North and South Dakota Top List Of Happiest U.S. States, West Virginia At The Bottom

North and South Dakota Top List Of Happiest U.S. States, West Virginia At The Bottom

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North Dakota was able to push out reigning “happiest state” Hawaii in an annual survey that measures Americans’ sense of well-being. West Virginia was revealed as the unhappiest state for the fifth year in a row.

North Dakota made the huge leap to first after coming in at number19 in the previous poll conducted by the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. South Dakota came in a close second, moving up from 12th place, while Hawaii came in eighth after coming in first the previous five years.

West Virginia and Kentucky came in last and second to last, respectively.

The poll is based on more than 178,000 interviews of American adults in all 50 states between January and December 2013. The poll is an average score from six sub-indexes, which examine a person’s life evaluation, emotional health, work environment, physical health, healthy behaviors and basic access to necessities such as healthcare.

According to the poll, North Dakota ranked top in two sub-indexes: work environment and physical health.

A reason for this may because the state has experienced a job boom, according to Gallup.

Midwestern and Western states took up nine of the top ten highest well-being scores. Other states that join the Dakotas in the top ten happiest states are Nebraska, Minnesota, Montana, Vermont, Colorado, Hawaii, Washington and Iowa.

The South is highly represented in the bottom ten, which is made up of Louisiana, Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas, Ohio, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky and finally, West Virginia.

These regional patterns of well-being are aligned with previous years.

Residents in Kentucky and West Virginia reported poor physical health and low incomes.

The poll shows well-being has steadily increased in 11 states since 2010.

Sources: Healthways, Gallup

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North and South Dakota Top List Of Happiest U.S. States, West Virginia At The Bottom

Here Are The States That Support Nearly Doubling The Minimum Wage

The recent debate over raising the minimum wage has been contentious, with revelations about fast food worker’s struggles to survive on their wages striking a chord with many Americans. One of the proposed solutions is a nationwide increase to $ 15 an hour from the current federal floor of $ 7.25. 

Americans are nearly split on the issue. A recent survey of 10,686 people by compensation website PayScale found that 50.6% oppose such a large increase, and 49.4% support it.

There’s also a significant amount of variation between states. Many states have higher minimum wages already; Washington’s is the highest at $ 9.32 per hour. 

But the biggest supporters of an increase are states like New York and Hawaii that have the highest costs of living, and where those with low-paying jobs face greater difficulty getting by. 

Here’s the state-by-state breakdown from PayScale, excluding South Dakota and Wyoming, where the sample size was too small: 

Payscale

Among the survey’s additional findings:

• Women are more likely to favor the increase (57.3%) than men (42.7%).


• MDs are most in favor of increasing the minimum wage to $ 15 per hour (63.6% support).


• Workers with an MBA are the most opposed (37.6% support).

SEE ALSO:  Most Americans Aren’t Getting Or Expecting A Raise

Politics

Here Are The States That Support Nearly Doubling The Minimum Wage

Bradley Manning states he"s "female", wants to live as ‘Chelsea’

Published time: August 22, 2013 11:49

US Army Private Bradley Manning, sentenced to 35 years for leaking classified documents on Wednesday, announced that he would like to live out the rest of his life as a woman. The whistleblower has asked to refer to him by the name Chelsea Manning.

“As I transition into this next phase of my life, I want everyone to know  the real me. I am Chelsea Manning. I am a female. Given the way that I feel, and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible. I hope that you will support me in this transition. I also request that, starting today, you refer to me by my new name and use the feminine pronoun (except in official mail to the confinement facility). I look forward to receiving letters from supporters and having the opportunity to write back,” Manning said in a statement, which was obtained by the Today show on Thursday.

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Bradley Manning states he"s "female", wants to live as ‘Chelsea’

Stomach bug in 2 states linked to Mexican farm

In this image provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a photomicrograph of a fresh stool sample, which had been prepared using a 10% formalin solution, and stained with modified acid-fast stain, reveals the presence of four Cyclospora cayetanensis oocysts in the field of view. Iowa and Nebraska health officials said Tuesday, July 30, 2013, that a prepackaged salad mix is the source of a cyclospora outbreak that sickened more than 178 people in both states. Cyclospora is a rare parasite that causes a lengthy gastrointestinal illness. (AP Photo/Centerd for Disease Control and Prevention)

In this image provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a photomicrograph of a fresh stool sample, which had been prepared using a 10% formalin solution, and stained with modified acid-fast stain, reveals the presence of four Cyclospora cayetanensis oocysts in the field of view. Iowa and Nebraska health officials said Tuesday, July 30, 2013, that a prepackaged salad mix is the source of a cyclospora outbreak that sickened more than 178 people in both states. Cyclospora is a rare parasite that causes a lengthy gastrointestinal illness. (AP Photo/Centerd for Disease Control and Prevention)

Graphic identifies the states where cases of cyclospora infection have been reported to the CDC; 1c x 6 inches; 46.5 mm x 152 mm;

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WASHINGTON (AP) — An outbreak of stomach illnesses in Iowa and Nebraska has been linked to salad mix served at local Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants and supplied by a Mexican farm.

The outbreak of cyclospora infections has sickened more than 400 people in 16 states. The Food and Drug Administration says it is still working to determine whether the salad mix is the source of illnesses in the other 14 states.

“It is not yet clear whether the cases reported from other states are all part of the same outbreak,” the agency said in a statement. “The investigation of increased cases of cyclosporiasis in other states continues.”

Both Olive Garden and Red Lobster are owned by Orlando-based Darden Restaurants. In a statement, Darden spokesman Mike Bernstein said the FDA’s announcement is “new information.”

“Nothing we have seen prior to this announcement gave us any reason to be concerned about the products we’ve received from this supplier,” Bernstein said.

The FDA said it traced illnesses from the restaurants in Nebraska and Iowa to Taylor Farms de Mexico, the Mexican branch of Salinas, Calif.-based Taylor Farms. The company, which provides produce to the food service industry, said its facility located about 180 miles north of Mexico City in San Miguel de Allende is the only one of its 12 sites to be connected to the cases.

In an email, the chairman and CEO of Taylor Farms, Bruce Taylor, said the Mexican plant produced 48 million servings of salads for thousands of restaurants in the Midwest and eastern U.S. in June, the month the outbreak started. He said the facility has an extensive water testing program.

“All our tests have been negative and we have no evidence of cyclospora in our product,” Taylor said. “We are working closely with the FDA to continue this investigation.”

Taylor said Taylor Farms de Mexico does not supply Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants in Texas, the state with the second most illnesses in the outbreak. According to CDC, 113 of the illnesses reported so far were in Texas. Iowa has had 146 illnesses and Nebraska 81.

In an additional statement on the company’s website, Taylor Farms says the Mexican facility is “state of the art and has an exceptional food safety record.” The statement said the product is out of the food supply.

The FDA said it had audited the Mexican processing facility in 2011 and found “no notable issues,” according to the agency. The agency said it would increase surveillance efforts for green leafy products imported from Mexico.

The most recent known illness in the two states linked to the infected salad was in Nebraska a month ago. The typical shelf life for a salad mix is up to 14 days.

There have been more recent illnesses in other states. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the most recent illness was July 23 but centers did not specify a location.

The agency said its investigation has not implicated any packaged salad sold in grocery stores.

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Follow Mary Clare Jalonick on Twitter at http://twitter.com/mcjalonick

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Stomach bug in 2 states linked to Mexican farm

States seek to nullify Obama efforts

Nullification supporters say it’s the best tool they have to beat back the federal government. | AP Photo

Infuriated by what they see as the long arm of Washington reaching into their business, states are increasingly telling the feds: Keep out!

Bills that would negate a variety of federal laws have popped up this year in the vast majority of states – with the amount of anti-federal legislation sharply on the rise during the Obama administration, according to experts.

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The “nullification” trend in recent years – which has touched off both fierce battles within the states, and between the states and the feds, as well as raising questions and court battles about whether any of it is legal – has largely focused on three areas: gun control; health care; and national standards for driver’s licenses.

(PHOTOS: Obama’s second term)

In at least 37 states legislation has been introduced that in some way guts federal gun regulations, according to the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. The bills were signed into law this spring in two states, Kansas and Alaska, and in two more lawmakers hope to override a governor’s veto. Twenty states since 2010 have passed laws that either opt out of or challenge mandatory parts of Obamacare, the National Conference of State Legislatures says. And half the states have OK’d measures aimed knocking back the Real ID Act of 2005, which dictates Washington’s requirements for issuing driver’s licenses.

“Rosa Parks is the beacon of light: If you say no to something, you can change the world,” Michael Boldin, the Founder of the Tenth Amendment Center, which favors states’ rights, told POLITICO.

“Isn’t that what it’s supposed to be, ‘We, the people?’” he added. “Over the past few years you’ve seen this growing…People are getting sick and tired of federal power.”

(PHOTOS: Obama’s first term in cartoons)

In fact, the state-level anger at the nation’s capital has reached such a fever pitch that many of the bills do not even address specific federal laws, but rather amount to what is in effect “preemptive” nullification, wiping out, for instance, any federal law that may exist in the future that the states determine violates gun rights. The flurry of such effors was spurred by fear on the part of states that in the wake of the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., that Congress would pass restrictive gun control legislation.

Supporters of nullification say it’s the best tool they have to try to beat back an intrusive federal government that they say is more and more trampling on the rights of states.

But critics respond that the flood of legislation to override the feds is folly that won’t stand up in court and amounts to a transparent display of the political and personal distaste for President Barack Obama. And in some cases, the moves in the states has provoked an administration counter-offensive: Attorney General Eric Holder sent a letter to Kansas after it passed the “Second Amendment Protection Act” threatening legal action if necessary to enforce federal laws.

(PHOTOS: What’s in Obama’s 2014 budget)

Even some conservatives – certainly no lovers of the Obama administration – warn that the states are going down the wrong path with nullification, distracted by a what lawmakers think is a silver-bullet solution, but that likely won’t stand up in the courts, when in fact there are much better (and legal) ways for the states to resist.

While most states have wrapped their legislative sessions for the year, the fight on these bills is taking only a brief pause. In Missouri, for example, lawmakers are preparing for a veto session in September, where supporters of a gun measure would eviscerate any future congressional attempts to regulate gun ownership are planning to attempt to override the governor’s veto. The nullification battle has also spilled over into the courts, with more challenges and rulings expected during the year.

In Kansas, state Rep. John Rubin sponsored successful legislation that dictates that federal gun laws do not apply to firearms and accessories made in Kansas and that never leave its borders, and makes it a felony for any federal agent to enforce those laws within the state.

The Republican lawmaker told POLITICO his bill is about states’ rights – not gun rights.

“The federal government doesn’t have the authority to do a lot of what it’s trying to do these days, from regulating guns within state borders, as my bill deals with, or telling us what kinds of light bulbs to put in our lamps,” Rubin said.

He noted a rise in the number nullification bills.

“I think we have the Obama administration to thank for that.” Rubin said. “The more federal overreach in Obamacare and elsewhere, the more [the administration] chooses to act in ways we believe are unconstitutional, the more we’re going to push back. I would encourage any state to assert to the strongest possible extent against the Obama administration, or any federal administration, rights clearly reserved to the states.”

POLITICO – TOP Stories

States seek to nullify Obama efforts

Unemployment rates drop in most states, Illinois climbs

Job seekers stand in line to meet with prospective employers at a career fair in New York City, October 24, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Mike Segar

WASHINGTON | Fri May 17, 2013 2:53pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Unemployment rates dropped in 43 out of the 50 U.S. states and in the District of Columbia in April from a year before, according to Labor Department data released on Friday.

A handful of states, including Illinois, Delaware, Indiana, Wisconsin, Mississippi and New Hampshire saw their jobless rates rise over the year. Illinois’ rate fell in April to 9.3 percent from 9.5 percent in March but rose from 8.8 percent a year before.

“April data reflects the unevenness of this recovery,” said the director of the Illinois employment department, Jay Rowell, in a statement. “This uneven path forward likely will continue until consumer and business confidence can be sustained at the national level.”

Even though Nevada registered the largest rate drop of all the states over the year, it still had the highest unemployment rate in the country at 9.6 percent in April. The state, which reaped economic fortune during the housing boom, saw its rate spike to 14 percent in September 2010, the highest on records going back to 1976, and then steadily drop.

After Nevada the next higher rates were Illinois, Mississippi and California. In California, where the economy is on the mend, the state unemployment rate continued its decline falling to 9 percent from 9.4 percent in March – a record low since December 2011.

North Dakota’s unemployment rate, the lowest in country for half a decade, inched up to 3.3 percent. The state is in the grips of a commodities boom, with North Dakota’s 28,600 mining and logging jobs in April 321 percent more than five years before.

Still, it was one of seven states where the jobless rate rose over the year. In April 2012, North Dakota’s jobless rate was 3 percent, and in March it was 3.2 percent. The increase may be due to its swelling labor force, which also grew since April 2012.

Seasonal factors could also be in play, according to Michael Ziesch, a manager of labor market information for the state, who noted “April rates have historically always posted a decrease from prior month, this year was no exception.”

“Current period rates are slightly higher than a year ago and reflect longer winter type weather in the period that delayed many outside projects,” he added.

From March, unemployment rates fell in 40 states and Washington, D.C., and were unchanged in seven. Rates rose in two other states besides North Dakota: Louisiana and Tennessee.

On Friday, President Barack Obama visited Maryland in a campaign-style stop on his “Middle Class Jobs & Opportunity Tour,” and was set to appear at a local manufacturer to promote job creation and education.

Situated close to the nation’s capital, Maryland is home to federal contractors and employees, and also has a burgeoning technology corridor. Some had warned that its employment would shrink once the across-the-board federal spending cuts known as sequestration took effect on March 1.

In April, its unemployment rate fell to 6.5 percent from 6.8 percent a year earlier, the lowest in more than four years, according to Governor Martin O’Malley. Over the last 12 months, 34,600 jobs have been added to payrolls in the state, as well.

Neighboring Virginia, which has also prospered from a strong federal workforce, had an unemployment rate of 5.2 percent, also the lowest in more than four years.

At the national level, the U.S. unemployment rate fell to the lowest since December 2008 in April, 7.5 percent, while nonfarm payrolls rose, according to a report released earlier this month.

Over the year, payrolls grew in 47 states and the District of Columbia. Since March, employment increased in 30 states, decreased in 18 and the District of Columbia, and was the same in two.

Texas gained the most jobs over the month, 33,100, followed by New York, 25,300 and Florida, 17,000. Wisconsin lost the most jobs from March at 24,100 followed by Minnesota at 11,400.

At one point during the recession, Michigan’s employment conditions were the worst in the nation with the struggling automobile companies that have long anchored its economy laying off hundreds of thousands of people. In April, its unemployment fell to 8.4 percent from 8.5 percent in March and 9.1 percent the year before.

“Michigan labor market indicators were relatively unchanged in April,” said Michael Williams, acting director of the Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiatives, in a statement. “However, the number of unemployed in Michigan has declined for three consecutive months.”

(Additional reporting by Karen Pierog in Chicago, editing by Tiziana Barghini and Chizu Nomiyama)

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Reuters: Economic News

Unemployment rates drop in most states, Illinois climbs

The Supreme Court Is On The Verge Of Letting States Rig Elections

AP

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority seemed hell-bent Wednesday on striking down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, several news sources reported.

Section 5 of the VRA requires 16 states with histories of discrimination (mostly in the South) to get permission from the federal government before changing their voting procedures.

The federal government in turn looks at whether those changes could negatively impact minority voters and stops them in their tracks if they do.

In recent years, the U.S. government has used Section 5 to stop states from passing laws that serve no real purpose other than keeping likely Democrats out of voting booths.

The VRA was passed in 1965, when Southern states used more blatant tactics to keep blacks away from the polls such as literacy tests and “poll taxes.”

The law’s opponents say it’s no longer necessary in a post-Jim Crow era when a black politician can be elected president of the United States.

It’s true that no Southern state has tried a tactic as outrageous as a literacy test to disenfrancise voters and rig an election in a very long time.

But if (and more likely when) the Supreme Court strikes down Section 5, states will be able to find ways to skew election results in ways that could screw Democratic candidates, who tend to capture the minority vote.

These are a few of the ways the high court is going to pave the way for states to rig elections:

• Gerrymandering – This practice allows states go redraw election districts so that one party has a distinct advantage. For instance, a minority neighborhood might be divided into several districts to dillute that group’s power. States covered under Section 5 would have to get permission before gerrymandering their districts, and the federal government would thwart their efforts. Slate’s Emily Bazelon has called the VRA the “only real bulwark against gerrymandering still standing.“
• Voter ID laws – A number of states with Republican-controlled legislatures have pushed for laws that require government-issued photo IDs at the polls. The people pushing for voter ID laws say they’re fighting election fraud, but one comprehensive study found there are virtually no known cases of in-person, election day voter fraud. Meanwhile, a photo ID requirement adds one more barrier to voting and could potentially disenfranchise a lot of Hispanic voters, one bombshell study found. 
• Ditching early voting – Early voting typically helps ensure poor voters can actually get to the polls, as low-income people might have a tough time getting out of work on election day and waiting in long lines. And many black churches bus voters to their precincts on the Sunday before election day, in an effort known as “Souls to the Polls.” If and when Section 5 dies, the federal government won’t be able to block Southern states’ efforts to cut back on early voting.

To be sure, the federal government will be able to sue states that adopt racist voting procedures – even if Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act dies.

For instance, Obama sued Ohio when it tried to cut back on eary voting, and Ohio isn’t covered by Section 5. But Ohio was a battleground state in a presidential election and worth the legal battle.

Still, the Justice Department can’t sue over every potentially discriminatory voting law. If Section 5 dies, then someone somewhere is going to get away with rigging elections.

SEE ALSO:  Justice Department Says It Can’t Trust The South Not To Be Racist

Politics

The Supreme Court Is On The Verge Of Letting States Rig Elections