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Four years after Barack Obama was elected president, this is not exactly a "post-racial" America.
A new study from
Washington University in St. Louis finds that under Obama, many black Americans feel less free than whites when it comes to political participation.
From 2005 to 2011, only 45 percent of blacks said they believed the government would allow them to make a public speech, while 67 percent of whites believed they could, the study found.
The study
found that while the election of Obama initially boosted feelings of political empowerment among black Americans, those sentiments significantly faded in the years that followed—especially among conservative and religious blacks.
These two groups make up a large segment of the black population, with 56 percent of blacks identifying as "born again," and 39 percent of blacks as "somewhat conservative," according to the study.
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Eric Holder, attorney general under President
Barack Obama has prosecuted more government officials for alleged leaks under the World War I-era Espionage Act than all his predecessors combined, including law-and-order Republicans John Mitchell , Edwin Meese and John Ashcroft.
The indictments of six individuals under that spy law have drawn criticism from those who say the president’s crackdown chills dissent, curtails a free press and betrays Obama’s initial promise to "usher in a new era of open government."
The prosecutions, which Obama and the
Justice Department have defended on national security grounds, mean that government officials who speak to the media can face financial and professional ruin as they spend years fighting for their reputations, and, in some cases, their freedom.
On Oct. 10, Obama issued a
policy directive to executive- branch agencies extending whistle-blower protections to national security and intelligence employees, who weren’t included in the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act that passed the U.S. House last month and awaits Senate approval.
While the directive seeks to protect those workers from retaliation if they report waste, fraud or abuse through official channels, it "doesn’t include media representatives within the universe of people to whom the whistle-blower can make the disclosure," said Elizabeth Goitein, co-director of the Brennan Center of Justice’s Liberty and National Security Program. That still gives Obama the option of pursuing prosecutions of intelligence employees who talk to the press, she said.
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Terri Graham
, a mother of two, couldn't breastfeed her children. But, she's now fulfilling her maternal desire in an unorthodox way -- by breastfeeding her 9-year-old daughter's dog, a pug named Spider.
In an interview,
Graham ,44, said that she knows some people might consider her a "freak," but insisted that her breastfeeding nourishes the dog, and makes her feel like a better mom.
Graham, who is from California, claimed that the dog developed a taste for breast milk in 2010 after licking the nipple of a bottle she had pumped for her then-newborn son. She says she has breastfed the dog for about 2 years.
A psychologist interviewed for the magazine piece suggested that Graham seek therapy
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The next time you complain about the cost of that made to order latte, remember the price of cat poop coffee, and stop whining.
Cat poop coffee -- or "kopi luwak" as it is pronounced in Indonesian -- is part of a strange new and very expensive craze sweeping through world of caffeine-lovers: coffee beans collected from the dried feces of wild animals.
This specific variety, made from beans harvested the poop of the
Asian palm civet, a mammal native to Southeast Asia that resembles a long-nosed cat , according to Business Insider.
Civet coffee can set
your average coffee drinker back $60 for a mere four ounces of beans ,NPR reports. That something like $10 or more a cup.
The cat-like animal ingests the coffee cherries needed for this bizarre delicacy, but doesn't digest them. The animal passes the beans through its digestive tract to be picked up by waiting humans.
This
natural digestive process is what gives civet coffee its supposed purity and smooth taste, according to CNN. Natural enzymes in the mammal's intestines make the beans less acidic.
