Hispanics make up the fastest growing segment of the American population, but are lagging when it comes to education and the consequences are huge not just for individual families, but for the entire American economy

Barack Obama said in 2010 that Hispanic school children faced challenges of monumental proportions. He was articulating what many in the United States have been worrying about for years - that Latinos - from kindergarten to university - are falling far behind. A White House report published in April 2011 states that less than 50% of Latino children are enrolled in pre-school; just 50% earn their high school diploma on time and, those who do are only half as likely as their peers to be prepared for college. Just 13% have a degree. Hispanics are the youngest and fastest growing group in the country. They make up 16% of the population now and will account for 29% of the population by 2050. The issue has essentially reached a tipping point. It's harder to ignore a problematic minority group when they affect a third of the population. At present, America can boast the best educated workforce in the world but in 50 years' time, the majority of those workers will be Hispanic. If they are uneducated, what hope is there for American global competitiveness? There are also fears about how poor educational outcomes could lead to greater inequality in America. In a 2009 book, The Latino Education Crisis, professors of education Patricia Gandara and Frances Contreras warn that: "Latino students today perform academically at levels that will consign them to live as members of a permanent underclass... their situation is projected to worsen over time." Later, they write: "If their situation is not reversed, democracy is in peril." Four million Latino children struggle in class because they don't know English, even though three quarters of them were born in the United States. Hispanic mothers have far less education than their counterparts in other ethnic groups. According to Professors Gandara and Contreras, formal education is not as much of a priority in Latin America as it is in the United States, so the parents may not be pushing their children to succeed. There is also the issue of immigration. According to the Census bureau, 50% of immigrants in the United States are from Latin America.

An extraordinary 95% of black voters cast their ballots for Barack Obama, but blacks have suffered more than any other group during his presidency

While black unemployment has for decades exceeded that of other groups, the gap widened noticeably during the Obama years in spite of the fact that the Federal Government, and especially the Obama Administration, has de facto discrimination in favor of black employment. At the start of Obama administration (January 2009), the unemployment rate for African Americans was 12.7%. In August 2011, black unemployment was 15.9% — the highest monthly jobless rate for any race or ethnic group during the Great Recession. From January 2009 to August 2011 both whites and blacks suffered employment declines: black employment fell by 540,000, or 3.5% and white employment fell by 2.5 million, or 1.8%. Since Obama took office the number of blacks 16 to 19 years old holding jobs has declined by 162,000 – a 32.6% reduction. Over the same period teenage employment declined by 17% for whites and 15% for Hispanics. More than one quarter (27.4%) of blacks had income below the poverty line in 2010. That’s nearly twice the national poverty rate (15.1%) and about three-times the rate for non-Hispanic whites (9.9%). The black poverty rate grew by 1.6 points in 2010; the national rate rose by 0.8 percentage points.

If Barack Obama were president of a major U.S. company, he’d be fired by now, according to American voters — by a 52% – 38% margin

Fifty-six percent of independents think that a corporation’s board of directors would have already handed Obama his pink slip. Nearly a quarter of Democrats also believe that Obama would be out (23%). In Obama’s real job as president, a Fox News poll found that while 43% of voters approve of his performance, just over half — 51% — disapprove. Eight in 10 Democrats approve (80%) of the job Obama’s doing, while nine in 10 Republicans disapprove (90%). Obama receives 31% approval among independents. Over half of independents — 55% — disapprove.

A man who converted from Islam to Christianity is facing the death penalty in Iran for refusing to return to his former religion

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, 34, of the Church of Iran, faces hanging after refusing a court order to renounce his Christian faith. The pastor had defied a request by the Gilan provincial court, in the Iranian city of Rasht, to repent. The married father-of-two was detained in his home city of Rasht in October 2009, while attempting to register his church. Supporters of the pastor say that he was arrested after questioning the Muslim monopoly on the religious instruction of children in Iran. Nadarkhani was initially charged with protesting, but charges against him were later changed to apostasy - or abandoning Islam - and evangelizing Muslims, which both carry the death sentence. He was later tried and found guilty of apostasy in September 2010, and sentenced to death by the court in the city of Rasht.

Will Obama bow out of presidential race?

Dick Morris says that, after speaking with a Democratic strategist, it is very possible that Obama might give into demands from the Democratic leadership in Congress and bow out of the 2012 race.

Mississippi: African Americans represent 37% of the population, but account for 78% of new HIV/AIDS infections

Many individuals, particularly African Americans, in Mississippi underestimate their risk of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV. This phenomenon is compounded by the overwhelming stigma associated with HIV/AIDS among African Americans in southern USA.

Race and turnover

With ever-declining budgets, education administrators across the nation have been struggling for years with an increasing teacher turnover rate. Now, researchers have found that race may play a role in teacher turnover. They found that turnover rates are lower among teachers who are of the same race as their school principals. Teachers are substantially more likely to stay in schools run by a principal of the same race. Teachers who share the same race as their principal also report higher job satisfaction, particularly in schools with African-American principals. This association may be driven by differences in how such schools are managed, given that teachers who share the same race as their principal report higher levels of administrative support and more recognition than other teachers report.

Hispanics now make up the largest group of children living in poverty, the first time in U.S. history that poor white kids have been outnumbered by poor children of another race or ethnicity, according to a new study

In a report, the Pew Hispanic Center said that 6.1 million Hispanic children are poor, compared with 5 million non-Hispanic white children and 4.4 million black children. Pew said that Hispanic poverty numbers have soared because of the impact of the recession on the growing number of Latinos. The rise in childhood poverty is another signal of distress for the nation’s 50.5 million Hispanics, who have been hit harder by the bleak economy than any other group. They have one of the highest unemployment rates and saw their household wealth decline more steeply than either blacks or whites, largely because so many lost their houses to foreclosure. Though the recession is the largest single factor explaining the rise, the sheer number of Hispanics in the country and their high birth rates suggest that childhood poverty for Hispanics is not just a temporary bump in the road. The nation’s under-18 population would have declined over the past decade if it weren’t for Hispanics, and most places that grew in population had Hispanics, along with Asians, to thank. Though the number of poor Hispanic children is at a record high, black children have a higher rate of poverty — 39%, compared with 35% for Hispanic children. In contrast, the poverty rate for white children is about 12%. In the Washington region, almost every jurisdiction has experienced a rise in childhood poverty since the recession began in 2007, according to recently released census statistics. But the District has by far the highest rate, with almost one in three children growing up poor. In the District, 90% of more than 30,000 children living in poverty in 2010 were black, while 8% were Hispanic, and less than half a percent were white.In the suburbs, the highest poverty rates fluctuate between black and Latino kids. Before the recession, poor white children outnumbered poor Hispanic children in the United States. The recession thrust more children of all races and ethnicities into poverty, but none more than Hispanics. Their poverty rate increased about twice as fast as the rate for black children. The poverty rate among Hispanic children with immigrant parents was 40%, compared with 28% for Latino children whose parents were born in the United States.

New UCLA psychology research indicates that Asians who are struggling with alcoholism may benefit especially from naltrexone, one of three medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of alcoholism

Recent research has found that a gene variant may predict naltrexone treatment success for alcoholism. About 50% of patients of Asian descent have a particular mutation that makes them likely to benefit from naltrexone, compared with about 20% of Caucasians and less than 5% of African Americans, said lead study author Lara Ray, an assistant professor of psychology and director of the UCLA Addictions Laboratory. The mutation in question is in the OPRM1 gene, which codes for the mu opioid receptors in the brain. People with "AG" or "GG" variants of OPRM1 have better clinical alcohol-treatment outcomes with naltrexone than those with the "AA" variant, Ray said, adding that approximately half of Asians have at least one copy of the "G" nucleotide at the particular location.

Mexican police have found five decomposing heads left in a sack outside a primary school in Acapulco

Handwritten messages were also found, reportedly threatening the state governor as well as local drug lords. It was not clear if the discovery of the heads and five decapitated bodies elsewhere in the city was linked to extortion threats against teachers. Dozens of schools have been closed after teachers went on strike over security concerns. Police were called to a street in the Garita neighborhood of Acapulco. There they found a sack inside a wooden crate placed near the school, officers said. Inside were the heads of five men, as well as the threatening messages. Police had earlier discovered five headless bodies in another part of the city, left either inside or near a burned-out vehicle. Acapulco, on Mexico's Pacific coast, has seen several episodes of gruesome violence as drug gangs fight for control of the resort city. But as the government crackdown on cartels continues, criminal organizations here and in other parts of Mexico are fracturing and increasingly turning to extortion. Recently, as the new school year began, dozens of teachers in Acapulco said that criminal gangs had threatened them with violence if they did not hand over half their salaries from October 1, 2011. They and colleagues have since been on strike, leading to the closure of more than 100 schools.

A Muslim has been arrested for an al-Qaeda-inspired plot to target the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol with unmanned drones packed with explosives

The 26-year-old Northeastern University grad with a degree in physics is also accused of trying to rig cell phones to blow up improvised explosive devices to maim or kill U.S. soldiers serving overseas. But all the cash for the plot came from undercover FBI agents and he was under constant surveillance. “The public was never in danger,” Boston U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz said. Even the so-called explosives for the ambush were supplied by the feds to the wanna-be terrorist, prosecutors said. The suspect, Rezwan Ferdaus, intended to stuff the Washington, D.C.-bound remote-controlled aircraft with C-4 plastic explosives. He was also accused of giving undercover FBI agents mobile phones wired to act as an electrical switch for an IED to kill U.S. soldiers serving overseas. He believed those FBI agents were members or recruiters for al-Qaeda and he delighted in the reports his bobby-trapped phones worked, Ortiz said. He faces charges of attempting to provide material support to terrorists — specifically al-Qaeda — to launch those attacks, Ortiz said. His diabolical plot, feds added, was all contained on a computer thumb drive that he shared with undercover agents.

Trouble is brewing for Obama in Ohio and Pennsylvania

New polls by Quinnipiac University show a majority of voters in both states don't approve of the job he's doing and Republicans Rick Perry and Mitt Romney are both in striking distance of toppling him. Obama won Ohio and Pennsylvania in the 2008 election, and both states are keys to victory for any candidate seeking the White House. In the Keystone State, Obama defeated John McCain by 10 percentage points. In Ohio, the Quinnipiac Poll shows that 53% of voters disapprove of the job Obama is doing as president and 51% say he doesn't deserve a second term. The same survey shows that a race between Obama and either Perry or Romney would be too close to call. In Pennsylvania, 54% of voters give Obama poor marks for the way he's doing his job and 51% say that he shouldn't be re-elected. Pennsylvanians give Obama a 6-percentage point edge over Perry. Against Romney, the Quinnipiac survey shows that Obama and the former Massachusetts governor essentially tied, with Obama leading 45% to 43%. Pennsylvania has 20 electoral votes, while Ohio has 18.

A Malaysian husband has claimed that his wife was raped by an invisible man

The man, in his 20s, said that his wife would remove her clothing, touch her body and moan while sleeping. He came to the bizarre conclusion after visiting a medium, who told him that someone had used black magic to steal his wife's soul and rape her. The couple, from Bintulu, Sarawak, went to police with their allegations, but officers said that they could not arrest an invisible man. One of the most high-profile cases involving black magic in Malaysia was the so-called witchcraft murder of politician Datuk Mazlan Idris in 1993. Mazlan Idris, an assemblyman for central Pahang state, had approached Malaysian actress-turned-shaman Mona Fandey for supernatural help to boost his political career. But during a ritual, her assistant chopped off his head with an axe. Fandey was executed in 2001.

A black church pastor involved in a love triangle with his 21-year-old son hired him to kill his wife, a court has heard

Tracy Bernard Burleson, who shared a mistress with his son William Fuller, is said to have arranged the murder so he could cash in his wife's $60,000 life insurance policy. The 46-year-old and his son were both sleeping with Tyonne Palmer when the execution style killing was carried out. Pauletta Burleson, 56, was shot in the back of the head in the garage of her home in Houston, Texas, in May 2010. Prosecutors said that Fuller pulled the trigger having been paid by his father to kill his step-mother. Details of the love triangle were revealed as Burleson went on trial for the murder of his wife. He faces life imprisonment if convicted. Prosecutors described a sordid love triangle involving father and son who were infatuated with 32-year-old Palmer. They said that Palmer began an affair with Fuller while looking after him when he was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia. But she was also having an affair with his father and seeing both men secretly. Palmer is said to have helped cover up the murder by collecting Fuller after he shot his step mother dead and disposing of the murder weapon. Burleson is said to have nagged his son to help him carry out the murder knowing that he hated his step-mother. Fuller gave evidence against his father and said that their marriage was all but over. Fuller, who faces a murder charge in a separate trial, claims that he was manipulated into carrying out the murder. But lawyers for the black pastor told a jury on the opening day of his trial that his son had framed him for the murder so he could date his mistress.

African-American women develop functional health challenges earlier than their fellow seniors, researchers say

While examining self-reported data about the lives of 8,700 older people, researchers identified an accelerated rate of reported physical limitations by African American women in their mid-50s and 60s. The finding surfaced as researchers looked generally at how the intersection of gender and race/ethnicity affect health disparities among older African-Americans, Mexican-Americans and whites. Researchers found that, in general, men of all racial/ethnic groups fared better than women. Aging white men overall started out with less than one disabling limitation on average, but every year slightly increased until age 75 when they had slightly more than two. Mexican-American women, who fared the worst, reached 75 with twice as many physical limitations on average as white men - nearly five. Mexican-American men, African-American men, white men and white women did not vary significantly in the rate at which they developed disabilities as they aged. However, African-American women gained more disabilities early on. After their mid-60s, the rate of disabilities began to decrease. By age 75, it appeared that the pace of acquiring disabilities had stabilized.

Columbus police have arrested a black man on charges that he forced a 15-year-old girl into the woods and raped her

Jermain B. Nathan, 18, of Columbus has been jailed on charges of rape, aggravated sodomy, kidnapping and robbery, said police Lt. Ronald Hastings. The incident happened when the girl, a Kendrick High School student, was walking near Forrest Road and Honeysuckle Drive when she was attacked, police said. She was treated for injuries at The Medical Center and released, according to family members. Family members said that the girl watched football practice at Fort Middle School and left with another girl about sundown. The other girl caught a ride home with a family member, leaving the 15-year-old to walk alone. The girl’s attacker threatened to kill her, according to relatives. After the attack, she fled the woods naked and bloodied and went to a nearby house for help. Hastings said that Nathan was arrested at his residence. He declined to release further details about the case ahead of a preliminary Recorder’s Court hearing. The victim was relieved that Nathan was arrested, her father said.

Is Obama losing blacks?

According to a Washington Post/ABC News survey, Obama's favorability rating among African-Americans has dropped off a cliff, plunging from 83% to a mere 58% — a drop of 25 points. Nothing is more crucial to Obama’s reelection strategy than a super-strong showing among black voters. In the election of 2008, he was able to increase African-American participation from 11% of the total vote in 2004 to 14%. He carried 98% of black voters. This swing accounted for fully half of his gain over the showing of John Kerry. Now his ability to repeat that performance is in doubt. Obama's personal favorability has taken a big hit even as his job approval has shown no gain. The Post/ABC poll has his rating down to 47%, the first time in his presidency it has dropped below 50. The most recent New York Times/CBS poll had his favorability actually lagging behind his job approval by 4 points — the first time it has ever done so in their polling.

A court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced a woman to 10 lashes for breaking the country's ban on female drivers

The woman, identified only as Shema, was found guilty of driving in Jeddah in July 2011. The sentence comes two days after the Saudi leader King Abdullah announced that women would be allowed to vote for the first time in 2015. Two other women are due to appear in court later in 2011 on similar charges.

On the run for 41 years, a black hijacker has been arrested in Portugal

He had been on the run for four decades. He escaped from prison when Richard Nixon was in the White House, joined the Black Liberation Army in Detroit, hijacked a plane and demanded that FBI agents deliver ransom money in bathing suits. Now, after a manhunt spanning three continents that often appeared to run cold, the FBI has finally found African-American George Wright. At age 68, he was living in the resort of Sintra near Lisbon in Portugal when he was arrested. The United States is seeking his extradition from Portugal to serve the remainder of a 15- to 30-year sentence for murder. In 1962, at the age of 19, he and three associates carried out a series of robberies in New Jersey. Wright and another man shot and killed a World War II veteran in a gas station robbery in Farmingdale. He was arrested soon afterward and, after pleading no defense, was sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison. But in 1970, Wright escaped from Bayside State Prison in Leesburg, New Jersey. Wright made his way to Detroit, a hotbed of militant black politics, and joined the Black Liberation Army. On July 31, 1972, Wright and four other members of the Black Liberation Army went to Detroit airport and boarded Delta Flight 841 for Miami. Wright was dressed as a priest and carried a handgun in a hollowed-out Bible. The hijackers of Delta 841 - three men and two women accompanied by three children - seized the plane as it approached Miami. The FBI says that subsequent investigation identified Wright as one of the hijackers. Once on the ground, the hijackers demanded that FBI agents deliver $1 million ransom to the plane. The hijackers ordered that the plane fly to Boston. With the addition of an extra navigator, the DC-8 was refueled there and flew on to Algiers. Algeria in the early 1970s was run by a hard-line socialist government that was no friend of the United States and allowed various dissidents, militants and terrorists to take sanctuary there. A leading member of the Black Panthers, Eldridge Cleaver, had been welcomed as a political refugee there in 1968 after jumping bail in California. The Algerian government confiscated and returned the $1 million in ransom money to the United States, but Wright and his associates were allowed to get away. Some of the hijackers were arrested in Paris in 1976, but for decades, there was no trace of Wright. Then, nine years ago, a fugitive investigator with the New Jersey Department of Corrections working with the U.S. Marshals Service got a lead. At the time of the hijacking, there was limited screening of passengers at U.S. airports. This screening system did not require every passenger to be examined, only those who met a profile established by the Federal Aviation Administration. After the Algiers flight and several hijackings that turned violent, the Nixon administration instructed the FAA to adopt emergency regulations to improve screening. At the end of 1972, the FAA ordered airports to ensure that all passengers and their carry-on baggage be inspected before boarding.

Same-sex couples now account for 0.55% of total households in the United States

Steve Sailer on sexual oddballs.

Is Morgan Freeman planning to marry his step-granddaughter?

Some disturbing gossip concerning one of Hollywood's favorite black actors.

Obama goes tribal

Obama will try pursuing an anti-white Christian strategy in order to win in 2012.

A group of British-born Muslim men who planned to commit mass murder with suicide bombing missions in Britain have appeared in court

The Islamic men, who prosecutors said had formed a terror cell, are accused of training in explosives, weapons and poisoning techniques during trips to Pakistan. Some of the group are accused of raising money for terrorism during collections on British streets. The six defendants, who are all from Birmingham and aged from 25 to 32, were arrested by the West Midlands police counter-terrorism unit. Two of the group – Ifran Nasser, 30, and Ifran Khalid, 26 – have been charged with a string of offenses dating from Christmas Day 2010 to September 19, 2011. They are accused of planning a suicide-bombing campaign, making a martyrdom film, recruiting others for terrorist acts, collecting money for terrorism, traveling to Pakistan to learn how to make bombs, weapons and poisons, and advising others on explosives and how to build a home-made bomb. Ashik Ali, 26, is accused of planning a suicide bombing, constructing a home-made bomb, recruiting others for terrorist training, collecting money for terrorism and stating his intention to be a suicide bomber. His brother, university graduate Bahader Ali, 28, and Mohammed Rizwan, 32, are accused of failing to disclose information which could prevent terror attacks. Rahin Ahmed, 25, is accused of helping to fund terrorism acts and assisting others to travel to Pakistan for training in terrorism. All were remanded in custody.

Iran will mete out eye for an eye justice when it blinds a waiter who hurled acid at a man

The Islamic Republic's supreme court sanctioned the punishment after the victim asked for revenge. The 26-year-old waiter, identified by his first name, Mohammad, had confessed to the attack. His victim, named Vali, was injured and blinded in one eye. Vali then asked for qesas - an eye for an eye style of justice - and that Mohammad be blinded. The attack happened after a plot was hatched by the victim's brother-in-law. The Islamic sharia code in force in Iran provides for retributive justice, most commonly for murder or for those convicted of causing intentional physical injury.

A black 96-year-old woman has been accused of shooting dead her nephew with a .357 magnum handgun

African-American Amanda Rice Stevenson is the oldest person to ever be charged with murder in the state of Florida. Her nephew 53-year-old Johnny Rice was found dead on the floor of the home he shares with his elderly aunt in St Augustine, Florida. Police said that a .357 Magnum was found at the scene of the shooting. Investigators said that the 96-year-old retired postal worker was involved in a long running dispute with her nephew and police had been called to the house several times recently. Police found Rice dead inside and his aunt in a back bedroom. Rice was shot in the chest with a .357 caliber handgun. Stevenson is being held without bond and taken into custody on a charge of willful homicide. Court records show that she has two previous arrests, one for arson in 1995 and another four years ago for writing a bad check.

Jews are disappointed in Obama but will vote for him anyway

The annual American Jewish Committee poll found that Obama is regarded poorly in the Jewish community. Forty-eight percent disapprove of his performance, while 45% approve. His performance on the economy is rated much worse: only 37% approve and 60% disapprove. On Israel, 53% disapprove of Obama’s handling of U.S.-Israel relations, and only 40% give him a thumbs up. The GOP contender who would do best against Obama with Jewish voters is Mitt Romney, who gets 32% of the vote in the survey and drags Obama down to 50% (from his 78% in 2008). Texas Gov. Rick Perry got 25%, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) got 19% and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie got 26%. As for the particulars of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Jews substantive positions are at odds with Obama on a variety of topics. Fifty-five percent disapprove of a Palestinian state, and 59% think that Israel shouldn’t compromise on Jerusalem. Overwhelming majorities of Jews think that the United States should cut off aid to a Hamas-Fatah government and that the PA should recognize Israel as a Jewish state. A word of caution about the poll: Only 29% of those surveyed identified themselves as Reform Jews, and 37% identified themselves as “Just Jews” (likely non-affiliated or non-engaged Jews), while Conservative and Orthodox Jews (who are the most conservative politically and upset by Obama’s stance on Israel) collectively account for 31% of the Jewish population. Other studies have suggested that the Jewish population is much more tilted toward Reform Jews and “Just Jews.” This suggests that the AJC poll may be slightly more anti-Obama than the larger Jewish community. This is backed up by the fact that Orthodox respondents disapprove of "Obama’s handling of his job as President" at a much higher rate: 72%, compared to 48% for Conservative and 44% for Reform.

The NYPD are seeking a 21-year-old African-American who sexually assaulted a 24-year-old Brooklyn man while screaming homophobic slurs

The incident occurred after Julius Wright (alias "Stinky") stole the man's phone at fake-gunpoint. Police say that the victim was approached by a black man who pretended to have a gun. After taking the victim's phone, the black criminal asked the victim his sexual orientation and then began berating the man with anti-gay slurs — before sexually assaulting him. The victim was later taken to Woodhull Hospital where he was treated for his injuries.

Would Mitt Romney be the most anti-immigration president since Eisenhower?

Romney is the only candidate who is talking about the jobs aspect of immigration policy right now.

Black politician Maxine Waters says that Obama would never tell the Jews or the gays to stop complaining

This is the problem with diverse political parties like the Democrats: each group in that party will want the politicians to pander to them more than they do to any other group.

Obama is basing his reelection hopes on the support of blacks, Hispanics, Jews, women, seniors, young people, gays and Asian Americans

If the GOP was smart they would target the white majority in the same way that Obama is focusing on various minority groups to increase their votes in the 2012 elections. Unfortunately, the GOP isn't that smart.

Obama and affirmative action

Steve Sailer examines Obama's relationship with the African-American community and his support of pro-black racial discrimination.

A rabbi who admitted operating an illegal money-remitting business that transferred thousands of dollars in checks to government witness Solomon Dwek has been sentenced to one year of probation

Edmond Nahum, 58, who served as cantor and assistant rabbi for the Synagogue of Deal, was given no fine by U.S. District Judge Joel A. Pisano, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Nahum’s lawyer, Justin P. Walder of Roseland, described Nahum as a naive man, a Talmudic scholar who was victimized by Dwek, whom he considered a close family friend. In June 2011, Nahum pleaded guilty in federal court to operating the illegal business using the bank accounts of the Deal Kupot and Ahavat Haim Vachesed — a pair of Monmouth County charitable organizations he controlled. Nahum worked with Saul Kassin, chief rabbi of Congregation Sharee Zion in Brooklyn, who pleaded guilty in March 2011 to one count of unauthorized money transmitting and was given two years of unsupervised probation at his sentencing. When he entered his guilty plea, Nahum also agreed to forfeit the $175,381 seized from the Deal Kupot bank account during the July 23, 2009 FBI raid that netted five rabbis and dozens of other public officials and political operatives on federal corruption and money-laundering charges. Kassin, 89, who lives in Brooklyn but had spent summers in Deal, is the spiritual leader of the 75,000-member Syrian Jewish community in Brooklyn and Deal. Nahum admitted that from June 2007 through December 2008, he transferred thousands of dollars in checks to Dwek, whom he later learned was cooperating with the FBI. Dwek’s father, Rabbi Isaac Dwek, was one of more than 60 people who wrote a letter to the court on Nahum’s behalf, Walder said. Isaac Dwek, who served as the spiritual leader at the Synagogue of Deal, brought Nahum to this country from Israel.

Muslims and polygamy in Britain

Muslim men in bigamous marriages are abusing the benefits system in Britain.

The severe famine gripping Somalia is not only starving millions of people, it's creating an instance of mass rape for refugees fleeing into Kenya

About 1,000 a day are forced to trek 50 miles from the border to a refugee camp in Dadaab, often falling prey to bandits on the way. "One obvious solution is to establish reception centers along the border, and then bus refugees to Dadaab," writes Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times. "Kenya isn’t embracing that idea, however, for fear of an even larger Somali influx." Kristof sympathizes, but insists that international aid groups must be allowed to open reception centers to stop the violence. He also repudiates readers who say that it is pointless to help families that bear more children than the society can afford to feed. "Somalis have eight children partly because they know that several may die," writes Kristof. "If we help save lives now so that parents can be confident their kids will survive, family size will drop." Sure right.

When African-American Larry Seabrook goes on trial for corruption, he wants Jewish Mayor Bloomberg and lesbian City Council Speaker Christine Quinn to testify as witnesses for the defense

The Bronx Council member is accused of steering $1.2 million in discretionary grants to nonprofits he controlled to enrich himself, his girlfriend and family members. He contends that he did nothing wrong and is likely to argue the grants were approved by the Council leader's office and City Hall. Defense lawyer Anthony Ricco said that Bloomberg and Quinn (D-Manhattan) were on Seabrook's witness list, but he declined to elaborate. Ricco has submitted a proposed list of questions for prospective jurors that includes one asking if they have had any dealings directly or indirectly with the mayor or the speaker. The sweeping 12-count indictment against "Cash and Carry Larry," as Seabrook has been called, also includes charges that he collected $50,000 in bribes from a Bronx businessman who won a boiler contract at the new Yankee Stadium. Prosecutors say the bribes were funneled to the Seabrook-run North East Bronx Community Democratic Club and that Seabrook then obtained the money by turning in receipts, some of them bogus. Among the phony receipts was one for the $7 purchase of a bagel and soda near City Hall. Prosecutors say that the receipt had been brazenly doctored to make the total read $177.

China has banned a dog-eating festival that dates back more than 600 years after an Internet uproar over the way the dogs are slaughtered

Dogs are chopped up and skinned in the streets of Qianxi township in coastal Zhejiang province during the ancient festival, which is usually held in October. The festival marks a military victory during the Ming dynasty, in which dogs in Qianxi were killed so that they would not bark and alert the enemy. After the victory, dog meat was served at a celebratory feast, and since then people have eaten dog meat at temple fairs held during traditional Chinese holidays. The ancient fair was replaced by a modern commodity fair in the 1980s, but dog eating has been kept as a tradition. However, vendors began to butcher dogs in public in recent years to show that their dog meat is fresh and safe and as a way to ease buyers' worry that the meat may be refrigerator-preserved or even contaminated.

A Hispanic member of the Hell's Angels motorcycle club is facing charges including assault with a deadly weapon after a brawl between club members devolved into a gunfight that left one person dead

Police identified the victim of the shooting at John Ascuaga's Nugget Casino Resort in Sparks, Nevada, as Jeffrey Pettigrew, 51, president of the San Jose, California, chapter of the Hell's Angels. Two other people, both of California and members of the Vagos motorcycle club, were in stable condition at hospitals after being shot in the abdomen and the leg, respectively. Cesar Villagrana, 36, was arrested after surveillance video showed him shooting into the crowd during the melee, Sparks police said in a statement. Besides assault with a deadly weapon, Villagrana also faces charges of carrying a concealed weapon; aiming a firearm at another; aiming or discharging a firearm where a person is endangered; and possession of stolen property/firearm, jail records show. His bail was set at $500,000 cash only.

Why do blacks support black murderers but whites don't support white murderers?

James Fulford examines the different attitudes of whites and blacks regarding the death penalty.

A Mexican woman has been found decapitated, for what the Texas-border Zetas drug cartel claimed were her postings on a local social networking website

It is thought to be the third killing in September 2011 for drug-related comments posted online in Nuevo Laredo. The head of Marisol Macias Castaneda was placed on a large stone near her body, with a note referring to Nuevo Laredo en Vivo and her handle there. "Nuevo Laredo en Vivo and social networking sites, I'm The Laredo Girl, and I'm here because of my reports, and yours," says the note. "For those who don't want to believe, this happened to me because of my actions, for believing in the army and the navy. Thank you for your attention, respectfully, Laredo Girl...ZZZZ." The Zs refer to the Zetas gang.

Under Obama's plan, debt held by the public will grow from just over $10 trillion to $17.7 trillion by 2021

Mark Steyn explains why the 2012 Presidential election will be so important to the future of the United States of America.

Black thugs kill white couple in Oklahoma

Police think that African-Americans Darren Price, 19, and Jerard Davis, 21, ambushed the white couple to rob them, made them get on their knees and shot them execution style. Police say that the black suspects then ran off, discarding the couple's belongings along the way.

Since 1994 between 30,000 and 40,000 whites have been murdered in South Africa

Over 3,100 of these are farmers, making being a white farmer in South Africa statistically the most dangerous occupation on Earth.

Why are so many black men not attracted to black women?

Black men are generally more likely to be involved in interracial sexual relationships than are either white men or white women.

Apparently Florida Republicans want to replace one incompetent black guy with another one

In a stunner, African-American businessman Herman Cain – who campaigned hard in Orlando the past three days with a fiery message of tough decisions for tough times – has won the Florida Presidency 5 straw poll. Cain, who has never been elected to any office, took 37.4% of the vote from Republican delegates gathered at the Orange County Convention Center for the Presidency 5 weekend. He blew away the field. Texas Gov. Rick Perry finished second with 15.4% and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney finished third with 14%. Apparently, Florida Republicans think that having a white President of the United States is racist. I guess Cain will want Pokemon to be his Vice-President.

The Nigerian police have arrested two people in connection with the gang-rape of a woman posted on the Internet

Bala Hassan, the commissioner for police in Abia State, said that the two men were detained after cyber activists posted pictures and names online. The video has shocked Nigeria both for the brutal nature of the rape and the initial failure to investigate. There had appeared little chance of the five men who taped themselves sexually assaulting a woman being caught. Despite the video of the rape being widely watched online, officials in Abia State had declared their short investigations over as the victim had not come forward. What followed was a sustained campaign on social networks to force the police back into action and to uncover clues from the video that might identify the culprits. The Nigerian national assembly called on the police to re-open their investigation. Three days later, based purely on names and photos posted online, they have made two arrests. The rape victim also appears to have been located. A women's rights group has said that they are now in touch with her and are trying to get her out of Abia State to where she can receive counseling and medical attention. This high-profile case has highlighted the Nigerian police's refusal to take rape seriously as a crime.

Obama and the Jewish problem

What does Obama have to do to convince the Jews that he is their bitch?

As America reels from the worst week on Wall Street for three years, economists predicted more gloom on the horizon by claiming Obama's jobs plan will have little to no impact when it comes to improving the employment situation

A range of experts say that the package would not create the projected 1.9 million new jobs in 2012 or lower the 9.1% unemployment level. Heidi Shierholz, economist for the Economic Policy Institute, calculates that it would take job growth of 400,000 every month for three years in a row to get back to the 5% jobless rate last seen in December 2007, at the recession's outset. The economy produced just 20,000 net new jobs in June 2011, 85,000 in July 2011 and none in August 2011. As long as the GDP grows at an annual rate beneath 2.5%, it cannot create enough jobs for new entrants into the workforce, let alone to re-employ those laid off during the downturn, said Martin Regalia, chief economist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation's biggest business lobby. The chamber estimates that it will take 20 million jobs over the next decade to get the economy back to pre-recession levels. It has its own jobs plan, which includes increased trade, greater oil drilling, quicker road and bridge construction and temporary corporate tax breaks. "If you want to go from 9.1% down to 5.5 or 6% unemployment, you're going to have to grow roughly at 4.5% (GDP) for three years," Regalia said. "I don't see that in the forecast."

A majority of Americans rates Obama “about the same” or “worse” than his predecessor, George W. Bush, according to a new Gallup poll

When a random sample of 1004 adults were asked to compare the 43rd and 44th presidents, 34% of respondents said that Obama had been a worse president than Bush, while 22% said he was about the same. Predictably, Democrats were most supportive of Obama, while Republicans favored Bush in the poll. The response from independent voters might be most telling for Obama: a troublesome 67% said that they considered him about the same or worse than Bush. The findings underscore the challenges that Obama faces in his bid for a second term, with many voters dissatisfied with the direction of the country and their own economic situations.

What do blacks really think of whites?

Some interesting quotes from famous blacks expressing how they and other African-Americans feel about whites.

The Economist/YouGov Poll is full of bad news for Barack Obama

Just 36% approve of the way he is handing his job overall, the lowest rating ever in the two and a half years of his presidency. More than half the public — 56% — disapproves of Obama’s performance. Just 15% would describe him as “effective,” while 40% would not. Even Democrats are hesitant to describe Obama as “effective.” Only 28% of them would.

Prosecutors have charged a Hispanic with killing his 8-year-old stepdaughter a day after her body was found in a remote area several miles north of their home

Salvador Carlos Lopez, 32, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Kerra Wilson, according to court documents. Investigators found Kerra's body in a rugged area of Sioux County - miles away from the family's home - after a rancher reported seeing something suspicious. A Nebraska State Patrol investigator said in court documents that Lopez acknowledged killing his stepdaughter after Kerra's body was found. Police spent two days searching for the girl after Lopez and her mother, Amada Lopez, reported her missing. Lopez had claimed he dropped her off at school, but investigators don't believe that. Authorities said that the last time the brown-haired, blue-eyed girl from Mitchell was seen by anyone other than her stepfather was when Kerra was with her grandparents. Mitchell Elementary School principal Kirk Kuxhausen said that Kerra did not appear in any of the security camera footage shot in the school or on the playground. Investigators weren't initially able to find the body because the surrounding terrain was so rugged. Investigators were still trying to determine when and where the girl was killed, Nebraska State Patrol Lt. Monica Bartling said. Kerra Wilson has three younger siblings who are all staying with family members.

Between 1990 and 2010, Hispanics made up almost half (46.8%) of the population increase of the United States

While the overall US population increased by 60 million people, Hispanics made up 28 million of those additional residents. Hispanics make up half of US residents over 18 years of age with less than 8 years of school and they make up over one-third of those with less than a high school education.

Perry and educating illegal immigrants

Rick Perry thinks that it is heartless to be against using the taxes of US citizens to educate people who came to the United States illegally. Just one more reason to hope that this clown does not get the GOP nomination.

Hollywood and pseudo-history

Why is Hollywood so obsessed with portraying blacks as great scientists in the movies when there are so few great black scientists in the real world?

Racial voting in Los Angeles

The most likely voting pattern to emerge is that white voters side with white candidates, black voters side with black candidates, Latino voters side with Latino candidates, and Asian voters side with Asian candidates. These voting patterns have consistently been found in rigorous statistical analysis from 1960 to 2010 in Los Angeles.

African-American men living in low sunlight areas are more likely to experience vitamin D deficiency than European-American men living in the same environment

Researchers evaluated the marker for vitamin D - the 25 hydroxyvitamin D level (25-OH D level) - in 492 men aged 40 to 79 years who lived in Chicago, a low ultraviolet radiation (UVR) part of the country. Of that group, 93% of African-American men and 69.7% of European-American men were vitamin D deficient; having 25-OH D levels of less than 30 ng/mL. Results showed that vitamin D levels were low in African American men, those with lower income and those with higher body mass index. Low sunlight exposure is a known factor in lower levels of vitamin D, but researchers found that African American men still had lower levels of vitamin D in sunnier seasons. Researchers attribute low vitamin D levels to the composition of African-American skin, which contains more of the dark pigment melanin than lighter skin. When UVR light hits the skin cells, it reacts with the molecule 7-dehydrocholesterol to begin the production of vitamin D, which is then further processed by the body to make active vitamin D. In African-Americans, though, dark melanin blocks UVR rays from being absorbed, thus reducing the amount of vitamin D naturally produced. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to multiple diseases, including breast cancer, prostate cancer, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis, which is why the researchers believe it is essential to adjust recommendations to reflect differences between African Americans and European-Americans.

Black women experience the highest rates of stillbirth in subsequent pregnancies

White women with previous infant death were nearly twice as likely to experience subsequent stillbirth, compared to white women with prior infant survival. Black women with previous infant death were more than four times as likely to experience subsequent stillbirth, compared to black women with prior infant survival. The risk of stillbirth among women with and without a history of infant death, neonatal death, and post-neonatal death by race was also reviewed and the researchers found that black women had the highest rates of stillbirth in subsequent pregnancy. Looking specifically at neonatal death, black women were more than nine times as likely to experience stillbirth as white women. Women with infant death in the first pregnancy are more likely to be black, obese, and smoke during pregnancy.

Why is it that liberals only care about the death penalty when it is a black man who is about to be executed?

Brendan O'Neill exposes the hypocrisy of the politically-correct when it comes to executions.

Genetic differences in prostate cells seem to be a root cause of the prostate cancer disparities between African-American males and white men

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among men in the United States, with occurrences and mortality rates higher in African-American men compared to white men. Researchers analyzed normal and cancerous prostate tissue samples from African-American and white men who underwent prostate biopsies. They looked at two key genetic pieces: messenger RNA (mRNA), which carry codes from DNA that is then used to make proteins; and microRNA, shorter RNA strands that regulate that process by binding to mRNA and interrupt the gene expression or protein translation. The results showed enough differences between African-American and white men to determine that each race has population specific mRNA and microRNA. Specifically, they found that nearly 400 mRNAs were differentially expressed between the cancerous prostate tissues of African-American and white men. These differences are crucial because mRNA and microRNA affect the biological pathways by which prostate cancer tumor formation is either promoted or stopped.

New study finds that black Americans who have completed higher education are more likely to end up in interracial marriage

The study found that educated black Americans are more likely to marry a white partner. The study also found that black men tend to marry white woman at a higher rate than black women marry white men.

Sex slavery in India

There is a town in India where every girl is born to be a sex slave. In fact, many of the girls are forced into prostitution by members of their own families.

Perry and immigrant workers in Texas

Governor Rick Perry has pointed to job growth in Texas during the current economic downturn as one of his main accomplishments. But analysis of the data shows that immigrants (legal and illegal) have been the primary beneficiaries of this growth since 2007, not native-born workers. This is true even though the native-born accounted for the vast majority of growth in the working-age population (age 16 to 65) in Texas. Thus, they should have received the lion’s share of the increase in employment. As a result, the share of working-age natives in Texas holding a job has declined in a manner very similar to the nation as a whole. Of jobs created in Texas since 2007, 81% were taken by newly arrived immigrant workers (legal and illegal). Of newly arrived immigrants who took jobs in Texas since 2007, it is estimated that 50% were illegal immigrants.

Bill Clinton says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to blame for the continued failure of the Middle East peace process

Hopefully, Obama will find the courage to stand up to the Israelis when he is no longer president.

One of the Democratic party's leading pollsters has released a survey of 60 Republican-held battleground districts painting an ominous picture for Congressional Democrats in 2012

The poll shows Democratic House candidates faring worse than they did in the 2010 midterms, being dragged down by an unpopular president who would lose to both Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Mitt Romney. The numbers are troubling for Democrats, and echoed some of the takeaways from the GOP special election upset in New York City recently. Instead of an overall anti-incumbent sentiment impacting members of both parties, voters are taking more of their anger out on Democrats. When voters were asked whether they're supporting the Republican incumbent or a Democratic candidate, 50% preferred the Republican and just 41% backed the Democrat. Obama's job approval rating in the battleground districts is just 41%, and only inches up to 43% in the 30 more-competitive seats that are a little more Democratic. Both Perry and Romney hit a near-majority of 49% against Obama in the battlegrounds, suggesting that voters are more concerned with casting their ballot against Obama than caring about who the Republican nominee ends up being.

A black Cook County sheriff’s correctional officer has been charged with the 1997 rape of a 10-year-old girl in south suburban Harvey after a DNA test linked him to the crime

The charges stemmed from a 2007 raid by state's attorney investigators and other law enforcement agencies on the Harvey Police Department in which dozens of untested rape kits were discovered and seized, officials said. Charges against African-American Robert Buchanan, 45, were filed after state's attorney investigators obtained a DNA sample from Buchanan to compare with the DNA originally obtained in the rape kit in 1997 but had gone untested by the Harvey department. Buchanan was charged with predatory criminal sexual assault. According to prosecutors, he sexually assaulted the child over the course of seven months in the Harvey home where he lived with the child and her mother. In August 1997, the girl told her mother about the assaults, and she was taken to a hospital where a rape kit and was taken and semen identified. The mother contacted Harvey police, who questioned Buchanan but released him without charges and without sending the rape kit to the Illinois State Police Crime Lab for testing. Buchanan, 45, was ordered held in lieu of $200,000 bail. He has been on disability leave from the sheriff's department since November 2010, officials said. The sheriff's office has begun proceedings to fire him, they said.

Sentencing will be held in January 2012 for a black man who admits posing as a member of the Ku Klux Klan in sending racist letters in 2006 to a police department and city hall in his former southwestern Illinois hometown of O'Fallon

African-American Justin Kidd, 28, pleaded guilty in federal court in East St. Louis to charges of conveying false threats in O'Fallon. Federal prosecutors say that Kidd mailed a letter to the O'Fallon Police Department in November 2006 threatening to burn down an apartment complex if blacks were not barred from living there. Another letter to O'Fallon City Hall a week later pledged to burn down the houses of blacks there if they weren't purged from the city.

The chances of a black woman finding a “good” black man are extremely slim, according to a study by Best Black Dating Sites

The study claims that only about 3% of black men fulfill the criteria of being a good, qualified partner. The criteria was primarily based on data compiled on whether the eligible black men were heterosexual, good-looking, successful, or childless.

A 55-year-old black woman has been jailed after having sex with a 12-year-old boy while knowing she had the HIV virus

Investigators said that Debra Flowers Haggerty exposed the boy to a deadly weapon after he came into contact with her saliva during a sex act. Court documents filed in Houston, Texas, reveal that Haggerty is HIV positive. The assault took place at her sister's home. According to the arrest report, Haggerty unzipped her young victim's trousers and engaged in a sex act with him. The victim has been checked out by doctors and told that he has not contracted the HIV virus, but he said he is still fearful he might yet develop the illness. Haggerty, who has a grown up daughter, was charged with aggravated assault with a child. She is being held in jail on a bond of $30,000 and faces up to ten years behind bars if convicted.

A woman who has been repeatedly raped begs her captors to kill her in a shocking video that has sparked outrage in Nigeria

Activists in Nigeria say that the video exposes an under-reported epidemic of rape in Africa's most populous nation, and they plan to march in the coming days to draw attention to the case. Nigeria's Youth Minister Bolaji Abdullahi has issued a statement calling for the university and police to arrest and prosecute the men shown in the video, as well as offering assistance to the woman. Rape is rarely reported to authorities in Nigeria — there were only 1,952 cases in 2009, according to federal police statistics posted on a website called Nigeria Police Watch. However, a 2006 Amnesty International report said that those numbers are believed to be sporadic, piecemeal and inconsistent in a nation of 150 million people. Nigeria's federal police force also remains largely incapable of investigating crimes, as its officers routinely harass motorists for bribes at checkpoints and arrest citizens randomly to collect so-called "bail money." Activists say that they fear for the woman shown being attacked in the video, who now may be shunned by those who can identify her face.

Studies have shown that Latinos, African-Americans and women are disproportionately affected by arthritis and have more severe pain and limitation

According to the CDC, Hispanics and African Americans are nearly twice as likely as whites to have severe joint pain and work limitations. Among Latinos with arthritis, at least one in five reported a significant arthritis attributable effect, including severe joint pain and activity or work limitations. Moreover, obesity and other chronic health conditions exacerbate the debilitating impact of arthritis, leading to inactivity, loss of independence, and perpetuating a cycle of chronic conditions. According to the CDC, obesity prevalence is 54% higher among adults with arthritis compared with adults without arthritis.

An African rapist has avoided deportation from Britain after European judges ruled kicking him out would violate his right to a family life

The 24-year-old Nigerian has no partner or children but the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ordered the British Government to let him stay and pay £3,500 of his legal bill. The rapist, identified only as AA after the court gave in to his demands for anonymity, was 15 when he was given four years in 2002 for raping a 13-year-old girl. He had only been in the country two years at the time.

About 90% of Mexican victims of common crime in 2010 never contacted police, citing bureaucratic delays and general mistrust of legal authorities who solve few cases, a study by Mexico's national statistics agency found

Victims who went to the trouble of reporting crimes like robbery, extortion, car theft and break-ins to prosecutors faced a 35% chance there would be no investigation of their cases, the report said. The independent statistics agency, known as Inegi, surveyed over 78,000 households across Mexico in 2010 and found that 15% of victims of unreported crimes said they had no faith in the authorities. More than 33% said that filing a complaint was too time-consuming, while more than 6% said they were discouraged by the hostile attitude of the police. Inegi regularly polls the public about perceptions of safety and during 2010's March-April period, nearly 70% of the population felt insecure.

Though whites have the highest incidence of breast cancer overall, African-American women have the highest rates of pre-menopausal breast cancer and are more likely to die from the disease at any age

African-American women are more than twice as likely as white women to be diagnosed with early-onset, virulent tumors called triple-negatives, so named because they are not fueled by estrogen, progesterone or the HER2neu protein and therefore do not respond to current therapies that block or eliminate those hormones. Women in West Africa are similarly afflicted. Triple-negatives can be removed through surgery if caught early. Trouble is, young women and African-American women tend to have particularly dense breast tissue, making it hard for even a mammogram to catch some tumors. At the other end of the spectrum, Asian and Pacific Islander women have the lowest rates of breast cancer and morbidity of all the ethnic groups in the United States.

Patients with a high degree of African ancestry had a greater incidence of high-risk neuroblastoma and poorer outcomes

Children with a higher degree of African ancestry had increased rates of high-risk disease and lower survival rates following chemotherapy. This indicates that African ancestors may have passed along common genetic variants that are associated with the development of the aggressive form of neuroblastoma and perhaps a relative intrinsic chemotherapy resistance that is associated with the observed inferior outcomes.

A new McClatchy-Marist poll finds that Obama looks increasingly vulnerable in 2012's election, with a majority of voters believing he'll lose to any Republican, a solid plurality saying they'll definitely vote against him and most potential Republican challengers gaining on him

Even Sarah Palin leads Obama amongst independents. By a margin of 49% to 36%, voters said that they definitely plan to vote against Obama, according to the poll. Independents by 53% to 28% said that they definitely plan to vote against him. With that sentiment permeating the electorate a little more than a year before the general election, most Americans think Obama won't win a second term. By 52% to 38%, voters think that he'll lose to the Republican nominee, whoever that is. Even among Democrats, 31% think that the Republican nominee will win.

Mexico: Investigators say that they have a video that may hold clues to how unidentified men managed to drive two open-back trucks filled with 35 bodies through rush-hour traffic and then abandon them, blocking traffic and leaving bodies on the highway

Police in the east coast state of Veracruz found the abandoned trucks and the bodies near a shopping mall in the municipality of Boca del Rio. Photos of the scene showed the two trucks - with tall, open-slat sides, like for carrying produce or animals - with their back gates open, the bodies literally falling out onto the street. People on a nearby overpass looked down on shirtless bodies piled on top of each other. Drug violence is not unheard of in Veracruz, a Zetas cartel stronghold, but a killing of this magnitude shocked even the hardened Mexicans. At a university peace conference in Mexico City, an activist leader said that the bodies found in Veracruz are a reminder that Mexicans must not become desensitized to violence, even if authorities say the victims had criminal histories. The dead included 12 women and 23 men. The video may show that the two trucks were guarded by other cars that could have doubled as getaway vehicles, Veracruz Attorney General Reynaldo Escobar Perez said in a radio interview. He did not say where the video came from. Investigators also are looking into whether police colluded with the people who discarded the bodies. Currently, 95% of the bodies have been identified through databases, Escobar Perez said. Most of them had criminal records, he said. One of them was identified as a local policeman who disappeared about 15 days ago, he said. In another interview, the attorney general said that the victims died of suffocation. Only one had a bullet wound, he said. The state of the bodies led investigators to deduce that they died shortly before being abandoned, Escobar Perez said. Boca del Rio is in Veracruz state's most populated area. It has become a frequent site of clashes between armed groups as drug-related violence grows.

British men prefer blue-eyed women

A survey has found that 40.2% of British men prefer blue-eyed women over those with brown (29.2%), green (17.5%) or hazel (13.1%) eyes.

How did we wind up with another lightweight in the Oval Office?

Steve Sailer explains the role that race and affirmative action had in Obama's rise to power.

Should Obama withdraw?

Steve Chapman, a member of the Tribune's editorial board, thinks that Obama should let Hillary Clinton replace him.

The mysterious powers of Barack Obama

Columnist George F. Will, speaking on ABC’s This Week:

He went to Massachusetts to campaign against Scott Brown; Brown is now a senator. He went to New Jersey to campaign against Chris Christie, who’s now governor. He went to Virginia to campaign against Bob McDonnell, who’s now governor. He campaigned for the health-care plan extensively, it became less popular. He campaigned in 2010 for the Democrats, they were shellacked. He began, in a sense, his presidency flying to Copenhagen to get Chicago the Olympics; Chicago was the first city eliminated. There is no evidence that the man has the rhetorical powers that he is relying on.

Black man rapes bank!

UBS has raised its estimated losses due to unauthorized trading to $2.3 billion from an initial $2 billion. The bank also said that the activity by black trader Kweku Adoboli was uncovered after UBS began making inquiries. That prompted Adoboli to admit the losses, UBS said. The African trader has been charged with fraud and false accounting at a London court. The charges add that Adoboli filed false accounts between October 2008 and December 2009, and from January to September 2011. Prosecutors say that Adoboli dishonestly abused that position intending thereby to make a gain for himself, causing losses to UBS or to expose UBS to risk of loss. The UBS statement claimed that Adoboli had conducted legitimate derivative transactions, giving the bank heavy exposure to various stock market indexes. But he had then entered fictitious hedges against these positions into UBS' risk management system, while in reality he had no hedge in place and was breaching the risk limits that the bank required him to work within. Adoboli has taken on the law firm Kingsley Napley, which also represented Nick Leeson, the rogue trader who brought down Baring's bank. According to reports he is the son of a retired United Nations employee from Ghana, and he attended school and university in Britain. All three major ratings agencies - Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch - are reviewing UBS' credit rating for a possible downgrade in light of the apparent failure of the bank's risk control systems.

Bad news for Israel: A global BBC poll suggests that more people support UN recognition of Palestine as an independent state than oppose it

Across the 19 countries surveyed, 49% backed the proposal while 21% said that their government should oppose it. The Palestinians say that they will ask for full membership at the United Nations but the United States says it will veto the move. The Palestinians are seeking international recognition of their state based on 1967 borders - the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. Israel and the United States say that a Palestinian state can only be achieved through direct negotiation. The poll, jointly conducted by the BBC and GlobeScan, saw majority support in four predominantly Muslim countries, with Chinese people also strongly endorsing the proposal. Even in countries where opposition was strongest, more people polled supported the resolution than were against it. The United States and the Philippines both polled 36% against the resolution. But 45% of Americans and 56% of Filipinos backed recognition. The lowest level of support was in India, with 32% in favor and 25% opposed, with many undecided. Support was strongest in Egypt, where 90% were in favor and only 9% opposed. In other Muslim countries, Turkey recorded 60% support, 19% opposition; Pakistan 52% for, 12% against; and Indonesia 51% for, 16% against. The Chinese were among the most enthusiastic supporters, with 56% in favor and just 9% opposed. Public opinion in the three large European Union member states included in the poll was strikingly similar on the issue: France (54% support, 20% opposition), Germany (53% v 28%) and Britain (53% v 26%). Overall, 30% opted for not giving a definite answer as they thought their country should abstain, or "it depends", or they did not offer a view. But more than half of Russians and Chileans did not offer a definite opinion.

A new book about Barack Obama portrays him as indecisive, out of his depth and facing insubordination from advisers

This is what happens when you elect a president on the basis of wishful-thinking.

Overconfidence and success

Researchers believe that they have discovered why humans have a false sense of optimism. Computer led simulations have shown that over confidence in all aspects of life can often improve your chances of winning. Overconfidence frequently brings rewards, as long as the spoils of conflict are sufficiently large compared with the costs of competing for them. In contrast, people with unbiased, accurate perceptions usually fare worse, the study says. The implications are that, over a long period of time, the evolutionary principal of natural selection is likely to have favored a bias toward overconfidence so someone who is abundantly confident would have more descendants than someone rife with insecurities, the researchers say.

A black man already behind bars is now accused in the kidnapping and rape of a woman back in 2007

Donald Andtra Carr, 25, is charged with the aggravated sexual assault of an adult. According to court documents, the female victim had left work at a gentleman's club on October 17, 2007 and stopped at a nearby gas station when three males she had seen at the club approached her and forced her inside their car and drove her to an unknown apartment. The woman told investigators that the men held her at gunpoint and all three of them sexually assaulted her, court documents state. She said that Carr and the two men then carried her out of the apartment. She said that the suspects drove her back to her car. After calling police, the woman was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Memorial City for a forensic sexual assault exam. In 2010, court documents show that the DNA from the woman's case was positively matched with Carr. Investigators say Carr told them that he had been to the club that night for his birthday, but said he left with two male friends and went to his apartment. According to police, when they confronted Carr about the DNA evidence, police say that he told them he doesn't remember taking a girl home or having sex with anyone, but that he could have. Carr was convicted of rape and aggravated kidnapping in another case in 2010. He was sentenced to 20 years for the rape and five years for the kidnapping.

A 21-year-old Hispanic will be headed to prison after a jury convicted him of participating in the brutal gang rape of a 16-year-old female

It took jurors about three hours to convict Leobardo Mendoza on four felony counts: gang rape, rape, false imprisonment and statutory rape. The victim and another girl were planning to attend a high school party in the Modesto area. Mendoza and some of his friends offered to take the girls to the party, according to Deputy District Attorney Monika Saini, the prosecutor in the case. Instead of going to the party, however, the girls were taken back to the Tehama Drive residence, where a party attended by gang members was happening. There, the victim was sexually assaulted several times by Mendoza and four other males, Saini said. The victim didn't report the rape for five weeks. A Merced County Sheriff's deputy learned of the gang rape, however, after seeing the victim with self-inflicted cuts on her body. The deputy asked the victim what was wrong, and she eventually confided in him about the crime. Livingston Police Detective Robert Silva took on the case. Mendoza and three other suspects were taken into custody. At first, Mendoza denied the rape. But after detectives found his DNA on the victim's clothes, he claimed that the sex was consensual. The other suspects, 18-year-old Edgar Partida and 20-year-old Rudy Gamboa, pleaded no contest to statutory rape charges. Both were sentenced to a year in county jail. The case of the third suspect, a 17-year-old male, is being handled in juvenile court. Detectives are still searching for the fifth suspect in the case, who pistol-whipped the girl during the rape. His name hasn't been released. Mendoza faces five to nine years in prison.

A jury has found Jesus Oscar Dominguez guilty of rape and kidnapping

The conviction stems from a February 2010 case in which the victim said that a stranger knocked on the door claiming to be a friend of her father. The man claimed he ran out of gas and asked to use the restroom and borrow a gas can. The Hispanic man had a gun and forced himself on the woman. DNA evidence collected from the scene matched a felony database sample from Dominguez. Katie’s Law requires DNA to be taken from anyone arrested for a felony. The law is named after Katie Sepich, a New Mexico State University student who was kidnapped, raped and killed in 2003.

Black girl is shot by black teen over an argument with her uncle

A 19-month-old black girl who was hit by a bullet intended for her uncle has lost her eye, authorities said as they announced the arrest of the black gunman. Damark King, 19 years old, has been charged in the shooting that injured toddler Samyah Bailey as she sat in her stroller in the courtyard of her apartment building. Samyah was hit in the face, the victim of an argument between her uncle, Anthony Mahoney, and a friend of King, a law-enforcement official with knowledge of the case said. Mahoney and the friend, Durrell McCollough, were fighting over a woman both men had dated, the official said. King began firing at Mahoney but instead hit Samyah, who was also with her father, authorities said. The toddler is recovering from surgery at Richmond University Medical Center. She is in stable condition, the official said. The bullet entered her left temple and exited between her eyes, causing her to lose one, the official said. Her uncle, Mahoney, was arrested on an outstanding warrant, the official said. King, who has previous arrests for assault, was arrested as he fled in a Dodge Charger with three others after a security guard at the complex followed him after the shooting and gave police a description of the car. Police recovered a loaded .9mm firearm, believed to be the weapon King used, hidden in a potted plant on the front porch of a nearby home, the official said. Four .9mm shell casings were recovered at the scene of the shooting, the official said. He was ordered held without bail.

Scientists have collected more evidence to suggest that ancient and modern humans interbred in Africa

Reanalysis of the 13,000-year-old skull from a cave in West Africa reveals a skull more primitive-looking than its age suggests. The result suggests that the ancestors of early humans did not die out quickly in Africa, but instead lived alongside their descendants and bred with them until comparatively recently. The skull, found in the Iwo Eleru cave in Nigeria in 1965, does not look like a modern human. It is longer and flatter with a strong brow ridge; features closer to a much older skull from Tanzania, thought to be around 140,000 years old. Prof Katerina Harvati from the University of Tuebingen in Germany used new digitizing techniques to capture the surface of the skull in detail. The new technique improved upon the original measurements done with calipers by letting researchers see subtler details about the skull's surface. "[The skull] has got a much more primitive appearance, even though it is only 13,000 years old," said Chris Stringer, from London's Natural History Museum, who was part of the team of researchers. "This suggests that human evolution in Africa was more complex... the transition to modern humans was not a straight transition and then a cut off." Prof Stringer thinks that ancient humans did not die away once they had given rise to modern humans. They may have continued to live alongside their descendants in Africa, perhaps exchanging genes with them, until more recently than had been thought. Separate research published recently suggests that genetic mixing between hominin species happened in Africa up to 35,000 years ago. I wonder if this mixing with more primitive species helps to explain why Africans are less intelligent than Europeans and Asians?

The world's largest sperm bank has started turning down redheaded donors because there is too little demand for their sperm

Ole Schou, Cryos's director, said that there had been a surge in donations in recent years, allowing the facility to become much more picky about its donors. "There are too many redheads in relation to demand," he said. "I do not think you chose a redhead, unless the partner - for example, the sterile male - has red hair, or because the lone woman has a preference for redheads. And that's perhaps not so many, especially in the latter case." Schou said that the only reliable demand for sperm from redheaded donors is from Ireland, where he said it sold like hot cakes. He said that sperm from donors with brown hair and brown eyes was particularly in demand, because of the bank’s large customer base in Spain, Italy and Greece. Indian sperm was also hard to find, he said, because India does not allow sperm or eggs to be exported, causing a problem for childless international Indians. It is interesting to see that people only want sperm from donors who have similar racial and ethnic characteristics to themselves.

Why is the Obama White House so hostile to women?

A new book claims that the Obama White House is a boys’ club marred by rampant infighting that has hindered the administration’s economic policy and left top female advisers feeling excluded from key conversations.

Black writer seems more than a little annoyed that so many Democrats wish that Hillary Clinton was president instead of Barack Obama

Here is Jonathan Capehart on a Bloomberg poll showing that 34% of those surveyed believe things would be better in the United States if Hillary were president instead of Barack Obama:

Barack Obama is president in the here and now and will need the full attention, support and votes of Democrats if he is to remain so. That’s why this ceaseless pining for an imagined Hillary presidency is growing tiresome. What Democrats should contemplate instead is a “President Romney,” “President Perry” or “President Bachmann.” If that doesn’t act as smelling salts for them nothing will.

Capehart strikes me as a little bitter that so many people are willing to openly admit that they would rather have a white female president than a black male one.

Man killed by a group of young black males in Britain

An aspiring architect was stabbed to death by a black teenage gang after he asked them to stop throwing conkers at him. Steven Grisales, 21, was walking to a station in Edmonton, north London, when he was attacked. Black youths threw conkers at Grisales and when he stood up to them, one produced a knife. He was stabbed in the chest in the attack and died the following day A 15-year-old boy has been charged with the murder and has appeared in court, while another boy, also 15, has been questioned. A 19-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl have already been arrested and released on bail. A post-mortem examination revealed cause of death to be a single stab wound to the heart. Detectives believe that up to three young black males, possibly in their late teens or early 20s, attacked Grisales.

Shock: Black kid called Shitavious becomes a criminal

Shitavious J. Cook, 15, has been arraigned on three counts of first-degree murder, which is punishable by life imprisonment. He was also charged with attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery with a firearm for a shotgun attack on a motorcyclist. On his first-degree murder charges, Cook is facing 20 to 60 years plus 25 years to life for shooting a firearm that was the proximate cause of death. If it can be proved that an individual personally fired a firearm that is a cause of a death, the larger enhancement of 25 to life is filed. According to Illinois law, defendants who are 15 and older are automatically tried as adults when charged with first-degree murder or any charges arising out of the same incident. The really amazing thing is that he apparently never tried to kill the parent or parents who were crazy enough to give him the name Shitavious.

Giant snails and the traditional African religion Ifa Orisha

The invasion of an army of Giant African Snails in a southwest Miami subdivision has federal and state agricultural officials launching a time-consuming and expensive counter-attack to remove the large slimy creatures. The snails, of the species Achatina fulica, can grow up to 10 inches long and 4 inches wide and are considered one of the most damaging land snails in the world. They eat at least 500 different types of plants, lay about 1,200 eggs a year, and can carry a strain of meningitis. Prolific breeders, they contain both female and male reproductive organs and live as long as nine years. They can be particularly devastating to agricultural areas and ecosystems and have led to the imposition of trade bans. Hailing from Eastern Africa, the snails are only allowed into the United States with special permits and for scientific research. Authorities are trying to determine if the outbreak of snails is tied to a smuggling case recently uncovered. In 2010, federal officials opened a criminal investigation into Hialeah resident Charles L. Stewart, who was accused of smuggling the creatures into the United States. Stewart practiced the traditional African religion Ifa Orisha, and authorities said that he persuaded his followers to drink the snails’ juices as part of a healing ritual. Several practitioners became violently ill. Stewart was aided by a woman claiming to be an African priestess who hid snails under her dresses on flights to Miami, according to search warrants filed in the case, which remains open.

A black school administrator has been convicted of a series of sexual assaults on his wife of almost ten years, and now faces up to 25 years in jail

Laurence Harvey gagged his wife before carrying out his attack with a screwdriver and a hammer at the couple's upper East Side home. Although Harvey was cleared of the one rape charge against him, he was declared guilty for the remaining 12 out of 13 counts against him. He had worked in the the Department of Education since 2003, in a role that earned him $165,000 a year while overseeing support for 263 schools throughout the city. The court was told of the impending divorce of the couple who have twin boys in a series of emails with Harvey's defense lawyer arguing that his wife's extramarital affair led to his client lashing out. Carlos Martir, who represented Harvey, revealed that he will be launching an appeal on behalf of his client after he claimed that the judge prevented the jury from hearing evidence that his wife had been violent towards one of their children and had stolen $12,000 from his bank account.

A Puerto Rican schoolgirl stabbed 37 classmates with a hypodermic needle after going on a playground rampage

Health officials in Puerto Rico say that the attack by the 14-year-old happened at lunchtime in a middle school on the south of the island. The victims, aged 12 to 14, are being tested for HIV and hepatitis C. They have also been given preventive medicine for other diseases. The school is the Jose de Choudens middle school in the coastal town of Arroyo.

A black college student, accused of stabbing her room mate to death after a row over an iPod, told friends that she didn't mean to do it

Alexis D. Simpson, 19, has been charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder and first-degree assault after her room mate Dominique Frazier, 18, was found unconscious in a second-floor hallway. The news comes as Denise Frazier, the mother of the 18-year-old stabbed to death by her roommate, has told how she begged for her daughter to be separated from her attacker. According to court papers, the confrontation came to a head when Simpson turned off an iPod that Frazier and her friends were listening to. A fight developed as Simpson was asked to turn the music back on. As the other girls yelled at her, Simpson returned with a knife and stabbed Dominique to death. Authorities say that she was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. University police arrived at the scene first and found Frazier in the hallway outside of her second-floor apartment, unconscious and bleeding from the upper torso. Denise Frazier told how her daughter Dominique was put in a room with Alexis Simpson by authorities at Bowie State University and immediately fell out with her. Frazier said that her daughter complained about the tense atmosphere between her and Simpson.

For the first time, more Americans have an unfavorable opinion of Obama than have a favorable opinion of him, according to a new CBS News/New York Times poll

This is an indication that dissatisfaction with Obama’s job performance and the direction of the country is dragging down how Americans view him personally. Just 39% of Americans have a favorable opinion of Obama, while 42% view him unfavorably. In January 2011, 40% had a favorable image of Obama, and 34% had an unfavorable opinion. In January 2009, as Obama was inaugurated, 60% of Americans had a favorable opinion of him.

A study by epidemiologists suggests that a high intake of calcium causes prostate cancer among African-American men who are genetically good absorbers of the mineral

High dietary intake of calcium has long been linked to prostate cancer. The study is one of the few to explore genes related to calcium absorption or to examine diet in a large African-American population. Although prostate cancer is 36% more common among African-Americans than in non-Hispanic whites, data on the diet-cancer link primarily comes from Caucasian populations. The team targeted a genetic allele that is more common in populations of African origin than in other populations and which is associated with regulating the absorption of calcium. The study found that men who reported the highest intake of calcium were two times more likely to have localized and advanced prostate cancer than those who reported the lowest. Men with a genotype associated with poor calcium absorption were 59% less likely to have been diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer than men who genetically were the best absorbers of calcium. And, among men with calcium intake below the median, genetically poor absorbers had a 50% decreased risk of having advanced prostate cancer than the best absorbers. Although calcium appears to increase risk for prostate cancer, it is essential for bone health and appears to protect against colorectal cancer.

Birds, brain size and cognitive abilities

According to a new study, the abundance of songbirds with relatively large brains in Eastern Germany and the Czech Republic has increased since 1989-1990. Researchers had compared population trends of bird species in different European regions. The increase in large-brained songbirds is attributed to the better cognitive abilities of the species enabling them better adaption to the socio-economic changes affecting habitats after the end of communism. The scientists discovered that regional differences in population trends among songbird species are linked to their brain size. Large brain size was correlated to strong increases of respective songbird species in the Czech Republic since 1989-1990, weaker increases in Eastern Germany and had no effect in North-Western Germany. This difference between the former West and East suggests that this trend was driven by socio-economic changes that took place in the former communist regions. Relative brain size reflects species' cognitive abilities. The increase of such songbirds suggests that species with good cognitive abilities might have been better able to adapt to rapid socioeconomic change and make use of the novel opportunities that arose after the end of communism. In particular, birds with better cognitive abilities made use of the opportunity to colonize the cities in East Germany and the Czech Republic. After 1989-1990 the inner cities saw an increase in green areas and growing volume of parks, whereas at the same time a newly emerging middle class moved away resulting in a housing boom on the outskirts. Large-brained songbird species such as the Common Magpies, Eurasian Jays and Blue and Grey Tits, show a high behavioral flexibility and hence are better able to live near humans. They could rapidly spread into the new habitats such as new urban greens and suburbs and increase in population size. In contrast, smaller-brained songbird species with less cognitive abilities, such as the Whitethroat, were less able to adapt. The housing boom thus decreased habitat availability for behaviorally less flexible species.

Black journalist says that Obama should put the needs of blacks ahead of other racial groups

Of course, if a white journalist said that a white president should put the needs of whites ahead of other racial groups, he would be denounced as a racist.

Australian police are appealing for information after a teenage girl was indecently assaulted on a train by a gang of youths of Middle Eastern appearance

Police said that the 16-year-old was at Liverpool Railway Station with a friend when the girls were approached by four youths who followed them onto a train. The 16-year-old’s friend, along with one of the youths, got off the train at Cabramatta. The three remaining youths then indecently assaulted the 16-year-old. The girl got off the train at Fairfield and made a report to police. The first youth is described as being of Mediterranean/Middle Eastern appearance, aged 17 to 19, with a large build. At the time, he was wearing dark jeans and a black hooded jumper. The second is described as being of Mediterranean/Middle Eastern appearance, aged 17 to 19, with a slim build and a short beard. He wearing a black cap and a black hooded jumper. The third is described as being of Mediterranean/Middle Eastern appearance, and aged 17 to 19. At the time, he was wearing a red hooded jumper. The fourth youth is described as being of Mediterranean/Middle Eastern appearance, and aged 17 to 19. At the time, he was wearing jeans.

The FBI is teaching its counter-terrorism agents that Muslims are likely to be terrorist sympathizers and that the more devout a Muslim is, the more likely they are to be violent

According to documents leaked by an FBI whistle-blower, agents have also been instructed that the Islamic practice of giving charity is a funding mechanism for combat and that the Prophet Mohammed was a cult leader. The program even featured a graph showing a sliding scale of Koran-inspired violence.

Gunmen in northern Mexico have shot dead three relatives of a police officer being held over a deadly arson attack on a casino

The officer's father, stepmother and stepbrother were killed in their home in the city of Monterrey. Police believe that it was an act of revenge by the Zetas drugs cartel, after the officer named gang members involved in the casino attack. The blaze killed 52 people. Police officer Miguel Angel Barraza is one of six suspects detained in connection with the arson attack on the Casino Royale in Monterrey. The other five are all members of the Zetas cartel, which is thought to have torched the casino after its owners refused to pay protection money. The murder of the family came on a day of violence in and around Monterrey, in which at least 15 people were killed. Monterrey and the state of Nuevo Leon have seen rising bloodshed as the Zetas and Gulf cartels vie for control of trafficking routes. The casino attack was one of the deadliest episodes of violence since President Felipe Calderon launched his crackdown on drug gangs in late 2006. Gunmen burst into the crowded casino in broad daylight and doused it in petrol before setting it alight. Panic ensued as people rushed for the exit. Many were overcome by smoke as the building was engulfed in flames.

A leading children’s health concern for Latinos is teen pregnancy, with 44% of Hispanics calling it a big problem, compared with 33% of blacks and 19% of whites

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hispanics had the highest rate of teen pregnancy in 2009, with 70.1 births per 1,000 women aged 15-19, compared to a national rate of 39.1 births. Additionally, child abuse and neglect ranked #4 in Latinos’ children’s health concerns, with 38% of Hispanics considering the issue a major problem for children. But the issue did not even make the top 10 concerns for blacks or whites. For blacks, community safety concerns predominated. More than a third of blacks were extremely worried about the effects of gun-related injuries, school violence, and unsafe neighborhoods, issues that were not among the top concerns for Hispanics or whites. Childhood obesity ranked as a higher concern for whites (#1) than for blacks (#2) and Hispanics (#3), but only 30% of whites considered the disease to be a big problem, while 44% of both blacks and Hispanics considered it to be a big problem. Researchers also polled people on their apprehensions over bullying, Internet safety, stress, alcohol abuse, driving accidents and sexting (sexually explicit text-messaging). Concern about Internet safety and sexting have also increased overall, although these were of far greater concern for whites than for blacks or Hispanics.

Chlamydia rates among young African American women in L.A. County have reached alarming levels: 8.7% of all black teenagers ages 15 to 19 have the sexually transmitted disease

Gonorrhea rates are lower but still troubling high among African American girls and women. Rates among Hispanic girls and women also are above average.

A new study of interracial marriages in the United States since the 1980s suggests that the racial boundary between blacks and whites continues to break down – but is not yet close to disappearing

Marriages between blacks and whites increased rapidly between 1980 and 2008, outpacing the rate of unions between whites and other ethnic and racial groups, including Latinos, Asian Americans and American Indians. Still, the total number of marriages between blacks and whites continues to be much smaller than those between whites and other racial and ethnic groups. The number of marriages between whites and African Americans is undeniably increasing rapidly, but it is still a small number. In 1980, only 5% of black men married a white woman, but that increased to 14% in 2008. Still, by comparison, 38% of Asian American men and Hispanic men married a white woman in 2008. The racial boundary is blurred, but it is still there. Overall, while marriages between blacks and whites showed large increases between 1980 and 2008, there was only a slight increase in marriages between whites and Hispanics. This period also marked the end of the long-term rise in marriages between whites and Asians. Much of this can be explained by large increases in immigration of Hispanics and Asians into the United States, the study revealed. This has meant that Hispanics and Asians living in the United States now have a larger pool of potential marriage partners from their own racial and ethnic groups. Indeed, results showed that marriages between U.S. born and foreign born Asians and Hispanics increased rapidly between 2000 and 2008. With the enormous growth of the immigrant population, Asians and Hispanics now have more opportunities than ever to find a marital partner who shares the same cultural background. Such marriages reinforce their cultural identity. However, when the researchers calculated what would have happened if the size and characteristics of minority populations hadn't changed between 1980 and 2008, they found that intermarriage rates would have actually increased rather than decreased or stayed the same. This suggests that any evidence of a retreat from interracial marriages is mostly a reflection of changing marital market opportunities, rather than changes in whom people are willing to marry. The experience of blacks living in the United States was different from that of Latinos and Asians. There wasn't a great increase in black immigrants into the United States, so the rise in black-white intermarriages really suggests greater racial tolerance and a new openness to marrying outside one's own race. This suggests a weakening of the racial boundaries. One noticeable change was the role of education in interracial marriages. For many years, highly educated Hispanics and Asian Americans have been more likely than their less educated counterparts to marry whites. But that was never true for blacks. It used to be that race trumped everything, including education, when it came to marriage between blacks and whites. But that is changing. For the first time, we found that highly educated blacks and whites were more likely to intermarry. That is very significant and is another sign that racial boundaries are blurring. The study also found that people who classified themselves as white-Asian or white-American Indian were more likely to marry whites than Asians or American Indians. However, black-white biracial people are still more likely to marry blacks than whites. In general, the results were similar in cohabiting couples as they were in married couples. However, interracial couples were slightly more likely to be in cohabiting unions than they were to be married, according to the findings. The study suggests that, when it comes to marriage, ethnic and racial boundaries are being crossed, especially among men and women with college education. But the increasing immigrant population also means that many minorities in the United States, particularly Asian Americans and Hispanics, will have a greater opportunity than ever to marry within their ethnic or racial groups.

A rabbi convicted of molesting his juvenile daughter has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison — the same penalty he received before his successful appeal

Israel Weingarten, 61, was convicted in March 2009 of five counts involving sexual abuse by a jury in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn. He's being held in prison. Jurors found that he took his daughter out of the United States to Israel and Belgium for the purpose of sexually abusing her during the spring and summer of 1997. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in January 2011 tossed one of the five convictions against Weingarten and ordered him to be resentenced. The panel reversed the conviction on the count involving Weingarten's travel from Belgium to Israel with his daughter, on the basis that the law requires the travel to be from or to the United States. Judge John Gleeson resentenced Weingarten to 30 years on the four counts. Originally, Gleeson sentenced Weingarten to 10 years each of three of the counts and the two others ran concurrently. Weingarten's appeal was based largely on the grounds that he was forced to represent himself at trial and did not voluntarily waive his constitutional rights to an attorney, according to his lawyers. His appeals lawyer had said that he had hoped Weingarten's sentence would have been reduced to 20 years. During the trial, his daughter, then 27, a son and their mother testified against Weingarten, who then questioned them. Two other daughters testified on his behalf and accused their mother of molesting their older sister. Prior to the sentencing, the victim and her older brother, 29, read statements detailing the horrors of being physically and mentally abused by their father. Weingarten traveled extensively as he taught children for the Satmar Hasidic Jewish community. He ran a Satmar school in Belgium and worked for religious elementary and secondary schools in Brooklyn.