June 5, 2016

Calif. sees record high voter registrations going into primary

"A record number of voters have registered in California ahead of its presidential primary this week, the state's secretary of state announced Friday.

A report released on Friday shows that there are 17,915,053 voters registered as of the state’s May 23 deadline, the most the state has ever seen going into a primary.
“Nearly 18 million California citizens are registered to vote in the June 7 Presidential Primary,” Secretary of State Alex Padilla said in a statement.

“In the 45 days leading up to the voter registration deadline, there was a huge surge in voter registration — total statewide voter registration increased by nearly 650,000. Part of this surge was fueled through social media, as Facebook sent a reminder to all California users to register to vote.”

According to the report, about 72 percent of eligible Californians are registered to vote.

Of the state’s voters, about 45 percent are registered as Democrats, which is a one-point increase since April. Republicans make up about 27 percent and unaffiliated voters account for about 23 percent.

Around this date in 2012, there were 17,153,699 registered voters in California. "



http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/282213-calif-sees-record-number-of-registered-voters-going-into

I'm glad to see that Republicans makeup only 27% of the total.

June 3, 2016

The View Co-hosts Discuss Hillary Calling Trump Unfit to Be President

In a recent speech Hillary Clinton says a thinned skinned and temperamental person, like Trump, is unfit to President. Donald Trump struck back at Hillary stating she needs to go to jail over her e-mail scandal. Some feel Hillary's speech was great while others think she has not stated anything new.


http://abc.go.com/shows/the-view/video/pl5554876/VDKA0_vd7ss1v7

June 3, 2016

Hillary Rodham Clinton, class of 1969

For those interested. As a fan of vintage photography, there's some good B&W pictures of Hillary Clinton that I haven't seen before.

June 3, 2016

Albright: 'Nobody is going to die' from Clinton emails

Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while at the State Department will not kill anyone, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Friday. But Donald Trump's rhetoric might, the Clinton ally suggested.

"She has said she made a mistake, and nobody is going to die as a result of anything that happened on emails," Albright told CNN's Chris Cuomo on "New Day," after the host broached the multifaceted criticism and concerns about Clinton's foreign policy from opponents and supporters alike.
Story Continued Below

Cuomo referenced Clinton's use of private emails, along with the infamous failed reset with Russia and her role in orchestrating the nuclear deal with a hostile Iranian regime, a day after Albright's Democratic successor at Foggy Bottom delivered a blistering speech ripping Trump's foreign policy credentials.

"I am concerned about some of the statements that Donald Trump has made that are dangerous," Albright said. "On the issue of Russia, the fact that Donald Trump admires Putin is one of the reasons that I can't agree with a word he says because the reset takes two to reset."
Albright blamed Moscow for the reset's failure, remarking that Vladimir Putin "is the one that has made very aggressive moves against Ukraine and pushed Europe around, which is why we need a strong NATO."

"And the Iran nuclear deal has made it clear that Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. That is positive. So I think people—these are very, very difficult and complicated issues that need to be explained. And I thought Secretary Clinton's speech went a long way to laying out what was a rational national security policy," she said. "And I would hope and I would be so happy to participate in this, is having really an in-depth discussion of the issues that are out there so that America will be safe. And that's what we need to talk about instead of name-calling, frankly."


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/madeleine-albright-clinton-email-223861#ixzz4AWTokfFd

June 3, 2016

Black women become most educated group in US

Black women are now the most educated group in US, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Between 2009 and 2010, black women earned 68 per cent of associate's degrees, 66 per cent of bachelor's degrees, 71 per cent of master's degrees and 65 per cent of all doctorate degrees.

The percentage of black students attending college has increased from 10 per cent to 15 per cent from 1976 to 2012, while the percentage of white students fell from 84 to 60 per cent.


By both race and gender, a higher percentage of black women (9.7 per cent) is enrolled in college than any other group, including Asian women (8.7 per cent), white women (7.1 per cent) and white men (6.1 per cent).


However, a recent study found black women make up just 8 per cent of private sector jobs and 1.5 per cent of leadership roles.

Black, Asian and other ethnic minority NHS staff more likely to be bullied by colleagues, new report finds
Feminists being driven to the kitchen by the 'horrors of society', says Women's Institute expert
Extra-wide parking spaces 'for women who can't reverse' spark sexism row
When it comes to the public sector, a quarter of state legislators are women, but less than a quarter of those are women of colour.

Catalyst found in 2014 that Asian, black, and Hispanic women make up 17 per cent of workers in S&P 500 companies, but fewer than four per cent of executive officials and managers.

The same groups also make up fewer than three per cent of Fortune 500 company board directors.


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/black-women-become-most-educated-group-in-us-a7063361.html

I'm proud of our sisters and now we need to help our brothers build as well.

June 2, 2016

Hillary Clinton Supports Death Penalty For Dylann Roof

Hillary Clinton supports the death penalty for Dylann Roof, the accused shooter of nine parishioners at a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina, her campaign confirmed.

In the week since the Justice Department announced its decision to seek the death penalty in the Roof case, the former secretary of state had held off on weighing in. But in an email to The Huffington Post on Thursday, Clinton's top spokesman, Brian Fallon, said "she respects the Justice Department decision."

In coming out in support of the DOJ's move, Clinton has drawn a contrast between herself and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), whose campaign said he disagreed with the decision.

But the two candidates have never quite seen eye-to-eye on the issue of capital punishment. Sanders has steadfastly rejected its use on moral grounds and in the belief that it does little to actually deter crime. Clinton has said capital punishment should exist but be used only for the most heinous crimes. The shooting at Emanuel AME Church met her definition of heinous.


http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/hillary-clinton-supports-death-penalty-for-dylann-roof_us_57507737e4b0c3752dccde7c/amp

June 2, 2016

Judge orders Obama administration to release new Clinton emails

"A federal judge has ordered the Obama administration to release new emails connected to Hillary Clinton before Democratic convention in July.

In an order late on Wednesday, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson told the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to hand over to the Republican National Committee (RNC) whatever records it could as part of an RNC’s open records lawsuit on July 11.

After that, USAID will need to consult with the State Department about hundreds of other pages of documents, which could be released at some point in the future.


The RNC sued the aid agency in March, seeking two sets of communications: those between USAID officials and key former aides at the State Department, as well as those between USAID and private domain names associated with Hillary Clinton, former President Bill Clinton and others including the Clinton Foundation. The effort appeared to be investigating allegations that the former secretary of State’s family foundation had undue influence on USAID.
The RNC lawsuit was one of several it has filed seeking records connected to Clinton, in a preview of a battle sure to last throughout the general election.

Before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, USAID has claimed that it has discovered approximately 3,300 pages of records that it might be able to hand over to the Republican Party organization. But roughly 2,600 of those reportedly need to be cleared with the State Department before they can be released.

In her order on Wednesday, Jackson said that USAID should release to the RNC what it can by July 11, and determine a schedule for releasing the rest."


http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/281973-new-clinton-emails-due-out-in-days-before-convention

June 2, 2016

Another poll shows Sanders, Clinton even in California

"Less than a week before California voters head to the polls on Tuesday, the Democratic race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders is effectively tied in the state, according to the results of the latest Field Poll released Thursday, as reported by local media outlets, including the Sacramento Bee and San Francisco Chronicle.
Clinton leads Sanders 45 percent to 43 percent, with 12 percent undecided or unreported. In the last survey in April, Clinton led Sanders by 6 points — 47 percent to 41 percent. The results in the latest Field survey mirror those of the NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll out Wednesday evening, which showed Clinton with a lead of 49 percent to 47 percent.
Story Continued Below

Sanders has devoted most of his resources to winning California, holding multiple events in the state in recent weeks as he looks to bolster his case with superdelegates at the Democratic National Convention. Both Hillary and Bill Clinton will return to the state carrying the largest delegate prize in the days leading up to the Tuesday vote.

While Sanders holds a double-digit advantage over those expressing no party preference (54 percent to 40 percent), Clinton leads by a slightly smaller margin among the nearly 8 in 10 likely Democratic primary voters who identified as Democrats (49 percent to 40 percent).
As has been the case in nearly every state and national poll, Sanders holds wide advantages with voters under the age of 40 and fwith irst-time voters, while Clinton leads among voters older than 40. Clinton and Sanders are within the margin of error among white, non-Hispanic voters (where Clinton leads 44 percent to 43 percent) and among Latino voters (Clinton 46 percent, Sanders 42 percent). Among African-American voters, Clinton leads by 21 points — 57 percent to 36 percent. But among Asian-Americans, Sanders leads 47 percent to 34 percent. In all instances, Sanders has either cut into Clinton's advantage with all groups or, as is the case with non-Hispanic white support, Clinton's level of support has slightly dipped.

Sanders voters indicated a higher level of enthusiasm for their candidate compared with Clinton voters, with 65 percent of those backing the Vermont senator saying they are enthusiastic about their choice compared with 45 percent who said the same of Clinton. And while Sanders' favorability numbers have largely held steady over the past several months in the survey, Clinton's image rating has dropped to 64 percent favorable in the latest survey, down 6 points from April.


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/poll-california-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-223810#ixzz4AQj4QySU

June 1, 2016

Clinton tech aide plans to take the Fifth at deposition

"A former information technology adviser to Hillary Clinton plans to exercise his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination at a deposition next week and wants to prevent any video recording being made of the session.

Lawyers for former State Department tech specialist Bryan Pagliano said in a court filing Wednesday that there's no valid reason to make an audio or video recording of the session since Pagliano doesn't plan to answer any of the questions he's asked by the conservative group Judicial Watch, which is pursuing a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit related to Clinton's private email server. The group is scheduled to take Pagliano's deposition on Monday.


"Mr. Pagliano will invoke his right under the Fifth Amendment and decline to testify at the deposition," Pagliano's lawyers Mark MacDougall and Connor Mullin wrote. "Given the constitutional implications, the absence of any proper purpose for video recording the deposition, and the considerable risk of abuse, the Court should preclude Judicial Watch, Inc. ... from creating an audiovisual recording of Mr. Pagliano’s deposition."

Acting on a request from another former aide to Clinton, Cheryl Mills, U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan already ruled that videos of the sessions should be put under seal. However, Pagliano's lawyers say there's still a chance the video could emerge later either with or without permission from the court.



http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/bryan-pagliano-fifth-amendment-223796#ixzz4ANFjzegt

I can't say that I blame him.

June 1, 2016

WSJ/NBC Poll: Hillary Clinton Holds 2-Point Lead Ahead of California Primary

"Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are deadlocked in California ahead of next week’s high-stakes primary, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist poll shows, raising the prospect of a surprise outcome that would give Mr. Sanders confidence to carry his campaign into the party’s convention next month.

Mrs. Clinton leads the Vermont senator by just 2 percentage points among likely Democratic primary voters, 49% to 47%, well within the survey’s margin of error. The poll signals a closer contest than expected just weeks ago.

The fate of Mr. Sanders’s presidential bid rides heavily on the outcome in California—the last major contest of the primary season and the one that awards the most delegates.

Mrs. Clinton can win enough delegates on June 7, when six states hold nominating contests, to claim the Democratic nomination, without winning the primary in California. She essentially has the nomination, thanks to the support of superdelegates, who can switch their allegiance at any time.

Mr. Sanders has been campaigning in California every day since May 21, hoping to build his vote total to bolster his argument to superdelegates ahead of the July nominating convention that he is the party’s stronger candidate.

A win in California could also strengthen Mr. Sanders’s hand in pushing for the party platform to better reflect his liberal agenda.

At the least, a Clinton loss in California would cast a long shadow over her campaign as she seeks to unify the Democratic Party after an unexpectedly competitive—and divisive—primary process. In particular, Mrs. Clinton needs to make inroads among the younger voters who have fueled Mr. Sanders’s campaign.



Among Democratic primary voters age 18 to 29, the poll found, 80% favor Mr. Sanders, while Mrs. Clinton garners almost twice his support among primary voters age 45 and older. Mr. Sanders also outpaces the Democratic front-runner by a wide margin, 72% to 28%, among those voters who would be participating for the first time.

The good news for Mrs. Clinton is that it looks like she has already banked a larger share of the early vote. She leads among Californians who have already cast ballots, 58% to 41%. She also beats Mr. Sanders in the state’s two biggest urban centers, the Bay Area and Los Angeles County.

Mr. Sanders holds a slight lead, 49% to 46%, among Latino voters, who account for more than a quarter of likely Democratic primary voters.


http://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/hillary-clinton-holds-2-point-lead-ahead-of-california-primary-poll-finds-1464814829