Some Graphic Looks at U.S. Life

I. Lifers Who Committed Their Crimes as Kids, by Race
Mother Jones did a graph of thirteen states that have 25 or more cases of juveniles serving life sentences -- California and Florida were excluded because they didn't provide racial data. The graph is broken down into categories of White, Black, Hispanic, Asian/Native American and Other. The breakdown below will show percentages of white juveniles serving life sentences, followed by percentages of black juveniles.

Arkansas: 30 - 70 --- Georgia: 15-77 --- 15-69 --- Louisiana: 18-82 --- Michigan: 26-70 --- Mississippi: 30-70 --- Nebraska: 48-46 --- North Carolina: 12-75 --- Pennsylvania: 22-66 --- South Carolina: 25-65.

Two states have significant numbers of Hispanics serving life sentences for crimes committed as juveniles. Arizona: 41-16-40 and Colorado: 33-30-22.

There are two things that are particularly significant about these graphic breakdowns: 1.) Fifteen states have twenty-five or more cases; and 2.) In the thirteen states graphed, whites are the dominant population, yet in all but three states, the percentage of blacks serving life sentences greatly exceeds whites serving life sentences.

Given that the graph is divided into ten percent increments, I have tried to approximate percentages as closely as possible. (Source: Mother Jones, January/February 2016.)

II. Market for Subprime Auto Loans Dwarfs that of Subprime Credit Cards
Although high interest rates on credit cards receives far more media coverage than interest on auto loans, the market for subprime auto loans greatly exceeds that for subprime credit cards. All auto loans exceeded $500 billion in value for 2014, versus close to $350 billion for credit cards. Regarding subprime loans. the comparative amounts were $98 billion versus $13 billion. Subprime is defined as a credit score of below 620. (Source: Equifax.)

Another Mother Jones graph shows that subprime (defined as deep subprime) interest rates have risen from sixteen percent in 2008  to twenty percent in 2015. (Source: Experian.) Total interest on a 60-month, $25,000 used car loan [second quarter of 2015] was close to $15,000 for a deep subprime loan and close to $12,000 for a subprime loan. (Sources: Experian, Banknote.) The graphs can be seen in Mother Jones, March/April 2016.

III. Campaign Donations by the Adelsons
Casino owner Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam, have been major donors to conservative Republican candidates for at least the past decade. Dark money (spending that doesn't have to be disclosed) has accounted for more than one-third of the Adelsons' known political giving over the past decade. The Adelson's political giving spiked to about $22 million in 2008 and slightly over $150 million in 2012. (Sources: Center for Responsive Politics, the New York Times, and Huffington Post.) The political spending graph can be found in "High Stakes," Mother Jones, March/April 2016.

IV. The Decarbonization of California
The information provided in I.-III. should be described as troublesome in nature. This section gives the graphic information about California's plummeting carbon emissions. The graph displays trends in GDP, population, emissions and emissions per capita from 2000 through 2013. Measured from 0% in 2000 to the respective percentages in 2013, GDP increased by just under 25%; the population has increased by about 13%; emissions have fallen by about 3%; and emissions per capita have fallen by about 13%.

If we look at Average Monthly Household Energy Use (in kilowatt hours), California weights in at 562, versus 911 for the entire United States. (Sources: California Air Resources Board, US Energy Information Administration.)