Obama Using Taxpayers To Foot Bill For Family Christmas

Obama Using Taxpayers To Foot Bill For Family Christmas
In a couple of days, the president and family will head back to the Hawaiian isles for another lavish getaway — their seventh straight Christmas vacation in the president’s “home state.”

Obama says he is “eagerly looking forward” to his time at a pricey, private home he’s rented for the occasion. White House sources say the first family will spend 17 days there. 

---

And who pays for the president’s indulgence? 
Via theblaze.com:
…the president’s family covers the cost of a private beach front residence in Kailua, Oahu, for the span of the vacation, reportedly dubbed a ‘Winter White House’ that costs up to $3,500 a day, or $75,000 a month.
Still, taxpayers help foot the bill for security and travel costs: A similar vacation last year cost more than $1.4 million.

Earlier this year, Judicial Watch issued a report saying that records it obtained show how heavily the portion of the presidential vacation bill can fall on the already burdened backs of taxpayers:

President Obama incurred $7,396,531.20 in flight expenses alone for his 2013 vacations to Hawaii and Martha’s Vineyard and his trip to California to appear on the Jay Leno Show.

And while debates will no doubt arise over numbers of vacation days, it can still be argued that the Obamas have spent more time at lavish and expensive getaways than did predecessors, such has:

• Reagan, who often went to his California ranch;
• George H.W. Bush, who often vacationed at his family home in Maine; or
• George W. Bush, who frequently went to his Texas ranch.

Every one on assistance and voting democrat-------U.N. sending thousands of Muslims to America

U.N. sending thousands of Muslims to America:
"The federal government is preparing for another “surge” in refugees and this time they won’t be coming illegally from Central America.
The U.S. State Department announced this week that the first major contingent of Syrian refugees, 9,000 of them, have been hand-selected by the United Nations for resettlement into communities across the United States.
The announcement came Tuesday on the State Department’s website.
WND reported in September that Syrians would make up the next big wave of Muslim refugees coming to the U.S., as resettlement agencies were lobbying for the U.S. to accept at least 75,000 Syrian refugees over the next five years.
...The State Department announcement makes it clear that the 9,000 refugees represent just the beginning of an extended program to accept more Syrians.
“The United States accepts the majority of all UNHCR referrals from around the world.
Last year, we reached our goal of resettling nearly 70,000 refugees from nearly 70 countries. 
And we plan to lead in resettling Syrians as well,” the statement reads.
“We are reviewing some 9,000 recent UNHCR referrals from Syria.
We are receiving roughly a thousand new ones each month, and we expect admissions from Syria to surge in 2015 and beyond.”
...The State Department works to place refugees in 180 cities across 49 states."

VIDEO: You’ll Stand and Cheer When you See this New Video Released by Ted Cruz About Obama’s Illegal Amnesty

VIDEO: You’ll Stand and Cheer When you See this New Video Released by Ted Cruz About Obama’s Illegal Amnesty:

"Speaking to a crowd in D.C., Tea Party Senator Ted Cruz explained the crisis facing our nation beautifully.

“We are, today, facing a full-fledged constitutional crisis,” Cruz states in the below video.

“22 times President Obama admitted he had no constitutional authority to unilaterally grant amnesty,” Cruz noted.

The video continues with hard-hitting points that highlights that what President Obama has done is not only illegal, but downright dangerous."

Chrysler Group changes its name to FCA US

Chrysler Group changes its name to FCA US | MLive.com:
"DETROIT, MI – Chrysler Group LLC announced Tuesday that it has officially changed its name to FCA US LLC.
The company said the name-change better aligns the Auburn Hills firm with its parent company, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V., also known as FCA.
The changed moniker has no effect on the location of the company's headquarters in Auburn Hills, nor on its operations, staff or brands there, FCA noted.
...The resulting parent company is headquartered in London but incorporated in the Netherlands."

Nothing to see here..... Rev. Sharpton.....Obama...... where's your outrage? On the golf course?-------Demario Bailey, 15, fatally shot during robbery attempt, police say suspects in custody

Demario Bailey, 15, fatally shot during robbery attempt, police say suspects in custody | abc7chicago.com
CHICAGO (WLS) --
Police are questioning persons of interest in connection with a shooting that left a 15-year-old boy dead during an apparent robbery attempt on the city's South Side.
Demario Bailey was shot and killed in front of his identical twin brother.
Family members say the teen was shot because he would not give up his coat to several people trying to rob him.
At least two people were custody Saturday night.
Bailey was a student at Johnson College Prep.
One of his junior varsity basketball coaches says he's an angel gone too soon.
"One of the best kids in our school," said coach Robin Callahan.
"Very disciplined.
No problems, fun kids.
Always a smile on they face.
If you wanted a kid, that was one of the kids that you wanted."
Bailey was walking down the sidewalk with his brother near 63rd and State just after 12:30 p.m. Saturday when four men came up and tried to rob him.
Police say at some point one of them allegedly pulled out a gun and shot Bailey in the chest.

Long-term effects of marijuana use on the brain

Long-term effects of marijuana use on the brain:
"Abstract:
Questions surrounding the effects of chronic marijuana use on brain structure continue to increase.
To date, however, findings remain inconclusive.
In this comprehensive study that aimed to characterize brain alterations associated with chronic marijuana use, we measured gray matter (GM) volume via structural MRI across the whole brain by using voxel-based morphology, synchrony among abnormal GM regions during resting state via functional connectivity MRI, and white matter integrity (i.e., structural connectivity) between the abnormal GM regions via diffusion tensor imaging in 48 marijuana users and 62 age- and sex-matched nonusing controls.
The results showed that compared with controls, marijuana users had significantly less bilateral orbitofrontal gyri volume, higher functional connectivity in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) network, and higher structural connectivity in tracts that innervate the OFC (forceps minor) as measured by fractional anisotropy (FA).
Increased OFC functional connectivity in marijuana users was associated with earlier age of onset..."

Teen Goes on Strike in Drastic Move After Principal Axes Ten Commandments Display | Video | TheBlaze.com

Teen Goes on Strike in Drastic Move After Principal Axes Ten Commandments Display | Video | TheBlaze.com:

"A high school freshman says he’s on strike following his principal’s decision earlier this year to remove a Ten Commandments plaque from the wall of his Ohio high school.

Freshman Anthony Miller isn’t happy that a copy of Old Testament law, which was positioned in the hallway near a staircase, was taken down at Harding High School in Marion, Ohio, where it had been in display since the class of 1953 gifted it to the school, Fox News reported.

So, Miller — who first noticed the plaque was missing back in early September — is taking action."

Economist: Ilitch Organization Got So Much in Arena Deal With So Little Leverage

Economist: Ilitch Organization Got So Much in Arena Deal With So Little Leverage –  Deadline Detroit
The deal the Ilitch family struck with the city and state to build a new Red Wing arena continues to draw questions and criticism.

The latest pushback comes from Christopher Douglas, an associate professor of economics at the University of Michigan-Flint and a member of the Board of Scholars at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a research and educational institute in Midland.

Douglas writes in a column in Crain's Detroit Business that the Ilitch family essentially got away with murder in the negotiations with the state and city when it really had so little leverage.

He writes:

The Detroit Red Wings are building a new arena and have released a drawing of the construction plan. Olympia Development -- a company owned by Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch -- persuaded state politicians to spend $260 million in taxes for this $650 million project. The arena will cost almost four times more than the construction of Joe Louis Arena did and will be one of the National Hockey League's most expensive ever. But it didn't have to be this way -- the Red Wings and Ilitch had no real leverage over the politicians who voted in favor of this corporate welfare.

In addition to the $260 million state subsidy, Olympia Development struck extra deals with the city of Detroit. The company will no longer owe the city a disputed $50 million to $80 million in television revenue. It will also gain $11 million annually by no longer sharing ticket and concession revenue with the city and keeping all naming rights revenue. When asked about the negotiations between the city of Detroit and Olympia about the revenue, Councilman Gabe Leland said, "It just didn't seem like (Olympia representatives) were willing to budge."

In reality, Olympia had little leverage with the city. Professional sports franchises often extract special favors by threatening to move. But given the market realities of the NHL, the Red Wings could not have made a credible threat to move.

9/11 Mastermind Reportedly Issued a Chilling Prediction During His ’Enhanced Interrogation.’ Some Will Likely Claim He Was Right. | Video | TheBlaze.com

9/11 Mastermind Reportedly Issued a Chilling Prediction During His ’Enhanced Interrogation.’ Some Will Likely Claim He Was Right. | Video | TheBlaze.com:

"Dr. James Mitchell, a former U.S. Navy psychologist reportedly involved in the interrogation of suspected 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, claimed the CIA “saved lives” using techniques that some have claimed were entirely ineffective.

In the wide-ranging interview, he recalled some chilling comments Mohammed once said directly to him:

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed told me personally, “Your country will turn on you, the liberal media will turn on you, the people will grow tired of this, they will turn on you. And when they do, you are going to be abandoned.”



Have we forgotten?  

Media Promotes False Narrative that Schools Will Lose Money on Roads Package

Media Promotes False Narrative that Schools Will Lose Money on Roads Package [Michigan Capitol Confidential]:
"The statewide news outlet MLive is continuing to present an inaccurate narrative about a House-passed road funding package, perpetuating an assertion that public schools will lose money if the bills become law, according to a Mackinac Center for Public Policy expert.
....“These are complex policy matters but MLive seems intent on scaring readers about school funding cuts,” Hohman said.
.....In addition to the database, the statewide news site has also published conflicting accounts of the House road package in its own stories, including ones appearing on the same day. A Dec. 5 MLive story stated, “…the plan could take $535 million from school funding next year, according to the House Fiscal Agency.”
However, another Dec. 5 MLive story gave a more accurate account of the proposal:
"The House plan, backed by House Speaker Jase Bolger, wouldn’t cut funding for schools or cities, but it would limit future revenue that would otherwise be available."
On Dec. 10, MLive published another story claiming that, “West Michigan schools stand to lose millions,” and cited the same Michigan League for Public Policy that is the main source of the database."

The great Ebola lie — Outbreak hyped for funding & media attention

The great Ebola lie — Outbreak hyped for funding & media attention | New York Post
The current Ebola outbreak is “the most severe, acute health emergency seen in modern times,” Ian Smith, the World Health Organization’s executive director, announced at a mid-October press conference.
Huh?
Worse than the “Spanish flu” of 1918-19?
Extrapolated to today’s world population, that would mean 60 million to 150 million deaths.
Worse than AIDS, with its 35 million deaths?
But the media weren’t asking skeptical questions.
The next day, reporting on a separate WHO conference, a New York Times headline blared: “New Ebola Cases May Soon Reach 10,000 a Week, Officials Predict.”
The “soon” in that warning from the WHO’s Bruce Aylward was “by the first week in December.”
Well, the WHO has now reported cases for that period.
Total: 529.
It was no fluke; the average over the last three weeks was 440.
You’ve been lied to, folks.
For months.
In fact, the Ebola epidemic peaked a full month before those press conferences, in mid-September. Says who?
The WHO.
In its data, which is available to anybody with Internet access.
It peaked at the same time the WHO was demanding a billion dollars to prevent the epidemic from getting far worse — and before President Obama pledged $1.26 billion and sent in the troops and the European Union pledged another $1.26 billion....

White House Issues Report Telling Hospitals How to Prepare for Climate Change | TheBlaze.com

White House Issues Report Telling Hospitals How to Prepare for Climate Change | TheBlaze.com:

"The Obama administration released the National Climate Assessment in May, which said that climate change is creating more extreme weather. As part of the assessment, Obama directed the Department of Health and Human Services to create a “Sustainable and Climate Resilient Health Care Facilities Initiative,” which led to the study’s findings release Monday."

'Where Are the Black People' in Downtown Detroit?

Finley: 'Where Are the Black People' in Downtown Detroit? –  Deadline Detroit:
Nolan Finley is among those who see "obvious warning signs," as he puts it, about the whitenesss of New Detroit.

The Detroit News editorial page editor presses that hot button in his Sunday column, describing the race gap as "near the top of the list of the challenges Detroit faces as it starts its post-bankruptcy era."

The question is how to avoid "becoming two cities — one for the upwardly mobile young and white denizens of an increasingly happening downtown, and the other for the struggling and frustrated black residents trapped in neighborhoods that are crumbling around them."

Nobody wants to inject race into the marvelous story of downtown's rebound, driven largely by young creatives who grew up in the suburbs and are now fiercely Detroiters. I don't either. It's a downer. . . .

But with racial tension simmering across the country, Detroit must heed obvious warning signs.

It's a clear red flag when you can sit in a hot new downtown restaurant and nine out of 10 tables are filled with white diners, a proportion almost exactly opposite of the city's racial make-up.

It's a warning signal when you go to holiday events for major Detroit cultural institutions and charities, and you can count the number of African-American revelers on both hands.

It should stop us in our tracks — as it did me the other day — when a group of 50 young professionals being groomed for future leadership shows up to hear advice from a senior executive, and there's only one black member among them.

YOUR ALL-ELECTRIC CAR MAY NOT BE SO GREEN

YOUR ALL-ELECTRIC CAR MAY NOT BE SO GREEN

WASHINGTON (AP) -- People who own all-electric cars where coal generates the power may think they are helping the environment. But a new study finds their vehicles actually make the air dirtier, worsening global warming.

Ethanol isn't so green, either.

"It's kind of hard to beat gasoline" for public and environmental health, said study co-author Julian Marshall, an engineering professor at the University of Minnesota. "A lot of the technologies that we think of as being clean ... are not better than gasoline."

The key is where the source of the electricity all-electric cars. If it comes from coal, the electric cars produce 3.6 times more soot and smog deaths than gas, because of the pollution made in generating the electricity, according to the study that is published Monday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. They also are significantly worse at heat-trapping carbon dioxide that worsens global warming, it found.

...The study finds all-electric vehicles cause 86 percent more deaths from air pollution than do cars powered by regular gasoline. Coal produces 39 percent of the country's electricity, according to the Department of Energy.

....But ethanol isn't, with 80 percent more air pollution mortality, according to the study.

"If we're using ethanol for environmental benefits, for air quality and climate change, we're going down the wrong path," Hill said.

History for December 16

History for December 16 - On-This-Day.com
Catherine of Aragon 1485, Ludwig Van Beethoven 1770 - Composer, Arthur C. Clarke 1917 - Author, Liv Ullmann 1939 Actress 


Steven Bochco 1943 - TV producer (NYPD Blue, Hill Street Blues), Benny Andersson 1946 - Singer, keyboards, synthesizers (ABBA), Ben Cross 1948 - Actor 


1773 - Nearly 350 chests of tea were dumped into Boston Harbor off of British ships by Colonial patriots. The patriots were disguised as Indians. The act was to protest taxation without representation and the monopoly the government granted to the East India Company. 


1809 - Napoleon Bonaparte was divorced from the Empress Josephine by an act of the French Senate. 


1838 - The Zulu chief Dingaan was defeated by a small force of Boers at Blood River celebrated in South Africa as 'Dingaan's Day'. 


1916 - Gregory Rasputin, the monk who had wielded powerful influence over the Russian court, was murdered by a group of noblemen. 


1944 - During World War II, the Battle of the Bulge began in Belgium. It was the final major German counteroffensive in the war. 


1951 - NBC-TV debuted "Dragnet" in a special preview on "Chesterfield Sound Off Time". The show began officially on January 3, 1952. 


1960 - A United Air Lines DC-8 and a TWA Super Constellation collided over New York City, killing 134 people. 


1972 - The Miami Dolphins became the first NFL team to go unbeaten and untied in a 14-game regular season. The Dolphins went on to defeat the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII. 


1973 - O.J. Simpson broke Jim Brown’s single-season rushing record in the NFL. Brown had rushed for 1,863 yards, while Simpson attained 2,003 yards. 


1998 - Eric Michelman filed the earliest patent for a scroll wheel for a computer mouse. 


2000 - U.S. President-elect George W. Bush selected Colin Powell to be the first African-American secretary of state. Powell was sworn in January 20, 2001. 

Sydney Hostage Crisis Ends; 3 Dead, Including Gunman | Video | TheBlaze.com

Sydney Hostage Crisis Ends; 3 Dead, Including Gunman | Video | TheBlaze.com:

"The deadly siege began in the most incongruous of ways, on a sunny Monday morning inside a cheerful cafe in the heart of Australia’s largest city. An Iranian-born gunman burst in, took 17 people hostage, and forced some to hold a flag with an Islamic declaration of faith above the shop window’s festive inscription of “Merry Christmas.”

It ended after midnight with a barrage of gunfire that left two hostages and the gunman dead, four others wounded, and a nation that has long prided itself on its peace rocked to its core."

Here's a Viable Replacement for Obamacare

Here's a Viable Replacement for Obamacare:
"In the wake of Republican mid-term electoral victories, and with support for the president’s health care law registering new lows in the Gallup survey, it is time to consider what a “repeal and replace” strategy for Obamacare might actually look like.

While it is true that the politics and timing remain fluid, it is still possible to outline substantive changes."

Who Are the Real Racists? This Short Video SHREDS the ‘Conservatives Are Racist’ Narrative to Pieces

Who Are the Real Racists? This Short Video SHREDS the ‘Conservatives Are Racist’ Narrative to Pieces:

"But who are the real racists? Is it the group that asserts that everyone should get one vote- and one vote only- and that showing an ID to vote is an essential part of ensuring democratic equality?
 Is it the side that asserts that minorities should receive jobs and opportunities based on merit and not receive preferential treatment based on the color of their skin?
 Or is it the side that fosters government dependency and lowered expectations for minority groups?
 Derryck Green of Project 21 tackles this notion that the right is filled with racists and explains everything one needs to know to be able to identify who the real racists in America are.

Take a look…"

Tennessee cop lets Muslim drive off with dead child in trunk

JUDSON PHILLIPS: Tennessee cop lets Muslim drive off with dead child in trunk - Washington Times

"This happened in Millersville, Tennessee, on Dec. 9. Millersville is a small town just north of Nashville. On Wednesday, a Millersville police officer stopped a vehicle on Interstate 65. The driver presented the officer a Saudi Arabian driver’s license. 

Shockingly enough, a Saudi driver’s license is valid in Tennessee.
Then the driver told the officer his child was dead in the trunk, and he wanted to go bury the child in accordance with his Muslim religion.

What happened next is absolutely shocking.

The officer asked to see the child and the driver refused because it was “against his religion.” 
The police officer then let the driver go and reported the event to his superiors.
Can anyone imagine the scenario if the driver of the car had presented a Tennessee driver’s license, announced there was a dead child in the trunk and told the officer he could not look in the trunk because it violated his beliefs as a Baptist?
The car disappeared. 
Police are looking for it and the driver.

Something is wrong in America when one religion is treated with such political correctness that it is exempt from the rules and expectations of normal society. 

The radical Islamist lobby has cowed the police and the government to the point where no one dares to stand up to them."

A Reporter Asked Dick Cheney About the Senate’s ‘Torture Report.’ Listen to Cheney’s Blistering Response. | Video | TheBlaze.com

A Reporter Asked Dick Cheney About the Senate’s ‘Torture Report.’ Listen to Cheney’s Blistering Response. | Video | TheBlaze.com:

"He says it wasn’t “torture” — but it sure as heck worked.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday morning, answering questions from host Chuck Todd about the Senate Intelligence Committee’s massive Tuesday report on the CIA’s brutal interrogation tactics used against suspected terrorists.

Was Cheney remorseful about the tactics, which have been labeled “torture”?

Not at all."

Stop the outrageous spending

Stop the outrageous spending | Somewhat Reasonable:
"At some point between Thanksgiving and December 1, the federal government made history, as the value of outstanding U.S. Treasury securities exceeded $18 trillion—that’s an 18 with 12 trailing zeroes. 

At some point, such numbers begin to lose their meaning because the amounts exceed most people’s ability to comprehend.
The abstraction of such numbers, in turn, makes it difficult to understand just how gigantic a problem the national debt is.
However, using tangible objects to represent the magnitude of the debt can help solve that problem.
Divided equally, each American household’s share of the national debt is roughly $153,846—about enough money to buy a two-story house with four bedrooms in Jacksonville, Florida. "

Unexpectedly: The New York Times discovers that many don’t have to work in the age of Obama « Hot Air

Unexpectedly: The New York Times discovers that many don’t have to work in the age of Obama « Hot Air:

"In 2012, Romney was dogged by comments he made to a closed-door meeting of donors. There, the former Massachusetts governor said that 47 percent of the public would never vote for him because they pay no income tax and are more satisfied to support the party which promises them federal assistance in order to ease their financial burden. For these comments he was called callous, cruel, and indifferent to suboptimal conditions faced by the nation’s working poor.
Two years after his defeat, The New York Times has discovered that Mitt Romney had a point.
“Working, in America, is in decline,” The Times reported on Friday. “The share of prime-age men — those 25 to 54 years old — who are not working has more than tripled since the late 1960s, to 16 percent.”

We know who funds them. Why does the world allow this?-----Islamic State hands out rules for sex slaves in Iraq

Islamic State hands out rules for sex slaves in Iraq - Washington Times
The Islamic State has made clear its justification for the rape and enslavement of non-Muslim women and children with a color-printed pamphlet “Question and Answers on Female Slaves and their Freedom,” being distributed in Mosul.
Armed men handed out the pamphlet in the militant occupied Iraqi city on Friday after sunset prayers, several residents toldCNN on Saturday.
“If she was a virgin, he (the owner) can have intercourse with her immediately after the ownership is fulfilled,” the pamphlet explains, CNN reported. 
“If she was not a virgin, her uterus must be purified (wait for her period to be sure she is not pregnant.)”
The guide lays out other rules as well.
For example, two men who co-own a slave can’t both have sex with her and a man can’t have sex with his wife’s slave.
Regarding children: “It is permissible to have intercourse with the female slave who hasn’t reached puberty if she is fit for intercourse,” The Islamic State rules said.
“However, if she is not fit for intercourse, he (the owner) can only enjoy her without intercourse.”
“It is permissible to buy, sell or give as a gift female captives and slaves, for they are merely property,” the pamphlet reads.
However, a female slave can buy her freedom.
The document also says that someone who has committed an act like unintentional murder or perjury can free a slave to be forgiven of his sin.
But fasting for two consecutive months or feeding hungry people will serves the same purpose.
But a slave that runs away from their master is identified as committing one of “the gravest of sins.”..."

When Jihadists Capture a Woman, They Have a Guide to Consult on What to Do With Her. Some of the Directives Are Truly Disturbing. | TheBlaze.com

When Jihadists Capture a Woman, They Have a Guide to Consult on What to Do With Her. Some of the Directives Are Truly Disturbing. | TheBlaze.com:

"The document is presented in a question and answer form and purports to present the Shariah law position on how to treat slaves, including when it’s permissible to have sexual intercourse with them, when it’s OK to beat them and if one can sell and “gift” slaves. The leaflet goes into detail on what is and is not allowed during sex and even states that while it’s permissible to beat a slave for discipline, beating her for sexual pleasure is forbidden.

MEMRI reported that the pamphlet was posted on a pro-Islamic State Twitter account.

Here are some of the more shocking questions and answers in the document as translated by MEMRI:"

Family secret: What the left won't tell you about black crime

Family secret: What the left won't tell you about black crime - Washington Times
By Jason L. Riley - - Monday, July 21, 2014
(The following is excerpted from “Please Stop Helping Us” by Jason Riley. Copyright ©2014 by Jason Riley. Used by permission of Encounter Books. All rights reserved.)
In the summer of 2013, after neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman, a Hispanic, was acquitted in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager, the political left wanted to have a discussion about everything except the black crime rates that lead people to view young black males with suspicion.
Presi­dent Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder wanted to talk about gun control.
The NAACP wanted to talk about racial profiling.
Assorted academics and MSNBC talking heads wanted to discuss poverty, “stand-your-ground” laws, unemployment and the supposedly racist criminal justice system.
But any candid debate on race and criminality in the United States must begin with the fact that blacks are responsible for an astoundingly disproportionate number of crimes, which has been the case for at least the past half a century.
...But their reforms showed an uncanny ability to take bad situations and make them worse.”
Crime rates rose by 139 percent during the 1960s, and the murder rate doubled.
Cities couldn’t hire cops fast enough.
“The number of police per 1,000 people was up twice the rate of the population growth, and yet clearance rates for crimes dropped 31 percent and conviction rates were down 6 percent,” wrote Lucas A. Powe Jr. in “The Warren Court and American Politics,” his history of the Warren Court. “During the last weeks of his [1968] presidential campaign, Nixon had a favorite line in his standard speech.
‘In the past 45 minutes this is what happened in America.
There has been one murder, two rapes, forty-five major crimes of violence, countless robberies and auto thefts.’”
As remains the case today, blacks in the past were overrepre­sented among those arrested and imprisoned.
In urban areas in 1967, blacks were 17 times more likely than whites to be arrested for robbery. In 1980 blacks comprised about one-eighth of the population but were half of all those arrested for murder, rape and robbery, according to FBI data.
And they were between one-fourth and one-third of all those arrested for crimes such as burglary, auto theft and aggravated assault.
Today blacks are about 13 percent of the population and continue to be responsible for an inordinate amount of crime. 
Between 1976 and 2005 blacks com­mitted more than half of all murders in the United States. 
The black arrest rate for most offenses — including robbery, aggravated assault and property crimes — is still typically two to three times their representation in the population.
Blacks as a group are also overrepresented among persons arrested for so-called white-collar crimes such as counterfeiting, fraud and embezzlement.
And blaming this decades-long, well-documented trend on racist cops, prosecutors, judges, sentencing guidelines and drug laws doesn’t cut it as a plausible explanation...

Black Lives Matter | Not a Moment, a Movement

Black Lives Matter | Not a Moment, a Movement
Demands: 

•  We will seek justice for Brown’s family by petitioning for the immediate arrest of officer Darren Wilson and the dismissal of county prosecutor Robert McCullough. Groups that are part of the local Hands Up Don’t Shoot Coalition have already called for Wilson’s swift arrest, and some BLM riders also canvassed McCullough’s neighborhood as a way of raising the public’s awareness of the case.

• We will help develop a network of organizations and advocates to form a national policy specifically aimed at redressing the systemic pattern of anti-black law enforcement violence in the US. The Justice Department’s new investigation into St Louis-area police departments is a good start, but it’s not enough. Our ride was endorsed by a few dozen local, regional and national organizations across the country – like the National Organization for Women (Now) and Race Forward: The Center for Racial Justice Innovation – who, while maintaining different missions, have demonstrated unprecedented solidarity in response to anti-black police violence. We hope to encourage more organizations to endorse and participate in a network with a renewed purpose of conceptualizing policy recommendations.

• We will also demand, through the network, that the federal government discontinue its supply of military weaponry and equipment to local law enforcement. And though Congress seems to finally be considering measures in this regard, it remains essential to monitor the demilitarization processes and the corporate sectors that financially benefit from the sale of military tools to police.

• We will call on the office of US attorney general Eric Holder to release the names of all officers involved in killing black people within the last five years, both while on patrol and in custody, so they can be brought to justice – if they haven’t already.

• And we will advocate for a decrease in law-enforcement spending at the local, state and federal levels and a reinvestment of that budgeted money into the black communities most devastated by poverty in order to create jobs, housing and schools. This money should be redirected to those federal departments charged with providing employment, housing and educational services.

Why is it that "dialogue about race relations" always seems to be a lecture about how bad whites are?--------Muskegon-area church starts community dialogue with 'Black Lives Matter Sunday'

Muskegon-area church starts community dialogue with 'Black Lives Matter Sunday' | MLive.com:
"MUSKEGON, MI – A Muskegon-area church embraced the Black Lives Matter movement Sunday Dec. 14 with a service intended to start a community dialogue while stressing the importance of religion in the healing process.
Bennett stressed that Sunday's service was not a "special service," but a necessary one to address the current events through the scope of the church.

Speaking to his parish for a little more than an hour, Bennett hit several key points including the need to start a dialogue about race relations, the belief that a leader or leaders will rise to push the conversation forward and to not act violently while trying to gain understanding.
He also condemned the riots in Ferguson as a result of Brown's death in August and later as a result of the decision not to bring murder charges against Wilson.
However, he acknowledged that the conversation about the treatment of African Americans is not a new one, and that much progress is necessary for American society to gain enlightenment on the subject.
"You have to talk about it and talking about it does not mean you're perpetuating a negative scenario, but there's a situation that needs to be addressed," Bennett said.
"If it's never addressed, it can never be helped and it can never be corrected.""

ALL about the money-----UN Climate Talks Break Down

UN Climate Talks Break Down | The Daily Caller
The talks were designed to draft a blueprint for a global deal to fight climate change, due to be adopted in Paris late next year.
But developing countries argued that before signing on they needed to see greater commitments that the industrialised countries would keep to their end of a bargain to provide the money needed to fight climate change.
After 10 days of talks, developing countries argued that those assurances were not strong enough.
By midweek, a little over $10bn had been raised for a green climate fund, intended to help poor countries invest in clean energy technology.
That was below the initial target of $15bn and many of those funds will be distributed over several years.
It was also unclear how industrialised countries could be held to an earlier promise to mobilise $100bn a year for climate finance by 2020, negotiators from developing countries said.
“We are disappointed,” said India’s Prakash Javadekar.
“It is ridiculous. 
It is ridiculously low.” 
Javadekar said the pledges to the green climate fund amounted to backsliding. 
“We are upset that 2011, 2012, 2013 – three consecutive years – the developed world provided $10bn each year for climate action support to the developing world, but now they have reduced it. 
Now they are saying $10bn is for four years, so it is $2.5bn,” he said.

Here are the 24 Republicans who voted for the $1.1 trillion spending bill | TheBlaze.com

Here are the 24 Republicans who voted for the $1.1 trillion spending bill | TheBlaze.com:

"Twenty-four Republicans voted late Saturday night to pass a $1.1 trillion spending bill that will fund most of the government through the end of fiscal year 2015, ending a full week of drama over whether the government might shut down.

The Senate approved the spending bill in a 56-40 vote that split both parties. While many Republicans supported the bill, many others were angry at the idea of approving a spending bill that doesn’t defund President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration."