Recent Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, a Conservative Republican, Indicted in Gift Scandal; McDonnell's Wife Indicted as Well

The Washington Post article is linked below.

Washington Post: Bob McDonnell and Wife Indicted

"Former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, were charged Tuesday with illegally accepting gifts, luxury vacations and large loans from a wealthy Richmond-area businessman who sought special treatment from state government.

Authorities alleged that for nearly two years, the McDonnells hit up executive Jonnie R. Williams Sr. again and again, lodging near constant requests for large loans, clothes, trips, golf accessories and private plane rides."

---Rosalind S. Helderman, et al, Washington Post

Politico: The Indictment of Bob McDonnell and Wife

Associated Press: Per a New Study, 49% of Black Males, 44% of Hispanic Males, and 38% of White Males in the U.S. Have Been Arrested by Age 23

The Associated Press article posted at ABCNews.com is linked below.

Associated Press: Almost half of U.S. Black Males Arrested by Age 23

"The authors found that by age 18, 30 percent of black men, 26 percent of Hispanic men and 22 percent of white men have been arrested. By 23, those numbers climb to 49 percent for black men, 44 percent for Hispanic men and 38 percent for white men."

---Jake Pearson, Associated Press 

Reuters: Bomb Blasts Kill Over 20 in Baghdad, Iraq

Iraq

The Reuters story is linked below.

Reuters: More deadly violence in Iraq

"Seven bomb explosions killed 26 people and wounded 67 in the Iraqi capital on Monday, police and medics said, as security forces battled Sunni Muslim militants around the western cities of Falluja and Ramadi."

---Reuters

San Francisco Chronicle: California's Hispanic Population Set to Exceed California Whites

The San Francisco Chronicle article is linked below.

San Francisco Chronicle: Hispanics on the Verge of Becoming the Largest Racial-Ethnic Group in California

Emily DeRuy: Glaring Lack of Diversity Among Computer Science Advanced-Placement Test-Takers

Mississippi

Emily DeRuy's article at National Journal is linked below.

National Journal: Whites Are Disproportionately the AP Computer Science Test-Takers

"The pipeline of students who will be tomorrow's tech leaders is alarmingly vanilla.

According to a new analysis of test-takers, not a single girl, African-American or Hispanic student took the computer science Advanced Placement test in Mississippi or Montana last year. More than a third of the population in Mississippi is black.

In other words, a hugely disproportionate bunch of white guys took the test."

---Emily DeRuy, National Journal, Fusion

Barry Lando: The U.S. Role in the Destruction of Iraq

Iraq

Barry Lando's column at Antiwar.com (original post at unz.com) is linked below.

Barry Lando: How the U.S. Played a Pivotal Role in Destroying Iraq

"The military onslaught and the American rule that immediately followed, destroyed not just the people and infrastructure of Iraq, but the very fiber of the nation. Though Saddam’s tyranny was ruthless, over the years the country’s disparate peoples had begun living together as Iraqis, in the same towns and neighborhoods, attending the same schools, intermarrying—slowly developing a sense of nationhood.

That process was shattered by the American proconsuls who took charge after the invasion. They oversaw a massive political purge, a witch hunt, that led to the gutting of key ministries, the collapse of the police and military and other key government institutions, without creating any viable new structures in their place. The Shiites who the U.S. helped bring to power took revenge on the Sunnis, many of whom had backed Saddam."

---Barry Lando, Antiwar.com/unz.com, January 10, 2014

AL.com: Kaiser Family Foundation Ranks Alabama as Having the 15th Worst State Poverty Rate in the United States

Alabama

The AL.com article is linked below.

AL.com: Alabama Has the 15th Worst Poverty Rate, Per the Kaiser Family Foundation

"An estimated 22 percent of Alabama residents are living below the federal poverty line, representing roughly 1 million people, according to an analysis conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Across the United States, about 20 percent of residents -- one in five -- lives in poverty, putting Alabama's rate slightly above the national figure. Alabama ranks 15th in overall poverty.

All 10 southeastern states have poverty rates above the national figure."

---Alex Walsh, AL.com

NJ.com: Declines in the Numbers of Graduating High School Seniors Making College Admission Easier?

The NJ.com article is linked below.

NJ.com: High School Graduates Declining in Numbers for the Next Several Years

"After growing for 15 years and peaking at 3.4 million, the number of high school graduates is expected to decline by 100,000 to 200,000 this year, according to the report. Because of a decline in the number of births, the number of high school graduates is not projected to start rising again until 2020."

---Kelly Heyboer, NJ.com

Democrat Terry McAuliffe Inaugurated as Governor of Virginia

The Democratic Party

Washington Post: McAuliffe Becomes Governor of Virginia

Time: Coverage of the Swearing in of Terry McAuliffe as Governor of Virginia

Washington Post: In Bridgegate, there Was an "Extensive Coverup" by Christie Administration Officials

Governor Chris Christie

The Washington Post article is linked below.

Washington Post: Newly-Released Documents Show a Coverup

"The hundreds of pages of e-mails and internal documents released Friday afternoon show for the first time how Christie loyalists inside the Port Authority worked to orchestrate a coverup after traffic mayhem swiftly arrived in Fort Lee on Sept. 9.

The e-mails also reveal the extent to which Christie’s appointees kept their Port Authority colleagues and Fort Lee officials in the dark about their plans."

---Philip Rucker and Aaron Blake, Washington Post  

CNN: In 2013, the U.S. Economy Only Added 74,000 Jobs in December 2013 as the Unemployment Rate Fell to 6.7%

The CNN article is linked below.

CNN: Unemployment Rate is 6.7%, and the Economy Added 74K Jobs in December 2013


"Hiring slumped sharply in December, as the economy added only 74,000 jobs, according to the government. This was the weakest month for job growth since January 2011 and came as a huge surprise to economists, who were expecting an addition of 193,000 jobs."

---Annalyn Kurtz, CNN

Salon's Joan Walsh: Put a Fork in Chris Christie; He's Done in Terms of 2016

Gov. Chris Christie

Joan Walsh's column at Salon is linked below.

Joan Walsh: Chris Christie is Roadkill

"Now he’s in big trouble already, and you can bet GOP operatives are combing the record along with Rachel Maddow’s staff and dozens if not hundreds of local and national reporters, to tell the story of the real Chris Christie. That’s in addition to the state and federal investigators who will be looking for evidence that Christie knew more about the Fort Lee plot than he’s shared. Christie will be spending more time with lawyers than with GOP donors in the months to come, and he may have to focus on keeping his job rather than winning the White House. His path to the White House is all but closed, even if some national pundits can’t bear to admit it yet."

---Joan Walsh, Salon 

New York Daily News: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is "Pathetic"

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie

The New York Daily News editorial is linked below.

New York Daily News: A "Pathetic" Chris Christie

"New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s one-hour-and-forty-seven-minute self-serving, self-pitying display of contrition on Thursday was a climactic act in a brazen cover-up that threatens to further unravel his political career.

Ever so thoroughly the governor scoured the thesaurus for words of apology, regret and painless self-flagellation while nervily playing the victim and mercilessly destroying the aide who played only a supporting role for the George Washington Bridge political revenge plot."

---New York Daily News 

National Journal Interviews Brookings Institution Demographer William Frey

The National Journal interview of William Frey is linked below.

National Journal: Brookings Institution Demographer William Frey Discusses 2013 Demographic

"For the first time in more than a century, it was reported there were more white deaths than births, leading to a natural decrease of the white population."

---Brookings Institution Demographer William Frey, Interview in National Journal 

Bigger, Faster, Dumber! CNN Takes a Look at Major College Athletes and the Frequency of Low Reading Skills

The CNN investigation is linked below.

CNN: Major College Athletes and Illiteracy

"A CNN investigation found public universities across the country where many students in the basketball and football programs could read only up to an eighth-grade level. The data obtained through open records requests also showed a staggering achievement gap between college athletes and their peers at the same institution.

This is not an exhaustive survey of all universities with major sports programs; CNN chose a sampling of public universities where open records laws apply. We sought data from a total of 37 institutions, of which 21 schools responded."

---Sara Granim, CNN 

CNN: Data From Various Universities That Play Major College Athletics

Allison Linn of NBC News: The Perceived Benefits of Single Mothers Getting Married Might be Overstated

Allison Linn's article at NBC News is linked below.

NBC News: Marriage for a Single Mother Might not be as Beneficial as Previously Thought

"A new briefing paper, written by Williams and released Monday by the Council on Contemporary Families, argues that even when single mothers do later marry, those marriages are not necessarily beneficial to the women and their children.

Williams points to a study finding that more than half of single moms who married were divorced by the time they reached ages 35 to 44. In many cases, she notes, women who marry and later divorce are worse off financially."

---Allison Linn, NBC News

U.S. Census Bureau: Almost One-Third of Americans Experienced at Least Two Months of Poverty in 2009-2011

The U.S. Census Bureau news release is linked below.

Census Bureau: Almost One-Third of U.S. Experienced Poverty a Minimum of Two Months of Poverty in 2009-2001

"According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 31.6 percent of Americans were in poverty for at least two months from 2009 to 2011, a 4.5 percentage point increase over the prerecession period of 2005 to 2007. Poverty was a temporary state for most people; however, 3.5 percent of Americans were in poverty for the entire three-year period."

---U.S. Census Bureau News Release, January 7, 2014

CNN Poll: Majority Support for U.S. Marijuana Legalization, Along With a Large Majority Being Tolerant of Marijuana Use

The CNN/ORC Poll is linked below.

CNN/ORC Poll: America's Changing Views on Marijuana

"The CNN/ORC International survey released Monday also indicated that the number of people who say smoking pot is morally wrong has plunged.

Fifty-five percent of those questioned nationally said marijuana should be made legal, with 44% disagreeing."

---CNN

The New York Times: Liz Cheney Drops Out!

The article in The New York Times is linked below.

NYT: Liz Cheney Gives Up

"Liz Cheney announced early Monday morning that she was withdrawing from the Wyoming Republican Senate primary, bringing an abrupt end to her unsteady challenge to the incumbent, Michael B. Enzi."

---Jonathan Martin, The New York Times 

Fareed Zakaria at Time: 2014 is a Pivotal Year for China

The People's Republic of China

Fareed Zakaria's column at Time is linked below.

Fareed Zakaria: China at an Economic Fork in the Road

"2014 is the year of the horse in China. But for the rest of us, it might prove to be the year of China. The country faces a historic turning point: either it will revamp its economic system, deal with some of its growing environmental and social problems and set itself up for another decade of growth and stability that will ensure it becomes the world's largest economy, or 2014 will be the year that the great Chinese miracle hits a serious road bump--with seismic consequences."

---Fareed Zakaria, Time