When Pope John Paul II visited Damascus in May 2001, Bashar used his welcoming speech to denounce the Jews, saying, “They tried to kill the principles of all religions with the same mentality in which they betrayed Jesus Christ and the same way they tried to betray and kill the Prophet Muhammad.”   read more

The costs of child care vary depending on the region of the country. In Mississippi, center-based infant care costs $468 a month, but in Washington D.C., it’s $1,868. For single-parent families with two children, center-based child care consumed 11.7% of family budgets in New Orleans, but 33.7% in Buffalo, New York. “How are young parents supposed to be able to afford the equivalent of a college tuition?” said EPI's Elise Gould. “This is out of reach for many [higher-income] families.”   read more

A report from Alliance for a Just Society says $15 an hour is not enough for people to make ends meet in at least 35 states and the District of Columbia. A true livable wage would be an average of $16.87 an hour, the group says. In Arkansas, a wage of $14.26 would suffice. Washington D.C. workers would need to earn $21.86 an hour. “Our emphasis...is to show just how modest a figure $15 really is,” said Allyson Fredericksen. “It is not an extravagant wage and it is not the only solution.”   read more

The Obama administration promised to crack down on those suspected of bilking thousands of people seeking higher education. But Education Dept. money has continued to flow to schools accused of illegal acts and predatory behavior. Those still receiving federal monies include the Education Management Corporation, which accepted $1.25 billion from the government over the past year. “It has been investigated or sued in recent years by prosecutors in at least 12 states,” reported the Times.   read more

Obama has decided not to ask Congress to approve a law mandating that companies open up their encryption programming to the FBI. But the White House has not given up on accessing that information, preferring for now to keep talking to companies to provide access to encryption systems on a case-by-case basis. The EFF called the change “a partial victory...[but] the president is continuing the status quo – that is, informally pressuring companies to give the government access to unencrypted data."   read more

“No one who knows him thinks he wants to weaken the regulatory agency he has been chosen to lead,” the Times reported. “But he has deeper ties to the pharmaceutical industry than any FDA commissioner in recent memory, and some public health advocates question whether his background could tilt him in the direction of an industry he would be in charge of supervising.” The multi-million dollar research center that Califf ran received more than 60% of its funding from Big Pharma.   read more

Romney had used the 47% figure to imply there were a lot of Obama supporters who weren’t contributing their fair share to the government. But the Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, pointed out that about two-thirds of those who don’t pay income tax still pay payroll taxes, sales taxes and other levies. Only 17.3% of Americans pay neither income tax nor payroll tax and most of those are retired seniors making do with very small incomes.   read more

The bill’s sponsor, Democratic Assemblyman Luis Alejo, said it was important for his state to outlaw the name. “California has the largest number of Native Americans in the country,” he said in May, when the bill was passed by the legislature. “It’s time we as a state take a stand against racial slurs used by our public schools. This is part of a national movement and now is the time for us here in California to end the use of this derogatory term in our public schools.”   read more

In El Paso, where 20% of residents live below the poverty line, judges regularly send people to jail without holding a poverty hearing. Of 100 cases of people jailed for at least five days last year, not one showed that the judge had considered the defendant’s ability to pay before locking them up. “I just find this to be outrageous,” said professor Susan Crump. She said judges who jail people because they are too poor to pay are either “not knowing, or not able to read the law, or not caring.”   read more

The poll found 92% of Democrats, 90% of Republicans, and 79% of independents expressed support for politicians who know science. “We are living in a new age when science affects every aspect of public policy, and voters want candidates to give science issues like climate change, healthcare, GMO foods, and jobs in the new tech economy a higher priority," said Shawn Otto. “Evidence from science is the great equalizer in a democracy."   read more

One reason why the suicide rate is so high among ex-military women is they “are more comfortable with firearms — it’s part of the culture,” said the VA's Caitlin Thompson. It’s also the reason that vets are more successful at committing suicide than their non-veteran counterparts. Guns are a much surer method of committing suicide than almost any other. One reason for the higher suicide rate among female vets might be the incidence of sexual assault in the military, added Thompson.   read more

The new law eliminated punishments for possessing and trafficking marijuana, making it a minor drug offense or a fifth-degree felony.Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine responded by filing a lawsuit in state court to get the ordinance thrown out. Not only are the law's provisions illegal, said DeWine, the “ordinance encourages drug cartels to set up marijuana distribution operations in Toledo...[making the city] their regional base of operations.”   read more

“The underlying issue here is not that a college degree makes you a better driver. Rather, the least-educated tend to live with a lot of other conditions that can make getting around more dangerous. They own cars that are older and have lower crash-test ratings. Those with less education are also likely to earn less and to have the money for fancy safety features such as side airbags, automatic warnings and rear cameras,” wrote the Post reporters.   read more

While airstrikes against the rebels haven't been carried out by the U.S., the attacks have included U.S.-made weaponry sold to the Saudis. It includes 1,300 cluster bombs the Saudis obtained in a deal with U.S. defense contractor Textron Defense Systems, which made $640.8 million from a Pentagon-approved sale. The U.S. also provides intelligence personnel to help with targeting support, refuels Saudi jets with air tankers and provides search-and-rescue support for downed Saudi pilots.   read more

Of the nearly 16,000 ambulance services in the U.S. used to transport Medicare patients, one in five were found to have one or more questionable bills. The inspector general found that $30 million was spent transporting patients for whom a corresponding covered service could not be found. Another $24 million was spent on service to places, such as doctors’ offices, to which ambulance rides are not covered. Not surprisingly, the IG also found signs of overbilling via inflated mileage charges.   read more

De Sousa expressed surprise that it took Portuguese authorities as long as it did to detain her. “The interesting part of it is the timing,” De Sousa said. “Why now? When I came into Portugal I did not get detained. I have been here for several months and the Italians never asked Portugal to surrender me to Italy. When was it put into their system at the airport? Someone in Italy seemed to know I was traveling.”   read more

Hospitals also came under fire during the Iraq War under the George W. Bush administration. U.S. planes bombed a Baghdad maternity hospital in 2003, killing several people and injuring 27. Nor were hospitals safe under Bill Clinton’s watch. NATO forces bombed a hospital in Belgrade, Serbia, in 1999, killing four. Technical problems were blamed for the attack. Also that year in Nis, Serbia, NATO dropped cluster bombs on an outdoor market and neighboring hospital, killing three in the hospital.   read more