What’s interesting in the news today?
1. Pres. Obama says income inequality is holding kids back. A new Harvard study says it’s something else.
From TheWashingtonExaminer “A new study from Harvard University on the ability of low-income children to achieve social mobility found that the largest hindrance to moving up the income ladder is being raised by a single parent. “The strongest and most robust predictor [of social mobility] is the fraction of children with single parents,” the study said.
Further, the study found that “[children] of married parents also have higher rates of upward mobility if they live in communities with fewer single parents.”
Now, obviously there are cases of successful children who were raised by single parents, but the study suggests that it is more likely for a child to climb the income ladder if they are living with both parents in a community of married parents.
The study found the prevalence of single parents to be a much larger factor in determining social mobility than income inequality — something President Obama and Democrats speak of ad nauseum.”
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2. The Obama admin loves to reward failure.
From TheBlaze “Charlene Lamb, cited for failures in leadership from the Department of State’s own Accountability Review Board report, has been promoted to Regional Security Officer. We’ve heard rumor that she’s slated for international duty in Canada. She started the security officer training last week, much to the dismay of many within the State Department.
For those not keeping track, Charlene Lamb was in charge of the office that denied extra security personnel to the U.S. Ambassador in Libya before the Sept. 11, 2011 attacks.”
“This is a gift, State (State Department) is going out of its way to take care of her. They initially wanted to send her to the Hauge but the rumor was out and they thought better because she would have lived in a castle. In addition RSO (Regional Security Officer) Hague is a sensitive position with NATO etc, and our allies would not have approved.”
Just like with the IRS, and Fast and Furious, she gets rewarded for keeping her mouth shut.
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3. Speaking of Fast and Furious……
They just never learn.
From OregonLive “The 25-year-old meth addict stepped into Squid’s Smoke Shop toting a wadded sweatshirt concealing a pistol.
She was intent on trading with “Squid,” the long-haired man behind the Gresham smoke shop’s counter, or his crew. They paid her $520 in cash and two cartons of Marlboros for the Makarov semi-automatic pistol.
Roughly a month later, in March 2011, she learned Squid was no underworld buyer of guns and drugs. He was a special agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
He and his team ended their elaborate eight-month undercover sting in March 2011 by arresting 48 people who sold drugs and guns to Squid’s. But now the $150,000 operation — which recovered only 10 stolen guns, none traced to a crime — is itself being investigated for its methods, including targeting mentally impaired individuals.”
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4. Ouch. That’s gotta sting, especially since it’s so obviously true.
From TheNYPost “Mitt Romney thinks Vladimir Putin is better at being president than Barack Obama.
Romney, who lost the presidential race to Obama, told NBC that the Russian leader “outperformed” the president “time and time again on the world stage.”
The former GOP nominee called the US and Russia “geopolitical adversaries,” blamed Putin for giving cover to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and said fugitive leaker Edward Snowden’s asylum in Russia was a “bit of a stick in the eye of America.”
“I think most observers of the international political scene suggest that Russia has elevated itself in stature and America has been diminished,” Romney said.”
I seem to recall Democrats ridiculing Romney for saying Russia should be our biggest concern. Maybe they should have listened because Putin’ been eating Obama’s lunch.
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5. This one bothers me. They seem more concerned with aiding a child molester than they are with his poor victim.
From TheDailyMail “Law enforcement officials in Rochester New York say colleagues of convicted pedophile Matthew LoMaglio were uncooperative during the investigation. LoMaglio, 37, an elementary school gym teacher, was convicted last month of sexually molesting an eight-year-old boy between 2006 and 2007.
Many teachers and administrators who had worked with LoMaglio, who was sentenced last week to four years prison for second degree sexual conduct against a child and endangering the welfare of a child, refused to speak to investigators.”
“According to EAG News, 22 of LoMaglio’s co-workers wrote to the judge in support of the teacher during the case, some of whom said they would trust him with their own children and others who said they considered him a good role model for kids. “
“‘Some of the people [on the school staff] who were cooperative told us there was talk at school, sort of like ‘Are you for the teacher or for the student,’” Kyle Rossi, the assistant district attorney who tried the case against LoMaglio, told EAGnews. ‘It was very disappointing to make contact with teachers who wouldn’t give us the time of day until they were instructed to.”
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6. An ObamaCare alternative from the GOP? So repeal has now become replace?
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Wandering Views 
5. That is very odd. Do they think he was unfairly convicted, do they think he’s changed or (and this is the scary one) do they think what he did was OK?
I can just see the heads exploding if this had been a minister being defended by his church.
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5. From what I got from the article, it looks like some of the teachers think the student is lying. This does happen. I hate to say it but there should be more evidence than just the word of the student to convict. i hope there was.
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test
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#2, and other situations like it.
Obama has to take care of the people who are doing things for him.
He can’t allow them to get before some comittee and tell the truth.
Can you imagine what would happen if someone from IRS spilled all the truth about the scandle? It isn’t a scandle until somebody talks.
Same for Benghazi. Same for Fast and Furious. etc.
We are witnessing the most corrupt presidential administration since the founding of the nation.
Chicago politics goes to Washington.
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KBells,
The teacher has admitted his guilt in the case, after first denying it. Here’s more on the story.
http://eagnews.org/prosecutor-many-teachers-refused-to-cooperate-with-investigation-of-colleague-who-molested-an-8-year-old-boy/
“LoMaglio maintained his innocence throughout the trial, then acknowledged his guilt to a counselor during the sentencing phase, Rossi said. His attorney claimed he was no longer a threat to the community and tried to arrange a sentence of probation, but the judge decided to send him to prison.”
“I’m exceptionally proud of the victim in this case,” Rossi told the local newpaper following the conviction. “He displayed a tremendous amount of courage by coming forward and disclosing the horrible things that happened to him, and because of that courage, the abuser will face justice.”
But building a case against LoMaglio was not easy, because a significant number of teachers and other school employees who had worked with the gym teacher over the years refused to cooperate with police and prosecutors during the investigation, Rossi said.”
““They would say this never could have happened,” Rossi said. “This is why children don’t disclose sexual abuse, because they believe the people who can help them won’t believe them. I found it reprehensible that teachers would behave this way.
“To have so many teachers come out in favor of a man who admitted he did this, it was terrible to see. Who can a kid go to?””
Obviously not another teacher. They failed this kid, and they rallied around an animal instead.
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AJ, that’s what I needed to know, but I wonder how I would react if someone I sincerely trusted were accused of this. False accusations do happen.
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1.Or the two can correlate. Nations with low income inequality have a lower rates of social ills — crime, imprisonment, divorce, single parents, teenage mothers, etc. One can point to a number of social ills and say it causes inequality. They all correlate. The continued search for a moral cause to economic decline ignores the fact that economics may cause moral decline.
2. Its only Canada — what harm can she do
3. Police entrapment — what else is new.
4. Putin could and would run circles around Romney too. He’s been running circles around all western leaders including Obama and Bush. The man is a Machiavellian. On the other hand, his ex-wife probably did well in the divorce.
6. Probably a stripped down version of the ACA but this time the Republicans can claim credit — no pre-existing conditions, gov’t subsidies and credits, etc.
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AJ — the articles you cite leave it open to whether teachers continued to support him after the admission of guilt. Rossi (police spokesman/lawyer??) seems to imply that but I don’t get that sense.
Grade school false accusations are far more prevalent than people realize. Most are dealt with at the school level or at the board. From the scarcity of evidence in this case, I too would be supportive of a colleague especially if I knew and respected him. Many male teachers I have worked with has faced accusations usually for something ambiguous as the “teacher makes me uncomfortable” “he looks at my chest/down my shirt” etc.,
the principal did the right thing here. Informed there was a problem, she spoke with parent and child, assessed the situation and made a judgement. The police later investigated and made different conclusions. I’ve seen families and careers ruined because false accusations. Teachers are protective because of this. No more than the blue line of the police.
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Rossi is the DA who prosecuted it HRW. I’ll take his word for it.
And as for the principal….
Did the right thing? Are you kidding me?
Give me a break. She “investigated” it and found the charges unfounded, and so she did nothing. Well she was wrong, and her and the school need to be sued for it. What type of message did that principal send other students? She sent the message they she would take a teachers side over theirs. She further victimized this poor kid.
And yes, the teachers appear to have continued supporting this perv. after the truth came out. Disgusting.
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I didn’t get this sense when i read the article (that the teacher’s continued to support him after his confession) . Rossi came across as a moral crusader…. reminded me of the 80s and the child therapist who found repressed memories everywhere. After a confession, I would not support the teacher — but I’ve seen a court case drag on for ten years because the police and crown attorney were adamant he did it … he lost his family, his home and his career. In the end, the judge dismissed the case after a stern lecture about a witch hunt and due diligence. In the end, the accusers admitted they made it up because they didn’t like their marks and his reprimands.
AJ, I don’t think you realize how often these allegations occur — dozens of times a year, the principal of just one school will hear allegations of physical, verbal and sexual abuse. I’ve had students attempt to blackmail me — I will make allegations if you don’t, etc., Principals will do due diligence; all heavily documented and I’m sure this principal did the same thing as ligation is constantly on their minds.
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Two links on Africa:
First, Boko Haram strikes again: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/twin-attacks-on-nigerian-church-village-leave-74-dead-1.2512453
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Second, this is pretty accurate picture of the African church, not just in Uganda:http://www.worldmag.com/2014/01/africas_hinge
The problems the church faces in that country are widespread issues, even present in the cities of the place where I was, such as:
Syncretisation with animism – when I was in the private clinic, lying in a ward waiting for my test results, a couple of beds away, some people were attempting a faith healing, casting the ‘demon’ out of a sick man. From my clinical knowledge, I would say that the man had had a stroke. Now, traditional animistic beliefs attribute strokes to demons, so these ‘Christians’ were actually practicing animism and just treating the name of Jesus Christ as a particularly powerful marabou (religious teacher who has power with the spirits).
Prosperity Gospel – This is bred partly from Western churches funding national pastors and churches without fully understanding the real needs and issues. One couple I met who had worked in Liberia talked about the bitter disputes and jealousies between those national who got funding from the West and those who didn’t.
Nominalism – As a result of the prosperity Gospel and the comfortable syncretisation with traditional beliefs, many see Christianity as a economic-political-social alternative to Islam, rather than a rebirth into a new life of serving God. Churches are filled with members who have gone through the motions but experience no change of heart. As a result, in places like Nigeria and Sudan, the response to persecution is often less than Christlike and the situation threatens to explode into a religious war.
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Not particularly related to any of the discussion here, but I found this MLK quote interesting (it was quoted in our sermon yesterday):
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One may well ask: “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that “an unjust law is no law at all.”
Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.
Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Letter from a Birmingham Jail”
April 16, 1953
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HRW, would you give the same benefit of the doubt to a minister or priest.
Innocent until proven guilty should apply to all crimes equally.
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There’s no doubt I’m more sympathetic to teachers but innocence before being proven guilty should always be the case.
Given the nature of their job, teachers probably encounter more false allegations than ministers …. its far more difficult to go against the leader of your church community than a run of the mill public school teacher so the former is not a step that is taken likely plus the latter encounters far more children not all of whom are good church going children rather many would lie for revenge or litigation. As for Catholic priests …. unfortunately for the good priests that office has been blemished and suspicion will always fall on the guilty side until time reduces the impact of the last 30 years of allegations, cover-ups and convictions.
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Roscuro, Thanks for the report on Africa.
I saw this study by Barna and found it interesting:
http://cities.barna.org/americas-most-and-least-bible-minded-cities/
Charlotte, Nashville and Oklahoma City are the most “Bible-minded” cities that also have major league sports teams.
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interesting article and ties into AJ’s bit about stable families, inequality and mobility. The title is slightly misleading — according to the article there are five reasons why certain areas have less mobility than others. And lower mobility is in the South, Ohio, Indianapolis and Detriot. If you want mobility — San Jose is good as is Utah, upper Midwest and Pittsburgh.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/01/why-is-the-american-dream-dead-in-the-south/283313/
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