Category: United States

Ron Paul: US ‘likely hiding truth’ on downed Malaysian Flight MH17

Former Congressman Ron Paul said the US knows ‘more than it is telling’ about the Malaysian aircraft that crashed in eastern Ukraine last month, killing 298 people on board and seriously damaging US-Russian relations in the process.

In an effort to inject some balance of opinion, not to mention pure sanity, into the ongoing debate over what happened to Malaysian Flight MH17, Ron Paul is convinced the US government is withholding information on the catastrophe.

“The US government has grown strangely quiet on the accusation that it was Russia or her allies that brought down the Malaysian airliner with a Buk anti-aircraft missile,” Paul said on his news website on Thursday.

Ron Paul to Obama: Let’s just leave Ukraine alone!

Paul’s comments are in sharp contrast to the echo chamber of one-sided opinion inside Western mainstream media, which has almost unanimously blamed anti-Kiev militia for bringing down the commercial airline. Incredibly, in many cases Washington had nothing to show as evidence to incriminate pro-Russian rebels aside from tenuous references to social media.

“We’ve seen that there were heavy weapons moved from Russia to Ukraine, that they have moved into the hands of separatist leaders,” said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. “And according to social media reports, those weapons include the SA-11 [Buk missile] system.”

In another instance, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters “the Russians intend to deliver heavier and more powerful rocket launchers to the separatist forces in Ukraine, and have evidence that Russia is firing artillery from within Russia to attack Ukrainian military positions.” When veteran AP reporter Matthew Lee asked for proof, he was to be disappointed.

“I can’t get into the sources and methods behind it,” Harf responded. “I can’t tell you what the information is based on.” Lee said the allegations made by the State Department on Ukraine have fallen far short of “definitive proof.”

Just days after US intelligence officials admitted they had no conclusive evidence to prove Russia was behind the downing of the airliner, Kiev published satellite images as ‘proof’ it didn’t deploy anti-aircraft batteries around the MH17 crash site. However, these images have altered time-stamps and are from the days after the MH17 tragedy, the Russian Defense Ministry revealed, fully discrediting the Ukrainian claims.

In yet another inexplicable occurrence, Russian military detected a Ukrainian SU-25 fighter jet approaching the MH17 Boeing on the day of the catastrophe. No acceptable explanation has ever been given by Kiev as to why this fighter aircraft was so close to the doomed passenger jet moments before it was brought down.

“[We] would like to get an explanation as to why the military jet was flying along a civil aviation corridor at almost the same time and at the same level as a passenger plane,” Russian Lieutenant-General Andrey Kartopolov demanded days after the crash.

Paul has slammed the Obama administration, despite its arsenal of surveillance technologies at its disposal, for its failure to provide a single grain of evidence to solve the mystery of the Malaysian airliner.

“It’s hard to believe that the US, with all of its spy satellites available for monitoring everything in Ukraine, that precise proof of who did what and when is not available,” the two-time presidential candidate said.

“Too bad we can’t count on our government to just tell us the truth and show us the evidence,” Paul added. “I’m convinced that it knows a lot more than it’s telling us.”


Although no sufficient evidence has been presented to prove that the anti-Kiev militia was responsible for the downing of the international flight, such an inconvenient oversight has not stopped the United States and Europe from slapping economic sanctions and travel bans against Russia.

Moscow hit back, saying it would place a ban on agricultural imports from the United States and the European Union. Russia’s tit-for-tat ban will certainly be felt, as food and agricultural imports from the US amounted to $1.3 billion last year, according to the US Department of Agriculture. In 2013, meanwhile, the EU’s agricultural exports to Russia totaled 11.8 billion euros ($15.8 billion).

After the crash, Ron Paul was one of a few voices calling for calm as US officials were pointing fingers without a shred of evidence to support their claims. Paul has not been afraid to say the painfully obvious things the US media, for any number of reasons, cannot find the courage to articulate.

“They will not report that the crisis in Ukraine started late last year, when EU and US-supported protesters plotted the overthrow of the elected Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovych,” Paul said. “Without US-sponsored ‘regime change,’ it is unlikely that hundreds would have been killed in the unrest that followed. Nor would the Malaysian Airlines crash have happened.”

Paul also found it outrageous that Western media, parroting the government line, has reported that the Malaysian flight must have been downed by “Russian-backed separatists,” because the BUK missile that reportedly brought down the aircraft was Russian made.

“They will not report that the Ukrainian government also uses the exact same Russian-made weapons,” he emphasized. – RT.COM

White kids no longer a majority in US schools

For the first time ever, U.S. public schools are projected this fall to have more minority students than non-Hispanic whites enrolled, a shift largely fueled by growth in the number of Hispanic children.

Non-Hispanic white students are still expected to be the largest racial group in the public schools this year at 49.8 percent. But the National Center for Education Statistics says minority students, when added together, will now make up the majority.

About one-quarter of the minority students are Hispanic, 15 percent are black and 5 percent are Asian and Pacific Islanders. Biracial students and Native Americans make up a smaller share of the minority student population.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan called the changing population a seminal moment in education. “We can’t talk about other people’s children. These are our children,” he said.

The shift creates new academic realities, such as the need for more English language instruction, and cultural ones, meaning changes in school lunch menus to reflect students’ tastes.

But it also brings some complex societal questions that often fall to school systems to address, including issues of immigration, poverty, diversity and inequity.

The result, at times, is racial and ethnic tension.

In Louisiana in July, Jefferson Parish public school administrators reached an agreement with the federal government to end an investigation into discrimination against English language learners.

Source: AP

White teacher wins discrimination suit against black principal

A Maryland jury has awarded a white teacher $350,000 in damages for being discriminated against by his former principal, an African-American woman.

The Washington Post reports teacher Jon Everhart, 65, filed a lawsuit in 2010 against Prince George’s County Public Schools on the grounds that Largo High School Principal Angelique Simpson-Marcus subjected him to abuse because of his race.principal simpson-marcus with cut line

Everhart claims Simpson-Marcus called him “poor white trash” and “white b—-,” and told students that the “only reason a white teacher teaches in (Prince George’s) County is that they can’t get a job elsewhere.”

Simpson-Marcus’ hostility toward Everhart reportedly began in 2003 when both were working as teachers in Largo High School. Everhart says Simpson-Marcus told him that if she ever became principal, he would be the first person she would fire, the Washington Post reports.

Bryan Chapman, Everhart’s attorney, said that when Simpson-Marcus became the school’s principal in 2007, “Everhart, who was once named the school’s Teacher of the Year and who received stellar evaluations, started to receive unsatisfactory performance evaluations,” the news site reports.

Media reports indicate Everhart was fired after the 2009-10 school year.

Everhart says his years of harassment from Simpson-Marcus contributed to a decline in his health, including high blood pressure and heart problems.

Simpson-Marcus denies all wrongdoing.

“I never said any of those things,” she told the Post. “I don’t use that kind of language.”

However, a group of Largo High School employees claims otherwise.

According to a 2011 Washington Post article, several faculty members said Simpson-Marcus “routinely called her secretaries names, such as ‘chicken heads,’ ‘ghetto’ and ‘hood rats.’”

The teachers also said they were mistreated for vocally supporting Everhart.

A judge will decide if Everhart should also be awarded back pay, retirement and health benefits, and the restoration of his teaching certificate, the Post adds.

Prince George’s school leaders may appeal the $350,000 ruling.

Source: eagnews.org

Violence, looting after black teenager shot

DeAndre Smith, 30, of Ferguson was happy to justify the looting

This weekend protest and looting in Ferguson, St Louis, Missouri, left broken glass and at least one burned-out building.

Officer Brian Schellman of the St. Louis County police said two officers were injured overnight Sunday — one was hit by a brick and one suffered knee injuries. Police arrested 32 people for theft, assault or burglary.

The protests followed the fatal shooting on Saturday of Michael Brown, 18, by police. Authorities said Sunday that a police officer shot Brown, who was unarmed, after the teen attacked the Ferguson officer. After protests and a vigil earlier in the day, some people broke into stores and looted them, setting fire to a QuikTrip and leaving glass and other debris strewn about.

Schellman said the looting and destruction stopped and the area had quieted a down about 3:30 a.m. Monday.

He said the police helicopter was shot at once or twice, but was not hit. He said the night was a scary situation for even veteran officers.

Jennings school district canceled the first day of school today, saying it was concerned for student safety in the wake of Sunday night’s violence.

“Safety is our uppermost concern,” a Jennings release said. “At this time we do not feel it’s safe for our students to walk to school.”

Officials said they hoped classes could begin Tuesday.

On the lot of a QuikTrip that was looted and burned Sunday night, some men who said they had been there last night defended the damage as a response to injustice.

DeAndre Smith, 30, of Ferguson was happy to justify the looting when a reporter asked him about it Monday morning.

“This is exactly what is supposed to be happening when an injustice is happening in your community,” he said, adding: “You have kids getting killed for nothing.”

Smith, who moved to St. Louis from New York in December, said there could be more to come.

“I don’t think it’s over honestly,” he said. “I just think they got a taste of what fighting back means.”

Source: Post-Dispatch/AP

Snowden granted 3-yr residence permit in Russia – lawyer

Edward Snowden has received a residence permit in Russia, which is valid for three years, starting on August 1, the former NSA contractor’s lawyer announced.

Snowden’s life in Russia: ‘Much happier than be unfairly tried in US’

“On the first of August he received a three-year residence permit,” lawyer Anatoly Kucherena told reporters.

He added that Snowden had not asked for political asylum.

“He will be able to travel freely within the country and go abroad. He’ll be able to stay abroad for not longer than three months,” Kucherena said.

The former NSA contractor will be able to apply for the Russian citizenship in five years.

“A foreign citizen, who got a residence permit, will certainly be able to apply for citizenship,” Kucherena said.

Edward Snowden has not yet made up his mind whether he wants Russian citizenship.

“By all means he is homesick,” his lawyer said. “It was hard for him to find himself far from home, especially for the first time. Of course, in the future Edward will make up his mind on whether to stay in Russia and apply for citizenship or to leave for the US. He hasn’t done this yet.”

Edward Snowden was granted temporary asylum in Russia a year ago. It expired July 31.

He left the US and went to Hong Kong in May 2013, from where he leaked confidential files to mass media concerning the NSA’s overwhelming surveillance.

Snowden then planned to seek refuge in Cuba, but found himself stranded at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, after his American passport was annulled by US authorities.

Kucherena dismissed a letter from the US Prosecutor General’s office to the Russian Ministry of Justice as insufficient grounds for handing Snowden over to the US.

“There has been no request which complies with international law,” the lawyer said.

If Edward Snowden does one day travel back to the US, it’s not going to be extradition, his lawyer assured.

“No extradition is possible under Russian law,” he said. “He has not committed any crime. He faces no charges in Russia.”

Snowden’s security in Russia is being ensured by a private firm, Kucherena said.

“He’s without state protection and he can’t possibly have it. To arrange state protection you have to go through many bureaucratic procedures.”

Kucherena also told reporters that Snowden was satisfied with his job in Russia, as he was able to continue his profession and work in the sphere of computer technology. The former NSA contractor’s Russian salary is adequate, the lawyer added.

The lawyer said Snowden will hold a press conference in Russia as soon as it will be possible. – RT.COM

‘I do not whip people’

As House Minority Whip, Rep. Steny Hoyer made a racist joke about “whip[ping] people” to a group of black African leaders visiting the U.S. for a major diplomatic summit.

“First of all, let me tell my friends from Africa, I do not whip people,” the Maryland Democrat told a crowd at the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit Wednesday.

Some in the black audience laughed, clearly embarrased for Hoyer’s sake.

“And if you watch ‘House of Cards,’ it is not accurate,” Hoyer continued, referencing a show aired on Netflix about the inner workings of Washington D.C. politics.

Wednesday’s event, titled “Dialogue with African CEOs,” was hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus.

Hoyer’s speech covered initiatives meant to boost economic productivity in Africa. He also spoke about the lack of access to electricity on the continent, remarks which would undermine the punchline to his “joke,” which relied on the audience being able to view “House of Cards.”

“Right now, there are 600 million sub-Saharan Africans living without reliable access to electricity,” Hoyer said at the event, according to prepared remarks at his congressional website. “That’s 70 percent of the population – and a significant barrier to growing Africa’s middle class.”

Source: Daily Caller

US to test Ebola vaccine on people

The U.S. government will begin testing on people an experimental Ebola vaccine as early as September, after seeing positive results from tests on primates, according to media reports on Thursday.

The National Institutes of Health’s infectious disease unit is working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to put the vaccine into trial as quickly as possible, according to CNN and USA Today. The director of that unit could not be reached for comment.

Source: Reuters

US restocks Israel with ammunition hours after condemning UN school attack

The United States confirmed it had restocked Israel’s supplies of ammunition, hours after issuing a strong condemnation of an attack on a United Nations school in Gaza, AFP reported.

The Israeli military requested additional ammunition to restock its dwindling supplies on July 20, the Pentagon said. The US Defense Department approved the sale just three days later.

“The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to US national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability,” Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said in a statement.

“This defense sale is consistent with those objectives.”

Two of the requested munitions came from a little-known stockpile of ammunition stored by the US military on the ground in Israel for emergency use by the Jewish state. The War Reserve Stockpile Ammunition-Israel is estimated to be worth $1 billion.

The decision to provide ammunition to Israel could fuel controversy, coming just as Washington expresses growing concern about the deaths of more than 1,300 Palestinians, most of them civilians, since the Israeli operation began on July 8.

Israel follows American expert’s public-relations rules

Israeli spokesmen have their work cut out explaining how they have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them civilians, compared with just three civilians killed in Israel by Hamas rocket and mortar fire. But on television and radio and in newspapers, Israeli government spokesmen such as Mark Regev appear slicker and less aggressive than their predecessors, who were often visibly indifferent to how many Palestinians were killed.

Dr. Frank Luntz
Dr. Frank Luntz

There is a reason for this enhancement of the PR skills of Israeli spokesmen. Going by what they say, the playbook they are using is a professional, well-researched and confidential study on how to influence the media and public opinion in America and Europe. Written by the expert Republican pollster and political strategist Dr Frank Luntz, the study was commissioned five years ago by a group called The Israel Project, with offices in the US and Israel, for use by those “who are on the front lines of fighting the media war for Israel”.

Every one of the 112 pages in the booklet is marked “not for distribution or publication” and it is easy to see why. The Luntz report, officially entitled “The Israel project’s 2009 Global Language Dictionary, was leaked almost immediately to Newsweek Online, but its true importance has seldom been appreciated. It should be required reading for everybody, especially journalists, interested in any aspect of Israeli policy because of its “dos and don’ts” for Israeli spokesmen.

These are highly illuminating about the gap between what Israeli officials and politicians really believe, and what they say, the latter shaped in minute detail by polling to determine what Americans want to hear. Certainly, no journalist interviewing an Israeli spokesman should do so without reading this preview of many of the themes and phrases employed by Mr Regev and his colleagues.

The booklet is full of meaty advice about how they should shape their answers for different audiences. For example, the study says that “Americans agree that Israel ‘has a right to defensible borders’. But it does you no good to define exactly what those borders should be. Avoid talking about borders in terms of pre- or post-1967, because it only serves to remind Americans of Israel’s military history. Particularly on the left this does you harm. For instance, support for Israel’s right to defensible borders drops from a heady 89 per cent to under 60 per cent when you talk about it in terms of 1967.”

How about the right of return for Palestinian refugees who were expelled or fled in 1948 and in the following years, and who are not allowed to go back to their homes? Here Dr Luntz has subtle advice for spokesmen, saying that “the right of return is a tough issue for Israelis to communicate effectively because much of Israeli language sounds like the ‘separate but equal’ words of the 1950s segregationists and the 1980s advocates of Apartheid. The fact is, Americans don’t like, don’t believe and don’t accept the concept of ‘separate but equal’.”

So how should spokesmen deal with what the booklet admits is a tough question? They should call it a “demand”, on the grounds that Americans don’t like people who make demands. “Then say ‘Palestinians aren’t content with their own state. Now they’re demanding territory inside Israel’.” Other suggestions for an effective Israeli response include saying that the right of return might become part of a final settlement “at some point in the future”.

Dr Luntz notes that Americans as a whole are fearful of mass immigration into the US, so mention of “mass Palestinian immigration” into Israel will not go down well with them. If nothing else works, say that the return of Palestinians would “derail the effort to achieve peace”.

The Luntz report was written in the aftermath of Operation Cast Lead in December 2008 and January 2009, when 1,387 Palestinians and nine Israelis were killed.

There is a whole chapter on “isolating Iran-backed Hamas as an obstacle to peace”. Unfortunately, come the current Operation Protective Edge, which began on 6 July, there was a problem for Israeli propagandists because Hamas had quarrelled with Iran over the war in Syria and had no contact with Tehran. Friendly relations have been resumed only in the past few days – thanks to the Israeli invasion.

Much of Dr Luntz’s advice is about the tone and presentation of the Israeli case. He says it is absolutely crucial to exude empathy for Palestinians: “Persuadables [sic] won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Show Empathy for BOTH sides!” This may explain why a number of Israeli spokesman are almost lachrymose about the plight of Palestinians being pounded by Israeli bombs and shells.

In a sentence in bold type, underlined and with capitalisation, Dr Luntz says that Israeli spokesmen or political leaders must never, ever justify “the deliberate slaughter of innocent women and children” and they must aggressively challenge those who accuse Israel of such a crime. Israeli spokesmen struggled to be true to this prescription when 16 Palestinians were killed in a UN shelter in Gaza last Thursday.

There is a list of words and phrases to be used and a list of those to be avoided. Schmaltz is at a premium: “The best way, the only way, to achieve lasting peace is to achieve mutual respect.” Above all, Israel’s desire for peace with the Palestinians should be emphasised at all times because this what Americans overwhelmingly want to happen. But any pressure on Israel to actually make peace can be reduced by saying “one step at a time, one day at a time”, which will be accepted as “a commonsense approach to the land-for-peace equation”.

Dr Luntz cites as an example of an “effective Israeli sound bite” one which reads: “I particularly want to reach out to Palestinian mothers who have lost their children. No parent should have to bury their child.”

The study admits that the Israeli government does not really want a two-state solution, but says this should be masked because 78 per cent of Americans do. Hopes for the economic betterment of Palestinians should be emphasised.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is quoted with approval for saying that it is “time for someone to ask Hamas: what exactly are YOU doing to bring prosperity to your people”. The hypocrisy of this beggars belief: it is the seven-year-old Israeli economic siege that has reduced the Gaza to poverty and misery.

On every occasion, the presentation of events by Israeli spokesmen is geared to giving Americans and Europeans the impression that Israel wants peace with the Palestinians and is prepared to compromise to achieve this, when all the evidence is that it does not. Though it was not intended as such, few more revealing studies have been written about modern Israel in times of war and peace. – UK Independent

Senior US intel finds no evidence of Russian involvement in MH17

Senior US intelligence officials say they have no evidence of Russian government involvement in the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

They say the passenger jet was likely felled by an SA-11 surface-to-air missile fired by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine and that Russia “created the conditions” for the downing by arming the separatists, AP reported.

The officials briefed reporters Tuesday under ground rules that their names not be used in discussing intelligence related to last week’s air disaster, which killed 298 people.

They said they did not know if any Russians were present at the missile launch, and they wouldn’t say that the missile crew was trained in Russia.

A senior official said the most likely explanation was the plane was shot down by mistake.

The officials declined to provide more details on the satellites and other sophisticated sensors that enabled them to trace the path of the missile, citing concerns about compromising secret US capabilities.

They spoke condition of anonymity during a briefing arranged for reporters in Washington. Their secrecy was in stark contrast to Russian briefs by responsible official figures who provided technical data for public scrutiny.

The Russian military has presented information that a Ukrainian SU-25 fighter had been gaining altitude in the direction of the Malaysian Boeing prior to the catastrophe.

According to military monitoring data outlined by chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces Lt. Gen. Andrey Kartopolov along with chief of the Air Force Main Staff Lt. Gen. Igor Makushev this week, Russia is concerned about a number of unanswered questions surrounding the downing of the jet.

The American spooks said they have ruled out the possibility that Ukrainian forces were responsible for the attack. They confirmed however that they were still toying with “scenario’s” and not facts.

“That is not a plausible scenario,” said one senior U.S. official, who noted that American intelligence agencies have confirmed that Ukraine had no anti-aircraft missile system within range of the Malaysian flight at the time it was struck.

They did not elaborate on pro-Western and pro-Ukranian rogue elements in the area.

Via WaPo,

Senior U.S. intelligence officials cited sensors that traced the path of the missile, shrapnel markings on the downed aircraft, voiceprint analysis of separatists claiming credit for the strike, and a flood of photos and other data from social media sites.

The officials also for the first time identified a sprawling Russian military installation near the city of Rostov as the main conduit of Russian support to separatists in Ukraine, describing it as a hub of training and weapons that has expanded dramatically over the past month. The officials said that tanks, rocket launchers and other arms have continued to flow into Ukraine.

They gave no evidence to back up these claims, however. The officials also expressed exasperation that their attempts to influence public opinion lacked some credibility.

“We are seeing a full-court press by the Russian government to instruct affiliated or friendly elements to manipulate the media environment to spread Russia’s version of the story,” the official said.

The U.S. officials said they have confirmed the authenticity of some of those recordings, including one in which the self-proclaimed defense minister of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Igor Strelkov, claimed responsibility for shooting down a military transport plane at the time the Malaysian aircraft was struck.

Analysis comparing that audio clip to other confirmed recordings of Strelkov’s voice “confirmed these were authentic conversations,” one of the officials said.

“If you listen to Youtube you get that: ‘we’re finding civilians,’” a senior U.S. intelligence official said. For that reason, the official said, “the most plausible explanation to me is [it was] a mistake.”

On Monday State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf was asked whether the US could back up claims that “common sense” and no reliable data indicated Ukrainian militia had shot down the Malaysian Airlines plane, along with “evidence” provided by social media.

Harf responded that there was a “host of information” gathered by US intelligence on the incident, but that they “needed to get all the facts”.

“I certainly am blaming the Russians for the pro-Russian separatists’ behavior in general, but we need to get all the facts about this specific incident. We don’t – I don’t want to go out there and put culpability on anyone until we have all of those facts,” Harf told journalists.

Thus, despite claims that the media would be presented with unclassified evidence from US intelligence sources, the spooks mostly reiterated earlier claims based on social media posts and unverified audio and video recordings published by Ukrainian government.

Diversity based grading

Historically underrepresented racial/ethnic” students be awarded ‘equitable’ grades to their counterparts, regardless

It sounds crazy on its face, but then again one comes to expect that from UW-Madison. But are they crazy enough to do race-based grading.

W. Lee Hansen, a professor emeritus of economics at UW-Madison wrote in an op-ed piece for the John William Hope Pope Center for Higher Education, a North Carolina-based think tank, about the latest “diversity” plan for the UW-System’s flagship school. The plan, completed in May, is your typical left-wing platitudes about commitments to “compositional diversity,” “equity mindedness” “representational equity” and other things for what has become a sacred cow to liberal academia.

But when you dig deeper into the definitions of these platitudes according to Hansen, you suddenly see that “representational equity” is being applied to levels never before seen.

Let us take a closer look at one of these working definitions included, namely “representational equity.”

It calls for “proportional participation of historically underrepresented racial-ethnic groups at all levels of an institution, including high status special programs, high-demand majors, and in the distribution of grades.”

We are not told exactly what adherence to this will entail. It appears to mean that directors of programs and departmental chairs will have to somehow ensure that they have a mix of students with just the right percentages of individuals who embody the various “differences” included in the definition of diversity. I cannot see how that is possible and even if it were, how it improves any student’s education.

Get all that?

UW-Madison’s diversity guidelines state that if a course, major or program is in high demand, special status must be given to ensure the make-up of the class (and thus those taking the major) is racially and ethnically diverse with “just the right percentages.” Meaning, it would be justifiable for a placement in hard-to-get-in classes and prerequisites for specific majors be awarded to students based sole on their race.

But it may be worse than that.

Especially shocking is the language about “equity” in the distribution of grades. Professors, instead of just awarding the grade that each student earns, would apparently have to adjust them so that academically weaker, “historically underrepresented racial/ethnic” students perform at the same level and receive the same grades as academically stronger students.

At the very least, this means even greater expenditures on special tutoring for weaker targeted minority students. It is also likely to trigger a new outbreak of grade inflation, as professors find out that they can avoid trouble over “inequitable” grade distributions by giving every student a high grade.

In short, the new diversity requirements seem to say that campus commitment to diversity is so important that the grading system itself must be sacrificed. This would mean, according to Hansen and others, an environment now exists where academic performance no longer matters. That for the diversity crowd, all that seems to be of value would be that “historically underrepresented racial/ethnic” students be awarded “equitable” grades to their counterparts, regardless.

If what Hansen is saying is true at UW-Madison, then it will be up to officials from the regents, to faculty, to parents and students, to begin questioning the mission statement of the university.

Are they still an institute of higher learning, or an institute of higher diversity?

Source: EAGnews.org

Detroit water shutoffs ‘racially’ motivated

After a class action lawsuit filed against the city of Detroit, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund says that recent water shutoffs to Detroit residents were racially motivated.

Veronica Joice with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund says, “That (the shutoffs are) being done in a discriminatory fashion; and they should at least take a look at whether there’s a better way to do this that doesn’t affect the most vulnerable citizens — the majority of whom are African American here in Detroit.”

Attorney Alice Jennings, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Detroit residents, said it’s a known fact that there are corporations that owe hundreds of thousands of dollars to the city of Detroit Water and Sewerage Department.
“These companies are basically Caucasian companies,” Jennings said. “The folks who are being cut off are almost one hundred percent African American.”

Asked by WWJ’s Charlie Langton directly if this is a “racial issue,” Jennings replied: “It sure is! You bet it is.”

The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department stopped service to about 7,200 homes and businesses in June, compared to 1,570 in the same month last year. Water was restored to 43 percent after customers paid or worked out payment plans.

At a bankruptcy hearing Monday, federal Judge Steven Rhodes asked the city for an update on the water issue, but fell short of ordering any action.

Talking to WWJ’s Sandra McNeil shortly after the announcement, water department spokesman Greg Eno admitted there’s no doubt that the department has been lax over the years, letting the bills pile up.

He said people who now owe more than they can afford are being asked to come in and apply for assistance through the Water Affordability Program.

Eno said, through, it’s not just free money.

“We don’t have, you know, a bottomless cup of funds,” he said, adding that’s why it’s important that affected customers come in as soon as possible.

Faith in Obama drops sharply in South Africa, Russia, Germany due to US spying, Ukraine crisis

Only 52% of South Africans believe that the USA take the protection of personal freedoms seriously. Overt the past year, the percentage of South Africans who still believe in the American president Barack Obama has dropped by 18 percentage points.

Citizens of other BRICS countries, such as Russians and Brazilians have also become suspicious of US motives, following upon revelations of the National Security Agency’s global spy program, together with civil strife in Ukraine. In Germany, faith in the USA has slumped by a whopping 23 percentage points.

Thanks to a series of global scandals, the United States in general, and its commander-in-chief in particular, have suffered a drop in favorability among the majority of countries polled by Pew Research.

“In 22 of 36 countries surveyed in both 2013 and 2014, people are significantly less likely to believe the US government respects the personal freedoms of its citizens,” the report said.

pew_table1
Spring 2014 Global Attitudes Survey, Pew Research

Among privacy-loving Germans – many of whom have even refused to allow the Google Maps car to film their homes – Obama’s reputation nosedived when it was revealed that the NSA was collecting communication metadata not only on average Germans, but also on Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose personal mobile phone had been hacked by US intelligence.

Germans’ confidence in Obama sunk to 71 percent, 17 points down from 2013.

Tensions between NATO’s two biggest members escalated this month German authorities arrested a Defense Ministry official suspected of passing secrets to the US. This shocking incident came just one week after the arrest of a German intelligence officer who worked as a double agent for the Americans.

German authorities took the unprecedented step of ordering the expulsion of the Berlin CIA station chief.

“Revelations that Washington systematically reads both Americans’ and some foreigners’ emails and listens in on their telephone conversations appears to have significantly damaged Obama’s approval in only one European Union country: Germany,” Pew reported.

Brazilians’ confidence in the first black American leader dropped from 69 percent in 2013 to 52 percent presently.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who was also the victim of NSA snooping on her personal communications, expressed her anger at those revelations by canceling an official visit to Washington in October.

Finally, Russia, which is watching neighboring Ukraine teeter on the edge of full-blown civil war, sees an American hand provoking the situation behind the scenes, especially after former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich decided against signing as association agreement with the European Union in favor of stronger ties with Moscow.

The decision by sparked a violent showdown in the capital Kiev, which has led to nationwide civil strife that continues today.

“Russian faith in Obama, already quite low in 2013, is down 14 points (to 15 percent), a likely casualty of the Ukraine confrontation,” Pew said.

Meanwhile, America’s once invincible reputation for protecting individual liberties has suffered a major reality check following damning revelations about the extent of NSA surveillance from whistleblower Edward Snowden, presently living in Russia, where he has been granted asylum.

Belief that the US government respects personal freedoms plummeted 25 points in Brazil to 50 percent over the last year; 23 points in Germany to 58 percent; 20 points to 40 percent in Russia; and 11 points to 69 percent in France. Meanwhile, even the United Kingdom, a trusted ally, appears to have experienced a chilling effect by America’s recent naughtiness, dropping 10 points to 65 percent.

US drone strikes have also struck a negative chord among allies and enemies alike, including in NATO member states like Britain, France and Spain. In 37 of 44 surveyed countries, half or more of the public expressed disapproval of drone attacks.

Bloodsuckers: Selling donated blood

Donating blood is anything but a charitable act in the United States. Oftentimes, blood given for free by Americans gets turned into profitable deals by companies specializing in blood sales to hospitals.

These days, a pint of blood can go for $180 to $300, depending on demand.

One business, General Blood based in Minnesota, serves as a middleman between blood donation centers and medical centers and research laboratories. Given that blood is such big business, it’s not unusual for some of it to be spilled in the midst of legal battles. Indeed, General Blood is currently caught up in a lawsuit with the nonprofit Oklahoma Blood Institute (OBI), which sells donated blood. OBI sued General Blood, claiming it is owed money, and General Blood counter-sued OBI for $14 million over alleged confidentiality issues.

The sale of people’s donated blood for hundreds of dollars per pint explains how a nonprofit like OBI can make $86 million a year, according to The Oklahoman.

These earnings get passed down to the institute’s top executives, who make six-figure salaries. Leading the team is OBI’s CEO, John Armitage, whose annual salary is $421,561.

General Blood founder Ben Bowman claims that non-profits like OBI are profiting on blood. But Armitage denies that OBI is doing so.

“We are providing a drug,” Armitage explained to the newspaper. “On the business side of what we do, the comparison is to a pharmaceutical company. Technically, we like to say the blood is free, but they [hospitals] pay a service charge. It’s arranged, so it’s a service fee.”

“We have a charitable side,” he added, “which is trying to motivate people to do an amazing thing [donate blood] to help their fellow man or woman.”