Photo Credit: Huffington PostMaking history, America’s blacks voted at higher rates than whites in 2012, lifting Democrat Barack Obama to victory amid voter apathy, particularly among young people, new census data show. Despite increasing population, the number of white voters declined for the first time since 1996.
Blacks were the only race or ethnic group to show an increase in voter turnout in November, most notably in the Midwest and Southeastern U.S., the Census Bureau said Wednesday. The analysis, based on a sample survey of voters last year, is viewed as the best source of government data on turnout by race and ethnicity.
The Associated Press reported last week that black voter turnout surpassed whites for the first time, based on an analysis by experts of earlier data.
In all, about 66.2 percent of eligible black voters cast ballots in 2012, up from 64.7 percent in 2008, according to census data. That compares with non-Hispanic white turnout of 64.1 percent, which fell from 66.1 percent four years earlier. As recently as 1996, blacks had turnout rates 8 percentage points lower than non-Hispanic whites.
Latino turnout dipped slightly, from 49.9 percent in 2008 to 48 percent, while Asian-American turnout was basically unchanged at 47 percent.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-05-09 03:16:592016-04-11 11:21:45Black Voter Turnout Passes Whites in 2012 Election, a First in Census History (+video)
Photo Credit: Jeff ChiuCalifornia’s Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that individual cities and towns can ban the medical marijuana dispensaries that have sprouted around the state, dealing a blow to advocates of broader legal access to the drug and invigorating calls for the Legislature to speed measures regulating the business.
Because of the scores of jurisdictions across the state that have already banned the dispensaries, the ruling by the seven justices essentially leaves in place large contiguous tracts of territory where patients with a doctor’s prescription cannot purchase the drug legally.
Some medical marijuana advocates said the ruling made it likely that more cities and towns, angry that the regulatory burden falls on them and not the state, also would enact bans.
In the case before the court, a ban on such dispensaries was imposed by the city of Riverside in 2010. The plaintiff, the Inland Empire Patient’s Health and Wellness Center, which was objecting to being shut down, sued the city on the grounds that the ban contravened the state law’s objective of “ensuring access to marijuana for the seriously ill who need it in a uniform manner throughout the State.”
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-05-09 03:08:202016-04-11 11:21:46Setback for Medical Marijuana as California Court Upholds Local Ban (+video)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-05-09 03:02:092016-04-11 11:21:47Fun Video Recap of this Week’s Stories
If the revelations of the Benghazi whistle-blowers haven’t been enough, Hillary Clinton’s presidential aspirations should surely be laid to rest after enough Americans see the below video.
The mother of Sean Smith, one of the Americans killed in Benghazi due to Obama’s and Hillary’s willful inaction, is continuing to angrily confront the Administration for not coming clean on what happened.
In the interview, Pat Smith describes the minimal contact that she’s had with the Administration. And what little contact she has had is “all lies.”
She angrily concludes, “I blame Hillary.”
If you don’t watch anything else in the following video, skip forward to Hillary Clinton’s 20-second outrageous outburst (2:18 to 2:38), that Ms. Smith then comments on. Hillary’s presidential aspirations should be dead in the water if enough Americans see this clip:
Transcript:
CNN’s JACK TAPPER: One woman still looking for answers is Pat Ms. Pat Smith. Her son, State Department Information Officer Sean Ms. Pat Smith was one of the four Americans killed. Pat, thanks so much for being here. I know this is not an easy time. How are you holding up?
MS. PAT SMITH: Terrible. I cry every night. I don’t sleep at night. I need answers.
CNN’S JACK TAPPER: What do you want answers to? What do you not know?
MS. PAT SMITH: Why was there no security for him? When they were supposed to have security and the security that they did have was called back. It just — things do not add up and I’m just told lies.
CNN’S JACK TAPPER: Last week, you heard this in the piece the White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said that Benghazi happened a long time ago.
MS. PAT SMITH: Yes, it did.
CNN’S JACK TAPPER: Eight months ago.
MS. PAT SMITH: Yes.
CNN’S JACK TAPPER: What is your reaction to that?
MS. PAT SMITH: Why don’t they have answers by now? They’ve had plenty of time to come up with something other than the things they have not told me.
CNN’S JACK TAPPER: Are you concerned at all that the hearings and Benghazi that has become a political issue, the Republicans have turned it into a political issue. The Democrats have turned it into a political issue as opposed to being a scandal and a tragedy apart from politics?
MS. PAT SMITH: Of course, it’s political. That’s the way it’s been. That’s how they’re treating it. That’s what they’re doing with it. They’re making it into something that — why don’t they just do their job? They didn’t do their job and now they’re hiding behind the word political and going from there.
CNN’S JACK TAPPER: You have expressed disappointment in the past because President Obama, then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, then Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, all of them came to you, talked to you.
MS. PAT SMITH: Yes.
CNN’S JACK TAPPER: And then you haven’t heard from them. Have you heard from anybody in the Obama administration? Have you gotten any outreach or any answers at all?
MS. PAT SMITH: I got one telephone call from a clerk that was a couple days after it happened. He was reading to me from the time line, which I already had. And that was it. And since then, all they have told me is that I am not part of the immediate family so they don’t want to tell me anything.
CNN’S JACK TAPPER: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testified about the Benghazi tragedy shortly before she left office. I want to play a little bit of what she said.
(START VIDEO INSERT)
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: With all due respect, the fact is, we had four dead Americans. Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided they’d go kill some Americans? What difference at this point does it make? It is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again, Senator.
(END VIDEO INSERT)
CNN’S JACK TAPPER: What was your reaction to that?
MS. PAT SMITH: Well, that’s what I want to know. Why did it happen? And she is in charge. Why couldn’t she do something about it? I blame her.
CNN’S JACK TAPPER: You blame Secretary of State Clinton.
MS. PAT SMITH: Yes.
CNN’S JACK TAPPER: Why?
MS. PAT SMITH: Because that’s her department. She is supposed to be on top of it. Yet she claims she knows nothing. It wasn’t told to her. Well, who is running the place?
Photo Credit: Fox NewsBy Fox News. Monday night’s revelation that Ariel Castro allegedly kept at least three women as prisoners in a Cleveland, Ohio, home for almost a decade is not the first time a spotlight has been placed on the family.
His daughter, Emily, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for slashing the throat of her then 11-month-old daughter, Janyla, according to the Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
The incident happened in 2007, a day after she broke up with the child’s father, prosecutors said.
According to the paper, police showed up at her home on April 4th and saw the baby’s maternal grandmother, Grimilda Figueroa, holding the bleeding infant, who had severe cuts on her throat.
During the trial, the family argued that Castro suffered from severe depression and that it pushed her to paranoia – to the point where she believed her family was trying to kill her and her daughter. Read more from this story HERE.
Amanda Berry: Three captive women chained up in grim dungeon for a decade gave birth to five babies
By Chris Bucktin and Ben Rossington. Three women held captive in a dungeon for a decade gave birth to five babies during the ordeal.
Gina DeJesus, 23, Michelle Knight, 30, and Amanda Berry, 26, and her six-year-old daughter fled the house in Cleveland, Ohio.
Ariel Castro, 52, and his two brothers have been arrested.
Frantic Amanda choked back tears as she told police “I’m free” after she escaped the dungeon.
Amanda fled the hell-hole thanks to a hero neighbour before her dramatic 911 call ended the victims’ ordeal.
It had been feared that Amanda and the other captives – Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight – had been murdered. Read more from this story HERE.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-05-08 02:40:262016-04-11 11:21:48Alleged Cleveland Kidnapper Ariel Castro’s Daughter Slashed Her 11 Month Old Baby’s Throat (+video)
Photo Credit: New Jersey National GuardNew Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who recently described himself as “the healthiest fat guy you’ve ever seen,” revealed Tuesday that he’s taken a major step toward slimming down.
The Republican told the New York Post that he underwent lap-band stomach surgery over the Presidents Day holiday — auspicious timing given that news of the procedure is seen as the latest indication that he’s eyeing a White House run in 2016.
Christie, however, denied that the procedure had any political implications, saying the decision was made after pleas from his family to shape up after a milestone birthday.
“I’ve struggled with this issue for 20 years,” he told the newspaper. “For me, this is about turning 50 and looking at my children and wanting to be there for them.”
Christie checked into a surgery center under a false name on Feb. 16, the Post reported. The procedure, which is less intrusive than gastric bypass surgery, is meant to make individuals feel fuller and cut down on food intake. One analyst told NBC News on Tuesday that Christie could lose 100 pounds if he does cut back on his eating.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-05-08 02:25:142016-04-11 11:21:49Is Chris Christie’s Weight-Loss Surgery a 2016 Clue?
Photo Credit: mikebairdA mother who was forced to pay spousal support to the ex-husband who was convicted of raping her daughter is speaking out to CBS2.
“Every time I wrote that check, I cried because I felt like I was paying the man that raped my daughter,” Carol Abar told CBS2′s Andrea Fujii.
Carol married Ed Abar in 1991, when her daughter, who wishes to remain unidentified, was 9 years old.
Carol’s daughter said Abar abused and raped her for 16 years before she told her mother.
“He had threatened me that he would kill my mom; he would kill my stepbrothers; he would kill me,” she said.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-05-08 02:19:342016-04-11 11:21:50Mother Forced to Pay Spousal Support to Man Who Raped Daughter (+video)
Photo Credit: DvortygirlA Suffolk school suspended a second grader for pointing a pencil at another student and making gun noises.
Seven-year-old Christopher Marshall says he was playing with another student in class Friday, when the teacher at Driver Elementary asked them to stop pointing pencils at each other.
“When I asked him about it, he said, ‘Well I was being a Marine and the other guy was being a bad guy,'” said Paul Marshall, the boy’s father. “It’s as simple as that.”
Christopher’s father was a Marine for many years. He thinks school leaders overreacted.
“A pencil is a weapon when it is pointed at someone in a threatening way and gun noises are made,” said Bethanne Bradshaw, a spokesperson for Suffolk Public Schools.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-05-08 02:15:272016-04-11 11:21:50Boy Who Held Pencil Like Gun Suspended (+video)
Photo Credit: APOn Aaron Klein’s weekend show on New York City’s WABC radio, Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Inhofe accused the Obama administration of buying up ammunition at an unprecedented level to bypass the Second Amendment so gun-owners “can’t even buy ammunition because government is purchasing so much.”
“Let’s make sure that your audience out there is aware, Aaron, that our president, Obama, has been doing everything he could to stop the private ownership of guns in America,” Inhofe said. “You know that, everyone knows that. And yet he’s been voted down in a big way by a large majority. And so my feeling is that he’s doing this to buy up [ammunition] so that we can’t buy: Honest, law-abiding citizens here in the United States, like my son, can’t even buy ammunition because government is purchasing so much.”
Inhofe explained to Klein he is working to introduce the Ammunition Management for More Obtainability (AMMO) bill that will limit “non-defense, armed federal agencies to pre-Obama levels of ammunition.”
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-05-07 02:29:472016-04-11 11:21:53Inhofe: Obama Admin. Buying So Much Ammo It’s Dried Up Civilian Supply (+video)
Photo Credit: YouTubeFox News Chris Wallace: I want to talk to you about a controversy, a continuing controversy, about the talking points that came out afterwards that led, some people say, to a lot of disinformation. These were the talking points the administration put out after the attack. Steve Hayes of The Weekly Standard reports that the first draft by the CIA on September 14th said this: “The crowd almost certainly was a mix of individuals from across many sectors of Libyan society. That being said, we do know that Islamic extremists with ties to al Qaeda participated in the attack.” This was the first draft of talking points from the CIA on September 14th. But after objections from State and after the White House had a meeting, you can see the talking points — and it’s a little hard to see there on the screen — there were lots of lines drawn though them. They were heavily edited. And all mention of the Islamic extremists were taken out. Congressman Lynch, weren’t the talking points the administration put out in advance of Susan Rice’s appearance on those five Sunday shows, weren’t those talking points scrubbed?
Rep. Lynch: They certainly weren’t accurate. I don’t know what the process was there. But absolutely. They were false. They were wrong. There were no protests outside the Benghazi compound there. This was a deliberate and strategic attack on the consulate there. So any statement that this was sort of like the you know the other protests in Cairo and other embassies, this was not that type of attack.
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2013-05-07 02:17:142016-04-11 11:21:55Video: Liberal Democrat Agrees that Obama’s Benghazi Talking Points Were False
