Here are some excerpt from the April issue of the Harper’s Index:
- Minutes for which food-storage containers must resist mauling to be designated “bear resistant: 60
- Portion of containers tested by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee that bears are able to open: 2/5
- Amount by which Jeff Bezos’s net worth increased the day after the launch of Amazon Go, a cashierless store: $2,800,000,000
- Rank of cashier among the most common US jobs: 2
- Ratio of the wealth held by the world’s 42 richest people to that held by the poorest 50 percent: 1:1
- Percentage by which middle schoolers are less likely to be depressed if they live in an area with dense vegetation: 19
- Number of Japanese with dementia who went missing in 2016: 15,432’Number of residents of Matsudo, Japan, trained to find lost seniors suffering from dementia: 3,000
- Estimated portion of global migrants who are traveling from one developing nation to another: 2/5
- Number of the world’s top 100 Scrabble players who live in Nigeria: 2
- Estimated number of LGBT American adults who have been subjected to conversion therapy: 698,000
- Percentage of the city council of Palm Springs, California, that identifies as LGBT: 100
- Percentage change in the portion of Republicans satisfied with the “moral and ethical climate” since Trump’s inauguration: +41
TOP COMMENTS • HIGH IMPACT STORIES
QUOTATION
“Pick a leader who is strong and confident, yet humble. Intelligent, but not sly. A leader who encourages diversity, not racism. One who understands the needs of the farmer, the teacher, the welder, the doctor, and the environmentalist -- not only the banker, the oil tycoon, the weapons developer, or the insurance and pharmaceutical lobbyist.”
~Suzy Kassen, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem (2011)
TWEET OF THE DAY
BLAST FROM THE PAST
On this date at Daily Kos in 2004—Bush Campaign Paying Firm That Specializes In Paramilitaries:
There are plenty of things a campaign must pay for, but the Bush campaign may be the first presidential campaign to employ a company that specializes in paramilitary protection.
In reports filed today with the Federal Election Commission, the Bush campaign showed February receipts of $13.7 million, and cash on hand of $100 million. Obviously much of that money will be spent on television advertising. But a quick look at Bush's FEC filing shows something curious--they paid almost $200,000 to Vance International for "personnel services/equipment."
Vance International may not be familiar to a lot of people, but they should be, because they are the Pinkertons of our era. Vance was founded and until recently run by Chuck Vance, a former Secret Service agent who at one time was married to Gerald Ford's daughter. Vance used his Secret Service background in security and investigation to specialize in providing security during labor disputes. From the strikes at Pittston Coal, to Caterpillar, to Detroit Newspapers, if there was violence on the picket line of a high-profile strike, it was most likely provoked by the maladjusted ex-soldiers, angry cop wanna-be's, and CIA rejects who wear the jack-boots of Vance's Asset Protection Team.
On today’s Kagro in the Morning show: News fire hoses were on full-blast over the weekend. Greg Dworkin helps us catch up on Cambridge Analytica & Facebook abuses, and what mechanisms, if any might be able to bring this monster to heel. Maybe the government could do it. If there was one.
RadioPublic|LibSyn|YouTube|Patreon|Square Cash (Share code: Send $5, get $5!)