Category: United States

US Census shows white deaths outpace births

For the second year in a row, the number of non-Hispanic white deaths in 2013 outweighed the number of white births, signaling an increasingly older and diversified American public. It is a trend that’s likely to continue for a while, as traditionally minority groups become the majority of the U.S. population.

As a result of its slower growth rate, compared with other groups, the number of non-Hispanic white individuals declined to 62.6 percent of the total overall population in 2013 from 63 percent in 2012, according to recent figures from the Census Bureau.

“As we move forward we’re probably going to continue to have a natural decrease of whites because it’s an older population and eventually, maybe in 10 years or so, we’ll have a decline in the white population,” says William Frey, a demographer and senior fellow at the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution in Washington. “That’s a scenario I think we’ll see for a while.”

A previous report from the Census Bureau showed that the U.S. will become a majority-minority country for the first time in 2043, meaning the total number of black, Asian, Hispanic and other minority populations will outweigh the non-Hispanic white population.

Source: USN

Whiteface is a ‘racist attack’

A Florida Republican congressional candidate’s campaign sign was vandalized with whiteface paint last week in a district with overwhelmingly Democratic voter registration. The attack follows a string of bias incidents against black Republicans.

Glo Smith, who reports that she has also had a number of signs stolen, tells National Review Online she became aware of the racist defacement of an eight-foot-by-four-foot sign Tuesday.

The sign was situated on private property in view of Interstate 10 in Jacksonville. The vandal sprayed white paint over the face of Smith, who is African-American. The paint job appears to be carefully done and leaves the eyes untouched, creating a very creepy effect.

Two Republican contenders joined in deploring the racist attack, however.

“We expect signs to be tampered with or stolen,” Smith says, “but not to this extent.” She has not reported the episode to police, but a tweet from the Smith campaign blew up over the weekend.

“There have been some comments out there that this may have been caused by bigotry. This is a message that she is an African American woman who is a Republican and therefore has a white point of view.”

Source: NRO

How a black city cheats to lower the murder rate

It’s always dangerous to put too much value into government statistics. Even when it comes to murders, which you would think would be difficult to hide, the numbers can be manipulated.

Matthew Yglesias writes:

The big problem with making murders disappear (apart from it being illegal and immoral) is that, compared to other crimes, it’s much more likely that you’ll be caught. For example, Patrick Walker was found injured and unresponsive in a crashed automobile, taken to a hospital where he died, then during an autopsy they found a gunshot wound in his head and a bullet casing in the back seat of the car. Owing to the fact that he was clearly shot and killed, this was filed on his death certificate as a murder. But the Chicago Police Department has classified the case as a death investigation, making it disappear from their stats.

Chicago Magazine reports:

On October 28, a pathologist ruled the death of Tiara Groves a homicide by “unspecified means.” This rare ruling means yes, somebody had killed Groves, but the pathologist couldn’t pinpoint the exact cause of death.

Given the finding of homicide—and the corroborating evidence at the crime scene—the Chicago Police Department should have counted Groves’s death as a murder. And it did. Until December 18. On that day, the police report indicates, a lieutenant overseeing the Groves case reclassified the homicide investigation as a noncriminal death investigation. In his writeup, he cited the medical examiner’s “inability to determine a cause of death.”

That lieutenant was Denis Walsh—the same cop who had played a crucial role in the alleged cover-up in the 2004 killing of David Koschman, the 21-year-old who died after being punched by a nephew of former mayor Richard M. Daley. Walsh allegedly took the Koschman file home. For years, police officials said that it was lost. After theSun-Times reported it missing, the file mysteriously reappeared.

But back to Tiara Groves. With the stroke of a computer key, she was airbrushed out of Chicago’s homicide statistics.

The change stunned officers. Current and former veteran detectives who reviewed the Groves case at Chicago’s request were just as incredulous. Says a retired high-level detective, “How can you be tied to a chair and gagged, with no clothes on, and that’s a [noncriminal] death investigation?” (He, like most of the nearly 40 police sources interviewed for this story, declined to be identified by name, citing fears of disciplinary action or other retribution.)

Was it just a coincidence, some wondered, that the reclassification occurred less than two weeks before the end of the year, when the city of Chicago’s final homicide numbers for 2013 would be tallied? “They essentially wiped away one of the murders in the city, which is crazy,” says a police insider. “But that’s the kind of shit that’s going on.”

For the case of Tiara Groves is not an isolated one. Chicago conducted a 12-month examination of the Chicago Police Department’s crime statistics going back several years, poring through public and internal police records and interviewing crime victims, criminologists, and police sources of various ranks. We identified 10 people, including Groves, who were beaten, burned, suffocated, or shot to death in 2013 and whose cases were reclassified as death investigations, downgraded to more minor crimes, or even closed as noncriminal incidents—all for illogical or, at best, unclear reasons.

Dick Cheney says ‘far deadlier’ 9/11coming

Former Vice President Dick Cheney on Tuesday predicted there would be an attack on the United States within the next decade that is “far deadlier” than the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Cheney has come under intense fire for his role in the devastation of Iraq.

“I doubt it,” Cheney told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, when asked if he thinks the U.S. would “get through this decade” without another “massive attack on the homeland.”

“I think there will be another attack. And the next time, I think it’s going to be far deadlier than the last one. Imagine what would happen if somebody could smuggle a nuclear device, put it in a shipping container, and drive it down the beltway outside Washington, D.C.”

Hewitt then asked Cheney if another attack would lead to “military rule” and the reconstitution of the U.S. government. Cheney detailed the “continuity of government” program, which he said was set up during the Cold War so that a “government in waiting” could be in place if necessary.

Fox News host Megyn Kelly grilled Cheney last week on his role in the Iraq War, after Cheney had co-bylined a Wall Street Journal op-ed with his daughter, Liz, trying to portray himself as an innocent party to the destruction of Iraq.

Cheney and GeorgeW Bush used 9/11 as an excuse to bomb Iraq “because they had WMD’s”. No WMD’s were ever found.

Many actually view Cheney as one of the architects of 9/11.

Source: Business Insider

Race matters for bariatric surgery

Non-Hispanic white patients who underwent a gastric bypass procedure lost slightly more weight over a three-year period than Hispanic or black patients, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published in the journal Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases.

Researchers examined the Kaiser Permanente electronic health records of more than 20,000 racially and ethnically diverse patients in Southern California who underwent bariatric surgery from 2004 through May 2013.

They found that, on average, at three years following gastric bypass surgery, non-Hispanic white patients lost 63 percent of their excess weight; Hispanic patients lost 59 percent; and black patients lost 56 percent.

With vertical sleeve gastrectomy patients, the researchers found no significant differences between racial or ethnic groups in the percentage of excess weight lost.

The study examined the two types of bariatric surgery and found that patients who underwent the now common gastric bypass procedure lost more weight over the same period than patients who underwent the more recently developed vertical sleeve gastrectomy procedure.

The study also found that overall, gastric bypass patients lost an average of 59 percent of excess weight (an average 81.5 pounds) and vertical sleeve gastrectomy patients lost an average of 46 percent (57.6 pounds) after three years of follow-up.

“Studies have shown that bariatric surgery is associated with sustainable weight loss for patients with extreme obesity, but there is very little research to show how these procedures affect persons of different races and ethnicities, especially in the long term,” said study lead author Karen J. Coleman, PhD, of the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation.

“To address the current gaps in the knowledge about bariatric surgery, we created a registry of patients who underwent surgery to monitor quality and safety outcomes and assist clinicians who are caring for these patients after their surgery.”

 

Near half of Detroit can’t pay water bills

Black city struggling

It’s a basic human right: water. But could the United Nations soon help the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department provide the service to struggling customers?

Water department spokeswoman Curtrise Garner says it’s a possibility — but for now, the water bills must be paid.

“We do have programs that do help those that are just totally in need; can’t afford it — but we also know that there are also people who can’t afford it would can not pay and we know this because, once we shut water off, the next day they are in paying the bill in full. So we do know that that has become a habit as well,” said Garner.

“At the DWAS Department — it’s not our goal to shut off water. We want people’s water on, just like they do; but you do have to pay for your water…That’s the bottom line.”

Garner said the reality is that nearly half of Detroit Water and Sewerage customers can’t pay their bills; and that has led activists to lobby the UN to step up and take action.

“If they do contact us we are willing to speak with them,” she said, adding “We owe it to the customers that are paying to collect from those that aren’t. Somebody has to pay for the water.”

And while Garner says water is “a God-given right,” she says there is a cost to move water from the water resource to the customer and that the infrastructure costs money.

According to the Free Press, the average Detroit water bill is now $75 a month — much higher than the nation’s average rate of about $40.

Source: CBS local

John McCain selfie with ISIS posted

On Memorial Day in 2013, John McCain, senior United States Senator from Arizona and Republican presidential nominee in 2008, went on a secret trip to Syria to meet with the rebels who were fighting against Bassar Assad.

At the time, McCain described his visit as ‘moving.’ During an appearance on CNN, McCain elaborated on his experience.

“It was a very moving experience to meet these fighters who have been struggling now for over two years. And they’re very aware of the battlefield situation and they’re very disturbed about the dramatic influx of Hezbollah fighters, more Iranians, and of course, stepped-up activities of Bashar Assad.”

McCain posed for pictures with these rebels, smiling as the camera snapped. Now, ISIS, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria formerly known as Al Qaeda in Iraq, is using those pictures as a campaign ad.

The ISIS terrorists are thus using Republican politicians to advance their cause.

Source: TPNN

The return on higher education

While U.S. schools have remained competitive globally in the face of declining state subsidies and rising tuition costs, it’s fair to ask whether students are getting what they pay for.

Some argue that too many degrees are a waste of money. The return on higher education would be much better if college were cheaper.

The cost of higher education has surged more than 500 percent since 1985, illustrating why there have been renewed calls for change from both political parties.

Tuition expenses have increased 538 percent in the 28-year period, compared with a 286 percent jump in medical costs and a 121 percent gain in the consumer price index. The ballooning charges have generated swelling demand for educational loans while threatening to make college unaffordable for domestic and international students.

College graduates aged 25 to 32 who are working full time earn about $17,500 more annually than their peers who have only a high school diploma, according to the Pew Research Centre, a think-tank. But not all degrees are equally useful. And given how much they cost—a residential four-year degree can set you back as much as $60,000 a year—many students end up worse off than if they had started working at 18.

Arts and humanities courses all nourish the soul, but not all fatten the wallet. An arts degree from a rigorous school such as Columbia or the University of California, San Diego pays off handsomely. But an arts graduate from Murray State University in Kentucky means earning less over 20 years than a high school graduate, after paying for his education.

Of the 153 arts degrees in the study, 46 generated a return on investment worse than 20-year treasury bills, and of those, 18 offered returns worse than zero.

Technology will give colleges a chance to cut costs and raise quality. Online education will accelerate the trend. In 2012, 6.7m students were taking at least one online course.

Source: The Economist

Obama ready to end US embargo against Cuba?

At the end of last week, Uruguayan President Jose Mujica passed along a message from US President Barack Obama to Cuban leader Raul Castro, in which Obama demonstrated willingness to hold a dialogue aimed at cancelling the US embargo against Cuba, the Uruguayan newspaper Busqueda said with reference to sources in official circles.

The newspaper claims that Obama’s message was passed along to Castro by President of Uruguay on the sidelines of the summit in the Group of 77 and China format, which took place at the end of last week in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz. Meanwhile, the newspaper does not specify in what form this message was given – oral or written.

For his part, Castro “shows great interest” having expressed willingness for rapprochement between Havana and Washington, but only in case the US did not impose their point of view.

According to the newspaper, Mujica assessed the meeting with Castro as “fairly optimistic”.

In May, Mujica visited the USA on an official visit and held talks with the US President. According to the Uruguayan newspaper, it was at this meeting that Obama reported to Mujika his readiness for closer ties with Havana.

Washington imposed sanctions against Cuba in 1961, after the failure of the operation aimed at overthrowing the government of Fidel Castro. In 1996, the US Congress adopted the “Helms – Burton Act” on additional sanctions against foreign companies trading with Cuba.

Source: Voice of Russia

Racial violence a US national problem

Most of the victims are white

Teen mobs at city events is not a Cincinnati thing, and it’s been going on for years. Evidence of teen violence goes back to the Wisconsin State Fair in 2011, Philly, Chicago and spring 2014 in Louisville. They all have in common the attacks are by black, teenaged boys and girls. And most of the victims are white. The race factor is not something officials like to talk about. One UC criminology professor says that silence could be deadly. To some who called 911, the race factor was obvious. 11 victims filed reports saying they were kicked, punched or stomped by a group of black teenagers or young adults, boys and girls. Ten of the victims were white, one was Asian. Two reported racial slurs. Noelle Findlay was so certain the assault was racially motivated; the police report says hate crime. At 12th and Clay, Noelle says about 15 teenagers stepped in front of the car her husband was driving, “Everyone swarmed the car; I was like, ‘Go, go, go, get us out of here.'” Noelle’s husband, Chad Findley, told Local 12 News, “I had my window down four or five inches, he punched me in the left side of the face, someone else was on my wife’s side.” He said, “They were laughing the whole time having a great time” Noelle Findley used to live in Over-The-Rhine. Her job was about helping mostly young black men find careers. She filed the police report as a hate crime because she believes there was no other motive. “I feel like it needs to be addressed, people need to speak out say something not sweep it under the rug,” Noelle said. Dr. John Wright, a criminal justice professor at UC, said, “I think it is racist behavior, racist behavior when you target a group based on their race, sexual orientation, it’s the very nature of a hate crime.” Dr. Wright has tracked what he considers mob behavior across the country over the last five years. Most recently in Louisville a mob of teenagers terrorized downtown. They looted a store, vandalized cars and assaulted passersby. Most of the victims were white. Louisville officials say there is no evidence crimes were racially motivated. “We are unwilling to speak about race when it comes to crime because it is a sensitive matter,” said Wright. “Allegations of racism ruins careers, ruin lives. The media remains silent or targets the people who bring up the issue.” Cincinnati police and city leaders publicly condemn the violence. Law and public safety committee chairman, Chris Smitherman, said those responsible will be held accountable. In a statement to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights organization, Mayor John Cranley said nothing justifies, “hate speech or racial prejudice.” Pastor Peterson Mingo of Evanston said, “Not too many ways to explain that behavior, have to condemn it, can’t be tolerated.” Pastor Peterson Mingo’s community programs help young people become responsible, productive, respectful adults. Programs include “The Bulldogs,” Evanston’s football team, Boy Scout troop and a summer lawn care business. Sociologists weighing in suggest high unemployment and resentment fueled by segregation are possible causes. Mingo says there is something else, “There is a thing about loyalty. You with me or you ain’t. If you with me I’m getting ready to knock dude up side head lets go. It’s not where you can say I’m not going to. You’re either with me or you’re not.” Everyone agrees prosecuting those responsible will send a powerful message. Dr. Wright says there is more to do; it’s simple, talk about it.

Source: local12.com

Violence in Iraq means huge profits

Three sales will put nearly $1 billion in the pockets of American defense contractors

U.S. companies are reaping big benefits from the Iraqi government’s battle with ISIS militias. Three sales, including some big-ticket items, announced last month will put nearly $1 billion in the pockets of American defense contractors if Congress approves the sales.

  • Beechcraft Defense Co. and eight other contractors are selling 24 AT-6C Texan II aircraft, plus spares and other equipment to Iraq. That deal is worth about $790 million. The plane is used for “light attack and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.”
  • AM General has a deal to send 200 of its venerable Humvees to help guard oil installations. The contract, which includes spares and equipment such as radios and machine gun mounts, is worth $101 million.
  • Raytheon has a $90-million deal for seven aerostats along with 14 Rapid Aerostat Initial Deployment (RAID) Tower systems to be used for command and control by the Iraqi military.

These are just the latest in a string of sales of military equipment to the Iraqi government. Others have included Stinger missiles, C-130J cargo planes, drones and patrol boats.

Since 2005, the U.S. government has provided more than $14 billion in military hardware, services and training to Iraq, according to Global Post. The Iraqi government is now requesting more equipment to battle the Sunni militias, which have taken over large swaths of the country, and American contractors stand to make even more money as the fighting progresses.

Source: All Gov.

Churches aid illegal invasion of US

Obama Administration deliberately facilitating the flood of illegal immigrants and churches are aiding the flow

South Texas church groups are working around the clock to shuttle what appears to be hundreds of illegal immigrants to housing facilities, benefiting the Obama administration in its deliberate plan to flood America with illegal aliens for political purposes.

Infowars reporters are on the ground in the Rio Grande Valley, the continental United States’ southernmost region, where children and parents from Central America are pouring by the thousands past the US-Mexico border with hopes the U.S. will soon grant them amnesty, which the Obama administration has practically done through selective enforcement of immigration laws.

While monitoring activity at a bus station in McAllen, Texas, Infowars witnessed several church group vans arriving throughout the day and being loaded to capacity with children (many of them without parents), before heading out to facilities nearby.

Illegal immigration by youth to the U.S. has increased over 1300% in the past three years, from 6,500 in 2011 to around 90,000 this year, and may more than double in 2015.

Efforts to house the undocumented immigrants come as agents with the Department of Homeland Security are reaching a breaking point, with one agent telling Infowars he believed the Obama Administration was deliberately facilitating the flow.

Demonstrators burn US flag at Soccer World Cup

The protesters in Natal shouted against “imperialism.”

Demonstrators burned a US flag near the stadium in northern Brazil where Vice President Joe Biden planned to attend the US soccer team’s opening World Cup match Monday evening.

The protesters in Natal shouted against “imperialism.” Security officers stopped them at a barricade about 2 kilometers (a mile) from the stadium’s gates.

Anti-World Cup demonstrations also took place in the southern city of Curitiba before a match between Iran and Nigeria.

After being repelled by police near that stadium, protesters regrouped downtown and used bricks and construction debris to smash windows of at least three banks. They also sprayed anti-World Cup slogans on city buses.

Mass protests against the World Cup erupted across Brazil last year and demonstrations have continued since the tournament began Thursday.

Biden tells Germans they are xenophobic

Before remarking on Germany’s xenophobia, Joe Biden said the US needed to invest further in a skilled workforce and infrastructure.

US Vice President Joe Biden undoubtedly ruffled some feathers in Germany on Tuesday when he suggested the country was “xenophobic” and much less accommodating to immigrants compared to the United States.

Speaking at an event held by the National Association of Manufacturers in Washington, DC, Biden gave a speech in which he described three things the United States needs to do to “keep our edge” in the global economy. One of these priorities is passing comprehensive immigration reform, but the way Biden chose to frame the issue has made headlines and raised plenty of eyebrows.

“We have to pass an immigration bill,” Biden said, as quoted by the Washington Examiner, which also obtained a recording of the segment. “Look at Germany, look at the rest of the world. We’re the only non-xenophobic nation in the world that’s a major economy.”

In a tweet by Detroit News DC Bureau Chief David Shepardson, the journalist said Biden went even further than that and added other countries in the mix, claiming that Germany, Japan, and China are all “not nearly as welcoming of immigrants” as the US.

Biden reportedly did not expand on his analysis, leaving many to question just how truthful it was. As noted by the German edition of The Local, the notion that Germany is hostile to immigrants doesn’t fit in with the facts inside Europe’s largest economy.

According to a May report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Germany has experienced a “boom” in immigration over the last few years, leapfrogging Canada and the United Kingdom to take second place as a top destination for migrants around the world, behind only the US. The OECD stated that between 2009 and 2012, permanent migration rose 38 percent as Germany moved up from eight place.

“Such a strong increase from one year to another has been rarely observed in any major OECD country,” Thomas Liebig, one of the study’s authors, said to Bloomberg. “We can clearly speak about a boom of migration to Germany without exaggeration.”

Meanwhile, The Local noted that new data from Germany’s Federal Statistics Office show more than 15.3 million people out of the country’s 81 million-strong population have a migrant background.

Before remarking on Germany’s xenophobia, Biden said the US needed to invest further in a skilled workforce and infrastructure, bemoaning the current lack of consensus on the issue.

“We have to invest in infrastructure,” he said. “That used to be an overwhelming bipartisan consensus in the united states of America. For the past 150 years it’s been a consensus; not at the moment.”

Notorious for making controversial statements or gaffes, Biden’s comments regarding Germany aren’t the first time he’s been scrutinized. The vice president made waves in the past for being caught on a hot mic telling President Obama the Affordable Care Act is a “big f**king deal,” announcing his support for gay marriage before the president himself, and making questionable comments like telling a politician in a wheelchair to stand up for an applause. – RT.COM