Black Cop Not Charged with Assault... Wait What?

On December 5, 2014, a black cop punch a woman in the face breaking her eye socket bone and causing dramatic swelling. The video shows the woman resisting arrest and kicking the cop. The cop responded with a powerful blow to the woman's face. The officer was not charged with any form of assault and went back to work in Seattle.
This story is ironic because lately, white cops have been accused of assault on black men and not been charged. In this case, the cop was black. Weird.

States Sueing Obama

17 states are suing President Barack Obama over his recent executive actions on immigration, which shields from deportation up to 5 million people who are in the country illegally.

The lawsuit claims that Obama violated the ‘Take Care Clause’ of the U.S. Constitution that limits presidential power, that the federal government violated rule-making procedures, and that the order will “exacerbate the humanitarian crisis along the southern border.” 

I think that Obama's immigration order wasn't that bad. I think he should've consulted more people because his procedure wasn't great, but his actual order was not a bad thing at all. 

http://time.com/3618378/obama-immigration-lawsuit/

Keystone Bill Denied

A controversial bill to approve construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline failed in the US Senate Tuesday evening. It received 59 "aye" votes, just shy of the 60 needed to send the bill to President Obama's desk. The fight isn't over yet; Republicans have said they plan to prioritize approving the pipeline once they take control of the Senate next year. This decision has an impact not only on the country, but on current runoffs for the senate race. This democratic decision could swing votes for the democratic senate candidates. 
I am surprised by this decision, but when the Republicans take over the Senate on January 1st, they will put up the Keystone bill again and it will most likely pass. Its just interesting that the urgency to put this bill up to vote was during senate runoffs. 

http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2014/11/whats-happening-keystone-xl-week-explained

Oregon stays Democrat in GOP Storm

http://www.oregonlive.com/mapes/index.ssf/2014/11/jeff_merkley_leads_monica_wehb.html

While his fellow Democrats lost their Senate majority Tuesday night, Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley cruised to a strong re-election victory over Republican challenger Monica Wehby.

Merkley's victory was clear minutes after the polls closed as he held a commanding lead of a more than 2-to-1 ratio over Wehby in partial results.

Winning his first re-election victory helps the 58-year-old Merkley cement his political standing in Oregon, and he will now have a more senior position on the Senate Appropriations Committee. But he'll have to operate from the minority in the Senate, making it harder to get things done.

This win for the democrats is one of the few as the Republicans gained 7 spots on the Democrats. It just goese to show that some states will never change even if the rest of the country does. Oregon is highly democratic and has been for years. I'm not sure of the effect this will have on the Senate, I just thought it was an interesting view to look at the "losing side" of the Senate elections. 

Weiland's Campaign is the Bomb

Weiland is considerably more well liked by voters than Rounds. 48% see him favorably to only 27% with an unfavorable opinion. That +21 net favorability rating for Weiland is up from +15 earlier in the month, and it’s 24 points better than Rounds’- only 44% of voters see him positively to 47% who have a negative opinion.Rounds is ahead in large part thanks to greater name recognition, but as Weiland has become better known, Rounds’ lead has gotten smaller and smaller.

I would be surprised to see South Dakota change its consistency. However, the ads I've seen for Weiland are by far superior to those of Rounds. Weiland's campaign is much more convincing and as the article says, as his name becomes more known, the gap between the two candidates shrinks. I still think Rounds will win, but this is a closer senate race than South Dakota has seen in the past years.

http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2014/08/weiland-continues-to-chip-away-at-rounds-lead-in-south-dakota.html

Rounds Seems to be the Favorite

According to huffingtonpost.com, Mike Rounds has an 89% of winning the Senate race. The website has recorded polls of over 6000 people and recorded the responses in a chart. The chart divides those questioned into categories based on who polled them. In every category, Rounds received more votes, and in many cases received significantly more votes. So despite Weiland's external support, Rounds seems to have maintained the support of a majority of South Dakotans.

This year's senate election has a serious impact on Congress, many democrats are up for reelection, so the tables could significantly turn if republicans win. As usual, South Dakota seems to be consistent, but many states my shift their support in the way of the republicans based on Obama's lack of success. So it seems to me, South Dakota has always been on track... the rest of the nation just needs to smarten up and follow our lead.

http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/pollster/2014-south-dakota-senate-rounds-vs-weiland

Lauran Hill Will Take the Court One Last Time

The Mount St. Joseph's girls basketball team looks forward to its home opener, but none more than 19 year old freshman Lauran Hill. The standout from Cincinnati was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor that gave her just weeks to live. It seemed her basketball career was certainly over. Her coach, however, was determined to play his freshman one last time. The school appealed to the NCAA to have its season opener moved up so that Lauran Would be physically capable of playing. The request was granted. So on November 14, 2014, Lauran Hill and the MSJ cougars will take the floor in an emotional game for everyone involved.
The NCAA has done many things poorly in terms of handling sensitive situations, but this heart warming story proves that the big bad corporation is capable of having good, wholesome intentions. The Division III game will be played against Hiram College who also agreed to the early opener.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2231750-19-year-old-with-brain-cancer-hopes-to-play-one-game-of-collegiate-basketball

Michigan's Shady Future... LOL

As any athlete or parent may know, concussions in sports are becoming an increasingly hot topic if issue. Football especially has been critiqued for it's impact on it's players. Last week Michigan quarterback Shane Morris suffered a concussion in a game against Minnesota. Head gosh Brady Hoke allowed his starting quarterback to re-enter the game even though Morris was seen wobbling and woozy. Brady Hoke's lack of responsibility mixed with Michigan's worst start in years points towards a very questionable future for Hoke and much of the Michigan coaching staff.

NFL: The Ghost of Goodell's Past

For those who haven't heard, the NFL's so carefully polished image has been shattered over the past month. Troubles started when star running back Ray Rice was arrested for abuse of his fiancé, yet he was only suspended 2 games by commissioner Goodell. The commissioner took a lot of heat for his substantially soft suspension on the Raven's running back, but not as much hear as he would later receive after TMZ released the video of Rice beating the young woman. Aggressive and angry questions from every angle were fired at Goodell. The NFL office was in such turmoil and disarray, that the commissioner was kept out of public eye for 2 weeks. During this 2 week period, the NFL fell apart. Former MVP Adrian Petersok was arrested for child abuse while two other players were being charged with domestic abuse. The stars of one of the most polished, popular organizations were  tainting the leagues spotless image and the league was doing a horrible job of fixing it. As time goes on, Roger Goodell will probably either step down or get fired. However, the issues the league faces are still massive and need to be confronted. The NFL needs a leader. Who will it be?

RC Journal: If The News Ins't Interesting, Make It Up

I would like to begin my first blog by voicing my frustration with the way my classmates were represented in the C-SPAN article. The article described disinterested, ignorant, and borderline smart a** students when that is simply not the case. The students who were quoted are intelligent, active, and valuable assets to our community contrary to what the article might imply. Secondly, I would like to voice my anger directed at Bret Pancake, editor of the Rapid City Journal. Mr. Pancake wasted a perfect opportunity to interest a class of highly capable high school students in the journalism process. Instead, he elected to put himself on a pedestal and tell us that we were over reacting and need to "look in the mirror." I did not appreciate his arrogant and belittling attitude towards Andrew Montoya, who likely has a much more impressive resume than Mr. Pancake only 18 years into his life. Thirdly, I question the direction our Journal is heading as Editor Pancake himself said that he is a "heavy-handed re writer". I don't argue that often Rapid City's news may not be incredibly interesting. I don't even argue that it is a hard job to find articles to hold an audiences attention. But it seems that the Journal's approach to solving our "boring community" is to follow the lead of the Pancake man and rewrite stories so that they are more controversial and in turn, more interesting. What Waffle boy doesn't understand, however, is that our community does not find controversy interesting. Rapid City is a small, tightly knit town that enjoys heart warming stories, not stories that highlight high school student's lack of interest in "a bunch of white dudes fighting".

P.S. He wore a polka-dot tie with a striped shirt... come on man. Show some fashion.