RT * Published on Aug 3, 2014

An Israeli air strike has hit another UN-operated school in Gaza Strip, killing at least 10 people and injuring 35 others, Palestinian health authorities reported.

READ MORE http://on.rt.com/4jb139

totodeinhere (8,114 posts)

House Clears $225 Million in Funding for Israel's Iron Dome Defense System

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by azurnoir (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum). [font color=red](too old)[/font]

Source: Wall Street Journal

The House on Friday cleared a bill to provide $225 million in emergency aid to Israel for its Iron Dome defense system, sending the measure to President Barack Obama in a congressional effort to support the nation amid increased fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The measure passed 395-8. Mr. Obama, who requested the money, is expected to sign the bill.

Earlier in the day, the Senate approved the measure by unanimous consent on a day when most senators had left Washington for a five-week recess. House lawmakers remained in session Friday to debate and pass a bill to deal with an influx of Central American minors along the border with Mexico.

Israel launched an offensive against Gaza on July 8, and according to the Gaza Health Ministry, 1,600 Palestinians have died. The Israeli military says 63 of its soldiers have died, along with three civilians killed by rocket fire into Israel.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/articles/senate-approves-225-million-in-funding-for-israels-iron-dome-defense-system-1406913423

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Bipartisan support for Israel seems to be as strong as ever as both the House and the Senate overwhelmingly passed an emergency military aid to Israel bill that President Obama had requested.

It almost seems like I'm on another planet when I read threads about this topic at DU. I would say that opposition to Israel's attack on Gaza runs at better than 2-1 at DU. Yet you can see near unanimous support for Israel in Congress including strong support from progressive Democrats. Why is there such a disconnect between DU and Democrats in Congress on this issue?

The Young Turks * Published on Aug 2, 2014

"The Satanic Temple sees your Hobby Lobby ruling allowing corporations to opt out of providing certain forms of birth control because they contravene religious beliefs. And it wants in.

In a press release Monday, the New York-based organization said it planned to use the recent Supreme Court decision to argue that its members should be allowed to opt out of so-called informed-consent laws, which require doctors to read state-mandated material to women seeking an abortion — much of it, according to critics, pro-life propaganda.

The Hobby Lobby decision applied specifically to health care plans provided by closely-held corporations, not health procedures obtained independently by members of a religion. But the Temple believes that by allowing corporations to define (and thus not cover) contraceptives as abortifacients, the Supreme Court placed religious exemptions above scientific definitions. And what’s good for contraceptives, the Temple argues, should be good for anti-abortion laws.” * break it down on The Young Turks.

*Read more here from: http://www.mediaite.com/online/satanists-would-like-their-hobby-lobby-exemption-from-anti-abortion-laws-please/

The Young Turks * Published on Aug 2, 2014

"The Israeli Broadcasting Authority has banned a radio advertisement from a human rights organisation which listed the names of some of the scores of children killed in Gaza since the conflict began 17 days ago.

B'Tselem's appeal against the decision was rejected on Wednesday. It intends to petition Israel's supreme court on Sunday in an effort to get the ban overturned.

The IBA said the ad's content was "politically controversial". The broadcast refers to child deaths in Gaza and reads out some of the victims' names."* The Young Turks hosts Ana Kasparian and John Iadarola (TYT University) break it down.

*Read more here from Harriet Sherwood / The Guardian:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/24/israel-bans-radio-advert-listing-names-children-killed-gaza

The Young Turks * Published on Jul 31, 2014

"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."* The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur breaks it down.

*Read more here from Gabor Maté / The Star:
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2014/07/22/beautiful_dream_of_israel_has_become_a_nightmare.html

Annie Robbins on July 27, 2014


Rotterdam (photo: @HerakAsra)


Belfast (photo: @SlabberCart)


London, Ontario ,Canada (photo: Fadi Fataftah)


Taipei


Boston (photo: Nadeen Abuhasan)


Portland, Oregon (photo: Erick Crash)


Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina


Chicago


Cape Town, South Africa


London

MUCH, MUCH, MORE

RT * Published on Jul 26, 2014

Privacy watchdogs are in uproar following revelations the U.S. government may have been behind a recent Facebook experiment. Marina Portnaya reports.

Deep13th Nuclear Waste Info * Published on Jul 25, 2014

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency is reported to be looking at the direct disposal of spent nuclear fuel instead of reprocessing it.

NHK has obtained a draft report compiled by the agency which analyzed the environmental impact of disposing of spent nuclear fuel.

The conclusion of the analysis is expected to touch off controversy, because the government has long maintained the policy of reprocessing all spent nuclear fuel. It has conducted few studies about disposing of it as waste.

Spent nuclear fuel is known to have higher radiation levels than high-level radioactive waste.

But the agency's draft report says it is technically possible to directly dispose of spent nuclear fuel at a low radiation level.

If spent nuclear fuel is buried 1,000 meters underground for 1 million years, the radiation level at the earth's surface will peak in 3,000 years, at 0.3 microsieverts per year.

Even though reprocessing remains official government policy, the Rokkasho reprocessing plant is nowhere near full operating capacity.

Japan's nuclear power plants have accumulated 17,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel.

The agency's analysis is expected to lead to greater attention on future discussions on dealing with the stockpile of spent nuclear fuel.

Professor Tatsujiro Suzuki at Nagasaki University says the conclusion that direct disposal is possible is a very important step forward. Suzuki is a former member of the government's Atomic Energy Commission.

Jul. 25, 2014 - Updated 11:06 UTC

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html

The Young Turks * Published on Jul 26, 2014

"Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell's indictment on charges that he accepted illegal gifts, vacations and loans from a major campaign contributor who sought special treatment is so shocking, in part, because McDonnell is the first governor in the history of the Commonwealth to face criminal charges. Unlike plenty of other states, Virginia doesn't have a long history of scandals and ethics abuses.

"Which states are more used to corruption? Well, depending on how you define corruption, it could be Florida, or Louisiana, or Tennessee, or New York, or Georgia. And then there's the District of Columbia." *

Cenk Uygur, Gina Grad, Ben Mankiewicz and Dave Rubin break down the who, what and why of this intriguing list.

* Read more here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/01/22/the-most-corrupt-states-in-america/