Slavery Lives On In The United States

September 22, 2012, will mark the 150th anniversary of the emancipation proclamation, President Lincoln's decisive move to abolish slavery nationwide. President Obama echoed this decisive call by declaring January "National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month." In January 1, 2013, the FBI Unified Crime Reports will at last feature a "trafficking" category to allow police departments to begin quantifying the size of the problem.

Yet, while many can agree on the need to wipe out this abhorrent practice, a large proportion of the US population(1) are unaware of the dramatic rise in human trafficking within the US in recent years: trafficking is actually one of the fastest-growing criminal activities in the world, second only to the drug trade. Many people wrongly assume that human trafficking only refers to sex trafficking and is limited to developing countries on the other side of the world, yet The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children estimates that at least 100,000 American children are the victims of commercial sexual trafficking and prostitution each year. This is in addition to the estimated 14,500-17,500 foreign nationals trafficked into the US each year, according to the Washington DC-based Polaris Project.

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Md. House Roll Call On Same-Sex Marriage

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Here’s how members of the Maryland House of Delegates voted Friday to approve same-sex marriage legislation. The vote was 72-67. A majority of 71 votes was needed.

Voting “yes” were 70 Democrats and 2 Republicans.

Voting “no” were 26 Democrats and 41 Republicans.

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Seth Casteel Underwater Dog Pictures: Images Of Swimming Canines Go Viral

It's fair to say photographer Seth Casteel now understands the power of the social web.

On Thursday night, the Los Angeles-based photographer received a couple of emails informing him that photos he had taken of dogs underwater had been posted to Reddit and Google+.

Then, Friday morning.

"I woke up to a bunch of money in my bank account," the photographer told The Huffington Post in a telephone interview, saying that he had received so many orders for prints that his newly established online store was experiencing stability issues

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Additional photos HERE

FEDEX

A few years ago you may have seen the movie "Castaway," in which Tom Hanks played a FedEx employee who was stranded for years on a remote island, struggled to survive, and struggled to hold onto his sanity by talking to a volleyball he named "Wilson". Do you remember the FedEx box that survived the plane crash, and which Hanks felt compelled to deliver? If so, did you ever wonder what was in that box? Well, attached is a FedEx commercial that answers the question!

Self-Driving Cars Get First Green Light As Nevada Approves Requirement Regulations

CARSON CITY, Nev. -- Nevada is envisioning a day when taxicabs might shuttle fares without a driver, or people with medical conditions that make them ineligible for a license could get around with a virtual chauffeur.

The concept took a big step when Nevada became the first state to approve regulations that spell out requirements for companies to test driverless cars on state roads.

"Then they have to take us out and prove that they can do it," Bruce Breslow, director of the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles, said of the autonomous vehicles. "They're not ready to go to market yet."

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Inmates Trapped in Blazing Honduran Prison Say Guards Shot At Them

Comayagua, Honduras - Charred bodies of inmates remained in the burned hulk of the Comayagua National Penitentiary on Wednesday night, nearly 24 hours after an inmate apparently set a mattress ablaze and triggered a conflagration that left as many as 350 prisoners dead.

The fire, which started at 10:50 p.m. Tuesday at the prison, took firefighters three hours to douse. Guards fired their guns repeatedly to keep screaming trapped inmates from escaping.

“It is a day of deep pain for Honduras,” President Porfirio Lobo said in a brief televised address, acknowledging that a criminal hand may have been behind the disaster.

“We will conduct an investigation to determine what provoked this lamentable and unacceptable tragedy and find those responsible,” Lobo said.

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Should Pop Stars Be Celebrated With Flags at Half-Staff?

Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey is a bold man who has that single most important characteristic of leadership, namely, moral courage. Without a preparedness to be hated for pursing the courage of your convictions, you simply cannot lead. Christie has that courage in spades. He's saving our state from the oblivion of out-of-control taxes and he's been prepared to challenge the unions to make concessions on contracts that can otherwise bankrupt us. New Jersey has huge problems and people are leaving, as is reflected in how we just lost a congressional seat. Christie is slowly tackling the challenges and making considerable progress. It's no wonder he's being widely regarded as possessing presidential timber.

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This Week In Poverty: Perfect Storm Threatens Long-Term Unemployed

In December, there were more than 13 million unemployed workers and about four people looking for work for every available job. According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), 5.5 million people have been unemployed for more than half a year, up from 1.2 million in 2007, and the average duration for an unemployed person is over nine months.;

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Iran Nuclear Coverage Echoes Iraq War Media Frenzy

NEW YORK -- Military strikes expected! Weapons inspectors called in! A murky al Qaeda connection! And Cheney says time's up for Ira...

Wait. Haven't we seen this movie before?

It's already been a decade since the media hyped bogus WMD claims prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. But it sure feels like 2002 for anyone who was around then and is now scanning newspaper headlines or watching TV talking-heads discuss a possible Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities -- an act which could pull the U.S. into another thorny Middle East military conflict.

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Is NYPD Running Wild? Patterns Of Brutality Raise Questions About Mayor's Control Of Police

Behind the NYPD's beating of Jateik Reed and the killing of Ramarley Graham is a long history of police harassment.

A series of incidents last year, in some cases where police broke the law, has sullied the reputation of the NYPD. From the department’s handling of Occupy protesters and journalists, to officers’ participation in illegal gun sales and a ticket-fixing scandal, to rape charges and reports that allege the targeting of Muslims, the NYPD’s pattern of abuse, law-breaking, and poor judgment is raising questions about whether some of New York’s finest are operating as rogue units. A disturbing series of events, including beatings and the shooting death of an unarmed teenager in the Bronx, are causing some to wonder whether Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and Mayor Michael Bloomberg are condoning the behavior or are unable to impose discipline on the department.

Along with the patterns of violence, new reports show that stop-and-frisk rates went through the roof in 2011, making it a record-breaking year for the controversial practice. Stop-and-frisks may only legally be used when police have reasonable suspicion someone has a gun, but they are widely abused, and have been targeted as the source of aggressive, race-based policing and what many consider to be illegal marijuana arrests.

So far, 2012 has proven no better. Already, six NYPD officers have already been stripped of their badges and placed on modified duty for their involvement in two incidents that took place early this year. On January 26, Bronx NYPD officers beat 19-year-old Jateik Reed after allegedly seeing him hold drugs. Jateik Reed was with two friends at the time of his arrest. For one of them, the beating was his introduction to police brutality.

In a previously unreported connection, a man named Will, who did not give his last name, was arrested and allegedly roughed up with Reed's family when they want to the police department to inquire about Reed on the day of his beating.

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Live Feed: Eagle Cams Bring The Great Outdoors To Your Computer

WASHINGTON - A war is brewing in the Chesapeake Bay high above the ground, where generations of bald eagles are vying for precious territory.

Humans can catch a glimpse of these battles with cameras strategically hidden in nests along the James River. The Richmond pair, along with 16 others scattered through the region, are under surveillance by the Center for Conservation Biology.

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Soon To Be Former Treasury Secretary Geithner Subpoenaed Over Lehman Fail

In a late, and somewhat underplayed, story from the WSJ [5], it appears that we may finally get some answers on exactly what former-Treasury-Secretary-to-be Geithner knew and sanctioned in the lead up to the Lehman fail. More specifically how JPMorgan illegally siphoned billions of dollars from Lehman in the final days, potentially via Geithner's FRBNY-overseen tri-party repo market. We discussed this at length almost two years ago [6] as the FRBNY was concerned at the ongoing risk of the market being structurally vulnerable to a repo run and furthermore why Lehman's suit against JPMorgan had grounds [7]. Critically, with Geithner being the man at the helm of the entity that approved repo entry and exit and in the final stages clearly sided with JP Morgan as collateral calls rained down, it makes sense to at least find out what he knew and decided - under oath.

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Maine Caucus Results Look Even Fishier

Will Mitt Romney's "victory" in the February 11 Maine presidential caucuses be taken away like his phony victory in Iowa? That now seems quite possible. The Maine GOP declared the former Massachusetts Governor the narrow winner of the state's presidential caucus February 11, but Romney's 194-vote margin of victory over Texas Congressman Ron Paul is being whittled away as more results have been reported.

Moreover, the state's rural Washington County – along with a few other communities that postponed their caucuses February 11 – will hold the final caucuses Saturday, February 18 and may decide the victor of the non-binding straw poll.

But GOP Party Chairman Charlie Webster insists that he will not release updated results from the additional caucuses, even as he comes under increasing fire from his fellow Maine Republicans and national Ron Paul campaign officials. In results in the three counties that have been released to the public, Ron Paul won more votes than were reported in the official results. Webster claims that the missing votes – when all of them are counted -- will favor Romney, and that he is not going to give the press access to updated results. “No one has access,” he told the Daily Caller February 15. “There will be no access. We will give it to the committee on March 10. We are not going to release them [the missing votes]. People can whine and complain and plead, but I’m not going to make them public.”

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Female Inmates Put Pig Image In Vt. Police Decal

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - Female prison inmates are to blame for a prank that put the image of a pig in a decal on the doors of some Vermont state police cruisers.

Department of Corrections Commissioner Andy Pallito tells WCAX-TV ( http://bit.ly/xtzXer) female inmates at the prison work center in Windsor are responsible for altering the decal in 2009. But he says figuring out specifically who did it is impossible unless someone confesses.

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GOVERNOR MARTIN O’MALLEY SUBMITS “GREEN BAG” NOMINATIONS

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Governor Martin O’Malley submitted to the Maryland Senate a list of 111 “green bag” nominations for appointment and reappointment for State boards and commissions.
“I am proud to announce these appointments and reappointments for key leadership positions throughout Maryland,” said Governor O’Malley. “We have worked diligently to put forward a list of individuals who represent diverse gender, geographic, and ethnic backgrounds and whose skills and talents will help us continue the vital progress we are making to protect our shared priorities. These appointments represent positions that will advise and regulate on a broad range of issues important to the citizens of Maryland: transportation, education, environment, economic development, public safety and boards preserving art, history and culture. We are grateful that they have chosen to step up and serve the people of Maryland.”

The term “green bag” derives from the historical green satchel that is used once every year to bring the gubernatorial nominations to the Senate. When not in use, the bag is stored at the Maryland State Archives. It is state tradition that a senior member of the governor’s staff delivers the “green bag” to the Senate.

A full list of nominations can be found here.

35 Pets Died On Airplanes Last Year, Over Half On Delta

Animal lovers were justifiably critical of Delta Airlines after sixteen pets died in 2010 during or after flights in the cargo hold. But even after banning frequently-overheating short-muzzled breeds like bulldogs from the skies, nineteen pets passed away during or shortly after Delta flights in 2011. That's out of a total of 35 pets that died on U.S. carriers last year. In addition, nine pets sustained major or minor injuries, and two were lost.

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Transportation Secretary Doesn't Like New Gadgets

Visitors to the recent Washington Auto Show might have seen some spiffy new dashboard entertainment centers. Some of them have screens as big as an iPad. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood doesn't like it. His National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is proposing guidelines for carmakers. The voluntary guidelines would cover doodads in cars that might distract drivers. They would apply to any in-car devices not required to operate the vehicle. Like those spiffy in-dash entertainment systems. DOT's 2013 budget request includes $330 million over six years for a distracted driving awareness program.

Cybersecurity Bill

A big, new cybersecurity bill has hit the Senate floor. It landed with a thud. The bill drew objections from several Republicans. They say it gives the Homeland Security Department too much regulatory authority over private sector owners of critical infrastructure. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) wonders why the bill steers clear of the IT industry. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano countered. She said the bill is more about cybersecurity and information sharing, than about regulation. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) wants a vote in the next few weeks.

$2.50-A-Gallon-Gas And Energy Independence

Although I am not a Newt fan this is a great article (presumable written by a staffer) with factual information that should be persued by each and every one of us. The impending gas crisis is going to affect us all regardless of our party affiliations! We have a small area here in western Maryland that can and should be drilled. Most of the information fed to the public on "fracking" is incorrect. If you do your own research you can read for yourself the facts that are not given to us because it is actually not doing any harm to the environment! Just google "fracking" and peruse the amount of jobs it has created and think about what this could do for our Country ~ and the facts about the water used and the ground water surrounding the areas being drilled will prove that what you have been told is just not true.

$2.50-a-gallon-gas andenergy independenceby Newt Gingrich

Dear Paulette A,$2.50-a-gallon gasoline and energy independence: An action plan to make it real America needs three goals in energy:

Independence from dictatorships so no American President ever again bows to a Saudi king.
Enough energy that Iranian efforts to disrupt the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz have no impact on America.

Enough production to bring down the cost of gasoline for American motorists. All three goals can be achieved with an all of the above American energy plan.During the four years I was Speaker, the average price for a gallon of gasoline was $1.13. When President Barack Obama took office in January 2009, the average price nationwide was $1.89 a gallon. Three years into the Obama presidency, the average is $3.47 a gallon. Today, prices like those we enjoyed three years ago seem like a fantasy?and under the president's current policies, they are. But, these were prices Americans paid in the relatively recent past. Many Americans used to pay just $35 to fill up the very same cars that are today costing them over $60.

While some of the increase in gas prices comes from growing demand, the demand pressures on price can and should be offset by increasing domestic supplies. Yet the Obama administration's ideological refusal to expand American energy production continues to block the development of resources which could lower prices dramatically. ?As we saw most recently with the administration's rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline, the president is more interested in playing favorites with environmental extremists rather than embracing the "all-of-the-above" strategy that could achieve energy independence and help all Americans now.

The fact that Americans must cope with ballooning gas prices and energy vulnerability, while living in a country with some of the richest untapped energy resources on the planet is an absurdity that can only be accomplished by bad government. ?By unleashing the American people from regulations and bureaucracy designed to promote the agenda of radical environmentalists, we can tap our enormous oil and natural gas supplies to drive fuel prices down.

Most Americans have no idea that the United States is sitting on enough technically recoverable oil to power us at current rates of consumption for over 250 years. We are estimated to have 1.4 trillion barrels of oil?or 1.7 trillion, adding in the resources of Canada and Mexico. That amount of oil, as a report from the Institute for Energy Research recently explained, is "more than the world has used since the first oil well was drilled over 150 years ago in Titusville, Pennsylvania" and 6 ? times the proved oil reserves of Saudi Arabia. The true size of the oil supply could be even larger still than these estimates suggest. In many cases, far more oil has been recovered than was predicted to be available when development began. In 1985, for instance, the Minerals Management Service estimated the Gulf of Mexico had nine billion barrels of undiscovered oil.
Twenty-seven years later, after many billions of barrels have been pumped, the federal government estimates there are 45 billion undiscovered barrels.

In another example, the estimate of the Bakken formation in North Dakota has jumped an astonishing 2,500 percent since 1995 due to new technology.? The Bakken along with other emerging unconventional oil and gas "plays" in Texas, New Mexico, Ohio, West Virginia, Louisiana, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, New York, and in other states, have allowed the U.S. to begin increasing oil production after 40 years of steady production declines.?
Unlocked by the new technologies of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, the full potential of these new resource plays is yet to be fully comprehended or realized. Without opening up more areas to drilling, we have no way of knowing how many more Bakken-sized discoveries are waiting for us. But we do know this. The potential to increase American oil and gas supplies dramatically and become energy secure and independent is real.? Increasing oil supplies will lower fuel prices significantly.? And the biggest thing standing in the way is government obstruction.

A recent analysis by Goldman Sachs projects that the United States could become the world leader in oil production by 2017. But if the President continues his assault on American energy, including his proposals to raise taxes on domestic oil and gas and his own EPA's attempts to regulate hydraulic fracturing, that future will be arbitrarily and unnecessarily upended.

The administration is determined to ban additional development of America's most promising oil and gas resources, such as offshore Alaska in the Beaufort and Chuckchi Seas, and off the East and West Coasts of the lower 48 on the Outer Continental Shelf. Overall, there is an estimated 88.6 billion barrels of oil, but only 2.2 percent of federal offshore land is currently being leased for production, and the president is refusing to allow more.

On land, the administration's obstruction is just as damaging. Among the 30.5 billion barrels of oil located onshore on Federal lands (not including oil shale), 92 percent of them are inaccessible or under restrictions above and beyond standard regulatory and administrative hurdles, according to the most recent assessment by the Bureau of Land ?Management. New production from oil and gas resources has come overwhelmingly from private lands, such as the huge increases from oil and gas in shale. These achievements did not come because the government decided to permit more leases, but rather because the lands were privately held. Yet even when the government does not own the land, government can still aid obstruction America's energy potential. The gigantic Monterey shale oil field in California, for instance, which the Energy Information Administration estimates holds 64 percent of the recoverable shale oil in the U.S., has been slowed dramatically by environmentalist lawsuits California's go-it-alone global warming law.

The federal government owns most of the world's oil shale reserves, located in the Green River Basin in Utah, Colorado and Wyoming.? This immense source of future oil supply is being held off-limits to leasing by Obama's Bureau of Land Management.? Recoverable U.S. oil shale reserves are estimated to approach if not exceed 1 trillion barrels of American oil. A stunningly small percentage of the enormous federal land, which is owned by the American people, is available for energy exploration that could yield new discoveries.? Eight-six percent of Nevada is owned by the federal government. That is almost 40 percent the area of Texas. If these lands were properly marketed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, opening even half this promising acreage to exploration, we'd add an area a fifth the size of Texas for oil and gas prospecting.

What's even more baffling is that these lands are potentially a huge source of revenue for the federal government -- revenue that doesn't involve raising taxes on the American people.

Experts in the private-sector royalties industry estimate that implementing commercial standards in federal leasing of oil and gas royalties could bring over $100 billion into the federal treasury over the next decade. Harold Hamm, who discovered the Bakken formation, recently told the Wall Street Journal that with expanded drilling for oil and gas on federal lands, onshore and offshore, "I truly believe the federal government could over time raise $18 trillion in royalties." That's more than the U.S. national debt, $15.4 trillion. Rather than leasing programs expanding as gasoline prices rose, oil and natural gas production on federal lands under the Obama administration oil and natural gas production on federal lands has diminished by 40 percent. With so much unused potential and gasoline approaching $4 a gallon nationwide, the president's failure to tap the energy we have here in America is inexcusable. Considering the abundance of our energy resources and their potential to drive down prices, create jobs, stimulate economic growth and a sustainable manufacturing boom, provide a steady source of state and federal revenue, and bolster national security, the administration's refusal to permit development borders on insanity. Not content to confine its hostilities to curtailing new leases, the administration frequently demonizes energy companies for political purposes and advocates new taxes and fees on producers. But the United States is already one of the worst places in the world for oil and gas companies to do business. As the American Enterprise Institute's Steve Hayward writes, "when compared properly with the royalty and tax systems of 29 other nations, only Venezuela extracts a higher take from oil and gas production than the United States." New taxes will just drive producers abroad even further.We must embrace an all-of-the-above energy strategy of oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear, biofuels, wind, and oil shale if we are to achieve energy independence, lower gasoline prices, power a renewed boom in American manufacturing and raise government revenues with no new taxes. Pursuant to this plan, we should take eight steps immediately to address these skyrocketing gas prices and jumpstart production of American energy:

Approve the Keystone XL pipeline.

Replace the EPA with a new economically rational Environmental Solutions Agency.
Condense regulations to make it easier to build new refineries. We haven't built a major new refinery in the U.S. since 1977, in part because federal restrictions and regulatory uncertainty make it so difficult.

Overhaul the Department of Interior processes to expedite approval of leases.

Move to 100 percent expensing for all new equipment so companies could write it off in one year, making it easier for companies to build new extraction sites.
Eliminate the capital gains tax to promote investment.

Adopt a 12.5 percent corporate tax rate to make America the best country in the world to do business

Abolish the death tax. Gas at $2.50 a gallon gas is not a dream. It's achievable with the right policies. If we take these steps, we can quickly and dramatically reduce the price of gas by tapping America's incredible oil and gas resources to increase supply. That would mean more money in Americans' pockets, lower costs for millions of businesses and tens of thousands of jobs across the country in an industry poised to take off.

It should tell you everything you need to know about the president and his administration that they want to double-down with giant bets on green start-up companies like Solyndra while refusing to take the simple steps required to unleash American energy production to help millions of Americans now.

Your Friend,
Newt

USPS Wants To Rid Of More Than 100,000 Employees

fficeyo someThe Postal Service may offer buyouts and early retirement incentives to get more than a 100,000 workers off its payroll fast. The agency calls it a "soft landing." It has already discussed the option with the Office of Personnel Management. That's one leg of its revised five-year recovery plan, and requires Congress' help because the agency is so low on cash. The plan also emphasizes restructuring the USPS network and taking workers out of the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program and into a new Postal Service healthcare plan.