Here are a few excerpts from the August edition of the Harper's Index:
Factor by which the average salary in the securities industry exceeded that of other U.S. workers between 1929 and 2008: 2.3
By which it does today: 3.6
Percentage change since 1993 in the suicide rate among black U.S. children aged 5 to 11: +87
Among white U.S. children: –32
Estimated percentage change in the past year in the number of beheadings performed in Saudi Arabia: +267
Number of executioner jobs advertised on Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Civil Service website in May: 8
Last year in which Pope Francis watched television: 1990
Percentage of white and black Americans, respectively, who said in March that race relations were “generally bad”: 35, 58
In May: 62, 65
Average annual number of traffic jams at Yellowstone National Park caused by drivers’ rubbernecking of bears: 840
Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2012—Penn State must shut down its football program:
The report by Louis Freeh on the Penn State University pedophilia scandal finally makes clear what happened and why, and it also makes clear that there is only one clean path forward for Penn State. This scandal happened not because of one lone psychopath, or because a few well-intentioned Penn State leaders misunderstood what was happening, or did know what was happening but didn't understand how to deal with it; the Freeh report makes clear that the highest ranking authorities at Penn State did know what was happening, deliberately chose not to contact appropriate authorities, and deliberately chose to protect the perpetrator of horrific crimes rather than those subject to them, and they did it all because they wanted to protect Penn State football rather than the innocent, abused children.
This scandal and these horrors happened because the culture of football at Penn State had come to mean more to the school's leadership than did basic standards of humanity and morality, and the only way for Penn State to regain its human and moral footing is for it to shut down its football program, as a statement to the victims, the students and alumni and fans, and all humanity. When something as important as the safety and well-being of children is superseded by athletic prowess, the money it earns, and the false sense of prestige it imparts, it is time to start over, from scratch, not in the realm of athletics but in the realm of humanity and morality.
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today's Kagro in the Morning show: Pluto wraps up, Jade Helm kicks off. Connect the dots!
Greg Dworkin: Trump's flame burns bright, pretty much sucking the oxygen out of the room for everyone else.
Meteor Blades joins in the discussion on Iran nuclear deal. As war is coming off the table, the right takes the fight into 2016. Will money change the GOP viewpoint? What does the rest of the world think? What are the next steps? Meanwhile, it is hard to be fat patriot. Co-workers decide to get married. Congrats! And, questions on the Maine Constitution are answered.
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