Republican Governors Starting to Realize People Like Medicaid

"
Medicaid is the one bright spot in Obamacare's kinda sad rollout — it hasn't been crippled by the PR and website problems that slowed down private insurance. We've heard a lot about people who lost their old insurance plans under Obamacare, but many who benefit from the Medicaid expansion didn't have insurance in the first place. In a New York Times profile of an Obamacare "winner," 54-year-old disabled nurse Sharon Mills from West Virginia, the Times found that, perhaps not surprisingly, people are intensely relieved and less depressed when they have insurance. As the Medicaid expansion continues to do well in the states that adopted it, anti-expansion governors are starting to come around..."

http://www.thewire.com/politics/2014/01/republican-governors-starting-realize-people-medicaid/357218/

Article: Human Rights Watch annual report 2014 criticises NSA mass surveillance

States with poor human rights records may use spying scandal as excuse to clamp down on internet freedom, report warns
http://www.theguardian.com/law/2014/jan/21/human-rights-watch-report-criticises-nsa-mass-surveillance

Israeli Defense Minister: 'Obsessed With Peace? How DARE You?'

"American efforts to broker a peace deal in the Middle East were engulfed in a diplomatic row on Tuesday when the US state department lambasted a senior Israeli minister for "offensive and inappropriate" comments describing John Kerry as obsessive and messianic.

Defence minister Moshe Ya'alon, an ally of Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, dismissed Kerry's efforts to pursue a peace deal in private conversations with US and Israeli officials which were reported in an Israeli newspaper.

"Secretary of state John Kerry -- who arrived here determined, and who operates from an incomprehensible obsession and a sense of messianism -- can't teach me anything about the conflict with the Palestinians," Ya'alon was quoted as saying in Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's biggest-selling paper."* The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur breaks it down.

http://youtu.be/kB2URwAkMkk

How To Keep Fracking Chemicals Secret From The Public

"What, exactly, are those chemicals being pumped underground during the fracking process? In North Carolina, no one has to say. On Tuesday, the 15-member state Mining and Energy Commission voted unanimously to pass a rule that would let fracking companies keep secret the makeup of the chemical mixture they pump underground to aid shale gas drilling. From the North Carolina News Observer:"

http://youtu.be/0t-JbQDOmX8

Senator Bernie Sanders Attacks Walmart

"Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) demanded that a panel of experts justify why America's shrinking middle class should continue to subsidize the nation's wealthiest family in a heated exchange Thursday during a congressional panel." Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/17...

http://youtu.be/kryWiCpcwZI

Vatican Monsignor Arrested For Money Laundering

VATICAN CITY (AP) — A Vatican monsignor already on trial for allegedly plotting to smuggle 20 million euros ($26 million) from Switzerland to Italy was arrested Tuesday in a separate case for allegedly using his Vatican bank accounts to launder money.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/vatican-monsignor-nuzio-scarano-money-laundering

 

Chris Matthews Is Uncomfortable With Obama's Pot Talk (VIDEO)

Typically an Obama cheerleader, Matthews said Monday that he thinks the President got it wrong when he said that pot is not "more dangerous than alcohol" (an argument backed by empirical evidence).
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/chris-matthews-obama-marijuana

Judge Strikes Down North Carolina’s Forced Ultrasound Law For Violating The First Amendment

Abortion doctors in North Carolina will no longer be forced to display and describe ultrasound images to their patients.The ... Read more

Why Conservatives Hate This Fact About MLK

With celebrations of MLK Day around the country Dr. King's views on race relations are always highlighted - what about his views on economic or social situations in America? Cenk Uygur and John Iadarola (host of TYT University and Common Room) break it down on The Young Turks.

http://youtu.be/U1Cfi1DfZqI

Profits At The Biggest Banks Bounce Back To Post-Crisis Record High

The six largest U.S. banks notched their second-best year ever in 2013 thanks in part to taxpayer-subsidized legal ... Read more

Robocalls: your new rights

Robocalls are hard to stop. Despite the Do Not Call registry, the robocalls keep coming because they are cheap to set up and easy to disconnect once the spotlight hits. And now robot callers can closely mimic human tones and responses. Many of us don't like to rudely hang up on a real person, so we engage. But there's hope. The FCC issued new rules last fall designed to make sure you get only the calls you actually want. But they are getting a lot of pushback from industry. Tell them you want the right to stop the robocalls! Tell the FCC to enforce your new robocall rights! New rules from the FCC will put you in better control over who can call you, on both your landline and your wireless device. Among your new rights: • A telemarketer will have to get your written consent to receive a call or message. You can give your OK for them to call through paper or electronic means — web forms, a telephone keypress, or email. • Robocalls to your home landline are no longer allowed based solely on an 'established business relationship' with you. Simply buying a product, or contacvting a business with a question, no longer gives them permission to call you. • Telemarketers who call will now have to let you immediately opt out of receiving additional calls through an automated menu. Learn more about your new rights, then tell the FCC to be aggressive. Sincerely, Jim Guest President, Consumer Reports 101 Truman Ave Yonkers, NY 10703-1057

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China Now Exporting Its Smog to US - Emissions from export industry 'boomerang' back

Emissions from export industry 'boomerang' back.

http://www.newser.com/story/181046/us-chokes-on-chinas-smog.html

Palestinian Herders Pick Up The Pieces After Homes Destroyed

Palestinian Herders Pick Up The Pieces After Homes Destroyed by Emily Harris January 21, 2014 6:07 AM Audio for this story from Morning Edition is ... Read more

Oxfam says world's rich threaten democracy

The 85 richest people on planet "own the wealth of half the world's population", the charity said. Read more

HBO CEO encourages you to share your HBO Go login

-- It's a "terrific marketing vehicle for the next generation of viewers... It's not that we’re unmindful of it, it just has no impact on the business.”...Don’t bother subscribing, HBO wants you to use your friends’ HBO Go logins.

Read more

Why Chris Christie Is In A World Of Trouble

"Hours after Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer accused the Christie administration of withholding Hurricane Sandy relief funds until she approved a development project in the Hudson county city, officials from the agency that distributed the money flatly denied the allegations. "Mayor Zimmer's allegation that on May 16, 2013 - in front of a live auditorium audience - (Department of Community Affairs) Commissioner (Richard) Constable conditioned Hoboken's receipt of Sandy aid on her moving forward with a development project is categorically false," DCA spokeswoman Lisa Ryan in an interview. On MSNBC this morning, Zimmer told anchor Steve Kornacki the Christie administration pressured her to approve a development deal with the Rockefeller Group, saying the city would receive Sandy aid if she went ahead with the deal...".* How has Bridgegate impacted Christie's donors and his 2016 presidential aspirations? Cenk Uygur and John Iadarola (host of TYT University and Common Room) break it down on The Young Turks.

http://youtu.be/zpQt51IVKFM

One Statistic About The World In 2014 That Would Outrage Martin Luther King Jr.

"I'm concerned about white poverty as much as I'm concerned about Negro poverty."The post One Statistic About The World In 2014 ... Read more

Sorry. Can't hear you over my free health care.

Read more

World's 85 richest people own nearly half of global wealth: Oxfam report

"... Wealthy elites have co-opted political power to rig the rules of the economic game, undermining democracy and creating a world where the 85 richest people own the wealth of half of the world's population," Oxfam claimed..."

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/business/worlds-85-richest-people-own-nearly-half-of-global-wealth-oxfam-report/articleshow/29110568.cms

'The Evolution of Confusion' by Dan Dennett, AAI 2009 (repost)

Interview:
Dan Dennett talks about purposely-confusing theology and how it's used. He also describes his new project interviewing clergyman who secretly don't believe anymore, and introduces a new term: "Deepity."

Dan Dennett is the author of many excellent books, including "Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon" and "Darwin's Dangerous Idea". He is also featured in the video "The Four Horsemen" along with Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens.

http://youtu.be/5Bwe7TIv4LY