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Sanders ramps up battle against Clinton in Nevada
Bernie Sanders is aggressively expanding his presidential campaign in Nevada in the hopes of proving he has an appeal beyond white college-educated liberals.
The Vermont senator is running close to front-runner Hillary Clinton in Iowa and ahead of her in New Hampshire, states with a lily-white Democratic electorate. But he faces deep holes in both South Carolina and Nevada, where more black and Hispanic voters, respectively, are part of the likely voter pool.
Still miles behind Clinton in South Carolina despite picking up efforts to win over African-Americans, Sanders’s team is coming to view the third voting state of Nevada (fourth for Republicans) as another vehicle to shift the narrative.
As the earliest voting state with a sizable Hispanic population, a strong showing from Sanders in Nevada would go a long way to convincing doubters that he is electable.
more
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/264112-sanders-ramps-up-battle-against-clinton-in-nevada
The Justice Department just shut down a huge asset forfeiture program
By Christopher Ingraham
The Department of Justice announced this week that it's suspending a controversial program that allows local police departments to keep a large portion of assets seized from citizens under federal law and funnel it into their own coffers.
The "equitable-sharing" program gives police the option of prosecuting asset forfeiture cases under federal instead of state law. Federal forfeiture policies are more permissive than many state policies, allowing police to keep up to 80 percent of assets they seize -- even if the people they took from are never charged with a crime.
The DOJ is suspending payments under this program due to budget cuts included in the recent spending bill.
"While we had hoped to minimize any adverse impact on state, local, and tribal law enforcement partners, the Department is deferring for the time being any equitable sharing payments from the Program," M. Kendall Day, chief of the asset forfeiture and money laundering section, wrote in a letter to state and local law enforcement agencies.
more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/12/23/the-feds-just-shut-down-a-huge-program-that-lets-cops-take-your-stuff-and-keep-it/
Seattle Seahawks’ Michael Bennett on why he’s voting for Bernie Sanders
Seattle defensive lineman MIchael Bennett stepped into the waters of politics Wednesday saying he plans to vote for Bernie Sanders for president.
Many athletes chose to keep political leanings and other sensitive topics to themselves, whether because they are advised to by others or simply because they want to.
But it’s been clear for a while now that Michael Bennett is not like many athletes.
And Wednesday, when Bennett stepped in front of the cameras for a group session with the media, he did so wearing a Bernie Sanders hat adorned with a Bernie button.
“I’m going to vote for Bernie Sanders next year if he’s a candidate,’’ Bennett said. “He’s my pick, my choice so I’m wearing the hat that I got from him.’’
more
http://www.seattletimes.com/sports/seahawks/seattle-seahawks-defensive-tackle-michael-bennett-on-why-hes-voting-for-bernie-sanders/
good for him!
Comet lander Philae is still alive
Comet lander Philae still alive! Ten seconds of data was transmitted last night
https://twitter.com/jarimakinen/status/679242054971469825
not much now but hopefully more to come....
NFL backs away from funding BU brain study; NIH to fund it instead
The NFL, which spent years criticizing researchers who warned about the dangers of football-related head trauma, has backed out of one of the most ambitious studies yet on the relationship between football and brain disease, sources familiar with the project told Outside the Lines.
The seven-year, $16 million initiative was to be funded out of a $30 million research grant the NFL gave the National Institutes of Health in 2012. The NFL has said repeatedly that it has no control over how that money is spent, but the league balked at this study, sources said, because the NIH awarded the project to a group led by Dr. Robert Stern, a prominent Boston University researcher who has been critical of the league.
In a news release announcing the study Tuesday morning, Boston University said the NIH would pay for the project but made no mention of the NFL. The study seeks to capture what has been described as the holy grail of concussion research: the ability to diagnose chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, in living patients.
Asked why the NFL did not want to fund the study, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy on Monday referred questions to the NIH, writing in an email: "The NIH makes its own funding decisions." He did not respond to follow up questions. On Tuesday, McCarthy tweeted that the story was wrong.
The NFL's decision not to fund the Boston University CTE study delayed its announcement for months, and the issue ultimately reached the office of NIH director Dr. Francis S. Collins, according to sources. As late as this week, some officials held out hope the league would change its mind, but the NIH remained committed to funding the project regardless.
more
http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/14417386/nfl-pulls-funding-boston-university-head-trauma-study-concerns-researcher
Three whales have died at SeaWorld San Antonio in the last six months
By Yanan Wang
When SeaWorld San Antonio announced the death of an 18-year-old killer whale this week, it sounded a lot like a somber broken record.
“We are saddened to share the passing of Unna today,” the park’s statement said. Unna suffered from an infection from a resistant strain of fungus called Candida. The whale had been in serious condition and under around-the-clock care, although the exact cause of her death has yet to be determined.
The life expectancy of a female killer whale ranges from 30 to 50 years.
In her passing, Unna joins two other whales that have died at the park in the past six months. November saw the death of Stella, a beluga whale that was being treated for gastrointestinal problems. And in July, SeaWorld-goers mourned a newborn beluga who died after being born premature.
The succession of deaths is raising eyebrows as SeaWorld has faced increasing scrutiny since the 2013 documentary “Blackfish,” which detailed the circumstances of orcas who live and perform at the company’s parks. The film focuses on the life of Tilikum, an orca at SeaWorld Orlando that killed one of his trainers and is associated with two other deaths.
more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/12/23/in-the-last-six-months-three-whales-have-died-at-seaworld-san-antonio/
Newly Elected Governor Strips 140,000 Of Voting Rights, Lowers The Minimum Wage
BY ALICE OLLSTEIN DEC 23, 2015 10:21 AM
Less than a month after taking office, Kentucky’s newly elected Republican Gov. Matt Bevin reversed a move by his Democratic predecessor that had restored the voting rights of about 140,000 former felons.
Those impacted, who are overwhelmingly African American and lower income, had already completed their felony sentences but remained permanently disenfranchised. The order excluded those convicted of violent crimes, sex crimes, bribery or treason.
Bevin’s move Tuesday night goes against promises he made during the campaign to keep the restoration of voting rights in place. He even told reporters in November that he would stand up to his own party on the issue and convince them it was the right thing to do. Now, thanks to his order, tens of thousands of Kentuckians will not only lose the opportunity to regain their voting rights, they will also be permanently unable to serve on a jury, run for office, or obtain a vocational license.
The only explanation Bevin offered for the reversal is that he believes “it is an issue that must be addressed through the legislature and by the will of the people.”
Kentucky is one of a tiny handful of states where former felons have to individually petition the governor to restore their civil rights after they have fully completed their sentences — a process that can be arbitrary and humiliating. As a result, one in five African Americans in the state are disenfranchised. Studies have found that ex-felons who have their voting rights restored feel more invested in their communities and are less likely to end up back in the criminal justice system.
more
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/12/23/3734771/governor-strips-voting-rights-lowers-minimum-wage/
Professor suspended for saying Muslims and Christians worship the same God
A Wheaton College professor suspended for saying Muslims and Christians worship the same God declared Tuesday that she would fight efforts by the private evangelical college to force her out.
Larycia Hawkins, a tenured political science professor who earlier this month demonstrated solidarity with her Muslim neighbors by wearing a hijab, said she will not accept a proposal offered by the college to teach again next fall that would revoke her tenure for at least two years. She said the college appears to be moving toward termination, meanwhile she has rejected suggestions to resign.
"I was naively thinking they wanted to cooperate," she said. "I have tenure, and I have to fight for that."
On Tuesday, Wheaton confirmed that conversations had reached a stalemate.
more
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-wheaton-college-hijab-larycia-hawkins-1223-met-20151222-story.html#
Candidate Sanders says U.S. Fed 'hijacked' by bankers
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders lambasted the Federal Reserve on Wednesday as an institution that has been "hijacked by the very bankers it regulates" and called for banning bank executives from regional Fed governing boards.
The populist Sanders last week criticized the Fed's decision to raise interest rates and acknowledged proudly in a Saturday night debate that Wall Street won't like him in the White House.
"Wall Street is still out of control," Sanders wrote in a New York Times opinion piece.
Seven years after large U.S. banks were bailed out by the Treasury Department because they were too big to fail, the banks have become even bigger, leaving taxpayers at risk of another bailout, he said.
"To rein in Wall Street, we should begin by reforming the Federal Reserve," Sanders wrote. "Unfortunately, an institution that was created to serve all Americans has been hijacked by the very bankers it regulates."
more
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-sanders-idUSKBN0U61HN20151223
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