Year: 2014

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Domestic Policies News Politics Wealth

On Wealth, Inequality Rules

So I’m perusing through the news and I see this article about a Pew Research study on median wealth in the United States and how the Great Recession impacted household worth.

It is a stunning indictment of our fiscal, social and moral progress as a nation. If there’s anyone out there who needs a basic primer on why we are facing some months of unrest, then they need to take a look at this. What’s happened is that the wealth of white households has grown to 13 times that of African-American households since the end of the recession. In 2010, the gap was 8 times the wealth. For Hispanic households, the gap between their wealth and whites grew to 10 times the wealth, from 9 times in 2010.

In plain numbers, the results are even more shocking. In 2013, the median net worth of white households, which includes real estate, savings, stocks, bonds, etc., was $141,900, while that of African-Americans was $11,000, and the Hispanic household average was $13,700.

Linger over those numbers. How is it that we can address any kind of racial, ethnic or economic tensions when large groups of people in the United States have so little and fewer opportunities than whites to avail themselves of large parts of American society? These numbers are not well-publicized at all, but they need to be. Send them around social media. Put them on a poster. Talk to your friends.

But do something.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest

Categories
Dick Cheney George Bush Politics

Dick Cheney on Torture – “I’d do it again in a minute!” – Video

Former Vice President and brains of the George Bush Administration went on MSNBC’s Meet The Press today and admitted that he is as selfless a man as we thought he was. Asked about the torture report and the s0-called “enhanced interrogation tactics” used by the CIA during the Bush administration, Dick Cheney offered no regrets but said that if given the chance to torture gain, he would “do it again in a minute!”

And although he threw George Bush under the bus earlier in the week saying that the President knew about the torture tactics being used, Cheney doubled down on that claim again today, saying,”This man knew what we were doing,” he said. “He authorized it. He approved it.”

Categories
Politics

President’s Weekly Address – With The Afghanistan War Almost Over, Obama Thanked Our Troops

On Monday, the President will visit troops at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey to personally thank the troops for all they are doing to protect the American people and our interests around the world. And with the war in Afghanistan coming to an end this week, the President used his weekly address to say thank you to the men and women in uniform.

Hi, everybody. It’s the holidays—a season to give thanks for our many blessings. The love of family. The joy of good friends. The bonds of community. The freedom we cherish as Americans. The peace and justice we seek in the world.

As we go about our days, as we gather with loved ones and friends, it’s important to remember: our way of life—the freedom, prosperity and security that we enjoy as Americans—is not a gift that is simply handed to us. It has to be earned—by every generation. And no one sacrifices more to preserve our blessings than our extraordinary men and women in uniform.

That’s why, on Monday, I’ll be visiting our troops at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey—to salute them for their service and thank them for their sacrifices. Since our nation was attacked on 9/11, these men and women, like so many others in uniform, have met every mission we’ve asked of them. They deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq. In more than a decade of war, this 9/11 Generation has worked with the Afghan people to help them reclaim their communities and prevent terrorist attacks against our own country.

Now, many of our troops are returning from Afghanistan, and on Monday, I’ll be proud to help welcome them home. That’s because, this month, our combat mission in Afghanistan will be over. Our war in Afghanistan is coming to a responsible end.

Categories
Christmas Michelle Obama Politics

President Obama – “I’m the Big Elf” – Video

You know most Republicans would agree with the president on this one, except their idea of ‘Elf’ would be different to what the president was talking about when he called himself “the Big Elf.”

The President was helping the First Lady deliver toys for tots at the Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C. “I’m the big elf,” the President declared. “I’m like Will Ferrell.”

This is the first year the President has joined in the program, while the First Lady has taken part in the toys for tots program for the last six years.”This is the sixth year I’ve been involved with Toys for Tots,” the First Lady noted. “And every year it’s just a tremendous privilege to be able to be a part of making Christmas just a little brighter for a few kids across the country.”

Video

Categories
Christmas Ebola

Announcement – There Will Be No Christmas Celebration in Ebola-Striken Sierra Leone

That was the announcement from the head of the government’s Ebola response unit. There will be “no Christmas and New Year celebrations this year,” Palo Conteh said in the capital of Freetown, according to AFP.

“We will ensure that everybody remains at home to reflect on Ebola,” he said. “Military personnel will be on the streets at Christmas and the New Year to stop any street celebrations.”

The majority of Sierra Leone’s population is Muslim, but Christians make up 10% of its people, according to the CIA World Factbook.

More than 6,500 have died and another 18,100 have been infected with Ebola in West Africa — mainly in the nations of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea — since the outbreak began nearly a year ago.

Categories
News

This Alabama Police Officer Did a Good Deed – Imagine That – Video

Want to know the real definition of protecting and serving? Meet Alabama police officer, William Stacy.

Too bad we don’t see more stories like this from today’s police.

According to People Magazine, Officer William Stacy responded to a shoplifting complaint at Dollar General, but instead of making an arrest, he did something kind. Officer Stacy decided to give Helen Johnson, 47, a break — something that she so desperately needed.

“Johnson went to the store with $1.25 and was short 50 cents for a dozen eggs, so she hid five in her pocket, which immediately broke,” reports People Magazine.

Officer Stacy learned that Johnson was trying to feed her her niece, daughter, and two grandchildren, who had not eaten for days, and he couldn’t help but feel bad for the woman.

And so, the police officer decided to buy the woman eggs, and give her a big hug, even if she attempted to break the law.

“After hearing about the situation, Officer Stacy decided not to press charges and made a deal with Johnson that if he buys the eggs, she won’t shoplift again. She agreed and asked if she could give him a hug,” reports People Magazine.

Video

Categories
New Jersey Politics

Poll: New Jersey Voters say No to a Chris Christie Presidency

The people who knows Chris Christie best don’t want him to be president.

A Quinnipiac poll released Thursday found that 53% of New Jersey voters said Christie would not make a good President.

And Democrat Hillary Clinton would trounce Christie 50%-39% in the Garden State if they faced each other in the 2016 election.

“Even Jersey guys, actually Jersey girls, don’t think the nation will go for a Jersey guy like Gov. Christopher Christie,” said pollster Maurice Carroll.

The poll showed Clinton beating Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Sen. Rand Paul and former presidential candidate Mitt Romney among New Jersey voters.

Categories
Celebrities

Watch Beyonce’s New Short Film – ‘Yours and Mine’ – Video

The film is based on fame, feminism, loss, death and love and is narrated by Beyonce.

“When you’re famous no one looks at you as a human anymore,” she says. “You become the property of the public. There’s nothing real about it.”

Watch

Categories
Politics

House Republicans and Democrats Agree to Massive Spending Bill

Call them “small government Republicans.” Just hours before the 12 am deadline, the Republican controlled House of Representatives passed their version of a massive $1.1 trillion spending package.

The accord was reached just hours before the midnight deadline, in a 219-206 vote, amid the last-minute brinkmanship and bickering that has come to mark one of Congress’s most polarized — and least productive — eras. The legislation now heads to the Senate, which is expected to pass it in the coming days.

The split in the Democratic Party dramatically burst into view when Representative Nancy Pelosi, the minority leader and one of President Obama’s most loyal supporters, broke with the administration over a provision in the bill that would roll back regulation of the Dodd-Frank Act, which Ms. Pelosi said was a giveaway to big banks whose practices helped fuel the Great Recession. She spoke on the House floor in the early afternoon, expressing her strong opposition to the bill.

Categories
Education England Featured Politics

10 Year Old Embarrasses Politician on Live Television – Video

It happened in London, but the same thing can easily happen here, where our government has been infiltrated by Teapartiers and backward Republicans.

The 10 year old decided to pose a math question to the Minister of Education, Nicky Morgan. But Morgan, equipped with her education position in the government, was no match for Leon’s question.

“What’s the cubed route of 125?” Leon asked on live television.

Bet she didn’t see that coming!

“I think it’s probably better that politicians don’t do maths or spelling on air,” the Education Secretary replied.

Leon asked again, but got the same response from the politician.

Sidenote: The answer is of course, 5. A number multiplied by itself three times gives a cubed value, so 5×5×5 =125

Video

Categories
Politics

This Video Explains Some of The Pork Packed Into The Government Spending Bill

With another Government Shutdown looming tonight if Congress cannot figure out a way to do their job and pass a spending bill, let’s take a look at some of the utter nonsense Republicans and Democrats packed into said spending bill – a massive $1.1 trillion spending package that would fund the government through September.

Categories
Politics

Woman Tased and Arrested for Videotaping Police – Video

Baltimore Police, apparently trying to eliminate the threat of a woman and her cell phone camera, tased and arrested
the woman as she recorded them arresting another man.

Video of the March 30 melee surfaced online this week. Police erased the 135-second recording from the woman’s phone, but it was recovered from her cloud account, according to the Circuit Court for Baltimore City lawsuit (PDF), which seeks $7 million.

Kianga Mwamba was driving home from a family gathering in March. Stopped in traffic, she began filming the nearby arrest of a man who she says was kicked by police.

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