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A segment on today's Ed Show was very instructive as to what lies not far beneath the surface for many in the current protest movement. Two guests, discussing Ferguson and Staten Island, agreed that a key problem in America is . . . capitalism. First up was Rosa Clemente, a "hip hop activist" and 2008 Green Party VP candidate: "Capitalism, I think that is the institution all over this country. It is really the oppressive force." Next, Georgetown Prof. Marcia Chatelain, who said that the current moment has revealed "an incredible critique of capitalism that it isn't just police brutality...

It was the best of Grubers, it was the worst of Grubers. It was a Gruber shamed before Congress, it was a Gruber unshaken before Congress. Okay, so which Jonathan Gruber appeared before Congress because it seems as if NBC Nightly News and Politico were watching two entirely different Grubers. First the NBC News Gruber in which reporter Kelly O'Donnell describes his public shaming:

A Wisconsin man told a sheriff's deputy he had not been drinking, but rather eating beer-battered fish when he was pulled over for what could be his 10th drunken driving offense, according to an incident report released on Wednesday. John Przybyla, 73, was stopped for a broken tail light and erratic driving on Oct. 12 by a deputy who then smelled alcohol on his breath and saw that his eyes were blood shot. The deputy asked Przybyla how much he had had to drink. Przybyla replied that he had not been drinking and instead had eaten beer-battered fish at a...

2 Futures Can Explain Time's Mysterious Past New theories suggest the big bang was not the beginning, and that we may live in the past of a parallel universe December 8, 2014 |By Lee Billings In the evolution of cosmic structure, is entropy or gravity the more dominant force? The answer to this question has deep implications for the universe's future, as well as its past. Credit: NASA; ESA; G. Illingworth, D. Magee, and P. Oesch, University of California, Santa Cruz; R. Bouwens, Leiden University; and the HUDF09 TeamPhysicists have a problem with time.   Whether through Newton’s gravitation, Maxwell’s...

"It means that anyone who tells you we can drill our way out of this problem doesn’t know what they’re talking about – or isn’t telling you the truth. The United States consumes more than a fifth of the world’s oil. But we only have 2% of the world’s oil reserves. That means we can’t just rely on fossil fuels from the last century. "

Most white Americans demonstrate bias against blacks, even if they're not aware of or able to control it. It's a surprisingly little-discussed factor in the anguishing debates over race and law enforcement that followed the shootings of unarmed black men by white police officers. Such implicit biases -- which, if they were to influence split-second law enforcement decisions, could have life or death consequences -- are measured by psychological tests, most prominently the computerized Implicit Association Test, which has been taken by over two million people online at the website Project Implicit. Based on this data, it appears that whites...

Last night, lawmakers released the massive, 1,603-page, $1.1 trillion spending bill that will fund the government for the coming year. Here are a few things Heritage experts have learned about the “cromnibus." The bill: Funds most of the federal government through September 30, 2015 while extending funding for the Department of Homeland Security until February 27, 2015. Does not block funding for President Obama’s amnesty. Makes only minor tweaks to Obamacare, but leaves the big-government health program otherwise intact. Continues the education spending spree, and in fact increases spending on K-12 and higher education.

Players receive fines for lots of things. Criticizing officials, making obscene gestures, and breaking dress codes all could lead to hefty penalties in the world of sports. Unless, of course, your actions or choice of clothing taunt and bash police officers, then you're good to go. --SNIP-- Chicago Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall was fined thousands of dollars for wearing green shoes to bring awareness to mental illness. Yet players can rip police officers who have been cleared of any wrongdoing and not be fined. That is mental illness.

Media Titans: The Hearst family Worth: $35 billion Wealth established: 1887 Source of wealth: Hearst Corporation The Hearst fortune began in the late 1800s with George Hearst, a millionaire goldmine owner and U.S. senator. Hearst's son William Randolph attended the finest schools but was kicked out of Harvard University for throwing keg parties in Harvard Square and sending used chamber pots to his professors. After his expulsion, William Randolph took over managing the San Francisco Examiner, a publication his father had won as settlement for a gambling debt. Oil barons: The Rockefeller family Worth: $10 billion Worth Established: 1858 John...

<p>Few American voters feel their family is better off under ObamaCare, and a record number would repeal the law if they could.</p> <p>In addition, if comments by one of the health care law’s authors about lying to “stupid” Americans are true, over half of voters think President Obama or other administration officials are responsible for that deception.</p>

In a story published on BuzzFeed, Lena Dunham slammed anyone who questioned the details of her alleged rape and implied that those who do are part of a massive conspiracy to further anti-woman agendas. The article, called "Why I Chose to Speak Out," slams anyone who questions her story. The fact that she accused someone of rape, she explains, means that her account is completely accurate and if you question it, you are a misogynist. In other words, accusing someone of rape is the equivalent of proving they raped you. Recounting her thoughts when writing a nationally-published book available to...

The Los Angeles Unified School District is declaring itself a safe haven for unauthorized immigrant students and their families who may qualify for relief under President Barack Obama's executive order. At a press conference Tuesday, district officials and union leaders pledged to work together to help students who qualify access the records they need to file their applications.

Pulling a worn, yellowed copy of the 1992 U.N. climate change convention from her handbag, Farhana Yamin points to the paragraph that states its goal: To stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations at a level that would prevent dangerous warming. It doesn't provide any guidance on how to do that. But Yamin does. And, in a historic first, dozens of governments now embrace her prescription. The global climate pact set for adoption in Paris next year should phase out greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, says the London-based environmental lawyer. "In your lifetime, emissions have to go to zero. That's a message people...

The Coerced Abortion Epidemic The Un-Choice: 64% involve coercion. Pressure can become violent.(2) 67% not counseled.(1) 65% suffer trauma.(1) Suicide 6-7 times higher.(3) Intense pressure to abort can come from husbands, parents, doctors, partners, counselors, or close friends and family. They may threaten or blackmail a woman into abortion. These are not idle threats. Coercion can escalate to violence. Women who resist abortion have been beaten, tortured and killed. One husband jumped on his wife’s stomach to force an abortion. A mother forced her daughter at gunpoint to go to the abortion clinic. A woman was forcibly injected by the...

Another day, another nail in the coffin of Rolling Stone’s now infamous tale. This afternoon, the Washington Post reports that Jackie’s three friends explicitly reject some key claims that were made about their behavior:

Schools in the U.S. will now have the opportunity to go against the grain of First Lady Michelle Obama's healthy lunch program. A massive year-end spending bill released by Congress Tuesday doesn't allow schools to opt out of healthier school meal standards championed by the First Lady, as House Republicans had sought. But it would ease standards that many students and school officials complained about. The bill would reduce requirements for whole grains, and would put off rules to make school meals less salty, suspending lower sodium standards that were supposed to go into effect in 2017.

Defence experts said it is 'hugely embarassing' that defence cuts mean Britain can no longer patrol its own waters Britain called in Nato sea patrol planes to hunt for a suspected Russian submarine off Scotland last month, after the Government scrapped its own similar aircraft in defence cuts, it has been disclosed. Maritime patrol aircraft from France, America and Canada flew to Scotland to join Royal Navy warships hunting for the suspected submarine after it was spotted at sea, west of Scotland. At the height of the hunt in late November and first days of December, four allied patrol planes...

The seemingly wonky legislative language in that relevant section reads: None of the funds appropriated in this Act shall be expended or obligated by the Commissioner of Social Security, for purposes of administering Social Security benefit payments under title II of the Social Security Act, to process any claim for credit for a quarter of coverage based on work performed under a social security account number that is not the claimant’s number and the performance of such work under such number has formed the basis for a conviction of the claimant of a violation of section 208(a)(6) or (7) of...

CLEVELAND (AP) - Having just exonerated Kwame Ajamu, Judge Pamela Barker stepped down from the bench on Tuesday, leaned across the defense table and gave him a hug. It had taken nearly 40 years, but Ajamu was no longer a convicted murderer.Read more http://www.aol.com/article/2014/12/10/3rd-man-exonerated-in-1975-cleveland-slaying/21114400/?ncid=webmail1

"....A recent 90-minute interview with the Washington Post paid off with a Wednesday front-page story headlined, “New image, renewed ambition for Perry,” that was sprinkled with details about Perry’s preparations for a presidential run that the outgoing governor says isn’t yet a sure thing. “This Perry comes across as studious, contemplative and humble,” wrote Philip Rucker, national political reporter for the Post. “He said he is at peace with his 2012 presidential campaign, in which his shoot-first-aim-later approach proved catastrophic, but is hungry to redeem himself.” Coinciding with the story, Texans for Rick Perry released a stylized, three-minute video touting...