Tonight: Earlier this week, we celebrated America's First Christmas in Wilmington, OH. We celebrated a town coming together to celebrate their unbreakable spirit. It was two Christmases ago that Wilmington was hit by a self-described economic tsunami as DHL closed their factory doors. 7,500 people out of the town's 12,000 residents found themselves unemployed- just in time for Christmas. Wilmington had a choice..to either become Pottersville or Bedford Falls. They chose the latter. Tonight, see some of Glenn's stage show from Wilmington and get to know some of the residents
During this unscientific experiment, three times a week I rode a bike on a 20-mile trip over various rural roads in southwestern Fresno County. I also drove my car over to the coast to work, on various routes through towns like San Joaquin, Mendota, and Firebaugh. And near my home I have been driving, shopping, and touring by intent the rather segregated and impoverished areas of Caruthers, Fowler, Laton, Orange Cove, Parlier, and Selma. My own farmhouse is now in an area of abject poverty and almost no ethnic diversity; the closest elementary school (my alma mater, two miles away) is 94 percent Hispanic and 1 percent white, and well below federal testing norms in math and English.He goes on to say:
Here are some general observations about what I saw (other than that the rural roads of California are fast turning into rubble, poorly maintained and reverting to what I remember seeing long ago in the rural South). First, remember that these areas are the ground zero, so to speak, of 20 years of illegal immigration. There has been a general depression in farming — to such an extent that the 20- to-100-acre tree and vine farmer, the erstwhile backbone of the old rural California, for all practical purposes has ceased to exist.
On the western side of the Central Valley, the effects of arbitrary cutoffs in federal irrigation water have idled tens of thousands of acres of prime agricultural land, leaving thousands unemployed. Manufacturing plants in the towns in these areas — which used to make harvesters, hydraulic lifts, trailers, food-processing equipment — have largely shut down; their production has been shipped off overseas or south of the border. Agriculture itself — from almonds to raisins — has increasingly become corporatized and mechanized, cutting by half the number of farm workers needed. So unemployment runs somewhere between 15 and 20 percent.
Many of the rural trailer-house compounds I saw appear to the naked eye no different from what I have seen in the Third World. There is a Caribbean look to the junked cars, electric wires crisscrossing between various outbuildings, plastic tarps substituting for replacement shingles, lean-tos cobbled together as auxiliary housing, pit bulls unleashed, and geese, goats, and chickens roaming around the yards. The public hears about all sorts of tough California regulations that stymie business — rigid zoning laws, strict building codes, constant inspections — but apparently none of that applies out here.
California coastal elites may worry about the oxygen content of water available to a three-inch smelt in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta, but they seem to have no interest in the epidemic dumping of trash, furniture, and often toxic substances throughout California’s rural hinterland. Yesterday, for example, I rode my bike by a stopped van just as the occupants tossed seven plastic bags of raw refuse onto the side of the road. I rode up near their bumper and said in my broken Spanish not to throw garbage onto the public road. But there were three of them, and one of me. So I was lucky to be sworn at only. I note in passing that I would not drive into Mexico and, as a guest, dare to pull over and throw seven bags of trash into the environment of my host. In fact, trash piles are commonplace out here — composed of everything from half-empty paint cans and children’s plastic toys to diapers and moldy food. I have never seen a rural sheriff cite a litterer, or witnessed state EPA workers cleaning up these unauthorized wastelands. So I would suggest to Bay Area scientists that the environment is taking a much harder beating down here in central California than it is in the Delta. Perhaps before we cut off more irrigation water to the west side of the valley, we might invest some green dollars into cleaning up the unsightly and sometimes dangerous garbage that now litters the outskirts of our rural communities.Read the rest of the article here.
We hear about the tough small-business regulations that have driven residents out of the state, at the rate of 2,000 to 3,000 a week. But from my unscientific observations these past weeks, it seems rather easy to open a small business in California without any oversight at all, or at least what I might call a “counter business.” I counted eleven mobile hot-kitchen trucks that simply park by the side of the road, spread about some plastic chairs, pull down a tarp canopy, and, presto, become mini-restaurants. There are no “facilities” such as toilets or washrooms. But I do frequently see lard trails on the isolated roads I bike on, where trucks apparently have simply opened their draining tanks and sped on, leaving a slick of cooking fats and oils. Crows and ground squirrels love them; they can be seen from a distance mysteriously occupied in the middle of the road.
Warning: Contains violent images:
| P2+ (000s) | 25-54 (000s) | 35-64 (000s) | |||||||
| Total Day | |||||||||
| FNC | 1,205 | 284 | 535 | ||||||
| CNN | 407 | 121 | 165 | ||||||
| MSNBC | 478 | 179 | 249 | ||||||
| CNBC | 174 | 50 | 79 | ||||||
| HLN | 294 | 118 | 162 | ||||||
| Primetime | P2+ (000s) | 25-54 (000s) | 35-64 (000s) | ||||||
| FNC | 2,024 | 476 | 854 | ||||||
| CNN | 610 | 134 | 202 | ||||||
| MSNBC | 845 | 262 | 392 | ||||||
| CNBC | 233 | 114 | 102 | ||||||
| HLN | 487 | 132 | 223 | ||||||
| Morning (6 - 9AM) | P2+ (000s) | 25-54 (000s) | 35-64 (000s) | ||||||
| FNC | FOX & Friends | 999 | 302 | 561 | |||||
| CNN | American Morning | 258 | 128 | 147 | |||||
| MSNBC | Morning Joe | 355 | 128 | 213 | |||||
| CNBC | Squawk Box | 116 | 44 | 71 | |||||
| HLN | Morning Express w/ Meade | 372 | 197 | 259 | |||||
| 5 PM | P2+ (000s) | 25-54 (000s) | 35-64 (000s) | ||||||
| FNC | GLENN BECK | 1,845 | 394 | 755 | |||||
| CNN | SITUATION ROOM | 725 | 183 | 247 | |||||
| MSNBC | HARDBALL WITH C. MATTHEWS | 809 | 204 | 316 | |||||
| CNBC | FAST MONEY | 185 | 31 | 87 | |||||
| CNBC | OPTIONS ACTION | 137 | 20 | 69 | |||||
| HLN | SHOWBIZ TONIGHT | 219 | 107 | 139 | |||||
| 6PM | P2+ (000s) | 25-54 (000s) | 35-64 (000s) | ||||||
| FNC | SPECIAL RPT w /BRET BAIER | 1,796 | 365 | 738 | |||||
| CNN | SITUATION ROOM | 586 | 156 | 223 | |||||
| MSNBC | ED SHOW | 881 | 248 | 422 | |||||
| CNBC | MAD MONEY | 150 | 43 | 89 | |||||
| HLN | PRIME NEWS | 271 | 111 | 170 | |||||
| 7 PM | P2+ (000s) | 25-54 (000s) | 35-64 (000s) | ||||||
| FNC | THE FOX REPORT W/S.SMITH | 1,815 | 430 | 775 | |||||
| CNN | JOHN KING USA | 469 | 141 | 184 | |||||
| MSNBC | HARDBALL WITH C. MATTHEWS | 739 | 238 | 403 | |||||
| CNBC | KUDLOW REPORT | 148 | 34 | 75 | |||||
| HLN | ISSUES | 441 | 135 | 249 | |||||
| 8 PM | P2+ (000s) | 25-54 (000s) | 35-64 (000s) | ||||||
| FNC | THE OREILLY FACTOR | 2,576 | 631 | 1,108 | |||||
| CNN | PARKER SPITZER | 507 | 106 | 173 | |||||
| MSNBC | COUNTDOWN W/ K. OLBERMANN | 1,107 | 288 | 491 | |||||
| CNBC | THE APPRENTICE | 145 | 65 | 51 | |||||
| HLN | NANCY GRACE | 790 | 199 | 390 | |||||
| 9 PM | P2+ (000s) | 25-54 (000s) | 35-64 (000s) | ||||||
| FNC | HANNITY | 1,847 | 465 | 819 | |||||
| CNN | LARRY KING LIVE | 651 | 139 | 214 | |||||
| MSNBC | RACHEL MADDOW SHOW | 927 | 269 | 418 | |||||
| CNBC | MARIJUANA USA | 324 | 158 | 139 | |||||
| HLN | JOY BEHAR | 373 | 104 | 159 | |||||
| 10 PM | P2+ (000s) | 25-54 (000s) | 35-64 (000s) | ||||||
| FNC | ON THE RECORD W/GRETA | 1,648 | 330 | 634 | |||||
| CNN | ANDERSON COOPER 360 | 671 | 155 | 217 | |||||
| MSNBC | MSNBC INVESTIGATES | 500 | 229 | 266 | |||||
| CNBC | MADOFF BEHIND BARS | 230 | 120 | 116 | |||||
| HLN | NANCY GRACE | 321 | 98 | 130 | |||||
| 11 PM | P2+ (000s) | 25-54 (000s) | 35-64 (000s) | ||||||
| FNC | THE OREILLY FACTOR | 1,225 | 277 | 596 | |||||
| CNN | ANDERSON COOPER 360 | 389 | 122 | 160 | |||||
| MSNBC | MSNBC INVESTIGATES | 526 | 260 | 317 | |||||
| CNBC | MAD MONEY | 66 | 40 | 33 | |||||
| HLN | SHOWBIZ TONIGHT | 212 | 67 | 81 | |||||
A federal judge in Virginia struck down a key component of President Obama’s health care reform law on Monday, finding Congress exceeded its powers under the Constitution when it required all adult citizens to purchase health insurance or pay a penalty.
U.S. District Henry Hudson, in a 42-page opinion, granted the state of Virginia summary judgment in its suit seeking to declare the insurance mandate unconstitutional, thus threatening the entire package of insurance reforms in the 2,700-page law.
Hudson declined to issue an injunction barring the administration from enforcing the law, however, saying “the likelihood of irreparable harm is minimal” even though employers and citizens must prepare for the law even if it is ultimately struck down.
“When the Arizona exploded, she rained sailors.” — Memories of a survivor
Today is the 69th anniversary of the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The next day the United States entered World War II against the Axis powers (Japan, Germany and Italy). It is remarkable that they are all allies of the United States today!
The names of the 1177 Sailors and Marines who died on the Arizona:
Battleship Row: The White moorings are the positions of the ships on December 7th, 1941.
The USS Missouri is permanently moored next the the Arizona. The war ended on the decks of the Missouri in in 1945 in Tokyo Harbor.
Q. How much do the rich in America give, compared with everyone else?That being said please consider donating to one of these worthy causes:
A. In order for a person to give money away, he or she must have it in the first place. Not surprisingly then, income and charitable giving in America are positively related. For example, in the year 2000, families earning $20,000 or less gave an average of about $450 to charity, while families earning more than $100,000 gave away an average of a bit more than $3,000. The top 10 percent of households in income are responsible for at least a quarter of all the money contributed to charity, and households with total wealth exceeding $1 million give about half of all charitable donations. The American rich are generous, on average.
Yet when we measure monetary giving as a percentage of income in order to ascertain the level of one’s “sacrifice,” we find a surprising result: it is low-income working families that are the most generous group in America, giving away about 4.5 percent of their income on average. This compares to about 2.5 percent among the middle class, and 3 percent among high-income families.
One common explanation for the fact that the working poor give so much is, not surprisingly, religion. The working poor tend to belong to congregations that are relatively literal about Biblical injunctions to give. Data from 2000 show that these poor American families were roughly twice as likely as middle-class families to be Seventh-Day Adventists, Pentecostals, or Jehovah’s Witnesses. They were also significantly less likely to belong to more “mainline”—and less stringent—denominations such as Episcopalian, Methodist, and Presbyterian.
Who gives the most in America: conservatives or liberals?
A. There is a persistent stereotype about charitable giving in politically progressive regions of America: while people on the political right may be hardworking and family-oriented, they tend not to be very charitable toward the less fortunate. In contrast, those on the political left care about vulnerable members of society, and are thus the charitable ones. Understanding “charity” in terms of voluntary gifts of money (instead of government income redistribution), this stereotype is wrong.
The fact is that self-described “conservatives” in America are more likely to give—and give more money—than self-described “liberals.” In the year 2000, households headed by a conservative gave, on average, 30 percent more dollars to charity than households headed by a liberal. And this discrepancy in monetary donations is not simply an artifact of income differences. On the contrary, liberal families in these data earned an average of 6 percent more per year than conservative families.
These differences go beyond money. Take blood donations, for example. In 2002, conservative Americans were more likely to donate blood each year, and did so more often, than liberals. People who said they were “conservative” or “extremely conservative” made up less than one-fifth of the population, but donated more than a quarter of the blood. To put this in perspective, if political liberals and moderates gave blood like conservatives do, the blood supply in the United States would surge by nearly half.
One major explanation for the giving discrepancy between conservatives and liberals is religion. In 2004, conservatives were more than twice as likely as liberals to attend a house of worship weekly, whereas liberals were twice as likely as conservatives to attend seldom or never. There are indeed religious liberals in America, but they are currently outnumbered by religious conservatives by about four to one.
