Rumors are spreading that the U.S. Supreme Court will vote 5-4 to rule that a U.S. president cannot be prosecuted for anything he does while he is president. Some Democrats are suggesting that Joe Biden bring a gun to his first debate with Donald Trump. If he shoots Trump, he would be immune, but if Trump shoots Biden he would be prosecuted because he is not a sitting president.   read more

Crabb cut through the state's argument that state law says couples who conceive through artificial insemination cannot receive a two-parent birth certificate unless both women give written consent. Jessamy did not provide such consent, but Judge Crabb noted that the state is less strict with straight couples. "Obviously, the department is not treating female couples equally if its forms suggest that female couples may not even apply for a two-person birth certificate," Crabb wrote.   read more

The bill is an opportunity for Republicans to put Democrats on record and use their votes against them in campaigns. Within minutes of the vote, Republicans sent out a news release saying, "Democrats vote to close GITMO and bring terrorists to U.S. soil (again)." Said White House press secretary Josh Earnest: "When it comes to America's national security, at some point that should rate higher on the priority list than an individual's re-election prospects."   read more

It's unknown where Nixon ranks of most overridden governors in U.S. history, but he appears unusual among contemporaries. His distinction is due partly to the rarity of Missouri's politically divided government. He's the only Missouri Democrat to govern opposite a Republican supermajority at least since Reconstruction. Since Nixon took office in 2009, lawmakers have overridden 83 of his vetoes — four times the combined total of all other governors' overrides dating back to the early 1800s.   read more

Why, critics questioned, would he name a ship in honor of the late gay rights leader Harvey Milk or after former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords? Mabus has said he is honoring heroes outside the military so he can help connect people with the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. "You have to represent all the values that we hold as Americans..." he said. "That's why I've named ships the Medgar Evers, Cesar Chavez, John Lewis, the Harvey Milk. Because these are American heroes too..."   read more

Chemical eye burns from chemicals are usually considered a problem in industrial settings. But it turns out that toddlers have the highest risk for this potentially blinding injury at home. “Just about every eye doctor has seen this,” said Dr. Levin. “It’s a potentially blinding problem that is a completely preventable tragedy.” From 2010 to 2013, there were 144,000 chemical eye burns totaling $106.7 million in ER charges. It is "the tip of the iceberg,” said Dr. Osterhoudt.   read more

When WikiLeaks published State Dept cables, Pyatt became embroiled in controversy because of a 2007 cable he sent recommending that a secretary in India’s Ministry of External Affairs visit Washington D.C. in order to help “feed” U.S. government views on Iran into the Indian system. Pyatt became U.S. ambassador to Ukraine in July, 2013. In March, 2014, Russia invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea. Since then Pyatt has helped coordinate the U.S. response to the action.   read more

Medicare beneficiaries often hear such rationales for denying coverage: They’re not improving. They’ve “reached a plateau.” They've achieved “maximum functional capacity.” But the so-called improvement standard is no longer in effect. What matters is maintenance. Medicare must cover care to "maintain the patient’s current condition or prevent...deterioration.” But providers have still frequently invoked the improvement standard.   read more

Nearly 300,000 Oregonians have registered to vote in the past 12 months and more than 75 percent of them did so under the motor voter law. In addition, the state is on track to register 250,000 new voters under the law by the November election. The increase represents a 14 percent uptick in registered voters in the state since this time last year. Oregon was the first state to put such a law into effect and since then, California, Vermont and West Virginia have adopted similar laws.   read more

The dichotomy was starkest for women: Only 27 percent of older characters in the films were female. Among lead roles, only three of 10 with older actors were women (Meryl Streep, Helen Mirren and Lin Shaye). This is despite the fact that women outlive men and constitute a larger segment of U.S. seniors. The Census Bureau estimates 18.5 percent of the U.S. population is 60 or older. "Seniors on screen are an endangered species in cinematic storytelling," the authors wrote in the report.   read more

Leave it to the great minds at MIT and Georgia Tech to figure out a way to read the pages of a book without actually opening it. Heshmat said the project was inspired by the work 10 years ago of a group at MIT that showed you could look through a closed envelope with terahertz waves. With the new system, he said, "you can actually look deeper into multiple pages." It has already been used to to analyze mummies and find a hidden face behind a Roman fresco.   read more

In 2001 Bitter was made a special assistant in the office of Secretary of State Colin Powell. She was appointed in 2009 as Deputy Director of the U.S. State Dept Operations Center and became Director the following year. That put her in charge as the WikiLeaks papers were being released, and Bitter was one of the officials charged with trying to mitigate the damage caused by them. She was named Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in 2013.   read more

"I feel we need to make small sacrifices — and money is a small sacrifice — to make life better for future generations," said teacher Sarah Griffin. Post-grad student Greg Davis agreed: "It's far more important to protect the environment than to save money. I think that's true for businesses as well as individuals." That a majority is willing to pay more is a new phenomenon, said professor Tom Dietz. "While the amounts may seem small, the willingness to take action...is encouraging."   read more

Civil rights activists have long called for police officers to wear body cameras, and even more so since the 2014 fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, by a white officer. The Clarksville program ended when Chief Mark Palmer pulled the cameras in response to Indiana's new law requiring extended video storage. ACLU's Stanley said he's concerned that some departments might use those costs "as a cover" to avoid the added layer of oversight the cameras bring.   read more

"For me it's important to emphasize it's not about immigration. It's about building inclusive democracies and removing barriers in our communities," said Detroit Councilwoman Castaneda-Lopez. NCAAC's Tonova said the program "sends a really strong statement" about welcoming "the most vulnerable" residents. The push has come amid Republican nominee Donald Trump's proposal to temporarily ban foreign Muslims from entering the country and vowing to build a wall along the Mexican border.   read more

Trump described his call for repeal of the Johnson Amendment, which prohibits such endorsements, "my greatest contribution to Christianity and other religions." Repealing the amendment also is a plank in the GOP party platform. RNS reports that 79% of Americans polled thought such endorsements were inappropriate. "Americans already argue about politics enough outside the church. They don't want pastors bringing those arguments into worship," said LifeWay's McConnell.   read more

Gay affluence may be largely a Hollywood myth, with tired cliches of gays and lesbians living handsomely in chic American cities. But men in same-sex marriages tend to make a good deal more money than households with heterosexual spouses, according to data released by the U.S. Treasury Dept. The findings are as much a portrait of the community as they are a look at societal gender norms and biases, experts said, with wrinkles that are both well-understood and still being explored.   read more