The Nation's Dave Zirin: All Hail the Attempt by Northwestern Wildcats Football Players to Form a Union

Dave Zirin's column at The Nation is linked below.

Dave Zirin: The Northwestern Wildcats vs. the NCAA

"Whether or not the Northwestern players succeed in their efforts to unionize—and the NCAA will spend however many billions it takes to make sure this does not happen—their efforts today will long be remembered as the opening shot that cracked the NCAA Cartel. They deserve our support. They deserve our respect. Most of all, they deserve our solidarity. In 1922, that author of The Jungle, Upton Sinclair wrote, 'College athletics, under the spur of commercialism, has become a monstrous cancer.' I do not know what Sinclair would make of a twenty-first-century world where coaches make 100 times the salaries of professors. I think we can say safely, however, that the actions of the Northwestern football team would have made Mr. Sinclair very proud indeed."

---Dave Zirin, The Nation 

NBC News: A Majority of the American Public Supports Marijuana Legalization

Michael O'Brien's article at NBC News is linked below.

NBC News: Strong Majority Support for Marijuana Legalization

"Fifty-five percent of Americans support legislative efforts to legalize marijuana, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. Those respondents would back similar laws to the ones on the books in Colorado and Washington state, where adults over the age of 21 are permitted to possess limited amounts of marijuana for personal use."

---Michael O'Brien, NBC News

NBC News: Chris Christie Collapsing

The NBC News article is linked below.

NBC News: Chris Christie Crashing

"Chris Christie’s political future looks to be in serious danger with more Americans believing the embattled New Jersey governor is lying about the bridge closure scandal than telling the truth, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.  Christie’s overall standing has taken a major hit in the survey, with just 22 percent of Americans viewing the Republican New Jersey governor favorably -- down from 33 percent in October."

---Domenico Montanaro, NBC News

NBC News: Americans are Deeply Pessimistic Regarding the State of the Nation

The NBC News article by Mark Murray is linked below.

NBC News: A Pessimistic America

"As President Barack Obama enters his sixth year in the White House, 68 percent of Americans say the country is either stagnant or worse off since he took office, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

Just 31 percent say the country is better off, and a deep pessimism continues to fuel the public's mood. Most respondents used words like 'divided,' 'troubled,' and 'deteriorating' to describe the current state of the nation."

---Mark Murray, NBC News

The New York Times' Ross Douthat: Left and Right and the Matters of Contraception, Abortion, Divorce, and Marriage

Ross Douthat's column at The New York Times is linked below.

Ross Douthat: Abortion, Contraception, Divorce, and Marriage

Auburn Ranked as the Best City in Alabama

Movoto.com's article is listed below.

Movoto.com: Auburn is Alabama's Best City

"This charm, this Southern something that residents have known about for years—and in today’s post, we are going to explore just which Alabama places are the best, and what that something is that makes them so special. Without further ado, here are the 10 best places in Alabama, starting with our winner, Auburn:"

---Natalie Grigson, Movoto.com

Auburn Ranked #1 Among Alabama's Cities

Politico: Rankings of the Best and Worst States in America

Politico's report is linked below.

Politico: New Hampshire the Best, Mississippi the Worst

"With this in mind, Politico Magazine rounded up 14 different state rankings from reputable sources like the Census Bureau, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the FBI, and on important factors such as high school graduation rates, per capita income, life expectancy and crime rate. Then we averaged out each state’s 14 rankings to come up with a master list—atop which sits none other than New Hampshire."

---Margaret Slattery, Politico 

Huffington Post: More Than 3 Million Have Registered for Private Insurance Under Obamacare

President Barack Obama

Sam Stein's article at Huffington Post is linked below.

Over 3 Million Registered for Private Insurance Under Obamacare

"Hundreds of thousands of people have chosen private health coverage under Obamacare so far in 2014, continuing the accelerated pace of enrollments from the end of last year.

The Obama administration said Friday that more than 3 million people have now signed up for private plans through the federal and state health insurance exchanges, including more than 800,000 in January."

---Sam Stein, Huffington Post 

CDC: Final U.S. Birth Data for 2012

Access to the CDC's final birth data for 2012 is linked below.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm

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