July 24, 2014

Poll: Most Americans Say People Are Better Off Under Obamacare

By DYLAN SCOTT Published JULY 24, 2014, 10:00 AM EDT

A majority of Americans believe that either they themselves or other people are better off under Obamacare, according to a CNN poll released Wednesday.

The poll found that 18 percent of Americans said they are better off under the health care reform law. But even if they said they personally are about the same or worse off, another 35 percent said that other families are better off because of the law. According to 44 percent of respondents, Obamacare had not helped anyone.

The law's approval ratings remained under water, with 40 percent approving and 59 percent disapproving. But 17 percent said they disapproved because the law is not liberal enough.

The poll, conducted from July 18 to 20, surveyed 1,012 U.S. adults. Its margin of error is 3 percentage points.

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/poll-most-americans-better-off-obamacare

July 24, 2014

Pope meets Christian sentenced to death for faith

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis met privately Thursday with a Sudanese woman who refused to recant her Christian faith in the face of a death sentence, blessing the woman as she cradled her infant born just weeks ago in prison.

The Vatican characterized the visit with Meriam Ibrahim, 27, her husband and their two small children as “very affectionate.”

The 30-minute encounter took place just hours after the family landed at Rome’s Ciampino airport, accompanied by an Italian diplomat who helped negotiate her release, and welcomed by Italy’s premier, who hailed it as a “day of celebration.”

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said the pope “thanked her for her faith and courage, and she thanked him for his prayer and solidarity” during the half-hour meeting Thursday. Francis frequently calls attention to the suffering of those persecuted for their religious beliefs.

Lombardi said the presence of “their wonderful small children” added to the affectionate tone of the meeting. Ibrahim was presented with a rosary, a gift from the pope.

more
http://www.salon.com/2014/07/24/pope_meets_christian_sentenced_to_death_for_faith/

July 24, 2014

Israel shells U.N.-run school in Gaza Strip, killing at least 10

Source: Washington Post

Israeli forces shelled a U.N.-run school filled with Palestinian refugees in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, killing at least 10 people and wounding more than 100, Palestinian officials said.

Several shells hit the school run by the U.N. Relief and Works Agency in Beit Hanoun, the Gaza Health Ministry said

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/israel-hamas-show-no-signs-of-bowing-to-pressure-for-truce/2014/07/24/90213d90-1305-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed_story.html

July 24, 2014

Beck: Bombing Victim I Wrongly Accused Was An 'Involuntary' Public Figure

By TOM KLUDT Published JULY 24, 2014, 9:35 AM EDT

Abdulrahman Alharbi was a victim in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, but Glenn Beck wrongly accused the Saudi Arabian student of being a suspect in the deadly explosions. According to Beck, Alharbi was fair game.

The Washington Post reported Thursday on a novel legal defense employed by Beck in the defamation suit filed by Alharbi earlier this year. Alharbi, who sustained minor injuries in the blast, is suing Beck and his network, The Blaze, for implicating him in the bombing even after he was cleared by authorities.

Beck's legal team contends that the conservative radio host, who called Alharbi the "money man" in the bombing plot and said the student faced deportation for "terrorist activities," is actually the real victim in this case.

WaPo reported that Beck's court filings said Alharbi is seeking to stifle the pundit's First Amendment rights and that Alharbi was an "involuntary" public figure — a standard that if met, according to the newspaper, would render Beck's errant observations all but irrelevant in court.

more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/glenn-beck-abdulrahman-alharbi-defense

July 24, 2014

KISS My Ass – Washed Up Rocker Tells The Poor To Worship His Money

The San Diego Union-Tribune had an interview with veteran rocker Gene Simmons from the band Kiss recently which went off the rails very early, revealing that self-styled “marketing genius” is little more than another self-entitled freeloader who believes he owes nothing to his fan base for the lifestyle he now lives.

From the article:

When asked how it felt being part of the 1 percent, the “genius” behind “Kiss Meet The Phantom” had this to say.

more
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/07/22/gene-simmons-fail/?utm_source=crowdignite.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=crowdignite.com

July 24, 2014

Fox’s Brian Kilmeade: Gay NFL player Michael Sam hurts team like dogfighter Michael Vick

By David Edwards
Thursday, July 24, 2014 9:12 EDT

Fox News host Brian Kilmeade this week compared to Michael Sam, the first openly-gay NFL player, to Michael Vick after he was convicted of dogfighting.

On the Wednesday edition of Fox & Friends, Kilmeade pointed out that former coach Tony Dungy had recently come under fire for saying that he would not have drafted Sam because he would have been a distraction.

“Sure, is the distraction bigger than what will occur on field?” co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck explained. “But he’s getting slammed. Tony Dungy is getting abused in the media. It’s a fact that this story is a big deal in the media. You know, Michael Sam, did he make it a big deal? Who knows?”

Co-host Steve Doocy defended Dungy’s right to “express his opinion,” and noted that the former coach had been called a hypocrite for helping Vick get his career back on track after he was sentenced to 23 months in federal prison for dogfighting and criminal conspiracy.

more
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/07/24/foxs-brian-kilmeade-gay-nfl-player-michael-sam-hurts-team-like-dogfighter-michael-vick/

July 24, 2014

Jan Brewer: Inmate In Botched Execution 'Did Not Suffer'

Source: TPM

By CATHERINE THOMPSON Published JULY 24, 2014, 8:59 AM EDT

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) said Wednesday that she had ordered an internal review of the nearly two-hour-long execution of an inmate, but she said she believed the condemned man who gasped and snorted throughout most of the ordeal "did not suffer."

Lawyers for Joseph Rudolph Wood said the inmate gasped for more than an hour and a half during his execution before he died. One defense lawyer called it "a botched execution that should have taken 10 minutes," according to the Associated Press.

Yet Brewer released a statement saying that Wood was executed in a lawful manner and "by eyewitness and medical accounts he did not suffer."

"This is in stark comparison to the gruesome, vicious suffering that he inflicted on his two victims, and the lifetime of suffering he has caused their family," she added.

-snip-

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/jan-brewer-joseph-wood-didnt-suffer

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Arizona AG's Office Got Inmate's Name Wrong In Announcing Botched Execution

By NICK R. MARTIN Published JULY 23, 2014, 9:07 PM EDT

A short time after Arizona inmate Joseph R. Wood III was executed on Wednesday in what reportedly was a gruesome two-hour ordeal, the state attorney general's office there sent out an email announcing the death.

There was a problem with the announcement, though: It had Wood's name wrong. News outlets, including TPM, received the announcement at 3:56 p.m. Arizona time, just seven minutes after Wood was pronounced dead. The first paragraph of the announcement was this:



The name that appeared in that paragraph, Robert G. Jones, was that of an inmate who was put to death by Arizona on Oct. 23, 2013.

more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/joseph-wood-execution-wrong-name

July 24, 2014

5 countries that love America (and 5 that hate it)

A new survey from the Pew Research Center reveals anti-Americanism is highest in the Middle East

SARAH WOLFE, GLOBALPOST

America has always been a polarizing presence on the global stage. But this new survey by Pew Research Center shows just how much.

Anti-Americanism is particularly strong in the Middle East, Pew says in the survey, with public favor much higher in many European countries and most Asian nations.

Here’s a look at the five countries that hate America the most, and the five that love it most.

First, the haters:

1. Egypt (85 percent unfavorable)

-snip-

2. Jordan (85 percent unfavorable)

-snip-

3. Turkey (73 percent unfavorable)

-snip-

4. Russia (71 percent unfavorable)

-snip-

5. Palestine (66 percent unfavorable)

-snip-

And now, America’s biggest fans:

1. Philippines (92 percent favorable)

-snip-

2. Israel (84 percent favorable)

-snip-

3. South Korea (82 percent favorable)

-snip-

4. Kenya (80 percent favorable)

-snip-

5. El Salvador (80 percent favorable)

-snip-

Full article:
http://www.salon.com/2014/07/24/5_countries_that_love_america_and_5_that_hate_it_partner/

July 24, 2014

Noam Chomsky vs. Al Franken: Behind the odd progressive divide between senators, intellectuals on Ga

Noam Chomsky vs. Al Franken: Behind the odd progressive divide between senators, intellectuals on Gaza

Senate progressives join unanimous resolution backing Israel, but the reaction has been different elsewhere on left

DAVID PALUMBO-LIU

Very recently, former U.S. national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski had this to say about Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s brutal attack on and now invasion of Gaza: “He is isolating Israel. He’s endangering its longer-range future. And I think we ought to make it very clear that this is a course of action which we thoroughly disapprove and which we do not support and which may compel us and the rest of the international community to take some steps of legitimizing Palestinian aspirations perhaps in the U.N.”

While it is to be expected that not all of Washington would sign on to this, it is shocking to find the U.S. Senate voting unanimously for Senate Resolution 498, which gave U.S. support for the Israeli defense forces’ invasion and urges Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas to dissolve the unity governing arrangement with Hamas and condemn the attacks on Israel. The resolution calls on Hamas to immediately cease all rocket and other attacks against Israel.

Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., a co-sponsor of the resolution, was absolutely right when he said, “The United States Senate is in Israel’s camp.”

For many outside the U.S. Senate, the discovery that even progressive stalwarts such as Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Al Franken, D-Minn., voted for the resolution is more than disappointing. It does more than confirm U.S. Senate support for Israel. It pushes that statement beyond any rational or ethical or moral framework imaginable.

more
http://www.salon.com/2014/07/23/noam_chomsky_vs_al_franken_behind_the_odd_progressive_divide_between_senators_intellectuals_on_gaza/

July 24, 2014

Gates worried about notion of US disengagement

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he’s worried there’s a perception of the United States “disengaging” from global affairs.

Gates, who also once headed the CIA, says he recognizes the ocean-to-ocean diplomacy the Obama administration has been carrying out in the Mideast and Eastern Europe and other world hot spots like Africa.

Yet, he says, quote, “I think there is a perception around the world of the United States as disengaging.” Gates tells CBS News he thinks more focus needs to be given to longer-term, over short-term, solutions for world crises, with the aim of preventing a recurrence.

He attributes the impression of disengagement to the fact that the U.S. has ended, or is withdrawing from, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for which there is no clear American victory.

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Read more: http://www.salon.com/2014/07/24/gates_worried_about_notion_of_us_disengagement/