Racism, Discrimination, Inequality, Judgment, or Bias - the Causes, Conditions, or Results of Something Worse?

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What is the Cable News Obsession with fanning the Racial Fires?

When is poverty seen as the perpetrator, not people?

Since when did MSNBC and CNN become the custodians and enforcers of racial equality in America?  For a couple of news services who operate under FCC licenses from the government you would think they have assumed the role of the Justice Department and the Courts along with prosecutor and jury.

The cable news media in America has become the Kangaroo Court of First resort for select groups of citizens though it has no Constitutional basis for such actions, it is not part of the FCC license, and there is no liability for the volumes of lies they may broadcast in order to control or manufacture news.

The phrase "rush to judgment" means ignoring the judicial process and the Constitutional safeguards inherent in our system of justice.  Our Constitution requires such a process to protect people from the abuses of unregulated justice.  It also directs that a person is innocent until proven guilty by the judicial system.

We all know our judicial system is filled with legalese doubletalk and gobble de gook in order to intimidate the public, provide jobs to our law school grads, and overload the circuits of our news media.  In this way the innocent can be convicted, the guilty can be protected, and the lawyers can join the country club.

When you add to this already rather dismal system the mouthpieces and talking heads for every non-profit (most certainly including preachers and churches) dedicated to protecting the social interests of our citizens from the predator practices of our legal institutions (law enforcement),  manipulation by our financial institutions, and discrimination by everyone else, you have a recipe for sure failure.

So, we now have our politicians, preachers, prosecutors, and press, the latter the procrastinators and perpetrators of the news media whose very jobs, ratings, and profits depend on perpetuating pipe dreams on the public.  How many special interests does it take to protect the public interest?

Excuse me, does anyone besides me see a problem here?  Polls show people do not trust these groups.  Polls show people trust anyone but these groups to accomplish anything.  So, why are the people dependent on these same groups to protect them, advise them, or speak on their behalf?

Too many of these people operate under the old theory that if you don't like or can't stand the truth, then change it.  That ancient philosophy is what has kept civilization from getting beyond the Neanderthal age all these millennia.  Sometimes it seems we have more in common with such barbarian behavior than with what one might expect from the evolution of civilization.

In short, people are fed a steady stream of lies, distortion, or misinformation to keep us apart, distrustful of different races, hateful of other religions, suspicious of motives and to convince us anyone of any other color is out to take what you got.

So, here are a few truths that may help you penetrate the fog.  First about grand juries, everyone has an opinion about them but few speak the truth.  Here is part of what New York state law says about the grand jury process.

New York State

GRAND JUROR’S HANDBOOK

THE ROLE OF THE GRAND JURY IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

The grand jury is an arm of the court. It is not an agent of the prosecutor or the police. A grand jury does not decide whether or not a person has been proven guilty. That is the trial jury's job. The grand jury decides whether or not a person should be formally charged with a crime or other offense. The grand jury makes that decision based on evidence presented to it by the prosecutor, who also instructs the grand jury on the law. The grand jury's decision must be based on the evidence and on the law.

In general, the grand jury makes one of three decisions:

A. The grand jury may vote to formally accuse someone of a crime. This accusation is called an “indictment,” also known as a “bill” which is short for “bill of indictment.”

B. The grand jury may vote to dismiss the charges, also known as a “no-bill.”

C. The grand jury may direct the prosecutor to file an information accusing the person of an offense less serious than a felony.

There are also rare circumstances where a grand jury recommends that a case should be sent to Family Court or where the grand jury makes a report to the court.

WHY WE HAVE GRAND JURIES

The use of trial juries (also called petit juries) and grand juries goes back approximately 800 years. Beginning around 1215 A.D., both types of juries were used in England. The grand jury made the formal accusation, known as a “bill of indictment” or “presentment.” The trial jury decided whether the accusation was proven.

The grand jury is included in the United States Constitution and the New York State Constitution. In New York State, a person cannot be brought to trial for a felony unless that person has been indicted by a grand jury.

The grand jury has an awesome responsibility. It uses its power both as a sword and as a shield: a sword to accuse or indict those whom there is reason to believe have committed crimes; a shield to protect the innocent against unfounded accusations.

                      

Hum, a grand jury does not decide if a person is guilty or innocent.  A grand jury can be a sword or a shield to accuse or indict or to protect the innocent.  Don't hear many media or "experts" saying this, they just want a conviction which no grand jury can provide.

Personally, I think these tragic events taking place are not rampant racism smoldering below the surface of society but are more symptomatic of the unequal economic opportunity plaguing our nation.

First, why are cops involved in these incidents?  Are they are trying to stop criminal activity or are they enforcing stupid laws of the government.  In New York, the city and state wanted more tax revenue, so 60% of the cost of cigarettes is now taxes.  Imagine what would happen if you paid 60% of your income to corrupt governments.

Well the cigarette tax is like the gas tax, it don't care what your skin color may be or how much money you may have, it is the epitome of equality, the poor and the super rich pay exactly the same tax, even if the poor have no money, no jobs and no hope.

Therefore, unscrupulous people buy cigarettes out of state where governmental greed is not prevalent and bring them to the poor parts of town to sell them on the streets without the onerous taxes but for a fee.  Of course, the rich just send their jets to a country where there are no taxes on cigarettes to feed their addiction.

When the city needs more money to fund corruption they go after the citizens cheating on taxes and for the cost of lost cigarette tax a dead body lies on the ground.  Why did the government order the police to enforce tax collection?  Isn't that the job of tax collectors?

As for Ferguson, the entire city is trapped in economic despair, like so many parts of so many cities around the nation.  Abraham Lincoln once said all people were not equal, but all people must have equal opportunity.  They still don't.

However, unequal opportunity is not just a racial issue.  There are poor whites just like there are poor every other race.  Where poverty breeds there is attendant crime.  Those trapped in poverty are also trapped in an endless circle of crime which leads to hopelessness, which leads to envy, and then to revenge against those who have what the poor person does not have.

The effort to break the cycle of poverty has been one of very slow progress, dependent on many uncontrollable forces like the world economy, honesty in government officials, etc., etc.  The victims and the perpetrators of crimes are generally from the same race no matter what the professional mouthpieces tell you.

Here is a snapshot of one of our largest yet most racially balanced cities in America, Chicago.  In the Windy City, one third of the population is white, one third is black, and one third is Hispanic.  So how does that translate into crime?

Crime is all about the lack of economic equality.  The whites have far more economic security and far less crime.  Here are the latest stats available.

Based on statistics, 96.8 percent of homicides, 93.3 percent of rapes, 96 percent of robberies, and 91.8 percent of aggravated assaults, meaning 94.5 percent of all violent crimes in Chicago, are committed by blacks and Hispanics, yet they only represent two thirds of the population.

Contrary to what some of the mouthpieces have been saying to the media, the jails are not just filled with kids busted for petty possession of marijuana.  Many violent criminals are incarcerated, for victimizing their own people.

When our leaders get past pointing fingers and making judgment on people, and police are people too, then maybe we can get to the serious problem of creating economic opportunity, meaningful economic opportunity, and get on with solving our real problem of poverty for all races and genders.  Poverty, the underlying cause of economic inequality that results from lack of economic opportunity.  

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Happy Birthday to my favorite Brooklyn Girl - Marisa Tomei

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On December 4, 1964, the world greeted a new star born Marisa Tomei whose subsequent career on Broadway, television and movies helped her become my favorite actress from Brooklyn, New York.

The daughter of an English teacher and trial lawyer, for the past three decades she earned her way into my heart as one of the great American actresses.  As a result, Marisa is now featured in a script I have written that is waiting for her to request it.

How could you not love a lady who has won an Oscar while competing against three English super stars, appeared on Broadway, and helped promote the Independent film industry.

Did I mention Marisa has not been involved in the typical Hollywood marriage disasters, she is still single?  Okay, she might have a boyfriend but there is still hope for us.

The depth and breadth of of her roles is stunning, and her willingness to take risks with new projects sets her apart from many other actresses.  The following is an A&E biography with highlights of her career.

So happy birthday Marisa, I'll be waiting for your call.

Oscar-winning actress Marisa Tomei has starred in a number of successful films, including My Cousin Vinny, In the Bedroom and The Wrestler.

Synopsis

Born in Brooklyn in 1964, Marisa Tomei got her start acting on TV in shows like As the World Turns and A Different World. She went on to become a highly successful film actress, starring in projects like My Cousin Vinny, for which she earned an Academy Award, In the Bedroom and The Wrestler.

Early Career

Actress Marisa Tomei was born on December 4, 1964 in Brooklyn, New York. While attending Boston University, Marisa Tomei was cast in the CBS daytime soap opera As the World Turns; she subsequently left school and played the teenager Marcy Thompson on the show from 1983 to 1985. She made her feature film debut in 1984 in The Flamingo Kid, starring Matt Dillon. After leaving As the World Turns, she appeared in Off-Broadway productions like Daughters (1985) before moving to Los Angeles.

In 1987, she landed a role as a roommate of Lisa Bonet's character during the first season of A Different World, a popular spinoff of The Cosby Show.

Oscar Win

After her next major film, Oscar (1991), starring Sylvester Stallone, bombed, Tomei gave what appeared to be a bona fide star-making performance in the 1992 comedy My Cousin Vinny, costarring Joe Pesci and The Karate Kid's Ralph Macchio. Critics agreed that Tomei's sharp comedic performance as Mona Lisa Vito, the wisecracking auto mechanic who falls in love with Pesci's Vinny, merited good reviews and even the Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress she received.

When the 27-year-old Marisa Tomei's name was read aloud on Oscar night as the winner, however (she beat out four well respected British actresses: Judy Davis, Joan Plowright, Miranda Richardson and Vanessa Redgrave), the shock was almost universal, and nasty rumors persisted that the award's presenter, the elderly Jack Palance, had read the wrong name.

Tomei's Oscar win failed to produce the kind of career boost usually expected, as she went on to star in a number of films that didn't do justice to her talents and barely made it onto the radar screen at the box office. She gave a good performance as the silent screen actress Mabel Normand in Chaplin (1992), starring Robert Downey Jr., but her first project as a romantic lead in the weepy romance Untamed Heart (1993), costarring Christian Slater, was a critical and commercial disappointment. Tomei next appeared opposite Michael Keaton in The Paper and reteamed with Robert Downey Jr. in Only You (both 1994).

Indie Films

After costarring with veteran actresses Anjelica Huston (1995's The Perez Family) and Gena Rowlands (1996's Unhook the Stars), she earned her best reviews since My Cousin Vinny for the eccentric comedy Slums of Beverly Hills (1998), in which she played the flaky cousin of the main character, a precocious teenage girl played by Natasha Lyonne. Also in 1998, Tomei returned to the small screen for the Showtime feature My Own Country (also featuring her younger brother Adam) and the CBS miniseries Erich Segal's Only Love, and made her first appearance on Broadway in a revival of Wait Until Dark, with the director and actor Quentin Tarantino.

Tomei's fortunes improved with a string of big-screen roles in 2000, beginning with the small independent film Happy Accidents, costarring Vincent D'Onofrio, which screened at Sundance in 2001. She also costarred opposite Keanu Reeves and James Spader in the more mainstream thriller The Watcher, and had a featured role in the hit comedy What Women Want, starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt.

In early 2001, she appeared as the sidekick of Ashley Judd's character in the romantic comedy Someone Like You. That same year, Tomei emerged as a serious dramatic actress with an acclaimed performance in In the Bedroom, playing a mother of two whose estranged husband kills her younger lover. Tomei's affecting supporting performance earned her rave reviews, and a second Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Continued Success

The next several years saw Tomei in many lighthearted films, including a voiceover role in the children's animated feature The Wild Thornberrys Movie (2002), and lead roles in The Guru (2002) and the Adam Sandler vehicle Anger Management (2003).

Tomei also proved her mettle in the film remake of the 1966 romantic comedy, Alfie (2004), as well as the indie feature Factotum (2005).

After a stint on the small screen in Dennis Leary's firefighter drama, Rescue Me, and the comedy The Rich Inner Life of Penelope Cloud, Tomei returned to feature films. Her role opposite Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler (2008) earned her Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations. Then in 2010, Tomei starred in the indie comedy Cyrus, with co-stars John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill. The film received a positive response from critics.

'Core & Curves'

In 2010, Tomei released a fitness DVD program—Marisa Tomei: Core & Curves. She has also continued her film work with roles in dramas like The Lincoln Lawyer and The Ides of March, both from 2011, and comedies like Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011) and Parental Guidance (2012), the latter film starring icons Bette Midler and Billy Crystal.

Since 2008 Tomei has been linked to actor Logan Marshall-Green.

"Marisa Tomei." Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2014. Web. 04 Dec. 2014.

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The Ferguson Tragedy - Why hide the toxicology report news media?

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Reprint from the St. Louis Post Dispatch

Evidence: Michael Brown Was High on Pot and Carrying a Bag of It

November 25, 2014 - 11:11 AM

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By Barbara Hollingsworth

(CNSNews.com) – Michael Brown had THC, a behavior-altering substance found in marijuana, in his system when he was killed on August 9th by Ferguson, Missouri, police officer Darren Wilson, according to a toxicology report performed at a St. Louis University lab.

The toxicology screen, which was done on Aug. 10th, found “12 nanograms/ML of Delta-9-THC”, the primary psychoactive ingredient in pot, in Brown’s bloodstream at the time of his death.

This amount of Delta-9-THC in Brown's blood was more than twice the amount that in Washington State--where marijuana is legal--would allow someone to be arrested for driving under the influence.

“Delta-9-THC detection in the blood defines impairment,” according to the report.
THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) “seriously impairs judgment and motor coordination,” according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

And because 5 nanograms of THC causes approximately the same level of impairment as an 0.08 percent blood alcohol level, drivers with THC levels above 5ng/ML in Washington State – where smoking marijuana will be legal on Dec. 6th – can be prosecuted under the state’s DUI laws.

The toxicology report was part of the evidence heard by Ferguson grand jurors, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The grand jury heard more than 70 hours of testimony from dozens of witnesses, including toxicology experts, over the past three months before they decided not to indict Wilson.

The evidence also included a Crime Lab Report by the St. Louis County Police Department that noted that “one (1) knotted clear plastic bag containing green vegetation,” which a chemical and microscopic analysis determined to be 1.5 grams of marijuana, was found on Brown’s body at the time of his death.

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What have we learned from the Ferguson tragedy?

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After non-stop media bombardment in the countdown and release of the Grand Jury decision regarding the killing of Michael Brown, what is our 21st century lesson from what happened?

This may take a little time.

Our first lesson, we know bias and racism remain as underlining currents in America although anyone not knowing this lives in a bubble.

The bias exists between races, cultures, and even within races.  There is economic bias, class bias, opportunity bias, wealth bias, education bias, language bias, and a host of other biases that have nothing to do with race or color.

Then again, what can you expect in a nation that serves as a melting pot for all people of the world.  No other country in the world welcomes anyone and everyone like we do and when you get here, if you try to preserve your national culture, you are most likely biased.

Bias is such a monumental issue in America our founders made special provision in the Constitution and Bill of Rights to guarantee equal opportunity to everyone regardless of the prevailing biases.  They also made special provision in the Constitution and Bill of Rights to protect every American from any abuse resulting from such biases.  Finally, they established a system of justice to protect Americans abused because of bias.

On June 21, 1788, the Constitution was ratified.  We now have over 226 years of experience in enforcing the Constitution and we still have incidents of bias like the Ferguson, Missouri tragedy.

No doubt, we have come a long ways.  Way back when, only White landowners were citizens.  Minorities were not citizens, nor women regardless of color, nor all the immigrants we welcomed from around the world.  Not even the Original Americans were citizens.

Thanks to the Dutch, English and French, slaves came to America and they were not citizens.  When the Chinese came here to build the railroads, they were not citizens.  Nor were the Mexicans brought to harvest the American crops.

Even when we opened our doors to those fleeing desperate conditions, like the Irish potato famine, wars, unrest in Europe or Asia, the so-called Soviet crop failures, and the flight to escape Nazism, they received sanctuary yet had to earn American citizenship.         

I think bias may be a permanent human condition dictated by our programming throughout life and the culture in which we live.  If only we could learn to respect the biases of others perhaps, they could learn to respect ours and we could all live in harmony and peace.

Our second lesson, the media in America has lost its prestige that gave it special mention in the Bill of Rights.  Never was bias more apparent than in the media coverage of the Ferguson affair and few times in our history has the media led such an assault on our judicial system as the media reaction to the Grand Jury decision saying there was no probable cause for indicting the police officer, Darren Wilson, who shot Michael Brown.

For example, there is a ratings race between MSNBC and CNN and both cable networks have decided they have no chance to break the Fox News stranglehold on conservative and moderate America.  For well over a decade, FOX has dominated cable news with ratings two to ten times more than their competition.

That leaves the other two, MSNBC and CNN, in a dogfight to prove which is most liberal to the left wing extreme, so they have to out liberal each other.  What a shame since the liberals have not won a national election since, oh probably forever.

Lyndon Johnson and Franklin Roosevelt were about the most liberal presidents of the 20th century and they got us into the most devastating wars of our history, World War II and Viet Nam.  Indeed, they gave us the "New Deal" and "Great Society," but we also had the worst riots and urban warfare ever seen.

What is it about liberal movements that results in so much hate, disruption, and polarization?  Now that we have cable and national television networks fighting it out for the liberal spoils of ratings, we are right back in the midst of the discomfort zone.

Make no mistake; there are great liberal programs, services, and philosophies that benefit all people.  Yet just like with the conservatives, the good liberal programs were often hijacked by the lunatic fringe of the movement or were overshadowed by partisan polarization.

Social Security and Medicare have saved our older generation, whether conservatives or liberals.  Head Start is one of the few bright lights in the dismal performance of our education system.  Such liberal programs have distinguished America from other nations.

           

Liberal activists like Elizabeth Warren, when it comes to fighting Wall Street, are the only hope for ever curbing the abuses of wealth and power.  Yet, in order to secure the backing of the liberal media and liberal politicians, she and any other liberal must sell out many of the centrist principles of the real America to be part of the national debate.

Perhaps the greatest abuse of bias is obvious from the failure of the liberal media, when attempting to fan the ratings flames of the Ferguson tragedy, to acknowledge the existence of the toxicology report on Michael Brown on that fateful day.

A host of people and so-called experts are paraded before the cameras to tell us how flawed the grand jury system may be, or to discredit the testimony of the policeman regarding the condition of the victim Michael Brown.  When people have predetermined the outcome of a legal action, facts and truth have no role in the debate.

Well the fact is according to the toxicology report Michael Brown was stoned to a level equal to being drunk and incapable of driving.  So stoned on marijuana he walked into a store just before the incident, grabbed some boxes of cigars, and stormed out without paying.

Then walked down the middle of the street in broad daylight as if driving a car and not knowing which lane he occupied.  People do crazy things when they are stoned.  Charles Manson killed people.  Many others killed themselves.

The fact Michael Brown had a bag of pot in his possession indicated this was no first time use of drugs.  Why does the media refuse to expose the fact he may have been just another victim of drug abuse and when someone weighing 280 pounds is stoned, robbing stores, and walking down the middle of streets, perhaps they really are possessed by demons.

America needs to hear the rest of the story now hidden by the biased media.  We deserve the truth.  Then, we may be able to address the tragic conditions in our society that allow young men like Michael Brown to fall under the evil influence of drugs just like so many have fallen under the evil influence of another addiction, alcohol.

The full toxicology report story as contained in the Grand Jury documents is in the next CPT story about the Ferguson tragedy.

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Who really won the election? Republicans, Democrats, Obama, or Undocumented.

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First, I think the term undocumented is pathetic.  I cannot think of any descriptive word worse than the cursed terms Democrat, Republican, or Congress, except undocumented worker.  Maybe we should say the "underground" since they are part of the underground economy in America.

So far, the underground are the only winners in the election as they forced the president's hand after his six years of broken promises.  In terms of numerical impact, the GOP were big winners and the Democrats big losers.  Contrary to press reports, that is pretty much what happens every midterm election, the party holding the presidency loses and the minority party wins.

Still, my instinct tells me neither the Republicans nor the Democrats won because it was the Independents, the forgotten Americans, who brought the GOP to power.  There was no interest in the election by Democrats, and enough by Republicans to assure that only about 25% of all eligible voters actually voted.  So I guess that makes apathy the big winner.

I watched the returns even though long ago I had predicted a GOP tidal wave, and was stunned when I kept hearing how state after state saw major reductions in voting by both Democrats and Republicans, but up to a 40% increase in Independent voting.

Other obvious losers were Harry Reid, the war on women nonsense, the Kill the Koch Brothers campaign, liberal media, peaceniks, big brother advocates, and Democratic National Committee leader U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, Obama's handpicked propaganda mouthpiece.

Winners were much harder to find but did include those wanting bigger and better wars, the arms industry, bankers, Wall Street, oil dudes, rich people, and the many GOP candidates for president in 2016.

One group that always wins come election time is the news media who benefited from $3 billion dollars being pumped into the political campaigns.  If congress had the guts to ban paid political commercials for everyone and made the network television, cable, and radio outlets give all candidates free commercials, very few I might add, the media would finally lose out on the big bucks but until then the newest groups of fat cats are the media.

As for the short term future, it does not matter if the Democrats and Republicans get along because in the end there is little difference between the way they govern.  We can only hope the country survives long enough for the growing Independents to throw them all out of office.

Once congress is forced to adopt an Ethics Law that actually works bureaucrats and politicians will be lined up awaiting criminal indictments.

Tax reform is needed, both personal and corporate, but trusting those to fix it that now have us $17.5 trillion in debt while the private sector and stock market have record profits seems a little counter-productive.

Maybe the key to the future is to remember the past and as the founding father of America seemed to realized, perhaps a few prayers to God might help.

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Immigration Reform Emperor Obama Style

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After forgetting about his promise of immigration reform to liberals, Mexicans, and Central Americans for the past 6 years Obama suddenly switched back to community organizer and said 5 million illegal aliens in America could stay under his new Executive Order, an action that promptly earned him the label of Emperor Obama.

Most Americans know we have a huge problem with illegal aliens as estimates range from 11 to 30 million hidden in our country.  One can't blame foreigners for wanting to come to America because of the poverty, crime, and hopelessness in many other countries.

Yet the action by our Emperor defies certain logical observations on how to deal with the problem.

First, they are criminals under our current system.  There is a legal process for immigrating to America and they violated it.  Millions of people from around the world are on waiting lists to come here legally.  What must they think?

Second, Obama says most of these people are migrant farm workers doing work no one else wants.  Such a claim cannot be documented.  Estimates of total farm workers in the USA from reputable sources say there are about one million farm workers in the nation, between ¼ and ½ estimated to be illegal immigrants, in other words, 250,000 to 500,000.  That is a far cry from 11 million.

Third, Obama says most do not pay taxes.  Pew Research Hispanic says 8.4 million of the 11 million undocumented workers are employed.  Obama's order covers 5 million of them.  However, the Obama Administration says most of the jobs they hold are ones our citizens often do not want.  So if he is going to grant them legal status to remain and get them to pay taxes the 5 million will have to move into the labor force and take 5 million jobs from American citizens currently holding the jobs.

Why is that, because the alternative is much worse.

Here is an extract from a recent Forbes Magazine report on the employed and underemployed in the USA.

     

Forbes Magazine

Louis Efron

Despite the significant decrease in the official U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) unemployment rate, the real unemployment rate is over double that at 12.6%. This number reflects the government’s “U-6” report, which accounts for the full unemployment picture including those “marginally attached to the labor force,” plus those “employed part time for economic reasons.”

“Marginally attached” describes individuals not currently in the labor force who wanted and were available for work. The official unemployment numbers exclude them, because they did not look for work in the 4 weeks preceding the unemployment survey. In July, this marginally attached group accounted for 2.2 million people. To put that in perspective, there are currently 16 states in the U.S. with populations smaller than 2.2 million.

741,000 discouraged workers – workers not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them – are included within the list of marginally attached people. Another 7.5 million were not considered unemployed because they were employed part-time for economic reasons. Those people are also called involuntary part-time workers – working part-time because their hours were cut back or because they were unable to secure a full-time job.

When you look at state populations – using the 7.5 million – the number represents more than the population of Washington, Massachusetts, or Arizona.

These numbers mean the U.S. has nearly 10 million workers only marginally engaged in their work situation. They don’t contribute their full potential to their households, the economy or society in general. While reporting a low, declining unemployment number may comfort people, we can’t ignore the millions of workers feeling the pain of the real unemployment number.

So, we have 10 million legal Americans unemployed or underemployed and 5 million illegal aliens about to join the "legal" work force.  If the undocumented workers with families, since the Obama strategy is to keep families together, do not get work, they will be eligible for all the benefits of the low income and poverty level Americans since they have children legally in the USA through birth or the Obama eligibility limit.  The additional cost to the government could total hundreds of millions of dollars a year for these new benefits for millions of families.

We have a problem, but we need a financially and socially viable solution.  So far we have neither.  All the president will accomplish with his grand plan is the further polarization of American between citizens and non-citizens, between races, and between political parties.  Is this the kind of leadership we deserve from our president?

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MSNBC Deceptive Advertising Campaign

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Fans of the Morning Joe show have seen and heard a new MSNBC self-promotion ad that says the Morning Joe program is the cable news leader because they beat out CNN in ratings for the past five years.

As the liberal network and more liberal program struggle to gain viewers deception does not seem like a good component for their playbook.  Following are the actual rating numbers for yesterday, November 20, and while they did beat out CNN, they forgot to mention that Fox News had over three times as many viewers as MSNBC.

Fox and Friends have clobbered Morning Joe with three times as many viewers for a lot more than five years.  Note to MSNBC, leave the deception to politicians.

    

Live + Same Day Cable News Daily Ratings for Thursday, November 20, 2014

Net	Morning programs (6-9 AM)	P2+  (000s)	25-54  (000s)	35-64 (000s)
FOXN	FOX AND FRIENDS	1,264	284	662
CNN	NEW DAY	325	100	192
MSNBC	Morning Joe	382	96	172
CNBC	Total Program Combo	112	31	47
HLN	Morning Express W/ MEADE	197	70	85

Nielsen

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