Life Without Parole Sentences for Juveniles
While the US Supreme Court held in 2010 that youth offenders under age 18 convicted of non-homicide crimes could not be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, about 2,600 youth offenders continue to serve such a sentence for homicide-related crimes. – Human Rights Watch, 2012 [Read it here http://bit.ly/AiMRCj Excerpts Below.]
In one study of youth arrested for murder in 25 states where there was available data, African Americans were found to be sentenced to juvenile life without parole at a rate that is 1.59 times higher than white youth.
The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) has joined the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, LatinoJustice PRLDEF, the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice, and Leadership Conference on Race and Human Rights in filing an amicus brief in opposing the imposition of life sentences without parole on juvenile offenders in the Miller v. Alabama andJackson v. Hobbs cases (Miller-Jackson) currently before the U.S. Supreme Court. [ Read it here: http://bit.ly/xPZlOO ]
The amicus brief contends that life without parole sentences for fourteen year-old offenders violate the Constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, and the historic role of racial stereotyping in imposing these sentences on children further undermines their validity.
Historically, the imposition of life without parole sentences is rooted in stereotyping. For much of the 20th century, courts widely held that children were less culpable than adults and therefore not subject to such severe penalties. But in the 1980s and 90s, the media, academics, and politicians increasingly characterized teen crime in racially coded terms. For example, a 2000 study of news broadcasts in six major U.S. cities found that 62% of the stories involving Latino youth were about murder or attempted murder, even though data from 1998 indicated that minority youth accounted for only 25% of all juvenile crime arrests. This false conflation between race, youth, and criminal behavior — the infamous “Central Park Jogger” case being the most notorious example — led to harsh sentences for children previously only reserved for adults.
Consistent with its beginnings, the life without parole sentence continues to be imposed on children of color at disproportionate rates. According to a 2008 Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch report, African American youth nationwide serve life without parole sentences “at a rate that is ten times higher than white youth.” Thus, the continuing influence of race on the sentencing of youth to life without parole renders it unconstitutional. AALDEF contends that the Supreme Court should categorically exempt youth from this extreme and final sentence.
Nos. 10-9646 & 10-9647
IN THE
Supreme Court of the United States
EVAN MILLER, Petitioner,
v.
ALABAMA, Respondent.
KUNTRELL JACKSON, Petitioner,
v.
RAY HOBBS, Director,
Arkansas Department of Correction, Respondent.
On Writ of Certiorari to the
Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals
and the Supreme Court of Arkansas
BRIEF OF AMICI CURIAE
NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUCATIONAL FUND,
INC., CHARLES HAMILTON HOUSTON INSTITUTE
FOR RACE AND JUSTICE, LATINOJUSTICE
PRLDEF, ASIAN AMERICAN LEGAL DEFENSE AND
EDUCATION FUND AND LEADERSHIP
CONFERENCE ON CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS
IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONERS
SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT
The question presented by these cases is whether the imposition of a life without parole sentence on a fourteen-year-old child convicted of a homicide offense violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments’ prohibition against cruel and unusual punishments. As detailed by the submissions of the Petitioners and their amici curiae, the answer is “yes.” As this amicus brief explains, the improper
influence of race impairs the culpability analyses of children subject to life without parole sentences, which is further evidence of the unconstitutionality of this sentencing practice. Although a proper evaluation of culpability is fundamental under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, history shows that racial stereotypes propelled the implementation of the laws that led to juvenile life without parole sentences, and research establishes that children of color are sentenced to life without parole at markedly disproportionate rates. This Court
declared, in Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. ___, 130 S. Ct. 2011 (2010), that youth are less culpable than adults and, therefore, less deserving of life without parole sentences. Yet, it is clear that race critically and inappropriately influences the assessment of blameworthiness in the context of juvenile life without parole sentencing. Given this constitutional infirmity, as well as the severity and finality
http://bit.ly/yuh15a Human Rights Watch files an amicus brief.
Human Rights Watch also joined 25 other institutions in filing an amicus brief before the US Supreme Court in the upcoming cases of Miller v. Alabama and Jackson v. Arkansas. Both involve offenders who were sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for crimes they committed when they were 14 years old. The United States is the only country in the world that sentences youth to life without the possibility of parole for offenses they committed before the age of 18. Universally accepted standards, including several treaties to which the US is a party, condemn such sentencing of youth. We argue that international practice, opinion, and treaty obligations support holding all life without parole sentences for juveniles unconstitutional.
One Way State Policies Impacts Children’s Lives
Investing in Public Programs Matters: How State Policies Impact Children’s Lives
Read more here: http://bit.ly/zbNSSY
Public Investments in Children Matter.
The STATE CWI draws from the most comprehensive set of data used to form a state index of child well-being. With these data, the STATE CWI ranks children’s well-being in seven different domains for each state and compares them across states. In addition to state rankings, this report includes new findings about the strength of relationships between state policies and selected economic and demographic factors indicative of child well-being.
Read more:
William O’Hare
The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Mark Mather and Genevieve Dupuis
Population Reference Bureau
January 2012
Child Well-Being Index (CWI)
The FCD Child Well-Being Index (CWI) is a national, research-based composite measure updated annually that describes how young people in the United States have fared since 1975. The NATIONAL CWI, released publicly for the first time in 2004, is the nation’s most comprehensive measure of trends in the quality of life of children and youth. It combines national data from 28 indicators across seven domains into a single number that reflects overall child well-being. The seven quality-of-life domains are Family Economic Well-Being, Health, Safe/Risky Behavior, Educational Attainment, Community Engagement, Social Relationships, and Emotional/Spiritual Well-Being.
CHILD MALTREATMENT FATALITY RISK FACTORS
Child Fatality Risk Factors Report
The rate at which children are dying at the hands of family members in this country is shameful and so unbelievable sad. The BBC just did a special about it here: BBC Special Report [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15288865].
So I thought I would share a guide I developed. This isn’t a pleasant topic, I know, but it is an important one.
Below are some risk factors associated with higher rates of child deaths from abuse or neglect. These were drawn from a survey of literature regarding child maltreatment fatalities. The link above is to the report itself, which you should read. The points below summarizes some of the information the report contains. All credit goes to the Academy for Professional Excellence who put out the report. Who knows, blogging this might raise someone’s red flag some day and lead to a timely report for a child at risk, or encourage a struggling parent to ask for help.
If any parents out there are worried about themselves and their children, and see these attributes as fitting their own circumstances, please seek the support and assistance you need right away. There are a lot of good folks and organizations who are ready to help. See the list of resources below.
(Note to others: Please don’t report a family based only on the fact they have some of these attributes. That would be wrong and maybe even harmful. Reports, generally speaking, should be bases on a reasonable suspicion that a caregiver’s actions or inactions have, or could have significantly harmed a child.)
RISK FACTORS:
Child Attributes:
– There is a new born infant in the home
– A child is under three-years-old (children 3 and under account for over 75% of all fatalities.)
– A child has medical, behavioral, or developmental problems
– A child is ill or handicapped
– A child was born premature
– An infant has colic
– A child is hostile, aggressive or excessively fussy
– A child has disturbed or unusual behaviors
– A child has a recent history of vomiting, reoccurring medical concerns or multiple hospitalizations
Family Attributes:
– There are two or more children under 3 years old
– Family lacks suitable child care availability
– Family is financially poor
– Children have different biological fathers
– Unrelated adults are living in the home
– Family has a history of severe or repeated instances of maltreatment
– There are multiple father figures in and out of the home
– The family has frequent moves
Caregiver Attributes:
– Lives near or below the poverty line
– Has a low education level (no high school diploma0
– Has poor stress coping abilities
– Has a history of abuse as a child
– Has had his/her parental rights terminated in the past
– Is a victim or perpetrator of domestic violence
– Has a history of violence or criminality
– Has a problem with substance abuse
– Has a deficit of skills related to parenting (including ineffective or inconsistent discipline)
– Has unrealistic expectations about children’s behavior and capabilities
– Lacks emotional attachment to the child
– Has mental health problems (e.g. depression)
– Is socially isolated, without a healthy support system
– Is a teenage mother, particularly for the second or subsequent child
– Is a mother who never pursued prenatal care
Click to access SACHS-Child%20Fatalities%20Literature%20Review-Feb%202010.pdf
IN NEW JERSEY: http://www.state.nj.us/dcf/index.shtml
NATIONAL RESOURCES:
Childhelp USA®
National Child Abuse Hotline
1-800-4-A-CHILD
24 Hours a Day
Child Abuse National Hotline
1-800-252-2873, 1-800-25ABUSE
National Youth Crisis Hotline
National Youth Development
1-800-HIT-HOME (1-800-448-4663)
National Runaway Switchboard
This hot-line is a referral service for youths in personal crisis.
1-800-621-4000
State-by-State Listings:
| State | Organization | Phone |
| Alabama | Dept. of Human Resources | 334 242-9500 |
| Alaska | 24-hr hotline: | 800 478-4444 |
| Arizona | Phoenix hotline: | 800 541-5781 |
| Arkansas | Dept. of Human Services | 800 482-5964 |
| California | Dept. of Social Services Office of Child Protective Services | 916 445-2771 |
| Colorado | DenverCounty: 24 hr. hotline | 303 727-3000 |
| Connecticut | Reporting 24 hrs: | 800 842-2599 |
| Delaware | Reporting 24 hrs in-state: | 800 292-9582 |
| District of Columbia | Report child abuse
Report child neglect |
202 576-6762
202 727-0995 |
| Florida | Abuse Registry | 800 962-2873 |
| Georgia | Dept. of Human Resources Child Protective and Placement Services Unit: | 404 657-3408 |
| Hawaii | Dept. of Human Services 24hr hotline: | 808 832-5300 |
| Idaho | For information and referral to regional office: | 208 334-0808 |
| Illinois | In-State Parents under stress and Reporting 24 hrs: | 800 252-2873 |
| Indiana | Reporting: | 800 562-2407 |
| Iowa | In-state hotline: | 800 362-2178 |
| Kansas | Reporting 24 hr hotline: | 800 922-5330 |
| Kentucky | Local Dept. for Social Services or statewide hotline: | 800 752-6200 |
| Louisiana | 24 hr hotline: | 504 925-4571 |
| Maine | Reporting 24 hrs: | 800 452-1999 |
| Maryland | County office of Dept. of Human Resources: Child Protective Services. | Click here for Phone Listings |
| Massachusetts | 24 hr hotline: | 800 792-5200 |
| Michigan | 24 hr. hotline: | 800 942-4357 |
| Minnesota | County office of Dept. of Social Services. | Click here for Phone Listings |
| Mississippi | 24 hr hotline: | 800 222-8000 |
| Missouri | Reporting: | 800 392-3738 |
| Montana | 24 hr. hotline: | 800 332-6100 |
| Nebraska | Reporting 24 hrs: | 800 471-5128 |
| Nevada | 24 hr. hotline: | 800 992-5757 |
| New York | Reporting 24 hrs: | 800 342-3720 |
| New Mexico | 24 hr. hotline: | 800 432-2075 |
| New Jersey | 24 hr. hotline: | 877 652-2873 |
| New Hampshire | In-state hotline: | 800 894-5533 |
| North Dakota | Reporting: CountySocial Services or: | 701 328-4806 |
| North Carolina | 24 hr. hotline: | 800 662-7030 |
| Ohio | Dept. of Human Services Child Protective | 614 466-0995 |
| Oklahoma | 24 hr. hotline: | 800 522-3511 |
| Oregon | Dept. of Human Resources Childrens’ Services Division | 503 945-5651 |
| Pennsylvania | 24 hr. hotline in-state: | 800 932-0313 |
| Puerto Rico | 24 hr. hotline: | 800 981-8333 |
| Rhode Island | 24 hr. hotline: | 800 742-4453 |
| South Carolina | Dept. of Social Services Division of Child Protective and Preventive Services | 803 734-5670 |
| South Dakota | Child Protective Services | 605 773-3227 |
| Tennessee | Dept. of Human Services Child Protective Services | 615 313-4746 |
| Texas | 24 hr. hotline: | 800 252-5400 |
| Utah | 24 hr. hotline: | 800 678-9399 |
| Vermont | Dept. of Social and Rehabilitation Services | 802 241-2131 |
| Virginia | 24 hr. in state hotline: | 800 552-7096 |
| Washington | 24 hr. hotline: | 800 562-5624 |
| West Virginia | 24 hr. hotline: | 800 352-6513 |
| Wisconsin | Dept. of Health and Social Services | 608 266-3036 |
| Wyoming | In-State Reporting: | 307 777-7922 |
Child Abuse Introduction | Signs of Child Abuse
Child Abuse Statistics | It’s Under Reported
Effects of Child Abuse on Children: Abuse General
Effects of Child Abuse on Children: Child Sexual Abuse
Injuries to Children: Physical and Sexual Abuse
Effects of Child Abuse on Adults: Childhood Abuse
Effects of Child Abuse on Adults: Childhood Sexual Abuse
Definition of Physical Abuse | Signs of Physical Abuse
Definition of Sexual Abuse | Signs of Sexual Abuse
Definition of Child Neglect | Signs of Child Neglect
Definition of Emotional Abuse | Signs of Emotional Abuse
Child Physical Abuse and Corporal Punishment
Nationwide Crisis Line and Hotline Directory
Graphic View of Wealth Distribution in America
Who Owns What In America?
Imagine lining up everyone in America according to what they own, starting with those who own nothing and continuing down the line to those who own a lot. Now divide that line of people into five equally long segments. Each segment would include 20% of the total population, or about 61.7 million people. Next, add up the total amount of what everyone owns in each segment. The result is represented by the pie chart below. The whole pie represents the total wealth in America. The size of each slice represent the ratio of how much each segment owns of America’s wealth. The slice of ownership for the poor and working poor are barely visible. 80% of all Americans own just 15.6% of America’s wealth.
The number of people who slipped into poverty in 2010 is an all time high of 46.2 million, so the poorest 20% in terms of wealth ownership includes 15.5 million folks who technically don’t meet the poverty criteria, based on income levels. The poor essentially own almost nothing. The working poor own twice of almost nothing.
When I first plotted the distribution of wealth in America in this pie chart it reminded me a little of that Pac-Man character. The richest Americans own 84.6% of everything while the remaining 80% of us have 15.4% left. The statistical middle of what I labeled the “Middle America” owns just 4% of America’s wealth assets.
This raises an interest question. How do we define middle class? Is Middle America, as I’ve labeled it here the same as middle-class?
No, We usually define middle class by income levels, not wealth ownership. As of 2011 the median family income has declined to just over $51,000 per year. If we were to define middle class based on 10% of families above and below the median income (as I have done here for wealth ownership, the narrow and very low income range would not fit most peoples conception of “middle class”.
But this pie chart displays the distribution of wealth, not income. It includes all equity ownership in everything from homes to 401K’s, stocks, bonds, businesses, etc. This chart cannot be directly converted to income levels. There are people with equity but not much income and people with large incomes but not much equity.
However, from a visual perspective the median income (middle most income) will still fall somewhere near the center of the red colored slice, about where the label line is drawn. Individuals in that group made about $26,364 per year, or about $52,000 per household in 2010. Beyond that it is difficult to superimpose income brackets on this pie chart
This graphic really make clear just how compressed wealth distribution is in America. Missing from the public dialogue over the past few decades is mention of the working poor. Politicians and the media seem to focus on the middle class or the poor as if there were no working poor.
The other conclusion I come away with is that there is plenty of wealth here in the still wealthiest nation on Earth. Telling ourselves that we can’t afford social services for the poor or good public schools or what ever else we desire as a nation is simply not true. As a nation we can afford a much better society than we have now.
Some US Census Data on Poverty in America
POVERTY IN THE UNITED STATES – Highlights
• The official poverty rate in 2010 was 15.1 percent—up from 14.3 percent in 2009. This was the third consecutive annual increase in the poverty rate. Since 2007, the poverty rate has increased by 2.6 percentage points, from 12.5 percent to 15.1 percent
• In 2010, 46.2 million people were in poverty, up from 43.6 million in 2009—the fourth consecutive annual increase in the number of people in poverty
• Between 2009 and 2010, the poverty rate increased for non-Hispanic Whites (from 9.4 percent to 9.9 percent), for Blacks (from 25.8 percent to 27.4 percent), and for Hispanics (from 25.3 percent to 26.6 percent). For Asians, the 2010 poverty rate (12.1 percent) was not statistically different from the 2009 poverty rate.
• The poverty rate in 2010 (15.1 percent) was the highest poverty rate since 1993 but was 7.3 percentage points lower than the poverty rate in 1959, the first year for which poverty estimates are available
• The number of people in poverty in 2010 (46.2 million) is the largest number in the 52 years for which poverty estimates have been published.
• Between 2009 and 2010, the poverty rate increased for children under age 18 (from 20.7 percent to 22.0 percent) and people aged 18 to 64 (from 12.9 percent to 13.7 percent), but was not statistically different for people aged 65 and older (9.0 percent).
What? Your in the middle class? How does this relate to you?
INCOME IN THE UNITED STATES – Highlights
• Real median household income was $49,445 in 2010, a 2.3 percent decline from 2009.
• Since 2007, the year before the most recent recession, real median household income has declined 6.4 percent and is 7.1 percent below the median household income peak that occurred in.
• Both family and non-family households had declines in real median income between 2009 and 2010. The income of family households declined by 1.2 percent to $61,544; the income of non-family households declined by 3.9 percent to $29,730.
Income Taxes Then and Now – Why All the Fuss?
I came across a 1963 tax return the other day that belonged to a 63-year-old, self-employed tradesman named Edward. For context, that was the year John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Historically speaking, it wasn’t that long ago. In 1963 Edward’s income was $6,806. He paid $933 in income tax plus $259 in self-employment tax for a total of $1,192 dollars.
My own father was a Sears repairman and my mother a bookkeeper back then. Together they made around $5,000 and paid about $1,020 in taxes. But what struck me most about Edward’s income tax return were the rate tables for that year. The top income listed was only $400,000. The tax on that was a whopping $313,640 while income over that amount was taxed at a rate of 91% . Did the rich really pay that much more back then? (Imagine the stir today if we called for a return to the 1963 tax rate.)
It’s hard to put this into perspective because inflation rose by over 700% since then. What wondered what these numbers would look like in today’s dollars? How does the tax rates today compare with the tax rates back then?
The Inflation Adjustment
When we adjust for inflation, Edward made $ 50,247 in todays dollars and paid $8,800 in taxes. He paid $1,912 in self-employment taxes and $6,888 in income taxes (a 13.7% income tax rate, close to what Presidential candidate Mitt Romney paid in 2010).
My parents, with two children, made $ 36,956 in today’s dollars, and paid $ 7,531 in taxes (a 20% income tax rate).
Someone making only $700 then would make $4,988 in today’s dollars and pay about $28.50 in taxes (a 0.6% income tax rate).
The guy who made $400,000 in 1963 was making $2,850,405 in today’s dollars. He paid $2,235,003 in taxes (a 78% tax rate). That sounds like a lot, yet it seems the rich in American some how always seem to getting richer.
(Bureau of Labor Statistics Inflation Calculator at: http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm)
The Tax Rate Adjustment
Today, someone making $4,988 is taxed at 10% , or $49.88, That’s $16.88 more than in 1963.
Both Edward, and my parents would be taxed at 15% today. Edward would also pay a 15.3% self-employment tax for a total of $14,087. That’s an increase of $5,287 from the ‘63 tax rates. Edward would pay slightly lower income taxes, $6,384 vs. $6,888, but self-employment taxes rose dramatically. Since 1963, Edward’s self-employment tax jumped from $1,912 to $7,703. So much for helping the small business man.
My folks would have to paid $5,344 in taxes at today’s rate, or $1,924 less than the 1963 rate. That’s surprising. We keep hearing how high our taxes are, yet we are paying less now than we did 46 years ago.
The top income tax rate today is 35%. President Obama wants to raise the top marginal income tax rate on salaries and other ordinary income from 35 percent to 39.6 percent by letting the extended temporary Bush tax cuts expire at year-end. The income tax rates on millionaires has already been cut in half for some. Someone making $2,850,405 pays $997,642 in taxes at today’s rates. That is $1,237,361 less than they would pay at the 1963 rate.
(US 2010 tax rates: http://taxes.about.com/od/preparingyourtaxes/a/tax-rates_2.htm)
So what’s the point?
America is still a very wealthy nation. There is plenty of wealth. We can afford to be a much better country than we are. When the income tax code was first implemented in 1913 it was intended to tax only people who were financial well off. Adjusted for inflation, the bottom rate at which a person had to start paying income taxes was about $100,000 in today’s dollars. It was because the income tax rates weren’t indexed to inflation that income taxes eventually reached the middle and lower income households. Our financial crisis has a lot to do with the decline of income taxes for the richest Americans. We are asking those who have benefited most from this great American system to pay a tiny fraction more. It is hard to see how so much resistance to this small ask is justified. What’s all the fuss?
Thank Unions
THANK UNIONS
If you enjoy a weekend off now and then, you can thank labor unions.
If you had a holiday off this year, you can thank labor unions.
If you take a week or two off to relax in the summer, you can thank labor unions.
If you can afford a place to live and can put food on the table, you can thank labor unions.
If you have a pension at your job, you can thank labor unions.
If you are not fired when you are out sick, you can thank labor unions.
If you get paid sick time, you can thank labor unions.
If you are home for supper and can tuck your children in bed, you can thank labor unions.
If your employer tries to keep you safe on the job, you can thank labor unions.
If you aren’t fired if you get hurt on the job, you can thank labor unions.
If you get paid time off after being hurt on the job, you can thank labor unions.
If you aren’t fired when your boss’ nephew needs a job, you can thank labor unions.
If you get extra pay or time off for working extra hours, you can thank labor unions.
Most of us don’t have to be in a union today to enjoy these benefits.
We just have to live in the beautiful parts of American life that labor unions built.
Stop Spanking Unions!
Start Thanking Unions!
Take the Labor Quiz
How much to you know about economic changes in America’s labor force over the last 30 years? Apart from the occasional new article on Labor Day, few of us give much thought to the extraordinary sacrifices that were required of prior generations in order to bring us the level of comfort and dignity so many of us enjoy today. But the blessing our grand parents and great grand parents fought so hard to bring us are beginning to disappear. America, once the leader in raising up the middle class, has fallen behind many other advanced nations.
An article entitled “The Speedup” in the July-August, 2011 edition of Mother Jones, written by Monika Bauerlein and Clara Jeffery, takes a look at this issue. I created a pop quiz based on some of the facts in the article. Take the quiz to see how well you are doing as an American worker. There are only 7 questions, so it won’t take long. The answers are below. If you score very high you should take the afternoon off, maybe.
1. What does the USA have in common with Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Samoa and Swaziland?
a. We all celebrate the Fourth of July
b. Like us, baseball is their national pass-time.
c. We are the only six nations on earth that don’t have mandatory paid maternity leave.
2. In the last 30 years, American worker productivity (which can be measured as the amount of work we accomplish per hour) has:
a. Declined by 75%
b. Increased by 140%
c. Increased by over 240%
3. Increased productivity means more company profits since the labor costs per item is lower. So, given your answer to question number 2 above, in the past 30 years the average overall wages in the US has:
a. Decreased by 20%
b. Increased by over 50%
c. Increased by only 16%
4. Over this same 30 year period, the average income of the top 1% of Americans:
a. Increased by 20%
b. Increased by 40%
c. Increased by over 80%
5. The number of hours everyone works in a given week is something that impacts our family life, and the nations GDP. Germany has the highest GDP in Europe. So how many more hours per year (actual time on the job) do American’s work compared to German workers?
a. We work 80 hours, or almost two weeks more per year.
b. We work 198 hours, or almost five weeks more per year.
c. We work 378 hours, or almost 10 weeks more per year.
6. In this current recession the GDP of every nation initially plunged, but no nation was hit harder than Japan. Japan’s GDP dropped twice as much as did ours. So when it comes to jobs lost, which nation has the worst unemployment rate?
a. Canada
b. Japan
c. USA
7. One last question. In 1950 nearly 35% of all wage or salary earners in America were in a union. What percentage of this group were union members as of last year?:
a. About 25%
b. Almost 20%
c. Less than 15%
If you answered each of the above question with option C you are well informed. Congratulations!
If you didn’t answer C to any of the questions, you really should read the article in Mother Jones.
In fact, we all need to be better informed so we can come together to restore a measure of economic justice in America. Here are a few additional details regarding each of the quiz questions:
1. Not only is the US only one of 6 countries that don’t have paid maternity leave, we are one of 16 nations that don’t require our workers to have time off each week. We are one of only 9 nations that don’t require businesses to offer a paid annual leave. Every one of our competitor nations provide this for their citizens.
2. While productivity has soared in the last 30 years by over 240%, the real value increase in the minimum wage since 1990 went up by just 21%. The increase in the cost of living rose 67% since 1990. Our output of goods and services in most sectors of the economy far outstrips the employment that most of these sectors create.
3. While income for the wealthiest 1% of American’s rapidly rises every year, the wealth owned by the rest of us actually declined slightly during the Regan years until about 1997. The increase since then is anemic compared to the enormous amount of wealth created by our great American labor force.
4. The rise in income among the wealthy, as large as it is, pales in compared to their rise in wealth. The top 20% of the wealthiest Americans today own almost 85% of everything leaving just 15% of the remaining wealth for the rest of us to share.
5. Not only do American’s rack up more time on the clock than our competitor nations (almost 10 weeks per year more than Germany) this doesn’t include the time we work off the clock. For example, half of us check emails on weekends and 46% of us even check work emails on days we are home sick.
6. Japan was hit twice as hard by the recession in terms of their drop in gross domestic product (GDP), yet our employment rate dropped more than twice their rate. Canada’s decline in GDP and employment initially mirrored our own (not quite as bad) but today their employment rate is higher than it was before the recession while we are worse off than all our competitor nations. Mean while, many American corporations are reporting record high profits.
7. The declining trend in union membership in America is in lock step with the decline of the middle class. The poor have faired even worse. Union workers today make about $10,000 more per year than non-union workers, yet the working public would rather trash unions than join one. The tensions between private sector employees and public sector workers is largely the result of envy by private sector workers who lost higher wages and many of their benefits when they lost their union.
How do you think we are doing as Americans? Most Labor Day articles remind us of the social battles and sacrifices prior generations have faced to bring a little dignity into our lives. We are doomed to repeat the mistakes of history if we don’t learn from them. I hope this quiz highlights where America may be headed and prompts you to consider what it will take to save the middle class. This is the real purpose for celebrating Labor, especially on Labor Day.
Note: First published in 2011, little has changed for the better since.
TV Ads May Soon Target You Personally
DATA DRIVEN VIEWPOINT: How, as good citizens, can we ever expect to broaden our views and embrace our differences when everything we read, see on TV or hear in broadcasts are increasingly tailored to our current preferences?
“But these targeted ads are just commercial pitches for products we might want”, you say?
Maybe, but what we consume, what we produce and what we prefer not only derive from culture, it also drives culture changes. The things we buy and the person we become have a transactional relationship, each influencing the other. So our purchases influence our attitudes and world outlook even as our attitudes and outlook influence what we want to buy. Allowing broadcast media to so personally influence our buying habits likely has unseen consequences.
Coming in 2013 – targeted TV ads
BY Robert Andrews
Nov 30, 2012 – 7:07AM
http://paidcontent.org/2012/11/30/coming-in-2013-targeted-tv-ads/
TV advertising remains healthy, but platform operators want a bigger slice of the pie. Next year, some will introduce targeted advertising to their set top boxes, promising greater granularity and more effectiveness to marketers.Just like with static display ads online, we have become used to seeing targeted video ads on the web, mobiles and tablets.
Now video ad targeting will come to the living room, when the UK’s two big pay-TV operators will soon start showing targeted ads to viewers in 2013. [SNIP]
The products
Leading provider BSkyB will trial-launch an NDS Dynamic-powered service to seven million set top boxes under the AdSmart banner by the summer, allowing advertisers to target 90 different demographic attributes. According to Sky
[SNIP] Read more at the above URL address
Where is News of Fukushima Radiation Impact?
DATA DRIVEN VIEWPOINT: Sometimes the big news stories can only be seen by the shadows that they cast. You would think that it would be easy to find copious updates on the radiation impact Fukushima is having on the fishing industry, US food production, global radiation distribution, etc. You would be mistaken. The relatively large amount of media coverage the Fukushima disaster initially generated has diminished to the point of near silence. Maybe my own internet search skills are to blame, but even having to run a search on Fukushima’s radioactive legacy for North America is an warning sign to which journalists and the media should be paying attention. There was this month (November, 2012) a scientific study published regarding the release of radiation from Japan, but its focus is primarily on how tracing the travel of radionuclides gives insight into atmospheric air circulation in the Northern Hemisphere.
I would be interested in learning more about what the US and Canadian governments are doing to monitor radiation levels, track distribution rates and study how it may or may not be impacting our food supply. If any of you reading this comes across such information, please post links here to the comments section below. If you search but can’t find information, that is news worth also, so please comment about your efforts also. Thank you.
Science of The Total Environment
Tracking the complete revolution of surface westerlies over Northern Hemisphere using radionuclides emitted from Fukushima
- M.A. Hernández-Ceballosa, G.H. Hongb, R.L. Lozanoa, Y.I. Kimc, H.M. Leeb, S.H. Kimb, S.-W. Yehd, J.P. Bolívara, M. Baskarane
- a Department of Applied Physics, University of Huelva, Huelva, Spain
- b Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute, Ansan 426–744, South Korea
- c Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute, Uljin 767–813, South Korea
- d Department of Environmental Marine Science, Hanyang University, Ansan, 426–791, South Korea
- e Department of Geology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA
Data Driven Viewpoints 