Here are some excerpts from the June edition of the Harper’s Index:
Number of European Union countries that have agreed to participate in China’s Belt and Road infrastructure project: 15
Average amount per student by which predominantly white U.S. school districts receive more funding than non-white districts: $2,226
Percentage increase in the number of U.S. college admissions consultants since 2005: 400
Portion of U.S. parents who say they would pay someone to take an admissions test to get their children into a “good college”: 1/3
Who say they would pay college officials directly: 1/4
Percentage of male U.S. employees who prefer higher pay to job perks like free lunches, happy hours, or additional paid time off: 15
Of female U.S. employees: 34
Average percentage win rate for a presidential administration in court cases involving the adoption of new regulations: 69
Percentage win rate for the Trump Administration, through March: 5.6
Percentage decline in climate-change coverage from 2017 to 2018 on U.S. broadcast television news: 45
Portion of Americans aged 18 to 29 who think climate change should be taken into account when deciding to have children: 2/5
Estimated number of homes that would need to be built annually in California to keep up with population growth: 180,000
Average number of homes that have been built there each year since 2007: 80,000
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Show respect to all men, but grovel to none. ~~Tecumseh, Shawnee chief, As Long as the Rivers Shall Flow
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BLAST FROM THE PAST
On this date at Daily Kos in 2006—Did Hayden Break The Law?
Today, the President pushed for a quick confirmation of his nominee for CIA Director, General Michael Hayden. Various Senators have already come out and rubber-stamped the President's choice. I must admit, this rush to judgment seems paradoxical since program after program is being exposed that should stall--if not kill--the General's nomination.
First, it was the "terrorist surveillance program" that was represented by Hayden as being limited in nature. We still don't know who initiated the program. Reports suggest that it may have been Hayden who unilaterally implemented the extrajudicial spying program, before executive authorization.
Now, we learn that Hayden was the architect of a much broader program, one that has cataloged billions of calls made by innocent Americans.
While Hayden's supporters shrug off this massive data collection, they ignore a critical question: did Hayden break the law? And if so, how can they overlook that and vote for his confirmation?
The fact is that, depending on the exact contours of the program, this program may have already been banned by Congress. And if so, Hayden's resurrection of that program should cast the death blow to any nomination.
On today’s Kagro in the Morning show: Before our long national nightmare is over, we'll have to cram in a lot of plot points in the last episode! Greg Dwokin recaps key campaign news & polls. The FBI is finally probing those Perv-a-Lago stories. Do anti-abortion "protesters" have an ALEC?