On Thursday's edition of The View on ABC, co-host Rosie Perez took offense at Jeb Bush for suggesting Hillary Clinton had no accomplishments in the Senate or as Secretary of State in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News. ABC's graphic on screen read "HERE COMES THE MUD." She fell back on a weird list claiming Hillary unveiled a food-security program and saved a Turkish-Armenian accord, and prevailed over Joe Biden to "send an additional 21 troops" to Afghanistan.... Then she started reading from a list:
SCOTUS holds individuals who get their health insurance through exchange established by federal gov will be eligible for tax subsidies.
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 25, 2015
Administration wins health care
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 25, 2015
The issue was whether only state-established exchanges could issue tax credits, or whether the federal exchanges could also. Challengers to IRS regulations pointed to the words “established by the State” in the legislation as clear and unambiguous that subsidies were limited to state exchanges.
The Court rejected this assertion:
The peace and love were interrupted by profanity Monday as Rainbow Family members confirmed their plan to congregate an estimated 5,000 people July 1 to July 7 somewhere in the Black Hills, but were immediately confronted by opponents of the gathering. ...The Rainbow Family of Living Light is a loose association of people who’ve been gathering since 1972 around the ideals of peace and healing. Some Native Americans have expressed concern that the gathering is not appropriate for the Black Hills, considered sacred Indian lands. Before the indoor meeting began, Native American activist James Swan, of the United Urban Warrior Society, parked a pickup west of the building, planted two flags and used a portable sound system to berate the Rainbow Family contingent that was gathered under a light rain on the west lawn of the visitor center.I must admit, having your culture appropriated by The Rainbow Family of Living Light would be disturbing, as this video clearly shows:
The state medical examiner's office concluded that Gray's death could not be ruled an accident, and was instead a homicide, because officers failed to follow safety procedures "through acts of omission." Though Gray was loaded into the van on his belly, the medical examiner surmised that he may have gotten to his feet and was thrown into the wall during an abrupt change in direction. He was not belted in, but his wrists and ankles were shackled, putting him "at risk for an unsupported fall during acceleration or deceleration of the van." The medical examiner compared Gray's injury to those seen in shallow-water diving incidents.(emphasis added)
In a speech broadcast live on Iran state television, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, demanded that most sanctions be lifted before Tehran has dismantled part of its nuclear infrastructure and before international inspectors verify that the country is beginning to meet its commitments. He also ruled out any freeze on Iran’s sensitive nuclear enrichment for as long as a decade, as a preliminary understanding announced in April stipulates, and he repeated his refusal to allow inspections of Iranian military sites. American officials said they would not be baited into a public debate with the ayatollah, who has the final word on nuclear matters. But with Western foreign ministers already hinting that the negotiations may go past the June 30 deadline, both American and European officials have said in recent weeks that they are increasingly concerned about the possible effects of the ayatollah’s statements.
60-38...
Taking on a historic constitutional challenge with wide cultural impact, the Supreme Court on Friday afternoon [January 16, 2015] agreed to hear four new cases on same-sex marriage. The Court said it would rule on the power of the states to ban same-sex marriages and to refuse to recognize such marriages performed in another state.... The Court fashioned the specific questions it is prepared to answer, but they closely tracked the two core constitutional issues that have led to a lengthy string of lower-court rulings striking down state bans. As of now, same-sex marriages are allowed in thirty-six states, with bans remaining in the other fourteen but all are under court challenge. Although the Court said explicitly that it was limiting review to the two basic issues, along the way the Justices may have to consider what constitutional tests they are going to apply to state bans, and what weight to give to policies that states will claim to justify one or the other of the bans....I hate trying to predict court rulings, but the political winds have changed dramatically the past few years, so if I had to bet, I'd bet that the ruling is 5-4 for gay marriage. [Warning - my bets tend to be counter-indicators.] Don't think for a second that politics and public opinion doesn't influence such historic cases. I also expect Elena Kagan to be one of the five, based on her comments during oral argument, via NY Times:
"I know life is hard, but the choices that you made were despicable," said the mother of victim Krystle Campbell, Patricia, who stood with her husband William and her son and brother. "You will never know why she is so desperately missed by those of us who loved her," Karen McWatters, a friend of Campbell's, told Tsarnaev, who was facing in the direction of the speakers but not directly looking at them. Tsarnaev instead often looked down, as he did during most of his long trial.
In just more than a month, Biden will determine whether or not to make another go at the top job. And while many Democrats say they're doubtful he will launch a presidential campaign, his supporters are holding out hope he decides to challenge Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination.
As he steps back into public life, Biden has set an early August deadline for making his intentions known, said a Democrat familiar with his thinking. Before his son's death, Biden consistently said he wasn't ruling out making a third bid for president.
U.S. News and World Report first reported Biden's August deadline. His office declined to comment on Biden's presidential aspirations.
On the question of polling, Hillary at this point has a commanding lead:
Ziv has received some publicity the past two years for its treatment of Syrians. While some of the Syrians seeking help are not direct casualties of the fighting, such as expectant mothers, almost all have traumatic wounds as a result of the war. Almost all of them are men of fighting age, but it is a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy as far as the hospital goes. The decision whether to admit people into the country for medical treatment, whether to treat them at the border, and whether to transport them to a place like Ziv is a decision made by the military. When the military does bring a wounded person to Ziv, the person is treated as any other patient.... A total of 490 Syrians have been treated at Ziv, under a status of “humanitarian life saving aid.” They are not treated as refugees under this status. Nintey percent are males, 17 percent have been children, and on one day in February 2013, 7 patients arrived in a single day.[caption id="attachment_128518" align="alignnone" width="600"] [Ziv Hospital, Safed, Israel][/caption] These treatments are not sitting well with Israel's 130,000 person Druze community, particularly on the Golan Heights, out of concern for attacks on Druze in Syria by al-Qaeda linked groups. The concern is that the over 700,000 Druze in Syria, who have stayed out of the fighting but also have been protected by the Syrian government, will be slaughtered by Jihadis.
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