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27 Jul 2011 14:43

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U.S.: Pew study: There’s a massive wealth gap along racial lines

  • $113,149 average net worth of a white household in 2009
  • $5,677 average net worth of a black household in 2009 source
  • » That is a stark difference. In their latest study, Pew compared the net wealth of families in various racial groups and found that blacks and Latinos in particular did very poorly compared to whites. (Asians, on the other hand, were somewhat within shouting distance. EDIT: Please see explanation.) This is a historic trend which has lasted decades, but has become all the more apparent with the Great Recession. “The bursting of the housing market bubble in 2006 and the recession that followed from late 2007 to mid-2009 took a far greater toll on the wealth of minorities than whites,” Pew writes in its study. While net wealth among whites fell roughly 16 percent, blacks families lost about 53 percent, and Latino families lost the most — losing 66 percent of their wealth on average.
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jul 2011 14:08

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Tech: Important LulzSec member reportedly goes down

  • Topiary, LulzSec’s most public member and second-in-command has reportedly been arrested. He’s the one that ran LulzSec’s Twitter and wrote all of their eloquent messages — and he was only 19. Topiary deleted every tweet from his personal twitter and left only one: “You can’t arrest an idea,” pointing more to the fact that he was arrested and even knew it was coming. LulzSec will undoubtedly confirm or deny all of this soon enough, but this all comes on the heels of a sting which nailed 14 members of Anonymous, which reportedly has ties to the more-low-key group. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jul 2011 10:41

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Politics: Fed Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke stays out of debt ceiling debate

  • If you’re the Fed chairman, you’ve got to be above politics.
  • Sen. Jon Kyl • Offering a bit of unsolicited advice to our boy Ben Bernanke in the whole debt ceiling mess: Stay out of it, be above it, let the children fight over it. Which, let’s face it, is pretty much his only good option at this point. For what it’s worth, he’s done a good job of this so far: While he’s warned that the debt ceiling needs to go up, he’s stopped short of favoring any one way to do it, a response Barney Frank calls “appropriate.” Not that he’s above actions that raise the ire of the GOP — the Fed’s recent spate of bond purchases, $600 billion in all, have ticked off Republicans. But he hasn’t pissed ’em off too much lately. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Jul 2011 14:13

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Politics: Stylin’: Michele Bachmann spends a lot on hair and makeup

  • $4,700 the amount she spent on a stylist source
  • » Most people don’t make that in a month: For a candidate that is championing lower spending to conserve taxpayer dollars, that seems quite a lot of money to spend on herself. It’s also far more than she spent on stylists than during her Congressional campaign. Appearances may be important when running for president — don’t get us wrong, anything to help her prevent a Nixon moment — but this seems a tad excessive. And it’s an excess not uncommon to Democrats, either — John Edwards famously got $200 haircuts in his pre-scandal days.
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Jul 2011 13:29

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U.S.: Rep. David Wu explains why he’s resigning from Congress

  • The wellbeing of my children must come before anything else. With great sadness, I therefore intend to resign effective upon the resolution of the debt-ceiling crisis.
  • Rep. David Wu • Discussing his decision to resign from Congress amid allegations that he had unwanted sexual contact with an 18-year-old woman. Earlier he said he wouldn’t seek reelection after this controversy, but now he’s resigning after increasing pressure from other representatives. He’s had his fair share of troubles — namely his wife father passing away, and a midlife crisis that’s manifested itself in embarrassing ways. At least he’s making it clear that he’s doing this to help his kids out, and let’s hope this doesn’t turn into Weinergate 2.0. source
Posted by Justin Jones • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Jul 2011 11:01

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U.S.: Smart move: California allows illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition

  • While many states have chosen to legislate hate and division by approving anti-immigrant laws, California’s governor sends a strong message that investing in today’s student population, regardless of their immigration status, is smart, practical and the right thing to do.
  • Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles leader Angelica Salas • Speaking favorably of Gov. Jerry Brown and the California State Legislature’s actions in passing a bill that allows illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition for their schooling. Eleven other states have laws comparable to California’s, while a dozen others block the practice outright. But considering California is on the literal front lines of the immigration debate, it’s of note. Two other border states — Texas and New Mexico — have similar laws. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Jul 2011 10:30

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Politics: Nancy Pelosi stuck defending trip to Detroit Auto Show

  • $35,000 to see the shiny new cars source
  • » That’s taxpayer money, by the way: While it’s a drop in the bucket, it’s understandable why Pelosi might get guff for this — because the Detroit Auto Show is a gaudy showcase event if there ever was one, and she used taxpayer money to send a dozen congressmen to the event back in 2010, when she was speaker. Pelosi’s spokesperson, Drew Hammill, defended her actions: “Congress made an historic commitment to the auto industry to drive innovation and modernization, and to save hundreds of thousands of jobs,” he said. “It was critical that taxpayer dollars received proper oversight, and the bipartisan visit was critical to that process.”
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

26 Jul 2011 01:55

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Politics: Rep. David Wu won’t run for re-election amid “unwanted sexual encounter”

  • He’s still determining his political future, but he will not run for re-election. He’s fully focused on fulfilling his elected duties and serving his constituents to the best of his duties here in the House.
  • David Wu’s spokesman, Erik Dorey • Revealing that the troubled congressman, a Democrat, won’t run for re-election. Fortunately for him, Wu is low-profile enough that he hasn’t faced intense scrutiny to the level of Anthony Weiner, which means that he might be able to weather the storm and keep his job for another year … if he’s careful. However, Wu faces much harsher charges than Weiner ever did — allegations of an unwanted sexual encounter with an 18-year-old woman. On top of that, he has some embarrassing photos that work well next to a story like this one. So who wants to take bets on how long it takes for him to resign? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Jul 2011 23:33

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World: Iran to pull the plug on the Internet in two years’ time

  • 2 years until Iranians get their Internet revoked source
  • » Although only 11% of Iran’s citizens use the Internet, Iranian officials have nonetheless decided that within the next two years, all Internet access in the country will be restricted to a state-controlled intranet. Which is to say there will be no Internet access in Iran. (Note from editor: This story is a little old. So as not to be giving you completely outdated information, we’ll point out that officials plan to roll out tests of their “National Internet” starting next month.)
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Jul 2011 23:09

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Politics: A little perspective on this whole deficit mess

  • This graph, courtesy of the New York Times, has been making the rounds today, and it’s worth examining. Note that health care reform, much-maligned by the right as deficit-killer, cost less than even the most inexpensive of George W. Bush’s policies (that policy being Medicare Part D). Note also that the Bush tax cuts alone added more to the deficit than all of President Obama’s new policies combined — and that’s including projected spending over the course of a theoretical second term.  source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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