From: Gregory Brown <█████████████████>
Sent: Monday, April 3, 2017 5:12 PM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: Greg Brown's Weekend Reading and Other Things.. 03/26/2017

DEAR FRIEND.....

The Innocence Project, founded in 1992 by Pete= Neufeld and Barry Scheck at Cardozo School of Law, exonerates the wrongly convicted thr=ugh DNA testing and reforms the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. To date, the work of the Innocence Project has led to the freeing of 343 wrongfully convicted people based on DNA, including 20 who spent time on death row, and the finding of =47 real perpetrators. Again, these are only the DNA-based exonerations. Numbers for all exonerations are considerably higher. The University of Michigan =aw School's National Registry of Exonerations reported that as of two months ago the to=al number of known exonerations since 1989 were 1,784, of which no fewer than =56 were at one point on death row.

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Contributing Factors

=span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:107%;font-family:georgia,serif">M=staken Identification, False Confession, Bad Forensic, Evidence, Perjury / False Accusation and Official Misconduct.

The Innocence Project was established in the wake of = landmark study by the United States Department of Justice and the United St=tes Senate, in conjunction with the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, which fo=nd that incorrect identification by eyewitnesses was a factor in over 70% of wrongful convictions. The original Innocence Project was founded in 1992 by Scheck and Neufeld as part of the Cardozo School of Law of Yeshiva University in New York City. It beca=e an independent 501(c) non-profit organization in 2003 but maintains strong institutional connections with Cardozo. The current Executive Director of the Innocence Project is Madeline deLone.

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Here are a few of t=e numbers behind these exonerations:

--Number of U.S. post-con=iction DNA exonerations: 311

--Number of prisoners sen=enced to death before DNA proved their innocence: 18

--Number of prisoners cha=ged with capital crimes but not sentenced to death: 16

--Longest sentence served=by a DNA exoneree: 35 years

--Average length of sente=ce served by DNA exonerees: 13.6 years

--Approximate total years=served by all DNA exonerees: 4,156

--Average age of exoneree= at the time of their wrongful convictions: 27

--Percentage of prisoners exonerated by DNA testing who are people of color: 70%<=p>

--Percentage of DNA exone=ation cases where the actual perpetrator has been identified by DNA testing: Almo=t 50%

--Number of U.S. states (=nd Washington, D.C.) where exonerations have been won: 36<=p>

--Number of DNA exonerees=who pleaded guilty to crimes they didn't commit: 29

--Number of DNA exonerati=ns that involved the Innocence Project: 171

--Year of the first Innoc=nce Project DNA exoneration: 1989

Note: Other exon=rations were helped by Innocence Network organizations, private attorneys and by pro se defendants, according to the Innocence Project.

A 1996 study by =ritten C. Ronald Huff, director of the Criminal Justice Research Center and the School of Public Policy and Management at 0=io State University — Convicted But Innocent: Wrongful Conviction and =ublic Policy. Huff concluded that more than 10,000 innocent people are convicted each year or 0.05% of all convictions. And the study was based on crimes in the year 1990 that were reported by the FBI, which included murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft and arson../p>

"Wrongfu= convictions undermine public confidence in the judicial system and should be viewed with alarm," said Huff. =t troubles Huff that liberals seem more concerned about the issue than conservatives. "Conservatives, too, sho=ld be concerned because it's a public safety issue. The actual offender re=ains free to victimize other citizens." Huff cites the case of William Jackson, a Columbus man who spent five years behi=d bars in the early 1980s for rapes later determined to have been committed b= a physician who was similar in appearance and had the same last name. &=uot;No one has ever known for sure how many women Dr. Jackson raped while the wrong man was in prison. He had five more years to continue his serial rapes."

What causes wron=ful convictions? To find out, Huff and his co-authors created a database of 205 wrongful convictions collected from a variety of sources. After analyzing these cases, the researchers found that most wrongful convictions resulted =rom a combination of errors. The main cause in more than half of the cases -- 52.3 percent -- was eyewitness misidentification. That's understandable, Huff said. "The victims are not, at the time of the cr=me, concentrating too much on the features of the assailant's face. For exa=ple, they may be looking at the weapon. The trauma of the moment interferes with their ability to recall details."

The next most co=mon main cause was perjury by a witness, which contributed to 11percent of the convictions. Other problems included negligence by criminal justice officials, coerced confessions, "fra=e ups" by guilty parties, and general overzealousness by officers and prosecutors.

Overzealousness =an lead authorities to make careless, if unintentional errors, and cause some authorities to bend rules to get a kno=n criminal off the street. Failure to keep an open mind can cause errors that become rubber-stamped by trusting colleagues as the case moves through the judicial process, Huff says. By the time the errors are discovered, the tra=l to the real offender is cold.

Public pressure =o solve a case and the organizational culture of a police or district attorney's office can affect the process. While=most errors are unintentional, the researchers say there are far too many incide=ces of unethical and unprofessional behavior. "Our research has convinced us that such unethical conduct in the United States has not, in general, received appropriate attention, nor has =t been adequately punished," Huff said.

From their beginnings, innocence projects have played=an enormously valuable role in the criminal justice system. With l=gal aid funding being hit by austerity cuts and current economic and socio-political policies; convicted felons seeking financial assistance to claim wrongful convictions are hardl= expected to fare better than the tens of thousands of merely accused who struggle for legal help.

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For those people challenging their convictions and ap=eals without representation, their chances are slim to none. This is why i=nocence projects are crucial. Another value to the pro bono nature o= innocence projects, being as they are affiliated with higher education institutions, public interest law firms or charities, is they are independe=t and immune from the political pressures of being housed in government ministries. Again as Professor Huff pointed out "Wrongful convictions undermine public confidence in th= judicial system and should be viewed with alarm." With this, I would like to give a shout out to The Innocence Project =or its 25 years of public service of righting wrongs and saving lives....

******/pan>

So True

=/span>"=t is more important that innocence should be protected, than it is, that guilt be punished; for guilt and crimes are so frequent in this world, that all of them cannot be punished.... when innocence itself, is br=ught to the bar and condemned, especially to die, the subject will exclaim, '=it is immaterial to me whether I behave well or ill, for virtue itself is no security.' And if such a sentiment as this were to take hold in the min= of the subject that would be the end of all security whatsoever."</=>

=b>Sir William Blackstone</=pan>

******=/p>

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Last week President Trump unve=led his budget plan that calls for a sharp increase in military spending and stark cuts across much of the rest of the government including the elimination of dozens of long-standing federal programs that assist the poor, fund scientific research and aid America's allies abroad.

4

Trump's first budget pro=osal, which he named "America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again," would increase defense =pending by $54 billion and then offset that by stripping money from more than 18 other agencies. Some would be hit particularly hard, with reductions of more than=20 percent at the Agriculture, Labor and State departments and of more than 30 percent at the Environmental Protection Agency.

It would also propose eliminatin= future federal support for the National Endowment for the Arts, the =b>National Endowment for the Humanities and the Corporation for Public BroadcastingEPA alone, 50 programs and 3,200 positions would be eliminated.

The cuts could represent the widest swath of reductions in federal programs since the drawdown after Wor=d War II, probably leading to a sizable cutback in the federal non-military workforce, something White House officials said was one of their goals.4)=A0 "You can't drain the swamp and leave all the people in it," White House Office of Management and Budget Director-Mick Mulvaney told reporters.

Winners And Losers (Sad!) In Trump’s Budget
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WINNERS

Defense contractors. The clearest winner in Trump's budget are defense contractors and the m=litary, which would receive an additional $54 billion to pay for ... pretty m=ch anything. Among several other funding targets, the budget document ci=es "stocks of critical munitions," "rebuildi=g readiness," a "more lethal joint force" and "additional F-35 Joint Strike Fighters

"This increase alone exceeds th= entire defense budget of most countries, and would be one of the largest one-year [Defense Department] increases in American history," the budget document reads.

People who want to chase down and deport immigrants. The budget pr=poses $314 million to hire 500 new border patrol age

nts and 1,000 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

The Wall. Trump wants to give the Department of Homeland Security an additional $2.6 billion, some of which w=uld be used to "plan, design, and construct a physical wall along the s=uthern border." The actual wall, of course, would cost much more than $2.6=billion, but Rome wasn't built in a day.

If you're a po=r person in America, President Trump's budget proposal is not for you.

President Trump's b=dget would slash or abolish programs that have provided low-income Americans with help on virtually all fronts, inclu=ing affordable housing, banking, weatherizing homes, job training, paying home heating oil bills, and obtaining legal counsel in civil matters. Duri=g the presidential campaign last year, Trump vowed that the solution to poverty was giving poor people incentives =o work. But most of the proposed cuts in his budget target programs designed =o help the working poor, as well as those who are jobless, cope.

And many of them carry out their missions by disbursing money to the states, which establish their own crite=ia.

Q=8*This is a budget that pulled the rug out from working families and hurts the very people who President Trump promised to stand up for in rural America and in small towns," said Melissa Boteach, vice president of the poverty t= prosperity program at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank in Washington.

The White House budget cuts will fall h=rdest on the rural and small town communities that Trump won, where one in three people are living paycheck to paycheck — a rate that is 24 percent higher than in urb=n counties, according to a new analysis by the center. The budget proposes housing "reforms" that add up to more than $6 billion in cuts while promising to continue assisting the nation's 4.5 million low-income households. If =nacted, the proposed budget would

result in the most severe cut to the Department of Housing and Urban Development since the early 1980s, according to th= National Low Income Housing Coalition.

It would also eliminate the U.S. Int=ragency Council on Homelessness, which coordinates the federal response to
homelessness across 19 federal agencies and on June 22, 2010, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness
and its 19 federal agency members started Op=ning Doors, the first-ever comprehensive federal plan to prevent and end
homelessness. Amended in 2012 and 201=, the plan sets four ambitious goals in order to drive action and progress:<=p>

* . Prevent and end homelessness among Veterans in 2015

* . =C2 Finish the job of ending chronic homelessness in 2017

* . =C2 Prevent and end homelessness for families, youth, and children in 2020

* . =A0 Set a path to ending all types of homelessness

Through the urgent action m=bilized by Opening Doors, we’ve seen significant reductions=in homelessness across all our goals since 2010:

* . 11% reduction nationwide
* =C2 22% reduction in chronic homelessness
* . 19% reduction in family homelessness, including a 64% drop in unsheltered homelessness among families
* . 47% reduction in Veteran homelessness, including a 56% drop in unsheltered homelessness among Veterans

=/p>

Consider This: More than 30 communities, including the entire states of Virginia, Connecticut, and Delaware, have al=o effectively ended homelessness among Veterans. Using these as examples, it is obv=ous that if we as a country really decided too, we could end homelessness and elimin=te poverty. As such, it is reasonable to believe that hunger, homelessness and poverty are choices that the richest country in the world could eradicated if it chose to make it our #1 priorit=.

The administration'= reforms include eliminating funding for a $3 billion Community Development Block Grant program, one of the longest continuously run HUD programs that.=804>s been in existence since 1974 and was enacted by Republican President Gerald Ford with bipartisan support. The program provides cities with money to address a range of community development need= such as affordable housing, rehabilitating homes in neighborhoods hardest h=t by foreclosures, and preventing or eliminating slums and community blight. =span>

Nationally, CDBG funds were spent for t=e following purposes in 2011:

* . Public infrastructure (32.7%)
* ·=C2 Housing (24.8%)
* · =A0 Administrative and planning (15.1%)
* . Public services (11.4%)
* =C2 =C2 Economic development (7.3%)
* ·=A0 Property acquisition (4.9%)
* ·=A0 Other (3.8%)

It also provides funding fo= Meals on Wheels, a national nonprofit network of more than 5,000 independently-run local programs that delivers food to more than a million =omebound seniors across the country. Although Meals on Wheels America, is mainly funded by donations, its local affiliates get =ore federal funding from a separate Department of Health and Human Services program. In the Trump budget the agency's overall allocation =ould be cut by 17.9 percent.

Another =rogram to be axed are the 21st Century Community Learning Centers =E2$4 helps school districts, churches and nonprofit groups serve more than 1.6 million children nationwi=e. As well as Wings for Kids, a program that aims to bolster =ot only academic performance, but also social skills, relationships with caring adults and a sense of belonging at school and provide kids with a safe and enriching pla=e to spend the afternoon and early evening, and their working parents get chi=d care. But now, Wings for Kids and thousands of programs like it are on the chopping block, threatened by President Trump's proposal to elimina=e $1.2 billion in grants for after-school and summer programs. Trump's budget will also eliminate billions for teacher training an= scale back or end several programs that help low-income students prepare an= pay for college.

Also gone would be $35 mill=on in funding for well-known programs such as Habitat for Humanity and YouthBuild USA, fair housing planning, and homeless assistance, among other housing help for needy Americans. Other targets include funding for neighborhood development and a home-buying program through which low-in=ome individuals help build their own homes. Trump also plans to cut the Home Investment

=artnership Program, the largest federal grant to state and local governments that is designed to create affordable housing.

In a statement, Habitat for Humanity In=ernational said it has used $92 million worth of Section 4 funds since 1998 that it paired with $1=2 million in private donations. "Federal funding received by Habitat for Humanity supplements and leverages the supp=rt of our generous donors," the organization said. "It never r=places or duplicates it."

This is money that goes to Habitat for =umanity and other charities that build and refurbish houses for poor people. But don'= worry — according to the budget, nice rich people are already giving poor people al= the housing help they need. "This program is duplicative of efforts=funded by philanthropy and other more flexible private sector investments," t=e document declares.

Also screwed by President Trump0=99s budget are Workers. The Trump spending plan slashes funds=for a variety of Labor Department programs pertaining to worker training and safe=y. W=ile the details of President Donald Trump's proposed 2018 budget remain scant, one thing is clear: The Department of Labor will likely be one of the biggest losers. Trump's budget proposal would cut the de=artment's funding by $2.5 billion, or 21 percent, which will mean drastic changes for=the work the department does.

The dramatic scale-back is meant to off=et the proposed budget's additional funding to national-security efforts. The=proposal says, "With the need to rebuild the Nation's military without increasing the deficit, this Budget f=cuses the Department of Labor on its highest priority functions and disinvests in activities that are duplicative, unnecessary, unproven, or ineffective.0=800

Those are strong adjectives for program= that have helped put Americans back to work, a consistent and bipartisan economic goal. Th= 2018 budget details around $500 million in cuts for the department, which likely means that programs for disadvantaged workers, including seniors, youths, and those with disabilities, would be reduced or completely eliminated. The Senior Community Service Emp=oyment Program, training grants at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and technical-assistance grants at th= Office of Disability

=mployment Policy would all disappear. Job-training centers for disadvantaged children would =e shuttered and funding for more general job-training and employment services would move from the federal budget to states.

While Obama's budget did make s=me cuts similar to the ones proposed by Trump for the Labor Department, these reductions signal a definitive break from Obama's strategy, which focused on the inclus=on of workers who might otherwise be left out of the workforce without government intervention.

The National Employment Law Project (NELP), a left-leaning nonprofit,=has spoken out against the cuts, calling Trump's budget for the Labor D=partment "draconian." 'The Trump budget would g=t the very job-training programs workers need to develop the skills required =o compete in emerging fields and fill many of the high-paying jobs available =ow and projected for the future," said Christine Owens, the executive =irector of the NELP, in a statement.

For instance, the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) — a federal initia=ive that has provided employment training to low-income Americans over 55 years old =or more than 40 years — now faces an uncertain future. In 2015, Obama =lashed the SCSEP's funding in his budget and has proposed moving the program f=om the Labor Department to the Department of Health and Human Services, where other programs for senior Americans ar= housed. Jim Seith, a director at the nonprofit National Council on Aging, one of the grantees of the SCSEP, says that the program is the only labor programs targeted at seniors in poverty.

Another program that's likely f=cing cuts is Job Corps, which provides free education and job training for disadvantaged minors. This program als= faced cuts in past Obama budgets. An economic cost-benefit study of the Job Corps program from 2008 found that it was the "only federal trainin= program that has been shown to increase earnings for this population," lead=ng participants to go further in school, reducing their criminal activity, and increasing their average earnings for several years after the program, alth=ugh the earnings gains were only sustained by older participants. The bud=et includes closing centers where some 37,000 unemployed and underemployed youths receive job training.

"Basing important decisions on =ob Corps performance measures could be more complicated than it appears," said Peter Schochet, a =enior fellow at Mathematica Policy Research who led the study on the Job Corps program, via email. "Our data sh=w that some Job Corps centers improved student earnings relative to what they would hav= been, even among centers with lower overall performance measures."<=pan>

In addition to these cuts, the budget b=efs up some Labor Department initiatives that are aimed at getting people back to work. =The proposal would expand the Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment program, which is designed to make people less likely to claim unemploy=ent insurance by referring recipients to programs and services that would help =hem find jobs. The program was found to be successful in Nevada, with participa=ts in the program receiving unemployment funds for fewer weeks. Another expansionary effort in the proposed budget calls for apprenticeship program=, to be administered by states.

Science. It's hard=to overstate just how devastating this budget would be to the science and biomedical research community.

The Environment.c=span> President Trump's budget blueprint would slash the Environmental Protection Agency by 31.5 percent, making the E.P.A. the hardest hit agency under the President=E24>t proposal — $2.6 billion from its current level of $8.2 billion.Q=A0 As a result, it would totally eliminate the Chesapeake Bay Program, a hugely successful federally funded six-state partnership over the past 15 years that enjoys bipartisan support. The $73 millio=- a-year Environmental Protection Agency program has united Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York and the District of Columbia and substanti=lly reduced pollution levels in the bay. Cutting off funding, bipartisan supporters of the cleanup say, would threaten multibillion dollar tourism, recreation and commercial industries and could reverse strides in water quality that sustain fishing, boating and crabbing=in the largest estuary in North America.

Almost unnoticed is the Trump =pending reductions that explicitly target rural communities include a water and wastewater loa= and grant program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The program, with an annual budget of $498 million, =elps rural communities fix water infrastructure systems. Trump's budget =roposes to eliminate the entire program, arguing that private financing and increased funding from Environmental Protection Agency state revolving water funds ca= offset the "duplicative" USDA program.

But rur=l advocates say there's a problem with that plan. The $2.3 b=llion budget for the EPA's state revolving funds program is slated to increase $4 million — less tha= 1 percent. And many rural water systems are not equipped to compete with larger systems for that money. These smaller=water systems also are less appealing to private investors, due to their limited, lower-income customer=bases.

This fed=ral initiative has been the historical solution for small and rural water infrastructure needs and is largely responsible for t=e success of delivering water and sanitation to almost every corner of rural America. Elimination of the USDA rural water program will disproportionately impact the most economically disadvantaged and espe=ially rural communities, in addition to hurting the country.<=span>

Many of these co=munities are already struggling to comply with federal standards to deliver reliably safe drinking water. About=4 million rural Americans receive water from small, under-resourced water utilities that don't properly con=uct required lead testing, USA Today reported last year. The bulk of thes= water utilities are also dealing with decaying delivery systems. Small water systems will need an estimated $64.5 billion in infrastructure spending over the next 20 years, =ccording to an EPA assessment.

In addition to massively reducing the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency, outright eliminating the NASA satellite program, implementing a $900 million =ut to the Department of Energy's Office of Science, ending the Advanced Te=hnology Vehicle Manufacturing Program, and slashing $250 million in grants from=the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, it would also slash=funds for the National Institutes of Health by $6 billion. That would

pu= the NIH funding level at a 15-year low and would more than erase the funding that Congress =ad pledged to devote to the institutes when it passed the 21st Century Cures A=t at the tail end of the last Congress.

Benjamin Corb, director of public affairs at the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology</=>, called the budget "unacceptable." It would erase "y=ars' worth of bipartisan support for the NIH, and the American biomedical research enterprise which has long been the global leader for biomedical innovation," he warned.

Big Bird. The budget would=eliminate the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds PBS, which airs "Sesame Street."

People who want to be nurses. Sa= goodbye to $403 million in training for health professionals and nursing programs.

Artists. The National E=dowment for the Arts would be no more, as would the National Endowment for the Humanities, which h=s funded all sorts of cool stuff but as important as well, including Ken Burnsie=99 Civil War documentary.

TBD. =b>Social Security and Medicare — two of the biggest parts of federal spending — are omitted from the docume=t, as is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.4=>

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, an influential liberal th=nk tank, noted that while past administrations have created simplified spendin= blueprints, Trump's decision to not even include details on such =E24Homandatory" spending programs is unusual. "In contrast, while all five previous administrations released initial budgets that displayed informatio= in very different ways, they all provided a more complete picture of how their policies affected total spending, revenues, and deficits (or surpluses</a), and showed them for several years beyond the budget year," Richard Koga= said in a blog post on the think tank's website.

Trump budget director: Feeding elderly and children has to end, it's not '=showing any results

White House Office of Management and Bu=get Director Mick Mulvaney told the White House press corps last week that popular vote loser Donald Trump's budget cuts Meals on Wheels and after-school nutrition p=ograms because those programs "aren't showing any results."

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"=e can't do that anymore. We can't spend money on programs ju=t because they sound good. Meals on Wheels sounds great. 1...1 I can't defe=d that anymore. We cannot defend that anymore. $20 trillion in debt. We're going to spend money, we're going to spend = lot of money but we're not going to spend it on programs that show they delive= the promises we made to people."

As for the school children:

=p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:left;margin-left:0.5in">"The='re supposed to help kids who don't get fed at home get fed so they do better in school. Guess what? =here's no evidence they're actually doing that. There's no evidence they818=9;re helping results, helping kids do better in school, which is what -- when we took yo=r money from you to say, we're going to spend them on after-school progra=, we justified it by saying these kids will do better in school and get jobs. We have no proof that's helping."

Goddammit old pe=ple and school children! Get out there and get jobs so we know that feeding you is worth our money. No, Mulvaney says, the "compassionate" thing to do is for tax payers, to "go to them and say, look, we're not going to ask you for your hard-earned mon=y anymore. Single mom of two in Detroit, give us your money. We're not going to do that anymore unless they can guarantee that money will be used in a proper function." That, h= says, "is about as compassionate as you can get." Because, really, wouldn't we all rath=r fund a few more destroyers than see our neighbors not starvek=p>

On the campaign trail, Trum= repeatedly promised not to cut Social Security or Medicare. "I can confirm to you that the preside=t's going to keep the promises he made with regard to those programs," Mulvan=y told reporters. Trump also repeatedly promised not to cut Medicaid. The health care bill he is currently pushing would slash the program by $880 billion, taking away health insurance for millions of Americans, which in turn would=be mostly redistributed as tax breaks to the rich.

As Matthew Yglesias wrote last week in VOX Q=8040 President Donald Trump's debut budget proposal is a stark declaration of war on the =uture of the American economy that substitutes a curious mix of ideology and blind n=stalgia for any effort to think critically about the actual needs of a 21st-century nation. The war starts with reducing spending — even though an aging population, plus the governmentQ=80Qs role in inherently labor-intensive activities like education and long-term care, militates overwhelmingly in favor of a somewhat larger role for the state. =ut it continues with the priorities Trump set for where the remaining cash get= spent.

The pictu=e that emerges is overwhelmingly one of nostalgia — more money for men with guns, less money for education, caring, and pointy-headed science. But nostalgia is not memory. The mid-century economy Trump yearns for was, almost by definition, less technologically advanced a=d educationally intensive than today's. But it was an extraordinarily forward-looking time. Propelled by the impe=atives of Cold War competition, the United States made investments on an unprecedented scale i= institutions dedicated to education and research, while engaging in massive public-private partnerships to disseminate then-new technological marvels l=ke cars, phones, and televisions.

A fiscal manifestation of nostalgia politics

A presidential budget submission can play many roles — highlighting the alleged unreasonableness of congressional opposition, putt=ng a new idea on the public agenda, rewarding a key interest group, or picking=a symbolically useful fight— but for a newly elected president blesse= with congressional majorities, one would expect it to also be a fairly literal legislative proposal. Trump's budget is different.

Its military spending increases =ould violate the Budget Control Act of 2011, meaning that it could not actually be passed as a budg=t. (The law itself could be amended, but that, unlike a budget, would take 60 votes). Which is just as well, because a budget that completely ignores bot= taxes and the domestic entitlement programs — Social Security, Medi=are, Medicaid, plus some smaller items — isn't really a budget a= all.

Instead, =t's simply an effort to translate a policy-ignorant candidate's often nonsensical campaign rhetoric into something budg=t-shaped. Trump promised to balance the budget while cutting taxes and preserving entitlements — which isn't possible. So huge swathes of the=budget are simply missing. He promised a big defense hike, so it's in there even thou=h it's illegal. As a blueprint for actually doing anything, it's a mess. But that's not the point. Writing laws is House Speaker Paul Ryan's job. Trump's budget is campaign rhetoric made manifest.

That campaign rhetoric was unprecedentedly backwarchloo=ing and nostalgic. Trump ran, literally, on making America better by making it =ore closely resemble the America of the past. While Democrats debated ways to m=ke college tuition more affordable, Trump appealed to older white working-clas= voters with the notion that there is no need for anything to change over ti=e — no need for immigrants to sustain the country's demographics, no ne=d for more education and more soft people skills to maintain relevance to the changing needs of the workplace. And so the nostalgia candidate has delivered a nostalgia budget.4=>

America needs t= get real

A lit=le dose of Trump's old-school approach was a necessary and useful corrective to an elite discourse that, four or five years ago, seemed too often to take it for granted that any day now literally everyone would be learning to code from MOOCs while riding in a self-driving car bet=een various exciting "gig economy" employment opportunities at =ip downtown lofts.

This is a big, diverse country, encompassing not just urban centers and peripatetic young people, but small towns and 50-somethings wit= chronic knee trouble. It needs to offer people more than an endless series =f overhyped apps. But Trump's rhetoric, and now his spending blueprint, don't just push back against techno=utopianism. They constitute a denial of the obvious truth that a prosperous society is necessarily going to be one that is evol=ing and changing over time.

goods-producing Most Americans sector, work today=624“es in the service highly sector, paid and jobs that require was true more 20 skills or 40 and years training ago, too. than And their even 1976 within counterpa=ts the did. The country as whole, meanwhile, needs to continually develop whole ne= industries (generation, storage, and transmission of clean energy seems like the obvious candidate =o me) to create new opportunities for new generations of people just as it did in=the past. One of the main things that was good about the "good old days" is that they were a time of =assive progress, expansion of higher education opportunities into the middle class and rapid development of new products and cures. This happened while the government invested more — not less — on health, education, science, a=d regional development.

=span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:107%;font-family:georgia,serif"*>*=

=span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:107%;font-family:georgia,serif">

As renowned Amer=can astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, and science communicator Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson pronounced last week, As such =he one thing that we know now is that from both Paul Ryan's healthcare reform proposal and President=E2*.s budget if either are enacted, middle-class and poor Americans are royally screw=d.

******

Bombs vs Food

Th= Trump Administration Chooses to Bomb this Child and Other then Feed Them

When I saw this grotesque picture in the New York Tim=s of young Udal Faisal who was hospitalized in Sana, Yemen with malnutrition and died days later I was repulsed. It was in Nicholas Kristof's March =8, 2017 article — 'That Food Saved My Life,' and Trum= Wants to Cut It Off. The article focuses on the most import=nt humanitarian crisis in the world today — the looming famine that threatens 20 million people in four countries. "<=>We are facing the largest humanitarian crisis since the creation of the United Nat=ons," warned Stephen O'Brien, the U.N.'s humanitarian chief. Q=A0"Without collective and coordinated global efforts, people will simply starve to dea=h."

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Yet, the way President Trump is responding to this cr=sis is by slashing humanitarian aid, increasing the risk that people starve in the fo=r countries — Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia and Nigeria. The result is = perfect storm: Millions of children tumbling toward famine just as America abdicate= leadership and cuts assistance. "This is the worst possibl= time to make cuts," David Miliband, president of the International Rescue Co=mittee, told me. He said that "the great danger" is a domino effect=— that the U.S. action encourages other countries to back away as well.=/p>

The essence of the Trump budget released last week is=to cut aid to the needy, whether at home or abroad, and use the savings to build u= the military and construct a wall on the border with Mexico. (Yes, th=t's the wall that Trump used to say Mexico would pay for. Instead, it seems it may actually be paid for by cutt=ng meals for America's elderly and by reducing aid to starving Yemeni children.) It's important to note that "all of these crises are fundamentally man-made, driven by con=lict," as Neal Keny-Guyer, C.E.O. of Mercy Corps, put it. And the U.S. bears so=e responsibility.

In particular, t=e catastrophe in Yemen — the country with the greatest number of people at risk of famine — should be an internat=onal scandal. A Saudi- led coalition, backed by the United States, has imposed a blockade on Yemen that has left two4>=AD-thirds of the population in need of assistance. In Yemen, "to starve" is transitive. The suffering there

gets little attention, partly because Saudi Arabia mostly keeps repor=ers from getting to areas subject to its blockade. Kristof wrote that he =as been trying to enter since the fall, but the Saudi coalition controls the air and sea and refuse= to allow him in. In effect, the Saudis have managed to block coverage of the crimes against humanity they are perpetrat=ng in Yemen, and the U.S. backs the Saudis. Echoing Kristof -- Shame on us.

Likewise, the go=ernment in South Sudan this month denied me a visa; it doesn't want witnesses to its famine. In the United States, humanitarian aid has been a bipartisan tradition, and the champion among recent presidents was George W. Bush, who started programs to fight AIDS and malaria that saved millions of lives. Bush and o=her presidents recognized that the reasons to help involve not only our values,=but also our interests.

Think what the g=eatest security threat was that America faced in the last decade. One could argue that it might have been Ebola, or some other pandemic — and we overcame Ebola not with aircraft carriers b=t with humanitarian assistance and medical research — both of which are slashed in the =rump budget.

Whereas, Preside=t Trump's vision of a security threat is a Chinese submarine or perhaps an unauthorized immigrant, and that's =he vision his budget reflects. But in 2017 some of the gravest threats we face are from diseases or narcotics that can*=99t be flattened by a tank but that can be addressed with diplomacy, scientific research, and social programs inside and outside our borders.<=span>

It's tru= that American foreign aid could be delivered more sensibly. It's ridiculous that one of the largest recipients is a prosperous country, Israel. TrumpQ=99s budget stipulates that other aid should be cut, but not Israel's. The U.S. contributes less than one-fifth of 1 percent of our national inco=e to foreign aid, about half the proportion of other donor countries on average. H=manitarian aid is one of the world's great success stories, for the number of people living in extreme poverty has dro=ped by half since 1990, and more than 120 million children's lives have=been saved in that period.

Consider Thomas =wiapo, whose parents died when he was a child growing up in northern Ghana. Two of his younger brothers died, apparently =f malnutrition. Then Thomas heard that a local school was offering meals for students, a "school feeding =rogram" supported by U.S.A.I.D., the American aid agenc=, and Catholic Relief Services. Thomas went to the school and was offered daily meals — on the condition t=at he enroll. "I kept going to that little village school, just for the food," he told me. He became a brillia=t student, went to college and earned a master's degree in the U.S. Today he w=rks for Catholic Relief Services in Ghana, having decided he wants to devote his li=e to giving back. Kristof asked him what he thought of the Trump budget cutting foreign assistance. "W=en I hear that aid has been cut, I'm so sad," he an=wered. "That food saved my life."

So why is the Trump Administration cutting funding fo= food programs that could have save young Udal's and other innocent=lives? For those of you who call yourself Christians, if you don't feel this pain you are hypocrites. A= such, hopefully the above picture of Udal inspires you to press your representatives and the Trump Administration to =o the right thing because the lives of millions of innocent people are seriou=ly in danger.

******

=/span>The Dollar Price of a Bullet
Gun injuries cost Americans $730 million = year in hospital bills

Surgeons at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center operate on a gunshot victim. A new study estimat=s that over eight years, the country spent more than $6.6 billion on hospital bills related to gun injuries, with the federal government picking up $2.7billion of that tab.

Americans paid more than $6=6 billion over eight years to care for victims of gun violence, according to a new tally of hospital bills.40=A0 And U.S. taxpayers picked up at least 41% of that tab say the authors of a study published this week in the American Jou=nal of Public Health. Their sum does not include the initial — and very costly — bill for gunshot vi=tims' care in emergency rooms. Nor does it include hospital readmissions to treat complications or provide follow-up care. The co=t of rehabilitation, or of ongoing disability, is not included either.

"These are bi= numbers, and this is the lowest bound of these costs," said Sarabeth A. Spit=er, a Stanford University gun-injury medical prevention student who a public co-wrote health the priority, study. Spitzer "=i>We sai=. were The surprised" GOP's healthcare at the scale, reform she added. measure That, would arguably, reduce makes federal contributions toward Medicaid, which foots roughly 35% of th= hospital bills for gunshot victims. The GOP plan would also cut payments to the hospitals that absorb much of the c=st of caring for self-paying =in other words, uninsured) patients, whose hospital bills accounted for about 24% of the $730 million-per-year tab.

The new research underscore= many grim facts of gun violence in the United States: In 2014, for instance, 33,700 people died of gunshot wounds, but an additional 81,000 were treated for nonfatal firearms injurie=. Close to two-thirds of the gun deaths were self-inflicted, and those who co=mit suicide with a gun rarely survive long enough to be admitted to a hospital. To come up with their tally, Spitzer and her colleagues scoured the hospital bills of 267,265 patients across the country who were injured by guns between 2006 and 2014.

<=p>

These patients were overwhe=mingly male, and most of them were admitted to large, urban teaching hospitals. About 43% of the victims=were treated in the South, where the proportion of uninsured patients was highest. And national=y, 30% of gunshot victims treated in hospitals during the study period were insured by Medicaid. "Firearm-related injuries place a particular burden on governmental payers and the poor,Q=80+ the study authors wrote. In addition to the 29% of patients nationwide who were insured by Medicaid, which largely serv=s low-income and disabled Americans, more than 4 out of 5 of the uninsured patients "fell below the 50th income percentile."

<=p>

This group is unlikely to b= able to pay their medical bills, and so these costs are often written off as losses to the hospitals that provide the care. The cost of keeping those hospitals open, in turn, is typically borne by taxpayers in the form =f local tax levies or block grants to the states. Until now, the most recent estimate of the cost of firearm injuries extended only through 1997 and used hospital data from only two states...AO That's very likely because in 1996, gun rights advocates on Capitol Hill began forbidding the use of federal funds "to advocate or promote gun control" and federal funds to conduct r=search on firearms injuries virtually dried up. While the Obama administration last year proposed a welter of initiatives to redu=e gun injuries, few are likely to be funded by a GOP-led Congress.

<=p>

Without a doubt, gun violen=e is a public health crisis — as last year gun violence took the lives of almost 33,000 Americans. Another =5,000 Americans sustained injuries from guns, many of them life-shattering. The price tag for gun violen=e was $229 billion last year for health care, law enforcement, insurance, employment a=d other costs. While mass shootings like Sandy Hook Elementary School, Orlando, Virginia Tech and Fort Hood shake th= national consciousness and give rise to calls for gun reform measures, most deaths and injuries from gun violence involve fewer than four victims.40=AO It happens in our homes, on street corners, at work and at play.

Gun violence occurs more fr=quently in the United States than in almost any other nation. A study published in the American Journal of Medicine found that the gun homicide r=te in the U.S. is 25 times (t=at is 2500 percent) higher than in other high income countries. Un=ntentional firearm deaths in the U.S. are 6.2 times higher. Perhaps most surprising is that about 60 percent of all firearm deaths in the U.S. are suicides, with the use of firearms highest a=ong white males. Analysis, based on data provided by the Centers for Disease Control for 2015, found that more than =ne million years of life are lost each year to gun violence, assuming that the victim would otherwise live to age 75. This makes firearm violence a leading cause of foreshortened life, behind only cancer, heart disease and unintentional injury.

The thought that our legisl=tors refuse to enact commonsense gun reforms, such as more comprehensive background checks for gun purchases=and denial to any persons who have been convicted of domestic violence and thos= suffering from mental illness. Given the current political landscape, it is unlikely that additional gun control measures will be adopted in Washington. In fact, the opposite may occ=r. The new Congress just voted to repeal the Social Security disability gun rule. This rule limits access to guns =or individuals with mental disabilities who are unable to manage their day-to-=ay affairs. According to the Washington Post, the rule would have prevented ab=ut 75,000 individuals with mental health issues from purchasing firearms.

Other gun rights measures t=at may be considered by Congress and the Trump administration include lifting the ban on suppressors/silence=s, eliminating gun-free zones near schools and on military bases and streamlin=ng the background check process. These proposals are difficult to understand if as Americans we share a common des=re to reduce preventable deaths and trauma from gun injuries, both intentional=and accidental.

Gun rights advocates claim =hat any gun reform infringes on their Second Amendment rights. While many reformers say that we need to better understand the underlying causes =f this epidemic, how the problem is transmitted and identify existing and oth=r potential remedies. This is nonsense, as Richard Reid's failed bombing attempt in 2001 resulted in people st=ll being asked to remove their shoes before proceeding through scanners at US airpor=s today, sixteen years later. As Americans we should share a common desire to reduce preventable deaths and trauma from gun injuries, both intentional and accidental and since any calls for common se=se reforms falls on deft ears, when more than 30,000 people die through gun violence each year, maybe the knowledge of its huge costs in taxpayer dolla=s should hopefully help and this is my rant of the week....=/span>

WEEK's READING=

WHY BEING AN IN-N-OUT MANAGER IS BETTER THAN BEING A LAWYER

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Which is the better job? Being the manager of an In-N=Out or working as a lawyer? If you're inclined to pick the latter, it's un=erstandable -- lawyers receive a solid paycheck and spend their days in fancy suits. Bu= being the manager of an In-N-Out can pay just as well (plus you don't h=ve to deal with a dry-cleaning bill for all of those suits). =/p>

They might not get to expense dinner on a corporate c=rd, but In-N-Out managers are privy to a wealth of benefits too. Perks to working a= one of America's most popular burger chains include strong job sati=faction and even this rare

unicorn known as "work-life balance." =hile it might sound surprising, there's a number of reasons to skip that law degree and don an In-N-Out paper hat instead.

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What it takes to do the job

Anyone who wants=to become a lawyer does not have an easy path ahead of them. First, lawyers must watch every episode of Law & Order t= get a feel for what it's like to do the job. OK, not really, but they m=st complete an undergraduate degree, which will likely leave them in around $25,500 of debt (and that's if they attend a cheaper public school). Af=er that, a three-year law school program will set a student back about $140,61=, according to The Wall Street Journal. That's seven years of work in ord=r to be in $150,000 of debt.

The path to beco=ing an In-N-Out manager, however, is much quicker and way more affordable. According to its website, every single sto=e manager begins as an hourly worker who is eventually promoted. Granted, eve= getting your foot in the door is competitive — most need a referral=from a current employee to get an interview. A former employee warned Entrepreneur magazine that "the path to be a manager can be slow." But even if it does take seven long years (like =t does to become a lawyer!), you'll get paid while you work, instead of r=cking up thousands of dollars of debt in the process.

The salaries of a lawyer =nd an In-N-Out manager

If TV and movies=have taught us anything, it is that lawyers are rich and swimming in money. But the reality is a little different. According to US News, the average lawyer doesn't rake in millions of do=lars each year. Instead, they take in about $114,790 on average each year.=/span>

While that is a =ecent six-figure salary, the OC Register reported in 2012 that the salary for an In-N-Out manager is actually $120,0=0. Yes, that's thousands of more dollars every year for way less years spe=t racking up debt. Even

assistant managers get paid pretty well: An ex-employ=e said in a Reddit AMA recently that had he stayed at the job, he would'v= earned between $68-78,000 as an assistant manager. And while you have to work for about $11 per hour to start at the bottom of the (literal) food chai=, at least when you get home you don't have to mail a check to pay off your studen= loan.

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The fantastic perks of be=ng an In-N-Out manager

If you work at a=law firm, you'll likely get a benefits package that includes a retirement account, a health plan, bonuses, and a f=ncy company car with a cup holder that doesn't fit your damn travel mug! So=ry, been watching a lot of Better Call Saul lately. And those things are all we=I and good, but being an In-N-Out manager also has some substantial perks you might not expect. For instance, managers receive those same retirement acco=nts and health plans, plus three weeks of vacation each year (after you've =orked 6+ years for the company). They also get tickets to sporting events and all-expense-paid bon=ses (including trips extra abroad. pay to help with the opening of new In-N-Out locations). B=t perhaps the best perk is the

The free trips f=r In-N-Out managers began in the 1980s when one of the owners of the company set up a generous benefits package for supervisors, according to Bloomberg. "Managers who met their goals wer= sent on trips with their spouses, often to Europe in first-class seats.&quo=;

An In-N-Out employee said on IGN that once a year, =very store's manager "gets sent somewhere crazy in the world" and receives a generous =er diem worth thousands of dollars. A former employee wrote on HubPages that h=r managers were sent on free 12-day trips to Munich and Scotland. Not a bad w=y to see the world.

In-N-Out managers are pro=ably happier than lawyers

No matter how ha=py the lawyers on Suits might seem, in real life, "lawyers are=3.6 times as likely as non-lawyers to suffer from depression," according to The New York Times. The NYT also found that lawyers who work as public defenders ar= more likely to report being happy than lawyers in more prestigious and high=r-paying positions.

Despite the fact that the majority of In-N-Out employ=es do not earn $120,000 a year, the 500+ reviews from former and current workers about their experiences working for the brand tell a clear story. On the important workplace issues like work-life balance, compensation, advancemen=, management, and culture, employees rated them at more than In-N-Out, four out they of -=;re five still stars. enjoying So even themselves. while people That are explains climbing why their it recently way up the won Animal an Employee Style-covered Hs Choice corporate Award ladder for one at of the best places to work by Glassdoor this year.

Working at In-N-Out seems=like an overall solid career choice

Being a lawyer i= certainly not all it's cracked up to be. They're saddled with debt and unhappy. But working as an I-N-O manager =rovides fringe benefits you probably never knew about -- a six-figure salary, trips around the world, and job satisfaction. So if you're considering going =o law school, you might instead want to see if an I-N-O is hiring near you.=/span>

Lee Breslouer – Thrilli=t – December 5, 2016

******

HERE'S WHAT TOO MUCH SITTING DOES TO YOUR BODY

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Sitting is such a p=radox. After a long day, you relish the opportunity to plop down on the couch and settle in for the evening. =ut cozy up in that same position (more likely on a poorly designed office chair than a plush sofa) all day long and you suffer a stiff neck, tight shoulders, and back pain. What gives?Q=A0 "Any position we hold for any length of time will eventually turn to pain because the body is not primed to do that," said Joan Vernikos= former NASA scientist and author of Designed to Move: The Science-Bac=ed Program to Fight Sitting Disease and Enjoy Lifelong Health.

She discovered t=at prolonged sitting can lead to similar health effects -- bone and muscle degeneration, along with back soreness -- astronauts suffer after spending time in microgravity. "Most peo=le are sitting six to 13 hours a day. This immobility causes the illnesses we have come to recognize as modern disorders, like diabetes, obesity, cancers, heart conditions, and loss in blood volume," she sai=. While those diseases may take years to develop, the pain from sitting all day is immediately felt after getting up= Here's why everything hurts after a day spent chained to your chair.

Your muscles are wasting =way

When you sit all=day, you know what your glutes and calves are doing? Pretty much nothing -- except slowly wasting away. This could =ake for a sore, wobbly walk home, when your legs finally start holding you up again. "It's not=the number of hours sat that's important, it's how many uninterrupted hours of sitting that matters,&q=ot; said Vernikos. When conducting a study on people lying in bed 24 hours a da=, she found that standing up every half hour was enough to prevent the harmfu= effects of an otherwise immobile lifestyle. Taking a load off (and keeping it off for hours on end) can also make the blood build up in your veins, which causes unpleasant sensations like burning and cramping in the calves. Ouch.

Your nerves are spazzing =ut

Sitting might be=relaxing for your body, but to your nerves, it's torture. The unnatural position causes strained and pinched nerves= which results in pain throughout the body. "If you sit in one position long enough and you don't move, the muscle cont=acts. As it contracts, it pulls the nerves it's in contact with, so you go in=o a sort of spasm," said Vernikos. But since those nerves are pulled with every movement, shouldn't we feel pa=n all the time? Not exactly, said Vernikos. It's one thing to stimulate the muscle to contract and relax when you're eng=ging in activity, but if you contract it and don't move for a long time, it can=pinch the nerves and cause pain in the lower back and shoulders."

Your upper body slouches =orward

You've proba=ly seen those charts about how to sit properly -- shoulders relaxed, eyes level with the screen, arms parallel to the floor, =ack straight. But as your to-do list consumes the day, demands like managing your inbox and dealing with your bo=s eventually cause a breakdown in your posture. "You're slouching whether you know it or not. When you slouch whil= sitting, your head is pulled down and forward by gravity. Your spine will s=art to curve and your body will experience pain," Vernikos noted.

Your spine has t=ree natural curves it aims to maintain. Imagine how tying an 11lb weight -- the average weight of a human skull and brain -- to your neck would distort your spine. That's exactly wh=t's happening when your head slouches forward when sitting. Vernikos suggests thinking of aligning your spine straight up and down, with force of gravity, to prevent aching when sitting. "If you keep your back straight and you think of gravity as a force that pulls in one direction, downward, like a vertical rod, you can align yourself to this vertical and spare your body from pain."

Your lumbar discs are get=ing crunched

Your spine is pr=ctically begging you to stand. An upright position puts the discs in your lower back in proper alignment and minimize= the pressure they endure. Sitting, on the other hand, forces the vertebrae to crunch down onto each other and bea= a lot more force, increasing the risk of chronic lower back pain. "=When you're sitting, your spine is compressing. In space, you get taller by 1-2 inches, and if you lay in bed, you'll also get taller, because your=discs are expanding. But when astronauts return from space or people get out of b=d, their vertebrae collapse onto each other and cause pain. This is also=happening when you sit for a long period of time," said Vernikos.

One big culprit =f the pain from a compressed spine is the damage done to the cushioning between the discs. "The muscles ha=e weakened and the vertebrae start collapsing, squeezing the padding and nerves between the di=cs. This is a huge source of pain," Vernikos added.

Here's the g=od news: Studies conducted by Vernikos and other researchers have discovered that adjusting your position every 15-30 minute= prevents changes to your lumbar discs. So go ahead and get a fresh coffee, gossip with a colleague, gaze out the window -- do anything other than sitt=ng a few times an hour, and you won't feel so much pain later on.

You're fighting a nat=ral instinct

Vernikos believe= that one of the biggest reasons our bodies respond to sitting with pain is due to our natural instinct to move. =quot;What I learned from my research is that the body needs to move, it has a biological need to move throughout our wak=ng hours as the earth turns," she said. "When we don't mov=, we suffer." The pain is like a nudge to your brain that you need to move, to keep the body primed to flee any potential danger at a moment's notice. The

primitive instinct may have less of a place in our modern, safe-space fille= lives, but it's still a powerful driver toward
better health and longev=ty.

Vernikos suggests reacting to sitting-related pain wi=h increased movement. Even something as small as standing to
reach for a water bottle or walking to the printer are enough to counteract some of the painful effects of sitting,
Vernikos point=d out. "You don't need to be running on a treadmill to condition yourself, you can tune your body to on-
off move=ent throughout the day."

Joni Sweet – Thrillist – February 17, 2017

******

To Clean The Swamps in DC Please Start Here

10 of the Biggest Lobbies in Washington</=>

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</=pan>

Each year, lobbying groups in Washington spend billio=s of dollars trying to buy influence. Corporations, special-interest
groups, uni=ns, and single-interest groups like the NRA — all of them have poured m=ney into efforts to shape laws and
regulations to fit their interests. No doubt abou= it: most lobbies are forces to be reckoned with.

Despite numerous criticisms, lobbying in the US is pr=tected under the First Amendment, which enshrined the right to
petition the government. Recently, though, legislation was passed that forced lobbying organizations to be more
transparent in their deals. Websites like the Cent=r For Responsive Politics now track spending by industry, company,
and indivi=ual groups. In the spirit of information sharing, we’ve compiled a list=of some of the biggest lobbies in
America, and the way they’ve affected politi=s.

The Tech Lobby

Over the past 15=years, the tech industry has become one of the big spenders in lobbying, doling out over $120 million in 2010. With th= power of tech giants Google, Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft behind it, the computer and Internet lobby has a lot of weight to throw around. By weight,rwe mean money: In 2010, Microsoft alone spent over $6.9 million in federal lobbying efforts.

The tech lobbyrE2404,s priorities include trying to lower corporate tax rates and pass cybersecurity legislation. In the last few years, tech industry heavy-hitters and activists have found themselves at odds with communication companies and governing bodies like the FCC over the issue of=Net Neutrality. In the summer of 2010, Google brokered a deal with Verizon that seemed an abrupt about-face from its former stance. Meanwhile, the House ha= gridlocked a bill by the FCC that would regulate ISPs and give them authori=y to step into disputes; more evidence of the tech lobby, hard at work.=/span>

The Mining Industry=/span>

The mining lobby= particularly the coal industry, has had its fingers in American politics for a long time. In the late 19th and early 20=h century, it was responsible for some of the most dramatic labor uprisings i= history. More recently, it's been trying to sell politicians and ta= payers on the idea of "clean coal", which supposedly reduces c=rbon emissions and other pollutants. Environmental advocacy groups are skeptical, to say the least, =ut mining lobbyists have spent nearly $100 million dollars in the last three years, ensuring that they have lawmakers' ears. In addition, the miring lobby has attempted to sway lawmakers in regulating labor laws, worker safety, an= environmental regulations.

The Defense Industry

Defense spending=in America has reached an all time high. Since 1998, military spending has grown each consecutive year, particularly after the events of 9/11. The Pentagon, military contractors and lobbyists,=and the war hawks the serve on arms committees form an Iron Triangle, a nearly impermeable and interlocking dynamic of bureaucracy, influence, and favors.=span>

The heaviest hit=ers in the industry are Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and General Dynamics. Lockheed Martin alone received 7% of the fund= that were paid out by the Pentagon, and has additional multi-million dollar contracts with the IRS, NSA, TSA, CIFA, FBI, the US Census, and the postal service.

Political analys=s are predicting the end of growth in military spending, however. After nearly 10 years of involvement in Iraq an= Afghanistan, and with worries over national and state budget deficits, Americans are war-weary and beginning to turn against the Iron Triangle of contractors, lawmakers, and lobbyists. The next few years will test whether=the defense industry is as recession-proof as previously believed.=/span>

The Agribusiness Industry=span>

Agribusiness lob=ies represent a diverse collection of special-interest groups, including large food manufacturers like Kraft and Unilever, huge agricultural companies like Monsanto, tobacco companies such=as Phillip Morris, biofuel producers like UNICA, and logging companies like International Paper and Weyerhauser. These companies spend upwards of $150 million each year, funding campaigns and pushing legislation through Congre=s.

Agribusiness lob=yists are responsible for holding up bills regulating food labeling, climate change, and biofuel
production. In the la=t 10 years, they’ve pushed through legislation that undid much of the=Clinton-era environmental
efforts, powering down the EPA and amending bills such as the Clean Water Act to allow for greater industrial pollution.

Big Oil

The oil industry=is in thick with lawmakers, nobody can argue with that. George W. Bush and his presidential cabinet had deep ties to different oil companies: Vice-President Cheney was the chief executive of H=Iliburton, Condoleeza Rice was a director of Chevron. In addition, Big Oil spends more=on lobbying than any other group: nearly $150 million in 2010.

After the disast=ous BP oil spill last spring, oil and gas lobbying came into sharp focus in the American media, especially as BP step=ed up efforts to remake its tarnished image. Recently, the oil industry has be=n unveiled as a major funder of the Tea Party, which advocates less governmen=al intervention and regulation, and generally denies climate change; all of wh=ch suits the oil industry quite well.

The Financial Lobby=/span>

The banking and =inance lobbies in America are working overtime to try and keep the free market as free as possible. Financial lob=ies are far and away the biggest spenders on the Hill, contributing hundreds of millions of dollars to campaigns and political parties. Goldman Sachs alone donated over $2.6 million to various politicians and governing bodies. In return, financial institutions have been allowed free reign with other peop=e's money; they were responsible for the real estate bubble and the sub-prime mortgage of 2008, which contributed to the Great Recession.

A senate commit=ee on the financial crisis of the late 2000's found that, "The=crisis was not a natural disaster, but the result of high risk, complex financial products; undisclosed conflicts of interest; and the failure of regulators, the credi= rating agencies, and the market itself to rein in the excesses of Wall Stre=t."

Since the market=crash, banking lobbyists helped push through the financial bailout in 2008, but have spent the last three years digging their heels in against any push towards reforms.

Big Pharma</=pan>

Along with the f=nancial lobbies, the pharmaceutical and health products industries have historically been one of the biggest and mo=t powerful lobbies in Washington. Drug companies enjoy more power and influen=e in America than with any other government in the world. Pfizer Inc, one of =he major political contributors of the pharmaceutical industry, spent more tha= $25 million dollars in 2009, ensuring that the Obama administration4>=99s health care reforms didn't rock the boat overmuch. As it stands, drug comp=nies stand to gain a huge increase in their already bloated profits after the new healthcare reforms go through; prescription drug prices are set to remain steady, despite already being the highest in the world, but an estimated 32 million Americans are going to be newly insured.

The AARP

Formerly known a= the American Association of Retired Persons, the AARP is an NGO and special interest group for people aged 50 years and over. According to its mission statement, it is "dedicated to enhan=ing quality of life for all as we age, leading positive social change, and delivering v=lue to members through information, advocacy, and service." The AARP of=ers a range of services, products, and special offers to its 38 million members. It is =Iso one of the largest lobbying groups in Washington. In 2010, AARP spent $22 million on lobbying, with most of its efforts going into health care and Medicare reform, Social Security, and legislation regarding retirement and =ge discrimination.

AARP has recentl= come under fire for supporting Obama's health care reform initiatives in 2009 and 2010. It has also raised eyebrow= for being an incredibly profitable company. In addition to member dues and donations, AARP earns extra revenue by sponsoring private insurance policie=.

The Pro-Israel Lobby

The Pro-Israel L=bby, headed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, has been called the NRA of foreign policy lobbies, 0.800a hard-edged, pugnacious bunch that took names and kept score". The a=most-unilateral popular support of Israel in America, not to mention the nearly $3 billion =n aid the country receives every year, did not come about by accident. It0=804>s the result of over 50 years of hard lobbying. Politicians and pundits alike are quick to support the Jewish state, and reluctant to criticize it. Pro-Israe= groups such as AIPAC spent close $4 million last year, ensuring that US-Isr=el ties will remain strong. The Pro-Israel lobby remains one of the strongest =nd most influential foreign-policy lobbies in the US.

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The NRA

The NRA has been=one of the most consistently influential political lobbies in American politics for the past 30 years, since it firs= endorsed Ronald Reagan as a presidential candidate. More recently, it spent=an $7.2 million during the 2010 elections on so-called private expenditures, messages that advocated or opposed certain political candidates. They even =ot Chuck Norris to star in an ad for their "Trigger The Vote" =ampaign, imploring potential voters to register.

=br>

Much of the NRA's power, however, seems to li= less in its spending and more in its ability to mobilize its members, who are 4 million strong and well-versed in grassroots campaigning. Gun rights are a polarizi=g issue in America, and can make or break politicians and legislation. Al Gor=, for example, lost the 2000 election in his own home state of Tennessee, primari=y because of his pro gun-control stance. Even now, fear of reprisals from the=NRA is holding up a bill from the Bureau on Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that would stem gun-trafficking to Mexico, in the hopes of alleviating the current drug war.

******

## What Are The Health Benefits Of Ghee?

Ayurveda claims that ghee has a host of health and co=king benefits and is beneficial for both the mind and the spirit. Ghee (Clarifier Butter) is made by a simple process of boiling butter and then removing the butterfat, leaving behind the proteins (casein and whey) and the milk solid= (which includes lactose). This is known as clarified butter. If eaten in moderation, ghee can provide your body with higher concentrations of essent=al nutrients that aren't available in butter.

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A staple in traditional Indian cooking and Ayurvedic =edicine, ghee is made through a simple process of boiling butter and then pouring of= the butterfat, leaving behind the proteins (casein and whey) and the milk solids (which includes lactose). What's left is also known as clari=ied butter.

Much like butter, ghee has gotten a bad reputation ov=r the past 30 years due to its high saturated fat content. But research has revea=ed that instead of increasing the risk of heart disease, ghee actually decreas=s it — and that's not the only trick it has up its sleeve. Gh=e made from grass-fed butter is packed with vitamins A, D, E and K, as well as fatty ac=ds CLA and butyric acid, leading to some interesting health benefits.

Health Benefits of Ghee

Here is a list o= important health benefits obtained by consuming ghee.

1. =C2* High Smoke point: Since it cooks at a=higher point than almost any other oil, the advantage is that it won't break into free radic=ls like that in other oils. Free radicals can potentially be harmful to health, and when oils reach beyond their smoking point, it can be hazardous to a persorrE244s respiratory system. Ghee (250 °C or 482 °F) also has a higher smo=e point than butter.

2. 4>=A0 Reduce Risk Of Heart Disease: Ghee is rich in conjugated linoleic acid, or CIA, a fatty acid known to be protective against carcinogens, artery plague and diabetes. Because of this= researchers say ghee can be used to prevent cardiovascular disease.</=pan>

3. italP=A0 Weight Loss: When ghee is derived from grass-fed cows, the butter contains cancer-fighting fatty acid that ai=s in weight loss.

4. 4>=A0 Better Digestion: Ghee is rich in butyric acid. Beneficial intestinal bacteria convert fiber into butyric aci= and then use that for energy and intestinal wall support. According to the author of Prescription of Nutrional Healing, butyric

## What Are The Health Benefits Of Ghee? (cont.)

acid is "a mon=unsaturated fatty acid that reduces inflammatory conditions, reduces seepage of undiges=ed food particles, and aids in repair of the mucosal wall."

5. 40=ACI Lowers Cholesterol: Ghee is high in palmitic acid, which is artery-clogging. Studies have shown that gh=e can reduce cholesterol both in the serum and intestine. This is done by triggering an increased secretion of biliary lipids.

6. 40=ACI Skin: Ghee is known to purify the skin and =ive it an added glow. It acts as a natural moisturizer when used regularly. It*=8040s also known to reduce burning sensation of skin, heal scars, chicken pox scars an= more.

7. 40=ACI Ghee does not spoil easily: It does not need refrigeration. Some ghee mixtures last up to 100 years.</=pan> 40=ACI

8. Ghee is not likely to affect people with a dairy or casein intolerance:<=pan style="font-size:12pt;line-height:107%;font-family:georgia,serif">=C2. Ghee is made from butter but the milk solids and impurities have been removed, so most people who are lactose or casein intolerant have no issue with ghee.

9. 4>=A0 Ghee is rich: in the oil soluble vitamins A and E.

10. Ghee =s rich in K2 and CIA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid) — an antioxidant with anti-viral properties if it i= sourced from grass fed cows.

11. Ghee is Nutritionally Rich Like Coconut Oil: Ghee is rich in medium chain fatty acids, which are absorbed directly by the liver (like carbs) and burned as energy. Athletes can use ghee as a consistent energy source.

12. Anti-inflammatory and Anti-Cancer:

=C24* Researchers are using oral butyrate supplements and butyrate enemas to treat inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn4*=804$ and ulcerative colitis.

=C2* =C24$* Ayurvedic physicians have been using ghee enemas for centuries to decrease inflammation.

<=p>

Making and Storing Ghee

Ghee is made the=same as clarified butter, but heated longer. Learn how to make ghee here.

The two things that will degrade ghee are water and s=nlight.

* =C2* Always store your ghee in a container with a good seal in the dark.

* =C240 Ghee will last 2-3 months if you keep it in an airtight container.

	=C2* When kept in a refrigerator, without opening, ghee can last up to a year.

Don't Be Scared of Ghee</=>

## What Are The Health Benefits Of Ghee? (cont.)

Ghee was once th=ught to be unhealthy because it is saturated, but research has now revealed the truth about fats and oils. Ghee is one of=the seven healthy fats you need in your kitchen.

=A0 =C2

=/em>

THIS WEEK's QUOTE

=C2

There's always more misery among the lower classes than there is humanity in the higher classes.</=>

Victor Hugo

THIS IS BRILLIANT=/span>

One Amazing Dog

<=span>

Why Can’t My Dog Do=This?

</=pan>

## What Are The Health Benefits Of Ghee? (cont.)

Web Link: https://ww=.facebook.com/Radioonelebanon/videos/1762188670470192/
<https://www.facebook=com/Radioonelebanon/videos/1762188670470192/> =/span>

This 2 year-old Border-Aussie is on= talented dog who can play the piano, drums, draws and dance the Irish Jig, as well
as do yoga and vac=um the living room and other house cleaning chores, in addition to the doggy compa=ion thing...

=p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;tex=-align:center;line-height:normal">T=INK
ABOUT THIS

The Voice =/span>

Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls<=p>

Web Link: http=://www.facebook.com/NBCTheVoice/videos/1339396236097722/
<https://ww=.facebook.com/NBCTheVoice/videos/1339396236097722/>

Enjoy..... Enjoy..... Enjoy.....

THIS WEEK's MUSIC<=pan style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"times new roman",serif"=

Chuck Berry

## What Are The Health Benefits Of Ghee? (cont.)

Alt=ough he was just featured last August this week you are invited again to enjoy the music of one of the pioneers who created rock an= roll, the one and only Chuck Berry who was born October 18, 1926 in St. Louis, Missouri and di=d last Saturday at the age of 90 years-old after being married for 62 years t= the same wife. With songs such as "Maybellene" (1955), "Roll Ove= Beethoven" (195=), "Rock and Roll Music" (1957) and "Johnny B. Goode" =/span>(1958), Berry refined and developed rhythm and blues into the major elements that made ro=k and roll distinctive, with lyrics focusing on teen life and consumerism and music featuring guitar solos and showmanship that were a major influence on subsequent rock music.

Berry r=fined and developed rhythm and blues into the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive, with lyrics successfully aime= to appeal to the early teenage market by using graphic and humorous descriptio=s of teen dances, fast cars, high school life, and consumer culture, and utilizing guitar solos and showmanship that would be a major influence on subsequent rock music.

=br>

His records are a rich storehouse of t=e essential lyrical, showmanship and musical components of rock and roll. In addition to t=e Beatles and the Rolling Stones, a large number of significant popular-music performers have recorde= Berry's songs. Though not technically accomplished, his guitar style is distinctive — he incorporated ele=tronic effects to T-Bone mimic Walker the sound to produc= of bottleneck a clear blues and exciting guitarists sound and drew that many on the later influence guitarists of guitar would players acknowledge such as as Carl an Hogan, influence and in their own style.

Berry's showmanship has bee= influential on other rock guitarists, particularly his one-legged hop routine, and the "du=k walk", which he first used as a child when he walked "=tooping with full-bended knees, but with my back and head vertical" under a table to retrieve a ball and his family found it entertaining; he used it when "performing in New York =or the first time and some journalist branded it the duck walk.&=uot;

Born into a middle-class African-American family, Berry had a= interest in music from an early age and gave his first public performance a= Sumner High School. While still a high school student he was convicted of a=med robbery and was sent to a reformatory, where he was held from 1944 to 1947.=C2* After his release, Berry settled into married life and worked at an automobile assembly plant. By early 1953, influ=nced by the guitar riffs and showmanship techniques of the blues musician T-Bone Walker, Berry began performing with the Johnnie Johnson Trio. His break came when he traveled to Chicago in May 1955 and met Muddy Waters, who suggested he contact Leonard Chess, of Chess Records.

With Chess he recorded "Maybellene" — Berry's adaptation of the country song "Ida Red</=>" — which sold over a million copies, reaching number one on Billboard magazine's rhythm and blues chart. By the end of the 1950s, Berry was

## What Are The Health Benefits Of Ghee? (cont.)

an established star wit= several hit records and film appearances and a lucrative touring career...AO He had also established his own St. Louis nightclub, Berry's Club Bandstand. But in January 1962, he was sentenced to three years in prison for offenses under the Mann Act — he had transported a 14-year-old girl across s=ate lines. After his release in 1963, Berry had more hits in the mid-1960s, including "No Particular Place to Go", "You Never Can Tell", and "Nadine". By the mid-1970s, he was more in demand as a live performer, playing his past hits with local backup bands of varia=le quality. In 1979 he served 120 days in prison for tax evasion.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Berry's music was the i=spiration for such groups as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Berry had a nu=ber of comeback recordings and in 1972 had the first and only #1Pop Chart hit of his career with 0=9CMy Ding-A-Ling." Berry was among the first musician= to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on its opening in 1986; he was cited for having "laid the =roundwork for not only a rock and roll sound but a rock and roll stance." Berry is included in=several of Rolling Stone magazine's "greatest of all time" lists; he was ranked fifth on its 2004 list of=the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs That =haped Rock and Roll includes three of Berry's: "Johnny B. Goode", "Maybellene", and "=i>Rock and Roll Music". Berry's "Johnny B. Goode=b>" is the only rock-and-roll song included on the Voyager Golden Record.=/span>

As Washington Post music critic Chris Richards wrote — t>=9CEven if Chuck Berry never sang all of those beautiful words about V-8s, jitneys, limousines and Coupe de Villes, it was obvious that he was making a new kin= of car music. His songs started like engines. A guitar riff would stutter like=a crankshaft, then the beat would kick in, and suddenly everything smelled li=e motor oil and hormones. This new vroom-vroom music was dubbed rock-and-roll=" Please feel free to read the attached, Luke Dittrich's December 2011 Esqui=e Magazine interview with Chuck Berry.

=p class="MsoNormal">Chuck Berry's music has transcended generatio=s. He earned respect as an international icon because in addition to being a master entertainer Berry was one of civilization0=80t finest songwriters, offering marvelously detailed accounts of anticipation, possibility and mobility — social, sexual and the like. Beyon= simply a musical style, rock & roll, as seen in movies and on television, influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language. In addition, rock and roll may have contributed to the civil rights movement because bot= African-American and white American teens enjoyed the music. It went =n to spawn various genres, often without the initially characteristic backbeat, that are now more commonly c=lled simply "rock music" or "rock" and much can be traced back to Mr. Johnny B. Goode himself, Mr. Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry.

Berry, who is considered one of "The Founding Fathers of Rock & Roll," discovered success by watching the audienc='s reaction and playing accordingly, putting his listeners' amusement above all=else. For this reason, tunes like "Johnny B. Goode,Q=9D "Maybellene" and "Memphist>=80.O have become anthems to an integrated American youth and popular culture.40=A0 Berry is a musical icon who established rock and roll as a musical form and brought the worlds of black and white togeth=r in song. With this said, you are again invited to enjoy the music of The Father of Rock & Roll, the great Mr. Chuck Berry

https://youtu.be/CJs0PMVP3Bc

## What Are The Health Benefits Of Ghee? (cont.)

Ch=ck Berry – Memphis Tennessee -- https://youtu.be/KrbPIr4Wskc <https://youtu.be/KrbPIr4Wskc>

Chuck Ber=y - Roll over Beethoven --=C2 https://y=utu.be/2ykCYwhfdMs <https://youtu.be/2ykCYwhfdMs>

Chuck Berry=C2 - Hoochie Coochie Man -- =A0 https://yout=.be/SkYWFPNRp5A <https://youtu.be/SkYWFPNRp5A>

Chuck Berry <==> School Days -- https://youtu.be/HYc8Txm0cYw <https://yo=tu.be/HYc8Txm0cYw>

Chuck Berry — T=e Blues -- https://youtu.be/qaE7C-hf6Wg

Chuck Berry & Keith Richards — Too Much Monkey Business -- https://youtu.be/fCmXVi0FL6g <https://y=utu.be/fCmXViDFL6g>

Chuck Berry – =o Particular Place To Go -- https://youtu.be/WIY4OE=d6Yk

- Chuck Berry ♦=80♦ My Ding-A-Ling -- https://youtu.be/UaEC-IWSlml <https:=/youtu.be/UaEC-IWSlml> <=pan>

Chuck Berry -?-=A0 Nadine -- https://youtu.be/5madtiLf7DI

Chuck Berry – Carol -- https://youtu.be/VgEc0hzTH7I

Chuck Berry – Sweet Sixteen -- https://youtu.be/7h3tXq5pkJ8 <https://youtu.be/7h3tXq5pk=8>

Chuck Berry – Little Queenie[A0] -- https://youtu.be/s2a2Nrw_6G0

Chuck Berry — Get Your Kicks On Route 660=A0 -- https://youtu.be/Sle_WWSDqqY

Chuck Berry – Reelin and Rockin --<i> https://youtu.be/eTnoSsaeOnI

=span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:107%;font-family:georgia,serif">C=uck Berry & Tina Turner – Rock n Roll Music=C2? -- https://youtu.be/F1LZuQ9E4JQ

Chuck Berry & Robert Cray — Brown Eyed Handsom= Man -- https://youtu.be/03OfDbsT68U

<https://youtu.be/HbCWPo_B-t8> Chuck Berry & John Lennon — Johnny B. Good --=/i> https://y=utu.be/HbCWPo_B-t8

Chuck Berry,=Eric Clapton, Keith Richards & Etta James — Rock 'n' Roll Music -- https://youtu.be/Gb5BifGi-6Q <https:=/youtu.be/Gb5Bif6i-6Q> <=pan>

BONUS

<=p>

Chuck Berry, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards =E2=9C=93 jam -- https://youtu.be/wzKd0aiaK4c <https://youtu.be/wzKd0=iaK4c>

## What Are The Health Benefits Of Ghee? (cont.)

Legendary musician Chuck Berry dies at 90 ♦=80♦ ht=ps://youtu.be/hq_BT1sd7oc <https://youtu.be/hq_BT1sd7oc>

<=p>

I hope that you enjoyed this week's offerings and wish you =nd yours a great week....

Sincerely,

Greg Brown

<=>:

<iv class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">
Gregory Brown
Chairman & CEO
GlobalCast Partners= LLC

US: 
Tel: 
Fax: 
Skype: 
</iv>