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kpete's JournalRobert Reich: Conservatives have an empathy deficit disorder
Robert Reich: Conservatives have an empathy deficit disorder
Empathy Deficit Disorder
MONDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2014
Commenting on a recent student suicide at an Alaska high school, Alaska’s Republican Congressman Don Young said suicide didn’t exist in Alaska before “government largesse” gave residents an entitlement mentality.
“When people had to work and had to provide and had to keep warm by putting participation in cutting wood and catching the fish and killing the animals, we didn’t have the suicide problem,” he said. Government handouts tell people “you are not worth anything but you are going to get something for nothing.”
Alaska has the highest rate of suicide per capita in America – almost twice the national average, and a leading cause of death in Alaska for young people ages 15 to 24 — but I doubt it’s because Alaskans lead excessively easy lives.
Every time I visit Alaska I’m struck by how hard people there have to work to make ends meet. The state is the last American frontier, where people seem more self-reliant than anywhere in the lower forty eight.
the rest:
http://robertreich.org/post/101141762730
Nobel Prize Winner Malala Yousafzai Donates $50,000 for Gaza Schools
Nobel Prize Winner Malala Yousafzai Donates $50,000 for Gaza Schools
Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai said Wednesday she will donate $50,000 to help rebuild U.N. schools damaged during the recent conflict in Gaza. The Pakistani teenager announced she would be giving away the winnings from her World's Children's Prize while collecting the award in Stockholm. "Innocent Palestinian children have suffered terribly and for too long," Yousafzai said. "We must all work to ensure Palestinian boys and girls, and all children everywhere, receive a quality education in a safe environment. Because without education, there will never be peace."
Yousafzai was shot in the head by a gang of Taliban militants who objected to her educational activism. She has since gone on to promote education globally. The schools benefiting from her funds were hit by Israeli shells during seven weeks of bombing and fighting in July and August, which left more than 2,100 Palestinians and 72 Israelis dead
Beautiful Video:
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/middle-east-unrest/nobel-prize-winner-malala-yousafzai-donates-50-000-gaza-schools-n236581
Hillary Clinton: Joni Ernst's dodging of editorial boards "seems like it should be disqualifying."
Alex Seitz-WaldVerified account
?@aseitzwald
Hillary Clinton: Joni Ernst's dodging of editorial boards "seems like it should be disqualifying."
https://twitter.com/aseitzwald/status/527543360035520513
Illinois teacher calls Jamaican students ‘n*gger’ after they object to ‘African-American’
Eighth graders Mea Thompson and Zaria Daniel told WMAQ that they were working in a Social Studies group with two other students at Jay Stream Middle School last Wednesday when the substitute teacher referred to them as “African-American.”
“All four of us that were sitting there got offended because none of us are from Africa,” Thompson recalled. I’m Jamaican. So we said, ‘Can you please not call us that?’”
“She continued to call us that and said, ‘It’s the politically correct term.’ Then she said, ‘Well, back then you guys would be considered the N-word.”
Thompson and Daniel said they were almost moved to tears by the teacher’s words.
“We were so shocked and we were like, ‘What? Excuse me?’” Thompson replied. “She was like, ‘Well, back then that’s what African-Americans were called.’”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/10/illinois-teacher-calls-jamaican-students-ngger-after-they-object-to-african-american/
No Shame - Lindsey Graham: White Men Will 'Do Great' Under My Presidency
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) joked in a private meeting this month that white men would "do great" under his presidency, according to audio obtained by CNN.
The South Carolina Republican confirmed to the news outlet that he made the comment at a meeting of the Hibernian Society of Charleston, a charity organization that he said encourages speakers "to be earthy, to make fun of yourself, to make fun of them."
"If I get to be president, white men who are in male-only clubs are going to do great in my presidency," Graham says in one audio snippet as the audience laughs.
"I've tried to help you with your tax status," the senator says in another recording. "I'm sorry the government's so f*cked up."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/lindsay-graham-white-men-presidency
Earliest police report from Ferguson is released and conflicts with Darren Wilson's testimony leaks
Tucked away inside of the full autopsy report is an initial statement of Darren Wilson's perspective as told by Detective Patrick J. Hokamp of the St. Louis County Police Department. It is the first known statement from a detective who was actually on the scene soon after the shooting and appears to have been given to the medical examiner soon after the shooting. What's most surprising isn't necessarily what is included in this statement, but some glaring omissions when compared up against recent statements purported to be from Darren Wilson's testimony to the grand jury.
Below you will find the statement from Detective Hokamp from the scene of the shooting and Darren Wilson's alleged testimony recounting what took place.
Here is the initial report Detective Hokamp provided about the confrontation and shooting death of Mike Brown at the hands of Darren Wilson. It can be found on Page 2 of the official autopsy report.
The deceased became belligerent towards Officer Wilson. As Officer Wilson exited out of his patrol vehicle the deceased pushed his door shut and began to struggle with Officer Wilson, during the struggle the officers weapon was un-holstered. The weapon discharged during the struggle.
The deceased then ran down the roadway. Officer Wilson then began to chase the deceased. As he was giving chase to the deceased, the deceased turned around and ran towards Officer Wilson. Officer Wilson had his service weapon drawn, as the deceased began to run towards him, he discharged his service weapon several times.
MORE:
http://www.stltoday.com/online/pdf-autopsy-report-for-michael-brown/pdf_ce018d0c-5998-11e4-b700-001a4bcf6878.html
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/10/29/1340042/-Earliest-police-report-from-Ferguson-is-released-and-conflicts-with-Darren-Wilson-s-testimony-leaks
Federal Court: ‘We Have Our Doubts That Imprisonment Is An Appropriate Treatment’ For Marijuana Use
Source: Think Progress
An opinion signed by three appellate judges, all of whom were appointed by Republican presidents, criticized a federal trial judge for returning a man to prison because of his marijuana use. As Judge Richard Posner’s opinion for the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit noted, there was no indication that the man “deals, or has ever dealt, in marijuana or any illegal drug.” His previous employers said that they were “impressed by his work ethic and would be glad to hire him back after he was released from prison.” Nevertheless, federal district Judge Sara Darrow sentenced him to 15 months in prison for marijuana use and for “violat[ing] rules of the halfway house where he lived for a time after completion of his prison sentence.”
Judge Posner responded to this sentence with a blunt critique: “we have our doubts that imprisonment is an appropriate treatment for a marijuana habit.”
The facts of this case are tragic, and Posner responds to them with a somewhat unusual opinion. The defendant, Jesse Smith, grew up in a broken home. His father was imprisoned for murder, and his mother used crack cocaine. By age 18, he had a criminal record that included burglary and fighting with cops. Not long thereafter, he was sentenced to two years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Yet, as Posner’s opinion notes, Smith’s “criminal career, except for continued use of marijuana, ended five years ago.” During the time Smith spent out of prison, he worked for a living and earned solid reviews from his employers. Smith “had a bank account and actually paid his bills.” He also has three children.
Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/10/28/3585342/federal-court-we-have-our-doubts-that-imprisonment-is-an-appropriate-treatment-for-marijuana-use/
‘God is not a magician’: Pope says Christians should believe in evolution and Big Bang
The earth’s origins were not chaotic, the pontiff said, but were created from a principle of love, reported Religion News Service.
“He gave autonomy to the beings of the universe at the same time at which he assured them of his continuous presence, giving being to every reality, and so creation continued for centuries and centuries, millennia and millennia, until it became which we know today, precisely because God is not a demiurge or a magician, but the creator who gives being to all things,” the pope said.
Pope Francis said the theory of evolution did not contradict the Bible or church teachings, as creationists claim.
“God is not a divine being or a magician, but the Creator who brought everything to life,” the pope said. “Evolution in nature is not inconsistent with the notion of creation, because evolution requires the creation of beings that evolve.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/10/god-is-not-a-magician-pope-says-christians-should-believe-in-evolution-and-big-bang/
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