• Andy Griffith Dead: Actor Best Known For Playing Sheriff Andy Taylor Dies At 86
• If you thought Fox Nation readers would have enough class to put aside political differences and show some respect to the newly-deceased Andy Griffith – well, you’d be wrong. Although the post, itself, had a banner saying, “FOX NATION SALUTES,” many of the readers had nothing but smears and jeers for his passing.
Don’t mess with vets:
• Republican Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL)[Teabagger darling, never served in the military, refuses to pay child support - THAT guy], knocked his Democratic opponent Tammy Duckworth — a veteran who lost both of her legs as a helicopter pilot in Iraq — for talking about her military career too much. Discussing her accomplishments, Walsh suggested, meant that Duckworth was not a “true [hero].”
• Veterans Flood Rep. Joe Walsh’s Facebook Page To Denounce His Attacks Against Double Amputee – After ThinkProgress published this story, Walsh appears to have responded by disabling comments on his Facebook page.
• Veterans Group Condemns Rep. Joe Walsh For Attacking Double Amputee’s Military Service, Calls For Resignation – “Telling a veteran to shut up on the 4th of July is beyond the pale.”
• If anyone’s entitled to, it’s McCain, who has certainly earned the right, but drop this goofy right wing point that he doesn’t do it: this myth that McCain was reluctant to talk about his military service has no basis in reality. On the contrary, McCain routinely exploited his service record as some kind of political “trump card.”
Where’s Obama?:
• President Obama will honor the July 4th holiday by hosting a naturalization ceremony for active-duty servicemembers.
• The Great Obama-Paris-July 4 Lie – Obama in Paris for 4 July? Yeah, not so much. Just another right wing lie.
Growing up, Romney actually spent most of his Fourths in Canada, at his family’s cottage on Lake Huron where they would light off their own fireworks. George Romney, Mitt’s father and the former governor of Michigan, jokingly called himself a “Summer Canadian.” Campaigning for his father in 1962, a 15-year-old Mitt told a Fourth of July gathering in Michigan, “It’s really fun to be here in the United States for the Fourth of July for the first time!”It didn’t go over well. In August of 2006, he told the Boston Globe of that remark, “That wasn’t a great line.” He added, “[It] happened to be true, but it wasn’t exactly what the campaign folks were looking for … Yeah, I was not particularly adept at my communications with the media.”
The Canadian cabin would cause another communications snafu years later — it was the destination to which the Romneys were heading when Mitt strapped the family’s Irish setter, Seamus, to the roof of the car for the 12-hour drive from Massachusetts.
[salon/Alex Seitz-Wald/04 Jul 2012]
Women:
• As part of a summer series on career development directed at his female constituents, GOP Senator Marty Golden is hosting a taxpayer-funded event called “Posture, Deportment and the Feminine Presence”on July 24. Golden promises to teach Bay Ridge [Brooklyn, New York] women “the art of feminine presence,” which includes tips on how to “sit, stand and walk like a model” and “walk up and down a stair elegantly”
Obtaining a legal, safe abortion in Virginia has just become more difficult as a new mandatory forced ultrasound law goes into effect. The General Assembly approved a bill that requires any pregnant woman or girl seeking to end a pregnancy to first undergo a mandatory forced ultrasound and wait 24 hours before having the actual procedure, regardless of if the ultrasound is medically necessary or not.
Although the waiting period itself is obviously meant to force patients to rethink their decisions, as well as add additional obstacles and expenses to safe abortion care, there is likely another ploy here as well. Just like it a nearly identical bill proposed and eventually tabled in Idaho, Virginia has released a list of places a woman can go in order to obtain free ultrasounds – a list that NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia Executive Director Tarina Keene notes is made up entirely of crisis pregnancy centers.
As Keene explained, the law is ambiguous as to whether an ultrasound obtained at a CPC would actually meet the standards set about in the new law, which states that 24 hours before the termination a “qualified medical professional trained in sonography and working under the supervision of a physician licensed in the Commonwealth shall perform fetal transabdominal ultrasound imaging on the patient undergoing the abortion for the purpose of determining gestational age.”
However, at first glance some of the clinics on the list may not fall under that designation, and two of them even say they aren’t actually clinics.
…Keene was quick to point out the hypocrisy of the state providing a list of non-medical facilities as places to go to receive a medical exam when the bill itself was passed under the guise of protecting women.
“They are hell-bound to make sure our providers are overly-regulated and [state] it’s for patient safety, and yet they are going to send them to facilities that don’t have oversight.”
Following a letter from one of the nation’s leading Muslim advocacy groups, a Navy spokesperson said that a SEAL training facility in Virginia Beach will not use an image of a woman wearing a hijab and aiming a firearm as target practice.
“Using a Muslim woman wearing a religious head scarf with [verses from the] Quran behind her as a target for our nation’s military personnel is offensive and sends a negative and counterproductive message to trainees and to the Muslim-majority nations to which they may be deployed,” CAIR director Nihad Awad wrote.
[rawstory/Stephen C. Webster/03 Jul 2012]
• North Carolina’s Republican-controlled state legislature voted Monday night to override Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue’s veto of a state budget that strips money from Planned Parenthood.
• On Sunday, Facebook added its newest feature supporting the LGBT community: same-sex marriage icons. Gay newlyweds, and all their Facebook friends, will now see either two grooms or two brides on their timelines if they change their relationship status to “Married.”
• In 2009, 13-year-old Jonathan Krohn’s passionate speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference launched his early career as the right-wing wonder boy. A year later, 14-year-old Krohn wrote Defining Conservatism, and appeared in Time Magazine’s Time 100: Most Influential People in the World with the occupation of “Lil’ Limbaugh.” Now 17, an apparently more mature Krohn announces he has denounced the GOP’s “ideological boxes,” to act more as an “individiual.” The reformed conservative now backs the Affordable Care Act and leans left on other social issues, like same-sex marriage.
Healthcare:
• No, ‘Obamacare’ isn’t ‘the largest tax increase in the history of the world’ (in one chart)
• 10 Reasons Most People Like Obamacare Once They Know What’s Really In It
• I have to agree with former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm here and that’s if Republican governors across the country think they can run on taking away medical coverage for the people who live in their states, good luck with that. Even if these governors don’t have one iota of care for the poor and those who don’t have much of a voice in our society, they’re going to be hearing from hospitals and others in the medical community and not just constituents who are fed up with their nonsense.
• A government-sponsored study published recently in The Open Neurology Journal concludes that marijuana provides much-needed relief to some chronic pain sufferers and that more clinical trials are desperately needed, utterly destroying the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s (DEA) classification of the drug as having no medical uses.
Romney:
• Where the Money Lives: For all Mitt Romney’s touting of his business record, when it comes to his own money the Republican nominee is remarkably shy about disclosing numbers and investments. Nicholas Shaxson delves into the murky world of offshore finance, revealing loopholes that allow the very wealthy to skirt tax laws, and investigating just how much of Romney’s fortune (with $30 million in Bain Capital funds in the Cayman Islands alone?) looks pretty strange for a presidential candidate.
• Russian Official: Romney’s Hostile Rhetoric Could Bring ‘A Full-Scale Crisis’ – “If he is serious about this, I’m afraid he may choose the neocon-type people…In the first year of his presidency, we may have a full-scale crisis.” – Alexey Pushkov, chairman of the international affairs committee of Russia’s State Duma.
• Bob Diamond, chief executive of Barclays, has pulled out of hosting a London fundraiser for Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee, as the bank faces growing pressure over its role in the price-fixing of lending rates. Mr. Romney’s visit comes just after Barclays was fined $450 million by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for trying to manipulate a key bank interest rate which influences the cost of loans and mortgages.
• Canadians show wide support for abortion rights, gay marriage. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has resisted pressure in recent weeks — from anti-abortion groups and from some members of his own Conservative caucus — to reopen the abortion debate. On the same-sex marriage law, which the Tories criticized while in opposition but have not reversed, a majority of Canadians are now quite happy with the status quo of allowing gays and lesbians to get married.
• HMCS Regina sails from B.C. to Gulf as tensions with Iran escalate – HMCS Regina sailed Tuesday from B.C. to replace HMCS Charlottetown in the Arabian Gulf at a time when the U.S. has been quietly moving additional naval forces into the volatile region to prevent any attempt by the Iranian military to block the Strait of Hormuz.
US:
• Sheriff Joe Promises Birther ‘Shockers’ – Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s “Cold Case Posse” is claiming to have explosive new proof that President Barack Obama is ineligible to serve as president. According to a recent report with WorldNetDaily, the Maricopa County sheriff’s associate said they would release the birther evidence at a press conference on July 17.
• George Zimmerman suffered two minor cuts to his scalp but no serious head trauma during his fatal confrontation with Trayvon Martin, according to his medical report.
• Prosecutor declines to pursue charges against former Commerce Secretary John Bryson in hit and run case.
• NYPD Posts ‘Wanted’ Flyer Targeting Couple That Legally Videotapes Stop-And-Frisks – DNAinfo reports that Matthew Swaye, 35, and his partner Christina Gonzalez, 25, came across the poster, complete with mugshots and the official seal of the NYPD’s intelligence division, taped to a podium in the 30th precinct’s public hearing room while attending a precinct council meeting. The flyer listed the home address of the couple
• Saying, “voting rights are precious,” Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan Tuesday vetoed a package of voter suppression laws passed intended to police voter registration drives and require voters affirm their citizenship before their ballot would be counted. Snyder said both measures could cause confusion. “Voting rights are precious and we need to work especially hard to make it possible for people to vote,” Snyder’s veto message said.
Middle East:
• Iran will duplicate captured US RQ-170 spy drone: IRGC cmdr. A senior commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says Iran has gained enough information from the US drone it captured last year to duplicate the aircraft.
• A diplomatic breakthrough: “Pakistan said it will reopen land routes that the United States and other NATO nations use to supply troops in Afghanistan, seven months after the roads were closed in response to an attack by U.S. aircraft that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.”
• What Killed Yasser Arafat? – Nine-month investigation by Al Jazeera discovers rare, radioactive polonium on ex-Palestinian leader’s final belongings.
F.D.Brightly
RIP, Sheriff Andy Taylor [Shorter Question Everything]
• Andy Griffith Dead: Actor Best Known For Playing Sheriff Andy Taylor Dies At 86
• If you thought Fox Nation readers would have enough class to put aside political differences and show some respect to the newly-deceased Andy Griffith – well, you’d be wrong. Although the post, itself, had a banner saying, “FOX NATION SALUTES,” many of the readers had nothing but smears and jeers for his passing.
Don’t mess with vets:
• Republican Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL)[Teabagger darling, never served in the military, refuses to pay child support - THAT guy], knocked his Democratic opponent Tammy Duckworth — a veteran who lost both of her legs as a helicopter pilot in Iraq — for talking about her military career too much. Discussing her accomplishments, Walsh suggested, meant that Duckworth was not a “true [hero].”
• Veterans Flood Rep. Joe Walsh’s Facebook Page To Denounce His Attacks Against Double Amputee – After ThinkProgress published this story, Walsh appears to have responded by disabling comments on his Facebook page.
• Veterans Group Condemns Rep. Joe Walsh For Attacking Double Amputee’s Military Service, Calls For Resignation – “Telling a veteran to shut up on the 4th of July is beyond the pale.”
• If anyone’s entitled to, it’s McCain, who has certainly earned the right, but drop this goofy right wing point that he doesn’t do it: this myth that McCain was reluctant to talk about his military service has no basis in reality. On the contrary, McCain routinely exploited his service record as some kind of political “trump card.”
Where’s Obama?:
• President Obama will honor the July 4th holiday by hosting a naturalization ceremony for active-duty servicemembers.
• The Great Obama-Paris-July 4 Lie – Obama in Paris for 4 July? Yeah, not so much. Just another right wing lie.
• Romney’s first July 4 flub – How a young Mitt embarrassed his dad by admitting the family celebrated America’s birth in Canada:
[salon/Alex Seitz-Wald/04 Jul 2012]
Women:
• As part of a summer series on career development directed at his female constituents, GOP Senator Marty Golden is hosting a taxpayer-funded event called “Posture, Deportment and the Feminine Presence”on July 24. Golden promises to teach Bay Ridge [Brooklyn, New York] women “the art of feminine presence,” which includes tips on how to “sit, stand and walk like a model” and “walk up and down a stair elegantly”
• As Virginia’s Strict Anti-Abortion Bill Goes Into Effect, Forced Ultrasounds and CPC Visits Become Reality:
[RH Reality Check/Robin Marty/03 Jul 2012]
• Navy nixes plan to use image of Muslim woman for target practice:
[rawstory/Stephen C. Webster/03 Jul 2012]
• North Carolina’s Republican-controlled state legislature voted Monday night to override Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue’s veto of a state budget that strips money from Planned Parenthood.
LGBT:
• Gorgeous pic of Rachel Maddow in high school:
• On Sunday, Facebook added its newest feature supporting the LGBT community: same-sex marriage icons. Gay newlyweds, and all their Facebook friends, will now see either two grooms or two brides on their timelines if they change their relationship status to “Married.”
• In 2009, 13-year-old Jonathan Krohn’s passionate speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference launched his early career as the right-wing wonder boy. A year later, 14-year-old Krohn wrote Defining Conservatism, and appeared in Time Magazine’s Time 100: Most Influential People in the World with the occupation of “Lil’ Limbaugh.” Now 17, an apparently more mature Krohn announces he has denounced the GOP’s “ideological boxes,” to act more as an “individiual.” The reformed conservative now backs the Affordable Care Act and leans left on other social issues, like same-sex marriage.
Healthcare:
• No, ‘Obamacare’ isn’t ‘the largest tax increase in the history of the world’ (in one chart)
• 10 Reasons Most People Like Obamacare Once They Know What’s Really In It
• I have to agree with former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm here and that’s if Republican governors across the country think they can run on taking away medical coverage for the people who live in their states, good luck with that. Even if these governors don’t have one iota of care for the poor and those who don’t have much of a voice in our society, they’re going to be hearing from hospitals and others in the medical community and not just constituents who are fed up with their nonsense.
• Chris Collins, A Republican running for Congress in one of the nation’s most competitive districts claimed that Americans “don’t die from prostate cancer, breast cancer” in order to justify his opposition to health care reform.
• A government-sponsored study published recently in The Open Neurology Journal concludes that marijuana provides much-needed relief to some chronic pain sufferers and that more clinical trials are desperately needed, utterly destroying the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s (DEA) classification of the drug as having no medical uses.
Romney:
• Where the Money Lives: For all Mitt Romney’s touting of his business record, when it comes to his own money the Republican nominee is remarkably shy about disclosing numbers and investments. Nicholas Shaxson delves into the murky world of offshore finance, revealing loopholes that allow the very wealthy to skirt tax laws, and investigating just how much of Romney’s fortune (with $30 million in Bain Capital funds in the Cayman Islands alone?) looks pretty strange for a presidential candidate.
• Russian Official: Romney’s Hostile Rhetoric Could Bring ‘A Full-Scale Crisis’ – “If he is serious about this, I’m afraid he may choose the neocon-type people…In the first year of his presidency, we may have a full-scale crisis.” – Alexey Pushkov, chairman of the international affairs committee of Russia’s State Duma.
• Bob Diamond, chief executive of Barclays, has pulled out of hosting a London fundraiser for Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee, as the bank faces growing pressure over its role in the price-fixing of lending rates. Mr. Romney’s visit comes just after Barclays was fined $450 million by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for trying to manipulate a key bank interest rate which influences the cost of loans and mortgages.
• Romney Invested in Medical-Waste Firm That Disposed of Aborted Fetuses, Government Documents Show
Canada:
• Canadians show wide support for abortion rights, gay marriage. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has resisted pressure in recent weeks — from anti-abortion groups and from some members of his own Conservative caucus — to reopen the abortion debate. On the same-sex marriage law, which the Tories criticized while in opposition but have not reversed, a majority of Canadians are now quite happy with the status quo of allowing gays and lesbians to get married.
• HMCS Regina sails from B.C. to Gulf as tensions with Iran escalate – HMCS Regina sailed Tuesday from B.C. to replace HMCS Charlottetown in the Arabian Gulf at a time when the U.S. has been quietly moving additional naval forces into the volatile region to prevent any attempt by the Iranian military to block the Strait of Hormuz.
US:
• Sheriff Joe Promises Birther ‘Shockers’ – Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s “Cold Case Posse” is claiming to have explosive new proof that President Barack Obama is ineligible to serve as president. According to a recent report with WorldNetDaily, the Maricopa County sheriff’s associate said they would release the birther evidence at a press conference on July 17.
• George Zimmerman suffered two minor cuts to his scalp but no serious head trauma during his fatal confrontation with Trayvon Martin, according to his medical report.
• Prosecutor declines to pursue charges against former Commerce Secretary John Bryson in hit and run case.
• NYPD Posts ‘Wanted’ Flyer Targeting Couple That Legally Videotapes Stop-And-Frisks – DNAinfo reports that Matthew Swaye, 35, and his partner Christina Gonzalez, 25, came across the poster, complete with mugshots and the official seal of the NYPD’s intelligence division, taped to a podium in the 30th precinct’s public hearing room while attending a precinct council meeting. The flyer listed the home address of the couple
• Saying, “voting rights are precious,” Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan Tuesday vetoed a package of voter suppression laws passed intended to police voter registration drives and require voters affirm their citizenship before their ballot would be counted. Snyder said both measures could cause confusion. “Voting rights are precious and we need to work especially hard to make it possible for people to vote,” Snyder’s veto message said.
Middle East:
• Iran will duplicate captured US RQ-170 spy drone: IRGC cmdr. A senior commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says Iran has gained enough information from the US drone it captured last year to duplicate the aircraft.
• Pakistan Reopens Supply Lines As Clinton Apologizes For Airstrikes – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said today that Pakistan will reopen key supply lines into Afghanistan after closing them in response to a deadly a U.S. airstrike last November that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
• A diplomatic breakthrough: “Pakistan said it will reopen land routes that the United States and other NATO nations use to supply troops in Afghanistan, seven months after the roads were closed in response to an attack by U.S. aircraft that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.”
• What Killed Yasser Arafat? – Nine-month investigation by Al Jazeera discovers rare, radioactive polonium on ex-Palestinian leader’s final belongings.