Illinois Passes Medical Marijuana Bill

The Illinois legislature sent a medical marijuana bill to Gov. Pat Quinn Friday, after the Senate passed a measure 35-21 largely along party lines. The measure would permit marijuana use with a doctor’s prescription for 33 specified ailments, require users, growers, and dispensaries to undergo fingerprinting and criminal background checks, and limit the number of growers and dispensaries.

A Marine Talks About The "B.S" Over "Umbrella, Ella, Ella, Gate" (wonkette.com)

Yesterday we learned of one more reason to impeach the Kenyan impostor: as he was giving his press conference with the Turkish whoever, it began to rain, and he summoned two United States Marines over to hold umbrellas over himself and his Very Important Guest. Commentors at the Free Republic howled that PBO was trying to “humiliate” the Marine Corps by “demeaning them” and “demoralizing them.” They were very mad! Then one M. Joseph Sheppard, to whom apparently we have not been paying enough attention, tried to explain: we were wrong to simply point out other presidents having umbrellas held for them. The shocking scandal was that Barack Nobumer had made Marines disregard their own code, by holding umbrellas. He cited some uniform regulations, as if a Marine performing a service for his Commander-in-Chief were the same as a Marine delicately shielding himself from the elements while humping up a mountain or to keep his hair dry while doing drillsies.

Sea Turtle Comeback: Giant Leatherback Numbers Rebound In Parts Of Caribbean

GRANDE RIVIERE, Trinidad — Giant leatherback turtles, some weighing half as much as a small car, drag themselves out of the ocean and up the sloping shore on the northeastern coast of Trinidad while villagers await wearing dimmed headlamps in the dark. Their black carapaces glistening, the turtles inch along the moonlit beach, using their powerful front flippers to move their bulky frames onto the sand.

How States Are Leading The Way On Equal Pay For Women

Legislation at the federal level designed to improve women’s economic opportunities appears stalled, including, most recently, the Paycheck Fairness Act and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. But some states are taking matters into their own hands and working on similar laws in their legislatures. They could serve as models for what needs to be done at the federal level.

OB-GYNs Are Confused By The Political Fight To Restrict Emergency Contraception

This month, the political fight over emergency contraception has intensified, as the Obama administration continues to resist making the morning after pill available to women of all ages over the counter. After a federal judge ordered the FDA to remove all age restrictions on emergency contraception, the administration disagreed, maintaining that girls under 15 years old should still be required be obtain a prescription to purchase the contraceptive method — a position that baffles medical experts.

Federal Appeals Court: Drug Sentencing Disparity Is Intentional Racial ‘Subjucation’

Since Congress recognized the gaping racial disparity between mandatory minimum sentences for crack offenses and cocaine offenses and reduced the ratio from 100-to-1 to 18-to-1, courts have grappled with when and how to apply the statute to already-decided cases. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the reductions in the Fair Sentencing Act applied to at least those cases decided before the law was passed, but not yet sentenced. But questions remain about whether the statute applies retroactively to tens of thousands of other inmates who might seek reduced sentences.

Rewriting History: GOP Senator Pretends He Voted For Expanded Background Checks

On his Facebook page Friday, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) denied he ever voted against strengthened background checks amid blacklash over his opposition to the bipartisan Manchey-Toomey background checks amendment.

Michelle Obama Encourages African-American Students To Stop Aspiring To Be ‘A Baller Or A Rapper’

Because this is apparently a week that involves a lot of me lowering my head slowly and deliberately to my desk a la Peggy Olson, First Lady Michelle Obama decided to trot out some very old talking points in her commencement address to the 2013 graduating class at Bowie State University:

5 Major Scandals The Media Isn’t Obsessing About

This week, the national media has focused on the three different scandals surrounding the White House, devoting hours of coverage to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) improperly targeting conservative groups applying for tax exempt status, the talking points Susan Rice used in the aftermath of the attacks in Benghazi, and the Justice Department’s subpoena of phone records from the Associated Press as part of an investigation into a national security leak. The around-the-clock coverage comes even as a new Gallup poll finds that interest in the ongoing controversies is “lower comparable to major news stores in the past.”

Lawmakers Urge Obama To Bypass Congress To Confront Sexual Assault In The Military

The military’s sexual assault crisis has been in the headlines consistently for the past two weeks, leading two members of Congress to call on President Obama to take executive action and fix it.

Too Often, Teen Mothers Receive Shame Instead Of Support

This week, news broke that a Michigan school district is barring two teens from displaying their pregnant bellies in their school yearbook. The school district’s superintendent explained that depicting images of teen pregnancy in the yearbook goes against the school’s mission of “promoting abstinence.” One of the pregnant teens said she “went to the bathroom and cried” upon hearing the news.

Industry Groups Urge Supreme Court To Ban EPA From Regulating CO2

Conservative states, business groups, fossil fuel companies, and politicians who deny the science of climate change are petitioning the Supreme Court to reverse Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations on greenhouse gases and to weaken the Clean Air Act. This would involve the Court either limiting or reversing its own 2007 decision, Massachusetts v. EPA, which found that the EPA is required to regulate carbon pollution as pollution.

Worsening A Warming-Fueled Wildfire Season, Sequestration Threatens Firefighting Efforts

Due to sequestration, the federal government will be at least $115 million short of normal wildfire fighting capacity during this year’s wildfire season. This is particularly problematic as large portions of the U.S. face a serious drought and extremely dry conditions. As the Washington Post reported, Agriculture Secretary Vilsack said “I hope we can get through this fire season without any fatalities.”

Nigeria's Adamawa state: Army curfew to curb Boko Haram

Nigeria's army has imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew across the north-eastern state of Adamawa to curb attacks by militant Islamists.

Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant: Our Critics Are Fueled By 'Elitism'

It's not controversial pesticide-resistent crops that fuel Monsanto's critics, according to the company's CEO; it's their own desire to keep poor people from cheap food.

Natural Disasters Displaced 32.4 Million People In 2012, IDMC Study Shows

More than 30 million people fled their homes in 2012 because of disasters such as floods, storms and earthquakes, a new report indicates.

Global Warming is Happening, And It's Real, Scientist Agree. (I Hate The Soft Word Climate Change)

Public opinion on the topic of climate change is notoriously fickle, changing -- quite literally sometimes -- with the weather. The latest bit of evidence on this: Yale's April 2013 climate change survey, which found, among other things, that Americans' conviction that global warming is happening had dropped by seven points, to 63 percent, over the preceding six months. The decline, the authors surmised, was most likely due to "the cold winter of 2012-13 and an unusually cold March just before the survey was conducted."

Obama Speaks Of 'Going Bulworth' In Second Term

The New York Times reported that President Barack Obama has spoken privately of "going Bulworth," a reference to the 1998 Warren Beatty movie about a California Senate candidate who becomes unusually honest after having run as a centrist Democrat.

Abercrombie & Fitch Signs Bangladesh Safety Agreement While Other American Companies Hold Out

Late on Wednesday, American retailer Abercrombie & Fitch announced it would sign a safety upgrade plan that has been signed by six major European retailers and one other American company, PVH, owner of Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, and Izod. The agreement, which is legally binding, includes independent factory inspections and requires companies to help underwrite building upgrades and repairs.

Two GOP Judges Just Voted To Eliminate Union Rights, Here’s How The Senate Can Stop Them

Two events this morning strike at the heart of whether workers have the right to organize. The first is a brand new decision by two Republican judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit striking down President Obama’s recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The second is a confirmation hearing, coincidentally being held this morning, on five nominees to that same Board. If the Third Circuit’s opinion stands, and the five nominees are not confirmed, the practical result will be a blank check for union-busting employers.

Kansas Elected Official Stands By Using Racial Slur ’100 Percent’

Kansas Board of Education member Steve Roberts (R), an elected official representing one-tenth of the state, defended on Tuesday his use of a racial epithet at a previous board meeting to “push the frontiers of political correctness.” After a former Topeka NAACP president advocated for more African American history in state curriculum standards, Roberts had brought up an unrelated non-binding 2007 New York City resolution discouraging the use of the “N-word” and other offensive language.

Kiera Wilmot Will Not Be Charged For Explosion At Florida School

A central Florida teenager who was accused of igniting a chemical explosion on school grounds – and who became the subject of a grassroots social media campaign on her behalf – will not face criminal charges, authorities said Wednesday.

North Carolina Women Don 1960s Garb To Protest ‘Vintage’ Bill That Threatens Birth Control Access

North Carolina is advancing a measure that would effectively allow personal beliefs to trump women’s access to birth control. Under HB 730, employers in the state could decide not to include contraceptives in their workers’ insurance plans for any reason — a direct violation of the popular Obamacare provision that stipulates women should receive birth control coverage at no additional cost to them. But as lawmakers debate HB 730, women’s health advocates in the state want them to know they’re not willing to be dragged back to the 1960s without a fight.

Eric Holder Slams Darrell Issa During House Judiciary Committee Hearing

Attorney General Eric Holder had tough words for Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) during Wednesday's House Judiciary Committee hearing, criticizing the congressman's behavior as "unacceptable" and "shameful."

Why Is Chicago Devoting $125 Million To Build A Basketball Arena For A Private University?

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel will lay out a proposal Thursday for a $195 million basketball arena for DePaul University, a private Chicago university that spent $20 million in 2004 to make its current home, Allstate Arena, “a state-of-the-art facility.” The plan, according to reports from CBS Chicago, will require $125 million from taxpayers, with $70 million coming from a tax on hotel rooms and an additional $55 million coming from a common arena scheme known as tax-incremented financing (TIF).

Fixed News Gives Karl Rove’s Crossroads Groups Millions In Free Airtime

Though Karl Rove receives a salary from Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp for his work as a Fox News Channel “political contributor,” his compensation doesn’t end there. The network frequently airs ads by his American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS political committees, as “news,” free of charge.

White House Revives ‘Media Shield’ Bill To Protect Journalists

Under fire for the Justice Department’s surveillance of AP reporters’ phone records, the White House is pushing to revive a “media shield” bill to protect reporters who refuse to identify confidential sources. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) received a call Wednesday from the White House asking him to reintroduce his 2009 bill.

Armed Forces Sexual Assault Crisis Reaches New Heights

Ahead of possible major actions from the Pentagon and Congress on sexual assault in the military, the U.S. Army is forced to confront yet another instance of a member of the armed forces involved in a shocking sexual assault scandal.

Amid New Data About The (Shrinking) Deficit, Will Washington Finally Focus On Jobs?

The budget deficit will shrink to its smallest level since before the Great Recession in 2013, and it will continue shrinking through 2015, according to revised estimates from the Congressional Budget Office released Tuesday. In reality, the deficit is even smaller than the CBO predicts, since its “current law” projections assume that funding for the war in Afghanistan and federal disaster relief for states hit by Hurricane Sandy will continue in perpetuity. But that funding isn’t endless, and it will bring the deficit down to even smaller levels.

CNN And Fox News’ Evening Shows Get Whiter And More Male, While Sharpton and Hayes Pick Up Slack At MSNBC

Over the past couple of days, Media Matters for America has been rolling out an analysis of who gets booked on cable news shows, and comparing it to data from a similar month in 2008. The findings are discouraging. In May 2008, 57 percent of all guests on evening cable news were white men. In April 2013, that number’s risen to 58 percent.

Senate Committee Approves $4B In Food Aid Cuts As House Preps Even Worse Measure

The average value of federal food aid will fall to $1.40 per person per meal in November, as a Recovery Act provision expires, but Republicans are already working to impose a further $21 billion in cuts to the program. That’s the upshot of two recent Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reports on the future of the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP).

Twin Primes Conjecture: 'Weak' Version Of Famed Math Problem Possibly Proven

It’s a result only a mathematician could love. Researchers hoping to get ‘2’ as the answer for a long-sought proof involving pairs of prime numbers are celebrating the fact that a mathematician has wrestled the value down from infinity to 70 million.

U.S. Taxpayers Footing Bill That Promotes Monsanto Abroad: Report

May 14 (Reuters) - U.S. taxpayers are footing the bill for overseas lobbying that promotes controversial biotech crops developed by U.S.-based Monsanto Co and other seed makers, a report issued on Tuesday said.

Julian Bond, Former NAACP Chair: Tea Party Is 'Taliban Wing Of American Politics'

Former NAACP Chairman Julian Bond said Tuesday that it was "entirely legitimate" for the Internal Revenue Service to target conservative groups for increased scrutiny, calling the tea party the "Taliban wing of American politics."

Student Loan Debt Tenacious As U.S. Households Shed Other Debt: Study

Four years after the Great Recession, U.S. households are slowly repairing their balance sheets and shedding their debt -- except when it comes to student loans.

RNC Director Of Hispanic Outreach Quits Party And Registers As A Democrat

When Republicans appointed Pablo Pantoja to State Director of Florida Hispanic Outreach for the Republican National Committee, they hoped he would be able to bridge the sizable gap that only expanded during the 2012 elections, when the state’s 4.3 million Hispanic voters supported Barack Obama over Mitt Romney by a 20 percent margin.

Six Major Retailers Sign Factory Safety Upgrade Plan In Bangladesh

After H&M, the largest purchaser of garments in Bangladesh, announced on Monday that it would sign a fire and safety upgrade plan in the country, four other retailers have similarly signed on: Spanish retailer Inditex, owner of Zara, Dutch retailer C&A, and British retailers Primark and Tesco. Europe accounts for 60 percent of the country’s clothing exports. American company PVH, which owns Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, and Izod, also signed onto the deal, a more expansive version of one it had already signed, and pledged to contribute $2.5 million to underwrite factory safety improvements.

How Real Disclosure Laws Could Help Fix The IRS Problem

The Internal Revenue Service is under fire from both parties for improperly targeting certain groups for additional scrutiny because their names included keywords such as “Tea Party” and “patriot.” But the challenge of addressing the skyrocketing numbers of “social welfare” groups registering for tax exempt status could be lessened by fixing the broken disclosure laws for political advertisers.

Full White House Benghazi Email Undermines GOP’s Cover-Up Claims

CNN has obtained the full email from a White House official on the Benghazi talking points, which undermines claims that the administration acted deliberately to change the intelligence community’s assessment.

On Women’s Health Week, Angelina Jolie Goes Public About Her Double Mastectomy

Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie shared the story of her preventative double mastectomy, a decision she made after discovering she carries a gene that gives her an extremely high risk of developing breast cancer, in a New York Times op-ed published on Tuesday. Her public announcement coincided with National Women’s Health Week, a government initiative to encourage U.S. women to better safeguard their health and seek out preventative care. In Jolie’s editorial, she explains that she hopes other women might benefit from learning about her experience.

Attorney General Holder Recused Himself From AP Investigation

Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters on Tuesday that he recused himself early on in the Department of Justice’s investigation of the Associated Press and possible national security leaks.

Wayne Brady Is Tired Of Being Used By Others For Comparison As When A Black Man Is Not Considered Black Enough: Calls Out Bill Maher

Even though Wayne Brady respects Bill Maher as a comedian and performer, there's no love lost between the two, thanks to Maher's repeated use of Brady as a punchline about Obama's lack of "black" cred.

Half Of All Jobs Created In The Past 3 Years Were Low-Paying: Study

You might think the job market is awful, but that's only because you're hung up on trivialities like "money." If you can just learn to do without a living wage, the job market suddenly looks much better.

Seven Outlandish Things The Heritage Foundation’s Remaining Employees Believe

Late in the day Friday, the Heritage Foundation announced that Jason Richwine, the co-author of their widely criticized immigration report, was no longer employed by the conservative think tank. Shortly after the immigration report was released, the Washington Post’s Dylan Matthews reported that Richwine’s PhD dissertation claimed that “new Hispanic immigrants will have low-IQ children and grandchildren.”

How The Powerful Gun Lobby Works To Discredit The Doctors Trying To Keep Children Safe

As the nation continues to grapple with the best policy solutions to help prevent gun violence, powerful lobbying groups like the NRA continue to wield outsized influence over the ongoing conversation. That’s why pediatricians, who are currently lobbying Congress for stronger gun laws in order to safeguard children’s health, are treading cautiously as they quietly push for legislative action.

Obama Mocks GOP Charges Of A Benghazi ‘Cover-Up’

President Obama in a press conference on Monday shot back at Republicans trying to create a scandal out of his administration’s handling of the Benghazi terror attacks last September.

John Fugelsang: Rush Limbaugh has chased away more sponsors than Lindsay Lohan at Betty Ford (Current.Com)

John Fugelsang:

I kind of want to be serious for a second, if that’s OK. Like many of you watching, I was shocked to hear of how “The Rush Limbaugh Show” is dying in the ratings. One trade publication called it “the end of right-wing, conservative talk radio.”

Multiple Gunmen Open Fire During New Orleans’ Mother’s Day Parade, At Least 12 Injured

Police in New Orleans confirmed that at least 12 people — including a 10 year old girl — were shot by as many as three gunmen on Sunday afternoon during a parade to celebrate Mothers’ Day.

Supreme Court Saw Only One African-American Lawyer In Last 75 Hours Of Arguments

WASHINGTON -- In roughly 75 hours of arguments at the Supreme Court since October, only one African-American lawyer appeared before the justices, and for just over 11 minutes.

Moms Working At Walmart Earn Less Than They Need To Feed Their Kids

As Mother’s Day approached, Charlene Fletcher, mother of two, found herself occupied with the needs of other families, attending to the crush of shoppers last week at the Walmart in Pasadena, Calif., where she works.

IRS Knew Tea Party Was Being Targeted In 2011: Report

WASHINGTON — Senior Internal Revenue Service officials knew agents were targeting tea party groups as early as 2011, according to a draft of an inspector general's report obtained by The Associated Press that seemingly contradicts public statements by the IRS commissioner.

Female Veterans Blast Military Leadership For Failing To Address Ongoing Sexual Assault Crisis

On CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday morning, two female Iraq War veterans currently serving their first terms in Congress sharply criticized the military for its failure to address the increasing number of cases of sexual assault within its ranks.

On Mother’s Day, Sandy Hook Moms Remind Americans Of The Danger Guns Pose To Children

Four Newtown mothers whose children were killed during the December 14th shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School have a message for the country this Mother’s Day: “We are not going away.”

Why The FDA Takes So Long To Regulate Harmful Substances

On Thursday, Wrigley announced that it would be pulling its controversial new “Alert Energy” gum — each stick of which contains as much caffeine as half a cup of coffee — from the market out of “respect” for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as the agency investigates the public health risks associated with pumping caffeine into everyday foods and drink. With energy products and other potentially harmful foods high in sugar, salt, and fat increasingly under public scrutiny, it’s worth asking: why can’t the FDA do more to crack down on these additives? And why does it take so long to get food makers to comply with regulations when they do?

How New Legislation Could Give Smartphone Owners Control Over Their Privacy

Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) is having a busy week fighting for stronger consumer protections. First he introduced legislation that would stop companies from using private arbitration to escape facing judgment in courts, and yesterday he introduced H.R. 1913, the Application Privacy, Protection and Security (Apps) Act of 2013, a bill that could fix the gap between the privacy consumers expect from apps on their mobile devices and the experience they actually receive. Rep. Johnson explained the bill during a speech to the State of the Mobile Net conference:

Prescription Drug Spending Drops As Struggling Americans Are Forced To Cut Back On Health Care

For the first time in decades, U.S. prescription drug spending dropped last year — a phenomenon largely stemming from the fact that, faced with spiraling health costs, Americans are being forced to cut back on their care wherever they can.

Author Of Heritage Immigration Study Resigns Amid Racism Scandal

Jason Richwine, a coauthor of the Heritage Foundation’s report on the cost of the current immigration bill, has resigned after it emerged that his graduate dissertation on immigration was premised on the idea that Latinos were less intelligent than whites.

EXCLUSIVE: Embassy Staff Undercut ‘Whistleblower’ Testimony On Benghazi (ThinkProgress)

Staff who served in Libya with Gregory Hicks, the GOP’s primary “whistleblower” in this week’s hearing on the Benghazi terror attacks, undercut his story that State Department officials demoted him as retribution for speaking out, instead telling ThinkProgress about a man who one described as “the worst manager I’ve ever seen in the Foreign Service.”

Cyber Criminals 'Drained ATM's' in $45m World Bank Heist

A gang of cyber-criminals stole $45m (£29m) by hacking into a database of prepaid debit cards and draining cash machines around the world, US prosecutors say.

Nigeria 'baby factory' raided in Imo state

Seventeen pregnant teenage girls and 11 babies have been rescued from a house in Nigeria's south-eastern Imo state, police have said.

Cleveland Abductions: Do White Victims Get More Attention? (BBC Cover)

Three young women disappeared in Cleveland. Media coverage of their cases illustrates stereotypes about race.

Missouri Passes Gun Nullification Bill That Criminalizes Federal Law Enforcement

A Missouri bill that would make all federal gun laws “null and void” and criminalize enforcement of those laws was sent to Gov. Jay Nixon (D) Thursday, after it overwhelmingly passed the House this week by a vote of 118-36. If the bill is signed into law by the state’s Democratic governor, Missouri would become the second state to enact a nullification law that is clearly unconstitutional. After the enactment of a Kansas law containing similar provisions, Attorney General Eric Holder sent Kansas officials a letter warning that the Department of Justice would take Kansas to court over the issue. The bill also contains several other provisions to relax state gun laws. Fox News reports:

World Trade Center, Built With Union Labor, Is Now America’s Tallest Building

One World Trade Center, which will replace the World Trade Center towers that fell in the September 11 terrorist attacks, became the tallest building in the United States this morning when workers hoisted a 408-foot spire atop it. At 1,776 feet tall, the building is now the tallest in the United States and the third-tallest in the world.

Obamacare Is Already Forcing Private Insurers To Lower Their Premiums

Looks like Obamacare is more “on track” than “train wreck.”

Hispanic College Enrollment Rate Overtakes White Enrollment

A Pew Research Center report released Thursday notes that Hispanic college enrollment reached a record high for the class of 2012, surpassing the rate of white enrollment for the first time. Pew shows that 69 percent of Hispanic high school graduates enrolled in college compared to 67 percent of whites, a jump from just under half of the graduating class in 2000. And there are other promising stats: The Hispanic high school dropout rate is at 14 percent, down from 28 percent a decade before. Still, Hispanic college students are less likely to enroll in a four-year, full-time college and are less likely to complete a bachelor’s degree.

IRS Targeted Tea Party Tax-Exempt Groups For Increased Scrutiny And Missed The Real Problem

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) acknowledged Friday that it had improperly flagged groups applying for tax-exempt status for additional scrutiny if they contained common Tea Party keywords in their names. Rather than addressing the real problem of political committees masquerading as 501(c)(4) groups to evade public disclosure laws, this approach instead delayed the process for several groups purely on the basis of their names.

Police Chief Calls Out Armed Protest Threat In Washington DC

A July 4 march encourages gun advocates to carry loaded rifles into Washington, DC and knowingly break the law. Although described as a nonviolent “act of civil obedience,” organizer Adam Kokesh implied a threat of violence if “the government chooses to make it violent.” He encourages participants to peacefully submit to law enforcers but underlines that point with, “We are truly saying in the SUBTLEST way possible that we would rather die on our feet than live on our knees.”

Republican Senate Nominee Claimed $281,500 Tax Deduction Under What IRS Called A ‘Tax Scam’

Gabriel Gomez, the Republican nominee to fill John Kerry’s open Senate seat in Massachusetts, claimed a $281,500 deduction on his income taxes for promising not to alter the appearance of his historic home. While he identified this “easement” as a donation to a controversial Washington, DC-based organization, he was reportedly already prevented from making any such changes under local historic preservation laws — a move the Internal Revenue Service has identified as a common “tax scam.”

Darrell Issa Acknowledges He Learned Nothing New From His Benghazi Hearing

House Oversight Committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) tacitly admitted on Wednesday that his hearing on the Benghazi terror attacks the same day didn’t turn up any new information.

Schumer Destroys Top GOP Talking Point Against Immigration Reform

On Thursday, as the Senate Judiciary Committee took up a comprehensive immigration reform bill that allows the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants to earn a path to citizenship, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) shot down Republican claims that the measure will allow 30 million new immigrants to enter the country and take away jobs from American workers.

GOP Star Witnesses Debunk Right-Wing Benghazi Conspiracy Theories

The “whistleblowers” at today’s House Oversight Committee hearing on what really happened in Benghazi, Libya last September were supposed to break the dam that would lead to President Obama’s eventual downfall, in the eyes of conservatives. Instead, these witness actually served to debunk several theories that the right-wing has pushed on Benghazi, leaving the hearing a fizzle for the GOP:

What The Internet Fame Of Cleveland Hero Charles Ramsey Tells Us About Race, Trust, And Community

Over the past several days, we’ve heard a great deal, about the happy (if you can call the tend of ten years of torment straightforwardly happy) ending to a horrific triple—or maybe quadruple—kidnapping in Cleveland, and the man who brought it about. Charles Ramsey, who lived near the house in which Amanda Berry, Michelle Knight, and Gina DeJesus were held, raped, and tortured for a decade, became a hero when he responded to Berry’s calls for help, thinking he was intervening in a simple domestic violence incident. And he has become an internet celebrity thanks to an interview he gave about the case afterwards. The speed with which the latter status has eclipsed the former has been striking, and raised interesting and important questions about our willingness to turn people of color into memes rather than heroes.

Seven Times Senate Republicans Demanded The Budget Process They Are Now Obstructing

Senate Democrats passed a budget for the first time in four years earlier this year, a move that would seemingly please the Republicans who spent the last four years reminding everyone of the fact that the Senate hadn’t done so. But now, with the House and Senate sitting on differing budget proposals, Senate Republicans have blocked four efforts to form a conference committee that would be tasked with forming a compromise budget.

Why Would The Some Media Outlets Attack Charles Ramsey's Past Instead Of Focusing On His Good Deed?

While much of the media celebrates the candor and charisma of Charles Ramsey, the Cleveland man who reportedly helped Amanda Berry escape from her kidnappers’ home earlier this week, the Smoking Gun has unearthed documents showing not all is peachy keen with the newfound celebrity “hero.”

Amazon Pulls Bleeding Ex-Girlfriend Shooting Target After Outcry

Thanks to multiple petitions, the “ex-girlfriend” mannequin that bleeds when shot will no longer be available to purchase on Amazon.com. “Alexa,” or “the ex,” as she is marketed, was thought to be an April Fool’s Joke when first covered last month. In fact, the doll is a very real product encouraging men to seek fatal revenge against women.

What Caused Kendrick Johnson's Death! (www.theafrolounge.com)

17 year old Kendrick Johnson of Valdosta, GA was found dead inside of a rolled up mat in his high school gym back in January. Authorities have ruled the death an accident by saying Johnson fell into the mat and suffocated. Thanks to the internet and CNN iReport, the story is getting more publicity.

Heritage Study Author: ‘Hispanic Immigrants Will Have Low-IQ Children’

The Heritage Foundation’s analysis of the economic consequences of immigration reform uses absurd methodology to come to conclusions entirely at odds with the organization’s own findings in 2006. Perhaps one explanation for this incoherence is that one of the paper’s coauthors, a new hire, opposes Hispanic immigration because he thinks Latinos are stupid.

North Carolina May Force Teens To Get Notarized Parental Consent Before Getting STD Tests

A measure advancing in the North Carolina legislature would require teens to obtain notarized, written parental consent in order to access a range of health services, including testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, birth control prescriptions, pregnancy care, mental health counseling, and substance abuse treatment. HB 693 seeks to amend the state’s existing parental consent law — which already prevents teens from getting an abortion without permission from their parents — to extend to a broader range of medical care that lawmakers have deemed potentially inappropriate for minors.

Mail-Order Bride Documentary 'Seeking Asian Female' Looks At White Man's Obsession With Asian Women

In the documentary “Seeking Asian Female," filmmaker Debbie Lum follows a 60-year-old white parking attendant named Steven as he eventually persuades Sandy -- a 30-year-old office worker from China -- to come to the U.S. to be his wife.

John Boehner On Debt Ceiling: Let's Pay China First, Then U.S. Troops

WASHINGTON -- House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Tuesday essentially agreed with Democrats' arguments that a Republican bill to prioritize debt payments would put China before U.S. troops -- except he suggested that would be a good thing.

Mark Sanford: From Free Fall To ReBirth

WASHINGTON –- Americans, journalist David Halberstam once wrote, are "remarkably tolerant of error, particularly if it is self-confessed."

New Data Shows The Large And Bewildering Cost Of Healthcare

When a patient arrives at Bayonne Hospital Center in New Jersey requiring treatment for the respiratory ailment known as COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, she faces an official price tag of $99,690.

US Wire Tap Laws About To Get Revamped

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration, resolving years of internal debate, is on the verge of backing a Federal Bureau of Investigation plan for a sweeping overhaul of surveillance laws that would make it easier to wiretap people who communicate using the Internet rather than by traditional phone services, according to officials familiar with the deliberations.

On Day Stock Market Sets New Record, Conservative Group Floats Impeaching Obama For ‘Wrecking The Stock Market’

Today, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 15,056, an all-time record. For one conservative group, this can only mean one thing: it’s time to impeach President Obama.

Congresswoman Touts Worker Protections That Her Bill Would Weaken

Today, the House is set to vote on the Working Families Flexibility Act, legislation that would weaken rules requiring businesses to pay employees overtime wages when they work more than 40 hours in a given week and instead give employers the option of providing their workers with “comp time,” or time off from work. The bill is being touted as a Republican response to the need for today’s working parents to balance work and family by allowing them to accrue unpaid overtime hours.

The U.S Has The Highest First-Day Infant Death Rate In The Industrialized World

Each year, about one million infants around the world die on the same day they’re born. That figure includes about 11,300 U.S. babies — the highest first-day infant mortality rate of any other country in the industrialized world, according to a new report from Save the Children. In fact, the United States’ rate of first-day infant death is 50 percent more than all the other industrialized countries in the report combined.

The 11 Most Heartless Republican Amendments To The Immigration Bill

On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will begin marking up the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act, a bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill that will allow America’s 11 million undocumented immigrants to earn a path to citizenship over 13 years.

Why There Won’t Be Anything New In Today’s Benghazi Hearing

Republicans are touting today’s House Oversight Committee hearing as a potential final nail in the coffin of the Obama administration’s continuing cover-up of what really happened the night a diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya was attacked last September. In truth, the event is sure to be a rehash of previously debunked finger-pointing and yet another round of political posturing surrounding the tragic death of four Americans.

In Supreme Court’s Past 65 Years, George W. Bush’s Two Appointees Most Likely To Side With Business Interests

In recent years, several reports and studies have observed the evident skew in favor of business of the U.S. Supreme Court led by Chief Justice John G. Roberts. Thus far, this term has proved to be no exception, with a 6-1 win rate by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Last month, three professors who are prominent in the conservative law and economics movement published what may be the most rigorous study yet on business success before the high court. And after analyzing the some 2,000 decisions between 1946 and 2011 under various rubrics for what constitutes a business win before the court, the study confirmed previous conclusions that the Roberts court is significantly more pro-business than its predecessors. What’s more, they found that the most pro-business justices of all since 1965 are George W. Bush’s two appointees to the court: Justice Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito:

Pentagon: Estimated 26,000 Sexual Assaults In Military Last Year

Just one day after the Air Force’s chief of sexual assault prevention was arrested for sexual assault himself, a new Pentagon report shows a sharp increase in the estimated number of assaults in the military annually.

Bangladesh Factory Upgrades Could Cost Consumers As Little As 10 Cents Per Garment

The factory collapse in Bangladesh has now claimed upward of 700 lives, making it the worst industrial disaster in Bangladesh and the most deadly one in the history of the garment industry. As has been widely reported, workers were hesitant to enter the building on the day of the collapse due to visible cracks in the building.

Voter Suppression Group Fear Mongers Over Immigration Reform: It Will Allow ‘Millions’ To Vote

Following other far-right attacks on comprehensive immigration reform, True the Vote, a Tea Party group purporting to combat voter fraud, is now rallying against the Senate’s immigration bill. In a fundraising email to supporters, True the Vote founder Catherine Engelbrecht warned that the bill presents a “golden opportunity” to allow “millions of newly legalized immigrants” to “undermine our electoral system.”

Pro-Choice Activists In Ireland Risk Prison To Educate Women About Their Reproductive Options

After the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar, the 31-year-old woman who died after being denied an abortion in an Irish Catholic hospital, the fight for reproductive rights has taken on a new fervor in Ireland. Activists flooded the streets to declare that Savita’s death won’t be in vain, demanding a policy shift in the socially conservative country’s stringent abortion laws. And now, inspired by the momentum sparked by Savita’s case, pro-choice activists are risking up to 14 years in prison to spread the word about how Irish women can safely travel to Great Britain to obtain an abortion.

NRA Tries To Put Out "Zombie Target" Of The President, But The Rev AL Calls It What It Is!

Although many networks continue to pretend that people on both sides of the political aisle are equally nasty toward each other in the name of patronization balance, leave it to the National Rifle Association to blow such silly folklore to smithereens. This week, the Rev. Al Sharpton (pictured) took shots at what he dubbed “The Right-Wing Horror Picture Show” on MSNBC’s “Politics Nation.” The segment focused on Buzzfeed’s report about the NRA asking a vendor at its convention to remove a life-size zombie target, which bleeds when shot and resembles President Barack Obama (pictured below).

Air Force Officer In Charge Of Sexual Assault Prevention Arrested For Sexual Assault

The officer in charge of the U.S. Air Force’s response to sexual assault was himself arrested for sexual battery this weekend, drawing attention yet again to the extent of rape culture in the armed services.

How ‘Slut Shaming’ Has Been Written Into School Dress Codes Across The Country

Last month, a New Jersey middle school banned girls from wearing strapless dresses to prom. Administrators claimed that the dresses were “distracting” — though they refused to specify exactly how or why. Parents reacted strongly to the rule; some supported the dress code while others deemed it “slut-shaming.” On Friday, the school compromised by allowing girls to wear single-strap or see-through-strap dresses.

Ten Crazy Things the Right Did During The Week Of May 3, 2013

The right wing rarely rests and this week has been no exception. Here’s ten stories from just this week illustrating just how extreme, out of touch, and just plain offensive that conservatives can be.

Feds Ramp Up Crackdowns On Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

In several West Coast cities, federal officials are initiating a new round of crackdowns against dispensaries that are seemingly complying with state medical marijuana law. In Seattle, 11 dispensaries received shutdown warnings. In San Francisco, almost half of the city’s small number of state-licensed dispensaries received similar warnings. And in neighboring cities like San Jose, several others were warned.

How Much Peace In The Middle East has Cost The US Over The Years, War -vs- Economic Aid Edition

Over the last six decades, the U.S. has invested $299 billion in military and economic aid for Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries currently in turmoil. Egypt tops a list of ten nations, receiving $114 billion since the end of World War II. Iraq comes in second, getting nearly $60 billion from the U.S. (over and above war costs).

The First 3D-Printed Gun Has Been Fired (This will mean people will be able to one day make guns at home, one day)

The world's first 3D printed gun fired its first shot on Sunday, according to this video released by Defense Distributed, the controversial company pushing for D-I-Y weapons.

Sequestration Cuts Strapped Domestic Violence Services Amid Increased Need

After Republicans stalled the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) for months, it was finally signed back into law in March. Yet another act of Congress, the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration, could undo VAWA’s impact.

At NRA Conference, Major Gun Groups Debunk NRA Spin On Background Checks

HOUSTON, TX — Two prominent gun rights groups are distributing literature taking apart the National Rifle Association (NRA)’s misinformation on the Manchin-Toomey background check bill — at the NRA’s own conference.

Gun Protesters Plan March On Washington With Loaded Rifles To ‘Put The Government On Notice’

Almost 900 people are RSVPed for a July 4th march on Washington, D.C. where protesters plan to carry loaded rifles. In D.C., openly carrying guns is against the law. But the organizer of the event, libertarian radio host Adam Kokesh, says the march is an act of “civil disobedience” that attempts to prove gun advocates’ point in the “SUBTLEST way possible.”

First Woman Put On FBI's 'Most Wanted Terrorist' List

A fugitive convicted killer has become the first woman to be put on the FBI's list of "Most Wanted Terrorists".

America's Child Death Shame (BBC Cover Story)

Every five hours a child dies from abuse or neglect in the US.

X-51A Waverider Scramjet Hits Hypersonic Speed Of Mach 5.1 In Final Test Flight, Air Force Says

The U.S. military launched an experimental hypersonic aircraft on its swan song test flight Wednesday (May 1), accelerating the craft to more than five times the speed of sound in the longest-ever mission for a vehicle of its kind.

Bra Holsters, Pink Guns, And Other Products For Women Sold At The NRA Convention

HOUSTON, TX — The National Rifle Association (NRA) is an overwhelmingly male organization. There’s a reason for that: women are all too familiar with the ways guns can make a dangerous situation worse. They tend to support gun violence prevention measures by over 20 points more than their male counterparts.

NRA ‘Home Defense’ Course Instructs Audience To Store Guns In Kids’ Room

Gun owners should store a gun in their kids’ room, according to a ‘Home Defense Concepts’ seminar offered at the National Rifle Association’s Annual Meeting, comments that came just days after the fatal shooting of a two-year-old at the hands of her five-year-old brother.

Democratic Congressman Refuses To Let Republicans Ignore GOP Security Budget Cuts In New Benghazi Hearing

Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) blasted Republican efforts to renew questions into the Benghazi embassy attacks this week. As a member of the committee that will once again be hearing testimony on the attacks, Lynch categorically dismissed the persistent claim that the White House failed to provide adequate security at the Benghazi embassy.

The Loss Of Government Jobs Is Holding Back The Economy

The jobs report out this morning was full of good news: unemployment fell to 7.5 percent as the economy added 165,000 jobs, while big upward revisions to the past two months’ jobs numbers were added. The private sector carried those figures, adding 176,000 jobs in April. Yet the number was dragged down by the loss of 11,000 public sector jobs.

VIEWPOINT: The American Media Needs To Take A Theology Class (Or Three)

There’s no way around it: Religion plays an especially powerful role in American public life. More than 90 percent of Americans profess a belief in God, and one need only examine the recent religiously-infused national debates over religious liberty, access to contraception, and marriage equality to see how crucial religion is to millions of Americans.

Senators Who Voted To Kill Background Checks Dodge Meetings With Gun Victims

Senators who voted against a bipartisan amendment expanding background checks for firearm purchased at gun shows and online refused this week to meet with families impacted by gun violence, citing scheduling conflicts or ignoring requests altogether.

After Child Shooting, NRA Conference Peddles Guns For Kids

HOUSTON — Just days after a five year old killed his two year old sister with a gun made for children, the National Rifle Association (NRA) Annual Meeting pushed firearms into the hands of youth, including on-premises sale of weapons marketed explicitly to kids, an official NRA publication, and a “Youth Day” at the conference.

China’s Food Safety Horror Show Continues: Rat Meat Sold As Lamb On The Black Market

Just two months after thousands of dead pigs floated down the Huangpu River, a new food safety scare has rocked China. Officials announced Thursday that police have taken down an extensive meat adulteration ring that has long been passing off un-inspected rat, fox, and mink carcasses as lamb.

Support Kiera Wilmot By Signing The Petition To Have The Bogus Felony Changes Removed!

Kiera Wilmot has been described as an exemplary student and a wonderful young woman. Why is it then that an experiment gone wrong is being dealt with by the police and school as a felony offense? According to the Miami Times:

President Obama Defends Age Restrictions On Over-The-Counter Emergency Contraception

Earlier this week, the Obama administration announced that it will fight to maintain age restrictions on over-the-counter Plan B sales, appealing a U.S. federal judge’s recent ruling that ordered the FDA to make that type of contraceptive available to all women without a prescription. The FDA recently lowered the age threshold for over-the-counter sales from 17 to 15, and President Obama said on Thursday that he supports continuing to restrict Plan B for girls younger than 15.

Unemployment Drops to 7.5 Percent -Still 8 Percent If Look At It- Yet Black Unemployment Remains 13.2 Percent

The Labor Department released its April jobs report Friday morning (May 3), highlighting a slight drop in the overall unemployment rate. With the rate dropping to 7.5 percent from 7.6 percent in March, jobless numbers for the African-American community remain at a sobering 13.2 percent.

New York City Elementary School Cafeteria Goes Completely Vegetarian

A New York City elementary school became the first public school in the nation to go completely vegetarian when it stopped serving meat in its cafeteria this year.

Lil Wayne Releases A Half Apology To Emmet Till’s Family -theafrolounge.com-

Rapper Lil Wayne decided to release what he considers an apology to the family of Emmet Till, but only after they threatened to petition his endorsement deal with Mountain Dew.

Inventor And Engineer Elijah McCoy Born On This Day In 1844

The popular phrase “the real McCoy” has been tied to Canadian-American inventor and engineer Elijah McCoy and one of his many innovative inventions in the steam engine industry. While the expression has been debated endlessly by scholars, what remains is McCoy’s amazing path to prominence — all sparked by a risky sacrifice made by his parents during slavery times. NewsOne celebrates the life of Elijah McCoy, who was born on this day in 1844.

GOP Senator: I Voted Against Equal Pay For Women Because We Have Enough Laws

WARREN, NH — Women in full-time year-round jobs earned 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man. Yet, at a town hall earlier this week, Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) claimed that Congress has done enough to ensure that women receive equal pay for equal work. Indeed, she justified her vote against legislation intended to prevent employers from dodging federal equal pay law with an excuse similar to the National Rifle Association’s explanation for why we do not need any more gun laws — we just need to enforce the ones we have:

Somalia Famine Killed 133,000 Children Under The Age Of 5

NAIROBI, Kenya — A decision by extremist Islamic militants to ban delivery of food aid and a "normalization of crisis" that numbed international donors to unfolding disaster made south-central Somalia the most dangerous place in the world to be a child in 2011.

Single Motherhood Increases Dramatically For Certain Demographics, Census Bureau Reports

The rate of single motherhood, which has been steadily increasing since the 1940s, has skyrocketed in recent years, according to a report by the U.S. Census Bureau released on May 1st.

Women’s Health Groups Slam Obama Administration’s Fight To Maintain Age Restrictions On Plan B

Late Wednesday evening, the Obama administration announced that it will appeal a recent court decision that ordered the FDA to make emergency contraception available to all women over the counter. Last month, U.S. Judge Edward R. Korman gave the administration 30 days to lift the current age restrictions on over-the-counter Plan B, saying the decision to require younger teenagers to obtain a prescription for the FDA-approved contraceptive amounted to “political interference.”

Executives Pushing Budget Cuts Rake In Millions From Tax Loophole

Fix the Debt, a group of CEOs at some of the country’s largest corporations, has been pushing an anti-debt agenda with stern warnings about the urgent need for deficit reduction. But many of its members have benefitted from a loophole in the tax code that has allowed them to deduct “performance pay” from their executive salaries and thus avoid paying millions in taxes.

5-Year-Old Boy Killed Sister With Gun Made For Kids

On Wednesday, a five-year-old Kentucky boy accidentally shot and killed his two-year-old sister with a gun he’d been given as a birthday present. The weapon, a small rifle, was manufactured specifically for children’s use.

Tennessee Commissioner Refuses To Apologize For Anti-Muslim Picture On Facebook

A Tennessee County Commissioner doesn’t see anything wrong with a Facebook post he put up that led to Muslims feeling threatened.

Iraq Violence Kills 460 In April

Violence in Iraq rose sharply in April, with 460 people killed according to a AFP figures, raising fears of a return to the all-out sectarian conflict that plagued the country in past years.

New Hampshire Lawmaker Warns Of Revolution Over Immigration Reform

WARREN, NH — At Sen. Kelly Ayotte’s (R-NH) Warren Town Hall Tuesday, a Republican state legislator questioned the senator about whether she shared his concern that America was headed for an armed internal revolution due to President Obama’s immigration reform proposals and his pro-immigrant appointees. And, in an exclusive followup interview outside the forum, the lawmaker, New Hampshire State Rep. Edmond Gionet (R), explained ThinkProgress that he believes “something is bound to happen” and “people are revolting because they’re looking to have a government in place that’s more user-friendly” to people like them.

Ohio Republicans Want To Punish Colleges That Enable Students To Vote

In 1979, the Supreme Court affirmed a decision holding that state cannot place unique burdens on college student votes that do not apply to other members of the electorate. Nevertheless, Ohio Republicans now want to punish state universities that encourage students to cast a ballot. Under a budget amendment filed by Republicans in the Ohio House, state universities that provide documents enabling students to register to vote in their college town, rather than in the state where their parents reside, will be forbidden from charging those students out-of-state tuition. Thus, the amendment would effectively reduce the funding of state schools that assist their students in registering to vote.

Keep Juveniles Off Sex Offenders Registry, Says Rights Group

US authorities should end the practice of placing juveniles' names on publicly available sex offender registries, a report from Human Rights Watch says.

'Proof' Jamestown Settlers Turned To Cannibalism

Newly discovered human bones prove the first permanent British settlers in North America turned to cannibalism over the cruel winter of 1609-10, US researchers have said.

Mayor Bloomberg Equates Civil Rights Group Fighting Stop-And-Frisk With Gun Lobby ‘Extremists’

On Tuesday morning, Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I-NY) launched an impassioned defense of the New York Police Department, which sparked outrage for spying on Muslims and aggressively targeting minorities in their stop-and-frisk program. Bloomberg attacked a bill that would make it easier for stop-and-frisk victims to sue the police and one that would appoint an Inspector General to oversee the NYPD’s counterterrorism operations and penalize officers for using racial profiling.

Budget Cuts Devastate Meals On Wheels: Enrollment Slashed, Services Cancelled

Congress recently passed a bill to undo furloughs at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) caused by sequestration, but it left cuts to many other programs intact, including Meals on Wheels. The program brings hot meals to homebound seniors and adults with disabilities, thus providing them with nutrition and helping many of them live independently.

Five Conspiracy Theories 2016 Hopeful Ted Cruz Actually Believes

This morning, the National Review broke the news that tea party Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is considering a presidential run, a scoop that should surprise no one who’s paid attention to his short Senate career. As Jonathan Bernstein explains, Cruz has spent his few months in the Senate alienating his colleagues by constantly trying to distinguish himself as the more-conservative-than-thou alternative to “establishment” Republicans. Such behavior makes no sense if Cruz is interested in building the coalitions necessary to legislate, but it makes perfect sense if he has his eyes set on winning a tea-soaked GOP primary in 2016.

100 Tennessee Inmates With Facebook Accounts, Iphones, and Street Drugs Show What Life Is Really Like Behind Bars!

YOU have to See this report to believe it!