Monday, January 29, 2018

The crime rate among illegal immigrants in Arizona is twice that of other residents, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said, citing a new report based on conviction data

The report, from the Crime Prevention Research Center, used a previously untapped set of data from Arizona that detailed criminal convictions and found that illegal immigrants between 15 and 35 are less than 3% of the state’s population, but nearly 8% of its prison population. The type of person who goes through the process to legally immigrate in the United States appears to be very law-abiding versus even the U.S.-born population. The reverse is true for illegal immigrants — they are committing crimes, and more serious crimes. Among nearly 4,000 first- and second-degree murder convictions, illegal immigrants accounted for nearly 13% — significantly higher than their percentage of the population. Legal immigrants, by contrast, were less than 1% of convicts. Native-born made up the rest. Illegal immigrants also accounted for five times the rate of convictions for money laundering and kidnapping, and were three times more likely to be convicted of drive-by shootings. The data covered from 1985 to 2017.

In analyzing federal data for an in-depth examination of the nation’s historically black colleges and universities, researchers found that the six-year graduation rates at 20 schools were 20% or lower in 2015

This means that four of five beginning freshmen at those schools didn’t earn a degree within six years.

Sunday, January 28, 2018

Saturday, January 27, 2018

Black individuals with cancer are 25% more likely to die of their disease than white patients

Although persisting across tumor types, this disparity is particularly evident among black women, whose population-based breast cancer mortality rate is 42% higher than white women, and among black men with prostate cancer, who are more than twice as likely to die as white men. For decades, researchers attributed higher mortality rates to socioeconomic factors such as inadequate health insurance, fewer years of education and lower income. However, research now supports the hypothesis that tumor biologic differences among blacks could have a greater impact on response to treatment and outcomes. “I do not dispute that socioeconomic disadvantages are always going to play a huge role in terms of access to care and, ultimately, outcomes from any health threat,” Lisa A. Newman, MD, MPH, FACS, director of the breast oncology program at Henry Ford Health System, said. “But, when it comes to breast cancer, there are so many powerful clues suggesting the contribution of tumor biology linked to African ancestry that it’s bad science for us to close our eyes to it and not explore it fully.”

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

An Amnesty International survey of 385 Central American migrants suggests that Mexican authorities routinely force people to return to dangerous conditions in their home countries

Apparently the Mexican government does not want people migrating to Mexico.

Saudi Arabia is holding its annual month-long camel festival — and cheaters are not welcome

With around $60 million up for grabs in races and show competitions, unscrupulous owners have been drugging animals and even giving them Botox injections in an attempt to win camel beauty pageants. At least a dozen camels have already been disqualified for Botox, which can give camels the full lips that judges look for. "They use Botox for the lips, the nose, the upper lips, the lower lips, and even the jaw," says the son of a top Emirati camel breeder. "It makes the head more inflated so when the camel comes it’s like, 'Oh look at how big is that head is. It has big lips, a big nose.'" According Saudi media, one veterinarian was caught actually performing plastic surgery on camels to give them the small, delicate ears also considered beautiful. Anti-cheating measures include blood tests, microchipping — and requiring owners to swear on the Koran about their animal's age.

Monday, January 22, 2018

Comic book readers are apparently not fans of progressive politics — a fact no more evident in Marvel’s decision to cancel every single one of its comics that has been nominated by the LGBTQ advocacy group, GLAAD

In December 2017, the publisher announced its decision to cancel many of its comics, citing poor sales. LGBTQ, feminist, and social justice-themed comics involving stories that revolved around Black Lives Matter, illegal immigration, and LGBTQ issues were among those to end up on the chopping block. At a New York Comic Con panel in October 2017, Marvel executives faced tough questions from retailers who complained about the company’s social justice push, with poor-selling products that took up valuable inventory space on store shelves. GLAAD’s 2018 Outstanding Comic Book category included several of the canceled comics for their contributions to “queer culture” and social justice. As has been the case with these sort of cancellations in the past, it’s not difficult to understand the why of Marvel’s decision. The publisher is, above all else, in the business of making money, and if certain comics don’t sell, it makes sense to cut them. The lineup includes “America,” featuring a teenage Latina girl named America Chavez, whose stories revolve around her life as a queer immigrant in college. The comic’s author, Gabby Rivera, is an outspoken “Latinx” writer who goes on periodic rants about “sexism,” “antiblackness,” and President Trump on social media. Another GLAAD-nominated comic to get the axe is “Black Panther: World of Wakanda,” written by feminist and “body positive” activist Roxane Gay, and black writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, whose other comic, “Black Panther & The Crew,” was also canceled earlier in 2017 following dismal sales. Sina Grace’s “Iceman,” which reimagines the classic character as a gay man who “comes out of the closet” later in life, was also canceled in December 2017. According to the author, the comic was a “hard sell for retailers.” ComicChron, which collects comic book sales figures, reported that “Iceman” sold around 15,000 comics when it first launched in July 2017 — a figure that decreased by almost 30% by the end of the year. None of the three titles managed to break past the top-100 rankings, selling a fraction of Marvel’s own “Star Wars” lineup, and DC’s “Batman,” “Justice League,” and “Suicide Squad” comics. Aside from DC’s “Batwoman,” which showed relatively poor sales throughout 2017, the rest of the comics that picked up nominations from GLAAD are largely published by BOOM! Studios, selling fewer than 3000 copies each month — a far cry from DC’s “Doomsday Clock,” which sold 158,000 copies in December 2017. The Marvel titles on the awards slate have been widely derided on social media for being hamfisted, sociopolitically-charged drivel.

Most people know about, but few are willing to condemn, the strict taboo in the media, of criticizing Jews as a group, using that term

Charles Bausman writes about the Jew Taboo.

Saturday, January 20, 2018

British and Canadian tourists in Jamaica have been warned not to venture from resorts in Montego Bay after a state of emergency was imposed in response to a spate of deadly shootings

Soldiers have been deployed on the streets in St. James parish after a series of killings led to a military response. Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said that the extra security measures were necessary to “restore public safety” in the St. James area. Chief of defense, Major General Rocky Meade, said that Jamaican armed forces were targeting gangs, with "particular focus on those that are responsible for murders, lotto scamming, trafficking of arms and guns, and extortion.” The British Foreign Office warned British citizens to stay in their hotels. Canadians were also urged to stay in resorts after a spike in violent crime in the St. James parish. Tourists have been warned to avoid traveling to the area, citing "an extreme risk to your personal safety and security," and to remain within the resort compounds if they are already there. The latest State Department travel advisory issued January 10, 2018 warns Americans to exercise “extreme caution” when traveling to Jamaica. It warns Americans not to travel to areas including some areas of Kingston and Montego Bay. “Violence and shootings occur regularly in some areas of Montego Bay,” it warns. "Violent crime, such as home invasions, armed robberies, and homicide, is common. Sexual assaults occur frequently, even at all-inclusive resorts. Local police lack the resources to respond effectively to serious criminal incidents." This year has seen murder rates in Jamaica continuing to spiral, with at least 38 homicides committed since the start of 2018. This is up from 23 over a similar period last year. St James parish saw the highest number of killings, with 335 recorded in 2017.

Monday, January 15, 2018

Toronto police are disputing an 11-year-old Muslim girl's claim that her hijab was cut by a scissors-wielding man as she walked to school

Toronto Police spokesman Mark Pugash said that an extensive investigation was conducted and police concluded it did not happen. The sixth-grader, her mother, and her younger brother held a news conference at her school during which Khawlah Noman said that she was walking to school with her younger brother when a man came up behind her, pulled off her jacket hood, and started cutting the bottom of her hijab. She said that she turned around, screamed, and the man ran away. She also said that the man returned a short time later and continued to cut her hijab from behind before he smiled and ran away. Her mother called on police to treat it as a hate crime. The story made international headlines and drew public condemnation from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. "It's something that received, quite understandably, a lot of media and social media attention and I know it caused significant concern, as it should," Pugash said. Pugash declined to say whether the girl acknowledged that it didn't happen. He said that police wouldn't take a step like this unless they were absolutely confident.

Sunday, January 14, 2018

Only 4% of white graduates who never attended a for-profit defaulted within 12 years of entry, compared to 67% of black dropouts who ever attended a for-profit

Debt and default among black college students is at crisis levels, and even a bachelor’s degree is no guarantee of security: black BA graduates default at five times the rate of white BA graduates (21% versus 4%), and are more likely to default than white dropouts. The overall student loan default rate among Asians since 2004 is 6.2%, among whites 12.4%, among Hispanics 20.0%, and among blacks 37.5%.

Saturday, January 6, 2018

Red-haired women, but not red-haired men, are more sensitive to pain

Red hair is also associated with a higher risk of developing endometriosis, Parkinson's disease, and decreased platelet function. A new study has confirmed that red hair, especially in women, is linked to certain health issues. In a sample of over seven thousand participants, red-haired women did worse than other women in ten health categories and better in only three, being especially prone to colorectal, cervical, uterine, and ovarian cancer. Red-haired men seemed as healthy as other men, doing better in three categories and worse in three. Reproductive success, i.e., number of children, was the only category where redheads of both sexes did better than other respondents. This study has also confirmed that red hair is naturally more frequent in women than in men. To a lesser degree, the same is true for blond hair and green eyes. These bright colors seem to result from a selection pressure that mainly targeted women, perhaps sexual selection.

Thursday, January 4, 2018

Of the major racial and ethnic groups, white adults who are in a cohabiting relationship are the least likely to be living with a partner of a different race or ethnicity (12%)

This share rises to 20% among black cohabiters and 24% among Hispanic cohabiters. These rates are very similar to intermarriage rates among white (11%), black (18%) and Hispanic (27%) newlyweds. The story is different for Asian adults who cohabit. Almost half (46%) are living with a partner of a different race or ethnicity. This is far higher than the share of Asian newlyweds who are intermarried (29%). One factor that might partially explain this difference is that a larger share of Asian cohabiters (39%) than Asian newlyweds (25%) were born in the United States, and U.S.-born Asians are more likely than those who are foreign born to have a spouse or partner of a different race or ethnicity. (Among Asian immigrants who cohabit, 38% have partners of a different race or ethnicity compared with 59% of Asian cohabiters who are U.S. born.)

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

The largest study to date of population-based cancer survival in the United States shows significant disparities in survival rates over a five-year period between blacks and whites for nine of the leading 10 cancers in the country studied

The study, which covers the years 2001 to 2003 and 2004 to 2009 in the United States, follows and draws on the 2015 worldwide CONCORD2 cancer study published in England. It shows lower survival rates for black women compared to white women with breast, cervical, or ovarian cancers, as well as lower survival rates among black men with prostate cancer compared to white men with the disease, and lower survival rates for blacks compared to whites for a number of other cancers including colon, rectal, and lung. Survival rates are low over a five-year-period for stomach cancer, which showed only small differences between whites and blacks, as are survival rates for liver cancer. Black children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the one cancer studied in children, also had lower survival rates compared to white children. The American Cancer Society's report, "Cancer Facts & Figures for African Americans 2016-2018," shows results similar to the just published study. The ACS report, looking at data from 2008 to 2012, said black men have a 12% higher incidence of cancer compared to white men, as well as a death rate from all cancers combined that is 27% higher. The ACS report found black women to have a 6% lower risk of a cancer diagnosis than white women, but a 14% higher risk of cancer death. Death rates for breast and uterine cancers for black women are said to be 42% higher for breast cancer than for white women and 92% higher for uterine cancer. Breast cancer survival was high between 2001 and 2009, but there were wide and persistent differences in survival between black women and white women. Colon cancer survival showed little improvement between 2001 and 2009. Five-year survival among black patients has yet to reach that of white patients who were diagnosed 15 to 20 years earlier. Lung cancer survival improved slightly between 2001 and 2009, but was lower among black people than white people. Cervical cancer survival stayed at about 64% between 2001 to 2003 and 2004 to 2009. The survival rate for black women was lower than the survival rate for white women in both time periods. Ovarian cancer survival was about 40% between 2001 and 2009. Large and consistent racial differences were seen in most states, and black women have lower survival than white women.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the presence of African immigrants a threat to Israel's social fabric and Jewish character

Netanyahu cited the large presence of African migrants in Tel Aviv's poorer neighborhoods, where he said "veteran residents" - a reference to Israelis - no longer feel safe. Why is it wrong to keep America and Europe white but alright to keep Israel Jewish?