Free Talk Live

"In 2003, a survey of female veterans found that 30 percent said they were raped in the military. A 2004 study of veterans who were seeking help for post-traumatic stress disorder found that 71 percent of the women said they were sexually assaulted or raped while serving. And a 1995 study of female veterans of the Gulf and earlier wars, found that 90 percent had been sexually harassed."Another study concluded that 90% of all women serving are sexually harassed. Another one estimates that 90% of all the rapes do not get reported

The US Federal Reserve announced a $267bn plan to underpin the US's fragile recovery Wednesday as chairman Ben Bernanke warned that unemployment was unlikely to improve before the end of the year. The plan – an extension of a scheme known as Operation Twist – aims to drive down long-term interest rate and encourage borrowing. The announcement came as the latest statement from the Fed painted a gloomier picture of the US economy and said it was prepared to take more action if necessary.

Why Did the Unemployment Rate Drop?

The U.S. added 120,000 jobs in November, but the unemployment rate posted a huge drop to 8.6% from 9% and a broader unemployment rate fell even more to 15.6% from 16.2%. Why?

Pot is up marginally, but the real biggies are ecstasy, at 37 percent and meth, at 60 percent, yet "I think all of the attention and the focus of calling marijuana medicine has sent the absolute wrong message to our young people," Kerlikowske said in an interview.

What a turd! Maybe that eight percent more who admit using pot are medical? Yeah, I think so too.

The population of aging and elderly prisoners in U.S. prisons exploded over the past three decades, with nearly 125,000 inmates aged 55 or older now behind bars, according to a report published Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union. This represents an increase of over 1,300 percent since the early 1980s. More than $16 billion is spent annually by states and the federal government to incarcerate elderly prisoners, despite ample evidence that most prisoners over age 50 pose little or no threat to public safety, the report said.

New York City is the abortion capital of America. More than 40 percent of pregnancies in New York City end in abortion (excluding miscarriages), nearly twice the national rate. The abortion rate among the city’s black residents is a jaw-dropping 60 percent. In 2009, New York City saw more than 87,000 abortions—one roughly every six minutes.

new survey of Pennsylvania Republicans out by Public Policy Polling Wednesday night has the former senator trailing Mitt Romney in his home state 42 percent to 37 percent.

"The numbers represent a dramatic turnaround from when PPP polled the state a month ago. Romney's gained 17 points, going from 25 percent to 42 percent," the survey reads. "Meanwhile Santorum's dropped 6 points from 43 percent to 37 percent, for an overall swing of 23 points in the last four weeks.

Half of College Grads Under 25 are Unemployed or Underemployed

Recent projections have job prospects improving for 2012's college graduates. But there's a lot more room for improvement than we're likely to see:

About 1.5 million, or 53.6 percent, of bachelor's degree-holders under the age of 25 last year were jobless or underemployed, the highest share in at least 11 years. In 2000, the share was at a low of 41 percent, before the dot-com bust erased job gains for college graduates in the telecommunications and IT fields.

Nearly 1 in 3 Young People Will Be Arrested by Age 23

A recently released study claims that nearly 1 in 3 U.S. youths will be arrested for a non-traffic offense by age 23. Zero-tolerance policies and a broadened definition of alcohol offenses are the cause of the trend.