continues work on evaluation of new parts, while Kevin Magnussen will be tasked with further work on Haas's brakes.

His team-mate Romain Grosjean, who has had strongly critical of current supplier Brembo, was encouraged by the work he did with alternative products from Carbone Industries on Tuesday.

"We still have a lot of work to do around them and see the performance, but it feels better, as it was last year," explained Grosjean on Tuesday evening.

"Otherwise it's quite similar. We just need to see if we can actually make it work with all our mapping."

When asked if he was positive enough for a switch to come in time for the next race, Grosjean said: "I think it could come for Russia. It's all ready.

"But only if we're confident that we're going to start Russia without a hitch, as you cannot miss FP1 and part of FP2 because you're not right on mapping."

McLaren will also be hoping for a better day than Tuesday, when an engine change prompted by an ERS water leak cost it hours of running and left it behind in its test programme.

Stoffel Vandoorne is taking over from Oliver Turvey for day two.

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Mercedes hints at progress with tyre weakness - Eurosport.com