March 22, 2013

Unemployment Rates for States

Unemployment Rates for States Monthly Rankings Seasonally Adjusted Jan. 2013^p
Rank	State	Rate
1	NORTH DAKOTA	3.3
2	NEBRASKA	3.8
3	SOUTH DAKOTA	4.4
4	VERMONT	4.7
5	WYOMING	4.9
6	IOWA	5.0
7	OKLAHOMA	5.1
8	HAWAII	5.2
9	UTAH	5.4
10	KANSAS	5.5
11	MINNESOTA	5.6
11	VIRGINIA	5.6
13	MONTANA	5.7
14	NEW HAMPSHIRE	5.8
15	LOUISIANA	5.9
16	IDAHO	6.3
16	TEXAS	6.3
18	MISSOURI	6.5
19	NEW MEXICO	6.6
20	ALASKA	6.7
20	MARYLAND	6.7
20	MASSACHUSETTS	6.7
23	ALABAMA	6.9
24	OHIO	7.0
24	WISCONSIN	7.0
26	ARKANSAS	7.2
26	DELAWARE	7.2
28	COLORADO	7.3
28	MAINE	7.3
30	WEST VIRGINIA	7.4
31	WASHINGTON	7.5
32	TENNESSEE	7.7
33	FLORIDA	7.8
34	KENTUCKY	7.9
35	ARIZONA	8.0
36	CONNECTICUT	8.1
37	PENNSYLVANIA	8.2
38	NEW YORK	8.4
38	OREGON	8.4
40	DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA	8.6
40	INDIANA	8.6
42	GEORGIA	8.7
42	SOUTH CAROLINA	8.7
44	MICHIGAN	8.9
45	ILLINOIS	9.0
46	MISSISSIPPI	9.3
47	NEW JERSEY	9.5
47	NORTH CAROLINA	9.5
49	NEVADA	9.7
50	CALIFORNIA	9.8
50	RHODE ISLAND	9.8

March 12, 2013

10 Hollywood Celebrities Who Should Be Blacklisted By Conservatives

John Hawkins
John Hawkins is a professional blogger who runs Right Wing News

One of the biggest problems that conservatives have in this country is that we're far too willing to support people who mock, despise and hate us. They tell the world we're awful people and then we turn right around and put money in their pockets and help them become bigger stars. Meanwhile, conservative celebrities are afraid to support Republican candidates or speak up for conservatism because they know the Left will unleash a tsunami of hysteria on them. In other words, there may be a lot more conservatives than there are liberals, but celebrities can get away with criticizing us, but not them. This dynamic is at the heart of why conservatives are losing the culture.

The good news is that there's a simple way to start tilting the entertainment industry back towards the middle. When movie stars trash you and the people you believe in, blog it, facebook it and tweet it not just when it happens, but when their next movie or album comes out. Don't buy their album. Don't go see their movie in the theater and most importantly, LET PEOPLE KNOW WHY you're not giving them your money. These celebrities and the big money behind them pay great attention to anything and everything that's said about them. They also assume that each person speaking up represents the opinion of thousands of other people. So, in their mind, your tweet, blog post or Facebook graphic matters, especially if other people seem to agree with what's being said.

Will that change the opinion of these celebrities? No, but if they believe it will cost them hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars to trash conservative Republicans, they will start to think twice before opening their mouths. Keep that in mind as you read these quotes.

1) "First of all, give an honor to God and our lord and savior Barack Obama. Barack Obama." --Jamie Foxx

2) "(The Tea Party's) stated policy, publicly stated, is to do whatever it takes to see to it that Obama only serves one term. What underlines that? ‘Screw the country. We’re going to whatever we can to get this black man outta here.' ...It is a racist thing....(that) just shows the weak, dark, underside of America. We’re supposed to be better than that." -- Morgan Freeman

3) Herman Cain is probably well-liked by some of the Republicans because it hides the racist elements of the Republican Party, conservative movement and tea party movement. People like Karl Rove like to keep the racism very covert and so Herman Cain provides this great opportunity so he can say, ‘Look: This is not a racist anti-immigrant, anti-female, anti-gay movement. Look: We have a black man.’ And look he’s polling well and he won a straw poll. -- Janeane Garofalo

4) "If I got (Condi Rice) on camera, I would put my Mars Air Jordans so far up her butt that the Mayo Clinic would have to remove them.” -- Spike Lee

5) "Latins for Republicans -- it’s like roaches for Raid." -- John Leguizamo

6) "Y’all better vote for f——g Obama, OK? For better or for worse, we have a black Muslim in the White House. Now, …that’s some amazing s—-t. It means there is hope in this country." --Madonna

7) "You have what I call the ‘Get the N-word out of the White House party,’ the Tea Party…. At the end of the day, there’s a big bubble coming out of their heads saying, you know, ‘Can we just lynch him?’" --Sean Penn

8) "The Tea Party really is just a c*nt hair away from being the Westboro Baptist Church..." --Sarah Silverman

9) "Glen Rice is a wonderful man. He’s a wonderful guy. You want (Sarah Palin) to be with somebody like [Dennis] Rodman getting up … in there. Pushing her guts up in the back of her head! …Glen Rice is a nice, mellow, docile man, non-threatening guy. You want someone like Rodman — yeah baby! Let’s get that donkey in here now. [laughter] Just imagine Palin with a big old black stallion ripping. Yeehaw! [I]n life in general you know … everybody got to get that out of their system when they get out of college. If you’re a black man, every white girl, every uppity middle class … everybody got to get their share of love. She could always get boned out by a black person, a vote to bang her. Other than a vote to run office, the only thing she can do … she’s not a bad person because she likes black people at least in her. Sarah Palin … she met the ‘wombshifter.’" -- Mike Tyson on ESPN radio

10) "George Bush doesn't care about black people." -- Kanye West

March 6, 2013

Economic Mobility

Thomas Sowell

Most people are not even surprised any more when they hear about someone who came here from Korea or Vietnam with very little money, and very little knowledge of English, who nevertheless persevered and rose in American society. Nor are we surprised when their children excel in school and go on to professional careers.

Yet, in utter disregard of such plain facts, so-called "social scientists" do studies which conclude that America is no longer a land of opportunity, and that upward mobility is a "myth." Even when these studies have lots of numbers in tables and equations that mimic the appearance of science, too often their conclusions depend on wholly arbitrary assumptions.

Even people regarded as serious academic scholars often measure social mobility by how many people from families in the lower part of the income distribution end up in higher income brackets. But social mobility -- the opportunity to move up -- cannot be measured solely by how much movement takes place.

Opportunity is just one factor in economic advancement. How well a given individual or group takes advantage of existing opportunities is another. Only by implicitly (and arbitrarily) assuming that a failure to rise must be due to society's barriers can we say that American society no longer has opportunity for upward social mobility.

The very same attitudes and behavior that landed a father in a lower income bracket can land the son in that same bracket. But someone with a different set of attitudes and behavior may rise dramatically in the same society. Sometimes even a member of the same family may rise while a sibling stagnates or falls by the wayside.

Ironically, many of the very people who are promoting the idea that the "unfairness" of American society is the reason why some individuals and groups are not advancing are themselves a big part of the reason for the stagnation that occurs.

The welfare state promoted by those who insist that it is society that is keeping some people down makes it unnecessary for many low-income people to exert themselves -- and therefore makes it unnecessary for them to develop their own potential to the fullest.

The multiculturalist dogma that says one culture is just as good as another paints people into the cultural corner where they happened to have been born, even if other cultures around them have features that offer better prospects of rising.

Just speaking standard English in an English-speaking country can improve the odds of rising. But multiculturalists' celebration of foreign languages or ethnic dialects, and of counterproductive cultural patterns exemplified by such things as gangsta rap, can promote the very social stagnation that they blame on "society."

March 4, 2013

Rep Allyson Schwartz is my representative. I have had a visceral hatred of this women from the beginning. Now that I found this out about her it would explain why, I have hated her from the beginning.

Dem Congresswoman's Shocking Abortion Clinic Past

Rep. Allyson Schwartz of Pennsylvania is one of the fastest rising stars in the Democrat Party, taking on a recently announced leadership role at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Schwartz, a four-term suburban Philadelphia congresswoman, is taking on the position left vacant by Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz who was just tapped to chair the Democratic National Committee.

One fact that has gone unmentioned in all the media reports trumpeting Schwartz's ascendancy is that Allyson Schwartz, besides having a perfect pro-abortion record in Congress, co-founded and acted as Executive Director of an abortion clinic in Philadelphia for 13 years (1975-1988).

The clinic was called the Elizabeth Blackwell Center which is ironic because Blackwell, the first female physician in the U.S., was pro-life.

The clinic was not without its troubles. The Philadelphia Daily News quoted a call from a Republican candidate that detailed an assortment of lawsuits against the clinic:

"18 lawsuits have been filed against Miss Allyson Schwartz's clinic, including assault, battery, negligence, perforated bowels and uteruses," the woman said, "and even abortions performed without consent of her patients.

In 2002, the Blackwell clinic declared bankruptcy due to diminished demand for abortion and stiff competition in the area. In its last year, the center still performed about 1,500 abortions. According to the Daily News, the center derived its largest share of revenue from abortions.

Since Schwartz left the abortion business, she hasn't forgotten her past. NARAL has consistently rated Schwartz a perfect 100 score. EMILY's List, the radically pro-abortion PAC, has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Schwartz, giving her campaign far more than any other organization. According to one site, EMILY's List donated almost $500,000 to Schwartz.

In return, Schwartz voted against the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act, and the Stupak Amendment. Schwartz even sponsored the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) which would have erased all federal, state, or local limitations on abortion up to an including the ninth month of pregnancy.

Schwartz was already heading up candidate recruitment and will now oversee candidate services throughout the country.

Note: I worked for two congressional campaigns against Schwartz.

See Also Patrick's reaction at the NCRegister.com "Democrat Leader Operated Abortion Clinic"

February 27, 2013

Violent crime worse in Britain than in US

by MICHAEL CLARKE, Daily Mail

Britain has a higher crime rate than any other rich nation except Australia, according to a survey yesterday.

The chances of having your car stolen are greater in England and Wales than anywhere else in the developed world, it said.

The international crime report was published as Tony Blair prepared to unveil plans to tackle persistent offenders.

The Prime Minister - who will next week become the first serving premier to visit a British prison when he launches his law-and-order package - said the crackdown would target the 100,000 worst offenders who are responsible for the bulk of crimes.

He is to announce a £700 million programme - described by senior government sources as 'very radical' - in a bid to win back the initiative in the law and order debate in the runup to the general election expected in May.

According to the figures released yesterday, 3.6 per cent of the population of England and

Wales were victims of violent crime in 1999 - second only to Australia, where the figure was 4.1 per cent.

Scotland had a slightly lower rate of violence, at 3.4 per cent.

In the U.S., only 2 per cent of the population suffered an assault or robbery.

One in 40 people in England and Wales had their cars stolen in 1999, the highest rate in the 17 developed countries examined.

Just one in 200 Americans suffered a car theft while in Japan there was only one per 1,000 of the population.

The study looked at crime rates in 12 western European countries plus Poland, Canada, the U.S., Australia and Japan.

The chances of becoming a victim of any crime in England and Wales were second only to Australia.

Here, 26 per cent suffered from crime against an average across all the countries of just 21 per cent.

England and Wales are among the countries 'most pressured by crime', the report concludes.

The two countries had the equal highest number of crimes per head of population of all 17 states.

There were 58 incidents for every 100 inhabitants in England and Wales - the same as Australia.

The study said the size of the sample meant first place in many categories came down to statistical accident, suggesting that for many areas of crime Britain may actually be worst in the world.

Its authors insisted the general rankings accurately reflect the real situation.

Home Secretary Jack Straw admitted the survey painted a bleak picture for Britain.

He said that after four years in power, Labour still had a mountain to climb to defeat crime. He added: 'Levels of victimisation are higher here than in most comparable countries for most categories of crime.

'So, while I pay tribute to the police, councils and communities for their hard work in reducing crime over recent years, no one should be under any illusions about the challenges ahead.

'Crime may be falling but it is still too high, and we have a great deal more to do to make Britain a safer place in which to live.'

Shadow home secretary Ann Widdecombe said: 'It's no wonder the people of England and Wales have more chance of becoming victims of crime when there are over 2,500 fewer police, violent crime is soaring and 30,000 convicted prisoners have been let out before serving even half their sentences.

'Four years after the last election it is clear Labour have failed to be tough on crime as they promised they would be.'

Experts said one reason Britain had higher crime rates was because it had a higher population density.

More people living in cities - and more people living alone - gave greater opportunities for crimes like burglary, said Professor Michael Hough of South Bank University.

He said the apparently high crime rate in Australia could be due to a growing drug problem in Sydney, which is home to a fifth of the country's 19million population.

But the latest research is a big embarrassment to Labour.

Recent statistics show that, while overall crime in Britain is falling, violence, particularly street robbery, is rising sharply.

One of Labour's key election slogans during its 1997 election triumph was 'Tough on Crime, Tough on the Causes of Crime'.

More black people jailed in England and Wales proportionally than in US

New study finds seven times more black people per population are in prison – in the US number is just four times as many
• Datablog: How fair is Britain? Get the key data

Randeep Ramesh, social affairs editor
The Guardian, Sunday 10 October 2010

The number of black people jailed in England and Wales is seven times larger than the amount they make up of the population. Photograph: i love images / Alamy/Alamy

The following correction was printed in the Guardian's Corrections and clarifications column, Thursday 14 October 2010

A headline and the first paragraph of a story that examined the numbers of people of African-Caribbean and African descent in the prison system in the UK and the US wrongly stated, owing to an editing error, that black people in England and Wales were more at risk of jail than black Americans. The rest of the story, based on a new report, accurately reported that the proportion of black people in jail in the UK was almost seven times their share of the population, whereas in the US the proportion of black prisoners is four times greater than their population share. The expression of the figures was extrapolated from the Equality and Human Rights Commission report How Fair is Britain? The report drew on a 2008 Ministry of Justice document, footnoted as the source of the EHRC statement that stated: "Black prisoners make up 15% of the prisoner population and this compares with 2.2% of the general population – there is greater disproportionality in the number of black people in prisons in the UK than there is in the United States." According to a range of sources, including the US justice department, about 12% of the US population is black and about 40% to 45% of the US prison population is black. According to Roy Walmsley's World Prison Population List 2009, the US jails 756 of every 100,000 of its population. The corresponding figure for England and Wales is 153. Based on the figures above, America jails 3% of its black population, and England and Wales 1%. This means that a black person in the US is three times as likely to be imprisoned as in England and Wales.

The proportion of black people in prison in England and Wales is higher than in the United States, a landmark report released today by the Equality and Human Rights Commission reveals.

The commission's first triennial report into the subject, How Fair is Britain, shows that the proportion of people of African-Caribbean and African descent incarcerated here is almost seven times greater to their share of the population. In the United States, the proportion of black prisoners to population is about four times greater.

The report, which aims to set out how to measure "fairness" in Britain, says that ethnic minorities are "substantially over-represented in the custodial system". It suggests many of those jailed have "mental health issues, learning disabilities, have been in care or experienced abuse".

Experts and politicians said over-representation of black men was a result of decades of racial prejudice in the criminal justice system and an overly punitive approach to penal affairs.

"People will be and should be shocked by this data," said Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust. "We have a tendency to say we are better than the US, but we have not got prison right."

Lyon said that although there had been "numerous efforts to address racism in the prison system … we have yet to get a better relationship between justice authorities and black communities. Instead we have ended up with mistrust breeding mistrust."

Evidence of this damaged relationship can be found in the commission's report. On the streets, black people were subjected to what the report describes as an "excess" of 145,000 stop and searches in 2008. It notes that black people constitute less than 3% of the population, yet made up 15% of people stopped by police.

The commission found that five times more black people than white people per head of population in England and Wales are imprisoned. The ethnic minority prison population has doubled in a decade – from 11,332 in 1998 to 22,421 in 2008. Over a similar period, the overall number of prisoners rose by less than two thirds. The commission says that the total number of people behind bars accelerated in the last decade despite "a similar number of crimes being reported to the police as in the early 1990s … the volume of indictable offences has fallen over this time".

A quarter of the people in prison are from an ethnic minority. Muslims now make up 12% of the prison population in England and Wales.

Some on the left of the Labour party blame its policies while in power. Diane Abbott, who raised the alarm over the growing numbers of jailed black men as a backbencher, said she "very much regretted that the last Labour government swallowed [former home secretary] Michael Howard's line that 'prison works'."

"There was never a serious examination of the consequences of locking up a generation of young black men. The result is there are some prisons in the south east which are now virtually all black. Many are converting to Islam."

The problems may start at school. The commission points out that black children are three times as likely to be permanently excluded from education.

"We are reaping the effects of criminalising a community in the 1970s," says Ben Bowling, professor of criminal justice at Kings College London and a former adviser to the home affairs select committee.

"The question is how you break the cycle when young men experience custody. Three quarters simply re-offend. We have to intervene with families more effectively to stop kids going to prison. That means looking at school exclusions. You need to deal with issues like mental health and substance abuse. It is not enough to throw our hands in the air."

The policies implemented in the last decade mean incarceration levels in Britain are now among the highest in western Europe. England and Wales have an imprisonment rate of 155 per 100,000 and Scotland of 149 per 100,000 of the population. This contrasts with rates of less than 100 per 100,000 for most of Britain's neighbours.

The commission also warns of the rising numbers of women in jails. It says that the "number of women prisoners has nearly doubled since 1995 in England and Wales, and since 2000 in Scotland – currently around 5% of prisoners are women".

The Ministry of Justice said that the government would not comment on individual portions of the report.

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