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'If You Live Near Other People, You're Probably a Democrat. If Your Neighbors Are Distant, Republican' - Emily Badger. How low can you get: the minimum wage scam. You'd think the exceptionally low minimum-wage – $7.25 an hour – would be the shame of a country like the United States that prides itself on its economic leadership.

How low can you get: the minimum wage scam

Half of minimum-wage jobs are held by adults over 25 years old, and asking adults to live on $7.25, or $14,500 a year, doesn't leave them with enough to rent an apartment, commute to work, raise a child and participate in society in any meaningful way. Many US states have higher minimum-wage requirements than the government, with Washington State leading the pack at $9.19 an hour. That's a start, but many large, international companies will only pay the minimum the federal government requires. As a result, the federal minimum wage keeps an entire class of people trapped in economic servitude, focusing their attention on survival rather than growth, barring their ability to save enough or pay for education that would allow them to rise to the middle class.

Think Racism Isn’t An Issue Anymore? Oh, Have I Got An Infographic For You. Four Charts That Prove Obama's Right About Being Black In America. By Annie-Rose Strasser "Four Charts That Prove Obama’s Right About Being Black In America"

Four Charts That Prove Obama's Right About Being Black In America

Stand Your Ground? Black Woman Fires Shot Gets 20 Years - White Man Kills And Goes Free - WTF. Santorum. Most minimum wage workers are adults who work for large corporations. May 10, 2013 One of the major arguments that comes up whenever there’s some talk about raising the minimum wage is “What about small businesses!”

Most minimum wage workers are adults who work for large corporations

And “What about teenagers! Who is going to hire teenagers if they have to pay them anything close to a living wage?” The Senate as Facebook. DOCUMERICA photos: The spoils of industry. GOP Defunds Political Science Studies at National Science Foundation. On March 20 the Senate de-funded political science grants from the National Science Foundation “except for research projects that the Director of the National Science Foundation certifies as promoting national security or the economic interests of the United States.”

GOP Defunds Political Science Studies at National Science Foundation

Since political science research, like most scientific research, is seldom undertaken to promote national security or the economic interests of the U.S., it seems doubtful there will be many such exceptions. The vote was part of the Senate’s continuing resolution to fund the government for the next six months, which subsequently cleared the House, thereby averting the looming threat of a government shutdown.

The exceptions based on national security and national economic interests were the price of winning support from Senate appropriations chair Barbara Mikulski, who then put it to a voice vote. Explaining rising income inequality in the US. American Political Science Review. 8 Ways America's Headed Back to the Robber-Baron Era. July 2, 2012 | Like this article?

8 Ways America's Headed Back to the Robber-Baron Era

Join our email list: Stay up to date with the latest headlines via email. Gun controle. NRA, Congress stymied CDC gun research budget. (CBS News) On Monday, President Obama ordered the Centers for Disease Control to begin research on the causes of gun violence.

NRA, Congress stymied CDC gun research budget

That was something that Congress specifically prevented the CDC from doing. "There is absolutely no question. These are preventable deaths," said Dr. Mark Rosenberg, who used to oversee research into gun violence and prevention at the Centers for Disease Control. ATF gun trace data a mystery. February 05, 2013|By Justin George, The Baltimore Sun When reporters asked Baltimore police and state agencies where the guns used in city crimes came from, no one could provide specific information.

ATF gun trace data a mystery

The Public's Hope for Meaningful Gun Reform Crumbles as Congress Still Hides From the NRA. Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com March 21, 2013 | Like this article?

The Public's Hope for Meaningful Gun Reform Crumbles as Congress Still Hides From the NRA

Join our email list: Stay up to date with the latest headlines via email. Legislative Handcuffs Limit A.T.F.’s Ability to Fight Gun Crime. Science and gun violence: why is the research so weak? “So I went upstairs and I got a revolver and got in my car and drove out there,” he told me.

Science and gun violence: why is the research so weak?

“I pull up, and her car is there and all the lights are on everywhere. Now I’m convinced – somebody was in the house. Someone else was there when she got home. Why Congress Is So Dysfunctional. The Sunday talk shows again this week devoted a lot of attention to the dysfunction of Congress. A Critical Reading of Obama's Inaugural Address. The president's words elided inconvenient realities and too often lacked rigor.

A Critical Reading of Obama's Inaugural Address

Reuters President Obama's Second Inaugural Address is unlikely to be much remembered by future generations. Its authors have a talent for "rhetorical craftsmanship," as James Fallows astutely noted. But to what end? Were hard truths expressed? He burnished his brand rather than acting like a leader. 5 Staples of the Legal System That Statistics Say Don't Work. Vanishing Point: How to disappear in America without a trace. Where there's water, life is possible. True, it may be very difficult and very hard to live, depending, but anyone who's driven, hiked, or camped in the American South West will have noticed that cities and ranches crop up where there's surface water or where there's been a well dug.

Within the state of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado, there are deserts, mesas, mountains, and forests where normally people never or rarely visit; not-so-secret places where there's water, access to a road within a day's hike, and where a fairly rugged individual may hide while remaining basically healthy, marginally well fed, and reasonably sane. Boy Scouts' "Gay Ban" Boy Scouts Timeline. Hubris: Selling The Iraq War. Us Vs. The world. Peters Projection. In the social mind size becomes equal to importance.