Week In The News: Israel-Gaza Escalates, Congressional Recess, Russian Sanctions (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

A ceasefire that has not lasted in Gaza this week, and news on many fronts.  In Washington, where the CIA has admitted spying on its Senate Intelligence Committee overseers.  And where Congress is breaking for recess with no solution to the crisis of kids stacked up at the border.  In West Africa, where Ebola hits a record outbreak, with one patient headed to Atlanta.  With Russia, and new sanctions.  California and more water woes.  Wall Street, with a big swoon and all eyes on the US economy.  This hour On Point:  Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines. / Tom Ashbrook

Interview:
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2014/08/01/israel-gaza-congress-russia-recess-impeachment

Friday News Roundup - Domestic (Diane Rehm Show)

The unemployment rate rises slightly to 6.2%. House Republican leaders pull their bill to address the border crisis after opposition from within the GOP. Congressmen meet again today to try to re-work the bill before leaving town for August recess. Ahead of the summer break, the Senate does pass legislation to replenish the Highway Trust Fund. A CIA internal investigation reveals its officers spied on Senate Intelligence Committee computers. In response, the agency’s director apologizes to lawmakers. And the Justice Department challenges election laws in Ohio and Wisconsin. Diane and a panel of reporters discuss the week in news.
 

Interview:

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2014-08-01/friday-news-roundup-domestic

 

 

Friday News Roundup - International (Diane Rehm Show)

A short time into a three-day cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, the truce collapsed. Israel said Hamas militants attacked Israeli soldiers who were dismantling a tunnel. For the first time the E.U. agreed to impose broad sanctions against Russia over its actions in Ukraine. The U.S. also announced tougher sanctions. Ukraine declared a pause in fighting to allow international investigators to reach the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. In Libya the worst fighting since the overthrow of Colonel Gadhafi led the U.S. Embassy to evacuate. And Argentina defaulted on its debt after talks with bondholders failed. A panel of journalists joins Diane for analysis of the week's top international news stories.
 

Interview:

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2014-08-01/friday-news-roundup-international

 

 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren Asks About Lack of Private Student Loan Relief Options

Sen. Warren's Q&A at a July 31, 2014 Senate Banking Committee hearing on “Financial Products for Students: Issues and Challenges.”

http://youtu.be/haoKLe3rJxc

Stop sharing USB Flash drives - right now

It's time to start thinking of smartphones and USB Flash drives like toothbrushes or razors -- for personal use only.
Read more

Meet The Dangerous, Xenophobic Ammosexuals Lookin' For Brown People To Shoot.

There's a crisis at the border–and, no, it's not the Central American refugee children fleeing miserable poverty and violence.

... Read more

Fox News' Phony Obama Approval Rating Chart

Let's all take a minute and give Roger Ailes a quick math lesson. One plus one equals two. Three plus three equals six. Now we can continue. Fox News... Read more

KKK Group Embraces 'Shoot To Kill' Policy For Refugee Children

Same KKK, different target. In fact, in its zeal to stop all brown people from crossing the border at all times no matter how miserable their lives we... Read more

Humanist Charity Raising Funds for Unaccompanied Immigrant Children's Legal Aid

"...The Humanist Crisis Response program will donate the funds to two organizations that provide attorneys for minors in immigration hearings -- the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project in Arizona, and Kids in Need of Defense, which operates in California and Texas...."

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2014/07/nations_largest_humanist_charity_raising_funds_for_unaccompanied_immigrant_childrens_legal_aid.php

Baerren: Let’s talk about atheism

"...If you want atheists to stop doing obnoxious things to let you know they object to your bigotry, stop being a bigot..."

http://www.themorningsun.com/opinion/20140731/baerren-lets-talk-about-atheism

A brief history of religion

Religious Lunacy Of All Kinds Has Real World Consequences

"When Israel ended its 38-year occupation of the Gaza Strip by withdrawing settlers in 2005, then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon hailed it as a "disengagement" from conflict with Palestinians in the densely populated coastal enclave.

But the conflict did not end, it only changed.

Israel kept expanding settlements in the West Bank where the Palestinians also seek a state. Hardline Islamists seized control of Gaza in 2007 and periodic U.S. efforts to broker a permanent peace between Israel and the Palestinian Authority under secular President Mahmoud Abbas have proved fruitless. "

http://youtu.be/VYH4aYb7IAU

Holocaust Survivor Mourns What Israel Has Become

"As a Jewish youngster growing up in Budapest, an infant survivor of the Nazi genocide, I was for years haunted by a question resounding in my brain with such force that sometimes my head would spin: “How was it possible? How could the world have let such horrors happen?”

It was a naïve question, that of a child. I know better now: such is reality. Whether in Vietnam or Rwanda or Syria, humanity stands by either complicitly or unconsciously or helplessly, as it always does. In Gaza today we find ways of justifying the bombing of hospitals, the annihilation of families at dinner, the killing of pre-adolescents playing soccer on a beach.

In Israel-Palestine the powerful party has succeeded in painting itself as the victim, while the ones being killed and maimed become the perpetrators."

http://youtu.be/IynADeLxfCU

Debunked: The Mendacious Propaganda Israel is Pushing to Justify Its War On Gaza

"It was Israel that initiated the assault on Gaza--not the Palestinians..."
... Read more

'I Cried as I Took Notes,' Reporter on Gaza's Child Victims

AFP Middle East correspondent: "I've seen dead children before, but never like during this war in Gaza. Never so many, never so often."

 ... Read more

The Media's Pro-Israel Bias: Why Does TV News Look Like a Netanyahu Ad?

"...No one is asking the Israeli officials parading across the screen the hard questions...."
... Read more

WATCH: Jon Stewart Spanks Parasitic, Tax-dodging Corporations

Why are we constantly giving in to every whim of corporations? And why are they constantly throwing tantrums? Stewart has a theory. Read more

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,The Daily Show on Facebook,Daily Show Video Archive

Israel's Crazy Doctrine for Justifying Deaths of Over 1,000 Gazans

"The worsening of life for people in Gaza is a deliberate goal of the Israeli military..."
... Read more

10 Reasons to Be Hopeful that We Will Overcome Climate Change

Action in China, falling solar costs and rising electric car sales, for starters.

 ... Read more

Right-Wing Backlash Against 'Smartypants' Like Neil deGrasse Tyson

"Conservative elites delight in tearing down smart, educated people."

 ... Read more

4 Reasons Why the Newly Declared GOP ‘War FOR Women’ Is a Ridiculous Joke

"The GOP's package of bills aimed at improving women's economic circumstances is laughably transparent."

... Read more

Smart phones are making us antisocial

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Garden of the Gods. Winter in Colorado [1920x1080] [OC]

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I'm vacationing in Cambodia, here's my hotel at sunset

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Kanuhura, Maldives.

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Nasa validates 'impossible' space drive (Wired UK)

"...Nasa is a major player in space science, so when a team from the agency this week presents evidence that "impossible" microwave thrusters seem to work, something strange is definitely going on. Either the results are completely wrong, or Nasa has confirmed a major breakthrough in space propulsion...."

Read more

Paul Ryan Says Climate Change Is Just An Excuse For Obama To Raise Taxes

 Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) said he thinks that "climate change occurs no matter what," but that the EPA's recent efforts to reduce ... Read more

New Bill Would Create ‘License To Discriminate’ For Religious Adoption Agencies

"...The bill would force the government to continue to contracting with any organization that provides services to children, regardless of how their religious tenets affect the way they provide those services. Though the text doesn’t mention “same-sex” anywhere, it specifically references “some States, including Massachusetts, California, Illinois, and the District of Columbia,” four places where recognition of same-sex unions conflicted with Catholic Charities, which refused to provide adoption services to those couples..."
... Read more

Why The Koch Brothers Are So Interested In Who Becomes The Next Attorney General Of Colorado

A large group, which has received significant funding from the fossil fuel industry and dark money groups backed by ... Read Moore

Megyn Kelly Twists Pelosi’s Words To Suggest She Supports Hamas

Did Megyn Kelly bother to actually read or watch Nancy Pelosi’s comments about Israel, Hamas and Qatar before smearing her with a blatant misinterpretation?
... Read more

FreedomWorks Has Millions Of Reasons To Repeal The ACA

Mother Jones investigates the cozy and expensive relationship between Cancer Treatment Center of America and Freedomworks.
... Read more

Vote Cancelled On Border Crisis Bill; GOP Tells Obama To Act Alone

No wonder Li'l Luke Russert was shocked. One day after authorizing a lawsuit against President Obama for taking executive action, Speaker Boehner yank... Read more

Watch This Fox Pundit Call Out Tucker Carlson's 'Christian Nation' Hypocrisy On Refugee Kids

Fox News host Tucker Carlson has converted to secularism -- at least, when it comes to denying help to refugee children who are fleeing violence in Ce... Read more

The Video Israelis Should Be Ashamed Exists

“A United Nations school crammed with people displaced by Israel's war with Palestinian militants was hit in shelling in the Gaza Strip early Wednesday, killing at least 16 people and injuring scores more, local officials said.

The strike happened the day after Israel unleashed some of the most intense bombardments of the 23-day operation against Hamas, which controls the narrow coastal enclave.

More than 100 people were killed in Israeli shelling across Gaza on Wednesday, lifting the Palestinian toll for the campaign to more than 1,300, said Ashraf Kidra, a Health Ministry spokesman."

http://youtu.be/oyqWYz8oeoY

Creationist Leader Ken Ham Slams Launch of the World’s First Atheism-Themed TV Network

"...“It is incredible that atheists spend so much time, effort, and money arguing against Someone that they don’t even believe exists!,” Ham, who leads the Christian group Answers in Genesis, wrote on his blog. “Where are all their books, websites, and magazines that argue against the mythical Easter Bunny? This is because they do know God exists but they are suppressing the truth in unrighteousness.”...

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/07/30/religion-of-godlessness-creationist-leader-ken-ham-slams-launch-of-the-worlds-first-atheism-themed-tv-network/

5 ways the religious right is wrong again

"President Obama delivered a big win for the LGBT community when he signed an executive order last week barring federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. And he went further still, refusing to grant any exemption for religious organizations who do business with the government despite calls from more than a dozen high-profile faith leaders – some his own allies – to create such a carve-out. Under Obama’s order, all federal contractors, religious or otherwise, will be prohibited from firing, refusing to hire, or discriminating in any other way against LGBT employees

Needless to say, members of the religious right haven’t been too pleased. Here’s a look at some of their assertions..."

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/5-false-claims-religious-exemptions-lgbt-discrimination-executive-order

 

Israel bombs another UN school despite them telling Israel 17 times that the school housed civilians

"...UN spokesman Chris Gunness said "the world stands disgraced" by the attack, in which 15 died and dozens were hurt..."

Read more

In Two Years, Denmark's Wind Power Will Be Half the Cost of Fossil Fuels

Denmark's Energy Association (everything about Scandinavia is friendlier, even its DEA) announced the news last week, and it's an achievement worth highlighting. Wind and solar are achieving grid parity with fossil fuels—that is, it's just as cheap—in many places around the world. Even without the tax breaks, declining manufacturing costs and growing scale have rendered wind power just as cheap as natural gas in many states right here in the gas-rich US. And at least one analyst determined that this is the "beginning of the grid parity era" for solar, worldwide.

Read more

Bolivia declares Israel a "terrorist state" and bans its citizens from entering the country without a visa

"...At an event in the city of Cochabamba (center), Morales said the decision was taken in his cabinet because “Israel does not respect the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”...

Read more

House Republicans Fiddle While Forest Service Runs Out Of Money To Fight Wildfires

The House is expected to vote on a bill that would waive at least 14 environmental laws within 100 miles of the southern U.S. ... Read more

My Night At The Heritage Foundation Watching Rick Santorum’s New ‘Religious Liberty’ Movie

"...Santorum had to take a little bit more time to explain that religious liberty really is under attack and that we have to restore the church’s influence in culture. He highlighted a quote from Chicago Cardinal Francis George, who said in 2010, “I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison, and his successor will die a martyr in the public square.” ...

"...Santorum did acknowledge during the discussion that he would welcome attacks or pickets from liberal churches, who are invisible in the film. “I’m a dog whistle to the left,” he admitted, taking a no-such-thing-as-bad-press approach to the film’s church-only release later this summer. He even said at one point that he’d wished conservatives had lost the Hobby Lobby Supreme Court case if only because it would have forced them to redouble their efforts more passionately. According to Santorum, anything that might fire up local pastors and ministers to speak out more would help advance their “religious liberty” effort and bring the church back to the center of culture where he believes it belongs. “The sooner the fight,” Santorum concluded, “the better.”...
 Read more

U.N. Spokesman Breaks Down Sobbing On Live TV Over Palestinian Children Killed In Shelling

Watch the emotional moment.The post U.N. Spokesman Breaks Down Sobbing On Live TV Over Palestinian Children Killed In Shelling ...

"Working in strife-torn Gaza has exposed United Nations official Christopher Gunness to the terror of a life lived in the constant shadow of war.

But on Wednesday, when artillery shells rained down on a UN school in a refugee camp sheltering evacuees, killing children as they slept next to their parents on the floor, the insurmountable horror of the situation suddenly overwhelmed him.
Christopher Gunness.

Mr Gunness, a senior director for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, broke down sobbing during a live television interview with Al-Jazeera, as he described how shells had struck the Jabalia Elementary Girls School in the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza, killing about 20 people and wounding at least 100.

The shelling came despite 17 warnings about the position of the shelter to the Israel Defence Force (IDF) to ensure it would be spared, Mr Gunness, from Britain, claimed.

"The rights of Palestinians, even their children, are wholesale denied, and it's appalling," Mr Gunness said during the interview, barely keeping his composure.

As the interviewer thanked him for his time, Mr Gunness coughed, rapidly blinked, and his chin quivered. He managed to say "My pleasure", before putting his hands over his face and completely breaking down in tears at his desk.

Another person then emerged from behind the camera to comfort Mr Gunness, before the camera panned away.

"It's OK," the person could be heard saying, trying to console him.

Mr Gunness, a former BBC reporter who has also worked as a spokesman for the UN in the former Yugoslavia, has given many interviews during the latest conflict, and has managed to keep his composure until now.

http://youtu.be/gi8Rt3m08NQ

Michael Steele: "The GOP is Done Forever" - July 30, 2014

Former Chair of the GOP recommends the Republicans in Congress shape up.

http://youtu.be/8Qr6vuGipes

Stephen Colbert Announces He Owns 'TheSarahPalinChannel.com'

This is just hilarious. Following the announcement that Sarah Palin was going to launch her own online subscription channel, and after quite a bit of ... Read more

Is Netanyahu Coordinating With American Right Wingers To Prolong Gaza War?

Did you hear the one about the Israeli press just making up a conversation that didn't take place between Obama and Netanyahu? That's a page right out... Read more

Republicans Stall On Pope Francis Recognition Because He "Sounds Like Obama"

"The source noted that Francis last year denounced “trickle-down economics.”"
... Read more

House GOP Unilaterally Votes To Advance Boehner's Lawsuit

Coming as a surprise to no one ever, John Boehner's Republican majority voted to advance their lawsuit against President Obama for not implementing a ... Read more

Bachmann: Obama Wants To Bring In Migrant Children For Medical Research

Right Wing Watch has the whole story, but the top level overview is that Bachmann has twisted the Justina Pelletier story into s... Read more

Not Just the Adults – Secular Kids’ IQs also Higher

"Not one major news outlet has brought attention to the fact that peer-reviewed studies have been ongoing and consistently show the IQs of Atheist to be higher than those of Christians...."

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/07/27/1317179/-Not-Just-the-Adults-Secular-Kids-IQs-also-Higher

Religious Bigotry is a Big Problem in the Military

"...For generations, our Armed Forces have been saddled by problems with proselytization. More or less, the matter boils down to superiors forcing their religious beliefs on subordinates. This comes in a multitude of ways; sometimes soldiers are subject to "witnessing" by fundamentalists, and in other cases, the display of theistic symbols in unsuitable places..."

http://www.caglecartoons.com/column.asp?columnID={1386BA93-6DE5-416D-A5C2-E634BEDF77EF}

 

I Want My Christianity Back – Without the Ugly Baggage

"...I don’t want to be that kind of Christian. So, if that’s the only option, I’m opting out. And, I’m not alone. A whole slue of Christians is opting out as well..."

http://time.com/3048971/i-want-my-christianity-back/

Why Bill O’Reilly Fears ‘The Machines’ - Especially The Evil Ones

"Bill O’Reilly is very fond of talking about “the machines.” And he did it again tonight, telling Megyn Kelly that “the machines” are why President Obama got elected and reelected. Kelly admitted she used to think O’Reilly’s musings on “the machines” were just the ramblings of an old “fuddy-duddy,” but she had to admit that she’s come around more to seeing his point of view.

Kelly said having all these machines infiltrating our lives (ATMs, online groceries, texting) has led to an “erosion of our culture, of our family values.” And even the traditional family dinner is no more. O’Reilly said it’s because of “young people addicted to the machines.”

http://youtu.be/UFUV267Cxm8

US Politicians Agree: Israel Is The Real Victim

"NBC host David Gregory was forced to issue a correction at the end of his weekly Meet the Press program on Sunday after a United Nations official confronted him for using a unconfirmed Israeli video that allegedly showed Hamas shooting rockets from a UN school.

Following an interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, Gregory brought on UN Relief & Works Agency spokesperson Chris Gunness.

“The Israeli government has released videotape within the past hour, it was posted on YouTube, NBC News hasn’t independently verified,” Gregory explained to Gunness. “The Israelis say — and I realize that you cannot see this video, our audience can, and I’m going to describe it to you — that purports to show rockets being fired from a UN school.”"

http://youtu.be/GM__GfSeCbI

Tiny Gaza Visualized Shows There’s Nowhere To Run

“Make sure and tell everyone. Because in five minutes we will strike the target,” says the voice on the line.

Israel’s military has been calling and texting residents of the Gaza Strip for weeks, warning civilians of impending military strikes against Hamas targets. There have been leaflets, too, dropped by the thousands, urging residents of certain neighborhoods to flee.

“It is the intention of the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] to carry out aerial strikes against terror sites and operatives in Shuja’iya and Zeitoun ... For your own safety, you are requested to vacate your residence immediately and head towards Gaza City,” read one recent example, provided by the IDF. "

http://youtu.be/615IuEdGoeM

Armed Militias Massing at Border to 'Protect' America From Small Children

Armed with semi-automatic weapons, 10 vigilante groups are prowling the Texas-Mexico border.

 ... Read more

Ayn Rand's Fever Dream: Texas GOP Platform Crazier Than You Can Imagine

"Imagine the official presentation of a worldview concocted by conspiracy theorists and an assortment of cranks and grumpy people. Conjure a document written by scribes possessed of poison pens soaked in the inkpots of Ayn Rand and the Brothers Grimm, caught in the grip of a dark dystopian fantasy of dragons and specters, in which everyone’s wrong but thee and me and we’re not sure of thee.

In the spirit of the Alamo, this is a work straight out of the 19th century with no option for surrender.

No, this is not some “Game of Thrones” spinoff. Ladies and gentlemen, we give you the official 2014 platform of the Republican Party of Texas, 40 pages of unrestrained, right-wing bluster against you name it — women, minorities, immigrants, Muslims, gays, Obamacare, the Internal Revenue Service, red light cameras, the EPA, the World Bank, vaccinations — well, you get the picture. In the spirit of the Alamo, this is a work straight out of the 19th century with no option for surrender..." ... Read more

Time Scanners: A really fantastic science show on TV (PBS)

"...II recently stumbled across Time Scanners, a tech-heavy, pop-science reality show. And, get this you guys, I learned things. I know. From TV. It's crazy. ... Read more

A Global Movement: State Department Report Reveals Religious Right On The Rise

The report documents the extensive consequences of such policies--and the rising influence of America's Religious Right is easily discernible.
... Read more

AT&T might fix Netflix problems for its customers before Verizon does

Netflix pays AT&T for connections that will be turned on "in the coming days."
Read more

Obama Mulls Massive Move on Immigration

WASHINGTON (AP) — Even as they grapple with an immigration crisis at the border, White House officials are making plans to act before November's mid- ... Read more

Congress Throws Full Support Behind Israel As Gaza Death Toll Passes 1,000

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the war in Gaza escalates, U.S. lawmakers are pressing the Obama administration to take no action that puts pressure on Israel to... Read more

Israelis in Tel Aviv 26.7.2014: "There's no school tomorrow,there's no children left in Gaza! Oleh!" - YouTube

Israelis in Tel Aviv, on 26.7.2014, the 19th day of Israel's massacres in Gaza, cheer the genocide on: "There's no school tomorrow, there's no children left there [in Gaza]! Oleh!"

OCHA reports from the same date (http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha... Over a 1000 Palestinians have been bombed to death, over 200 of them children. Over 6200 have been injured, 2000 of them children. Over 215,000 displaced people- schools have turned into refugee camps. 130 schools have been bombed.

Turn on Closed Captions (CC) to see what they are chanting.)

http://youtu.be/h7qFACSfd_k

White House To Boehner: We Did NOT Start Impeachment 'Scam'

The White House fired back at Speaker John Boehner on Tuesday after the Republican told reporters that talk of impeachment is a "scam" by Democrats to... Read more

Midnight sun over the Senja hands, Norway [1300×798] Photo by Daniel Korzhonov

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LPT: when you're really mad at someone for something they did, always start the conversation by asking "what happened?"

And avoid criticism. You never know what really happened unless you ask.
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In 2014, Colorado Oil And Gas Spills Are Happening Twice A Day

They are happening twice a day "and usually without anyone telling residents."The post In 2014, Colorado Oil And Gas Spills Are ... Read more

How One Agency Could Threaten Obama’s Climate Goals

If the BLM gives final approval for a plan to authorize sales of 10 billion tons of coal from the Powder River Basin it would ... Read more

More Than 90 Percent Of Child Migrants With Lawyers Show Up In Immigration Court

"These statistics not only refute unsubstantiated claims by Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) that 90 percent of child migrants don’t show up for their immigration hearings. They also suggest another reason why these children need legal representation — to increase the likelihood that they will return for their court date. ... Read more

Senator Denies Climate Change On Senate Floor And Gets A Science Lesson From His Colleague

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) rips into Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) for blocking a resolution that would have acknowledged the reality of climate change.
... Read more

http://youtu.be/YDL4Bs3NbB0

I Got Your Reform Republicanism Right Here

"... my counter-proposal to Ryan is that we all go back to Eisenhower-level tax rates on the rich. If you would like your tax rates lowered to Reagan-level rates then you have to work with a life coach and meet the commitments of a contract you create together. A lower tax rate will be granted based on: 1. The amount of people you create jobs for that pay a living wage, 2. The amount of earnings you keep in the country and pay taxes on, 3. That you don't take any other subsidies or tax breaks from the government (state or federal), 4. Your personal and business endeavors maintain an environmental impact below an agreed-upon limit..." Read more