cal04
cal04's JournalSec. of State John Kerry (some pics)
Pleased to be in #Havana for historic day @USEmbCuba. Incredible: last time #SecState visited #Cuba, FDR was @POTUS.
These Marines have an amazing story. Proud they’ll join me for @USEmbCuba reopening
https://twitter.com/JohnKerry
http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/international/americas/2015/08/kerry_in_cuba_as_flag_raised_over_us_embassy
House Democrats @RepMcGovern @RepBarbaraLee & @RepKarenBass in Havana for re-opening of U.S. Embassy in #Cuba
https://twitter.com/RepBarbaraLee
The U.S. Re-Opens Our Embassy in Havana, Cuba
Guardian Link To John Kerry live
http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/aug/14/us-embassy-cuba-reopens-flag-raisingthanks msnbc for cutting him off to talk
Congressman Jim Himes statement on support for Iran nuclear deal(Connecticut)
Source: Congressman Jim Himes
Aug 13, 2015
Since the international community agreed four weeks ago on a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, I have spent many hours evaluating it and consulting with my constituents, technical experts, security officials and diplomats from around the world. As a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, I have reviewed classified intelligence and our capabilities for monitoring compliance with the JCPOA. After careful thought, I have decided to support the JCPOA.
There are no perfect answers or easy solutions in the Middle East - only choices with varying levels of risk associated with them. International agreements with one's foes are as fraught with potential pitfalls as they are with opportunity. The Iranian regime has shown itself to be untrustworthy and destabilizing. It is today a nuclear threshold state. The JCPOA offers something that no other alternative offers: the strong possibility of at least a 15 year period in which there is little or no risk that we are surprised by the test of an Iranian nuclear weapon. That possibility is a considerable improvement over the status quo.
Critics of the JCPOA raise a number of fair objections that deserve careful consideration. I have met twice with Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer to hear these objections at length. But the critics' predictions for how Iran will behave in 15 years are no more substantiated than other predictions for what the Middle East may look like in the future. Despite weeks of consideration, I do not agree that walking away from our own painstakingly negotiated deal would lead to anything other than the crumbling of hard-won international unity, the lifting of sanctions, an uncertain Iranian response, and an increased probability of an imminently nuclear Iran.
Over the course of my public service I have watched with great sadness the hundreds of billions of dollars spent and the thousands of lives lost to achieve chaotic outcomes whenever we have forsaken diplomacy in the dangerous crescent from Libya to Iraq to Afghanistan. Though not without risk, the JCPOA offers the possibility of a different and better outcome for the United States, Israel, and the rest of the world.
Read more: https://himes.house.gov/press-release/congressman-jim-himes-statement-support-iran-nuclear-deal
Updated from Bernie's site: Bernie Sanders’ South Carolina campaign stops formalized
AUGUST 13, 2015
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday announced plans for a two-day swing through South Carolina. An August 21 rally in Greenville kicks off the trip, which also includes stops in Columbia, Sumter and Charleston.
Here is the itinerary:
FRIDAY, AUGUST 21
11 A.M.
Greenville Rally, TD Convention Center, 1 Exposition Drive, Greenville
Press registration can be found here.
Information for the public: Doors open at 10 a.m. The event is free and open to the public. Admission is first come, first served. Tickets are not required, but an RSVP is strongly encouraged.
7 P.M.
Columbia Town Meeting, The Medallion Center, 7309 Garners Ferry Road, Columbia
Press registration can be found here.
Information for the public: Doors open at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Admission is first come, first served. Tickets are not required, but an RSVP is strongly encouraged.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 22
11 A.M.
Sumter Town Meeting, Sumter County Civic Center, 700 West Liberty Street, Sumter
Press registration can be found here.
Information for the public: Doors open at 10 a.m. The event is free and open to the public. Admission is first come, first served. Tickets are not required, but an RSVP is strongly encouraged.
7 P.M.
Charleston Rally, Burke High School, 244 President Street, Charleston
Press registration can be found here.
Information for the public: Doors open at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Admission is first come, first served. Tickets are not required, but an RSVP is strongly encouraged.
https://berniesanders.com/press-release/sanders-to-visit-south-carolina/
Obamacare Safety Net Catching People Who Lose Health Insurance
Obamacare isn't just for people who are uninsured today. It's also for people who lose their insurance tomorrowhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/obamacare-safety-net-insurance_55ccbc2ae4b0898c4886b3ef?ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000067
The Obamacare health insurance exchanges appear to be doing a good job when it comes to one of their most important yet underappreciated functions: offering a fallback option to people who lose their health coverage during the year.
Already this year, almost half a million people have taken advantage of that safety net, a new government report shows.
(snip)
But a key function of these health insurance exchange marketplaces is to provide a place people can go if they lose their health coverage, such as when they lose a job and the benefits that came with it, or when they start working for an employer that doesn't offer a health plan.
On Thursday, the federal government for the first time released data suggesting Americans are taking advantage of this option. According to a report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, half of the 944,000 new enrollees on the federally run exchanges in 37 states between Feb. 23 and June 30 signed up because they'd lost their previous coverage. The agency doesn't have data for states that fully operate their own marketplaces.
Connecticut Supreme Court Overturns Death Penalty
Source: NBC News
Connecticut's highest court has overturned the death penalty in state, saying the sentence is unconstitutional.
The decision Thursday comes out of the appeal from Eduardo Santiago, whose attorneys argue lawmakers improperly passed a death penalty repeal three years ago that only outlawed capital punishment for future crimes.
Santiago was sentenced to lethal injection for the murder-for-hire killing of 45-year-old Joseph Niwinski in West Hartford in 2000. The state Supreme Court ordered a new penalty hearing in 2012, saying the trial judge wrongly withheld key evidence.
That decision came just after lawmakers repealed the death penalty for murders committed after April 24, 2012, leaving Santiago and those on death row still facing the possibility of execution.
Read more: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Connecticut-Death-Penalty-Overturned-Supreme-Court-Unconstitutional-321756632.html
The ruling by a divided court, 4-3, means the 11 men on the state’s death row would no longer be subject to execution orders. Those inmates include Joshua Komisarjevsky and Steven Hayes, who were sentenced to die for killing a mother and her two daughters in a 2007 home invasion in Cheshire.
The state had passed a law in April 2012 to repeal the death penalty only for future crimes.
(snip)
Connecticut has had just one execution since 1960. Serial killer Michael Ross was put to death 2005 after winning a legal fight to end his appeals.
http://ktar.com/2015/08/13/connecticuts-top-court-overturns-death-penalty-in-state/
Bernie Sanders Returns to Iowa,Friday kicks off a three-day swing
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Friday kicks off a three-day swing through Iowa. The Democratic Party presidential candidate will speak at the Iowa Democratic Wing Ding and the Iowa State Fair, with stops scheduled in Boone, Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Clinton and Dubuque.
Here is the itinerary:
FRIDAY, AUGUST 14
6 P.M.
Iowa Democratic Wing Ding, Surf Ballroom & Museum, 460 N. Shore Drive, Clear Lake
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15
10:30 A.M.
Boone Town Meeting, Boone County Fairgrounds, Community Building, 1601 Industrial Park Road, Boone
The event is free and open to the public. Admission is first come, first served. Tickets are not required, but an RSVP is strongly encouraged.
2 P.M.
Iowa State Fair Soapbox, Iowa State Fairgrounds, 3000 East Grand Avenue, Des Moines
Credential guidelines can be found here.
7 P.M.
Iowa City Field Headquarters Opening, 702 S. Gilbert Street, Iowa City
SUNDAY, AUGUST 16
10:30 A.M.
Cedar Rapids Field Headquarters Opening, 725 11th Street, Marion
1 P.M.
Scott County Democrats Picnic in the Park, Scott County Park, The Whispering Pines Shelter, 18850-270th Street, Eldridge
The event is free and open to the public. Admission is first come, first served. Tickets are not required, but an RSVP is strongly encouraged. Anyone participating in the food portion of the picnic will be asked to contribute $10 to the Scott County Democrats.
3:15 P.M.
Clinton Labor Meeting, IAFF Local 609 Union Hall, 850 28th Avenue N., Clinton
On-site contact: Pete D’Alessandro, pete@berniesanders.com, (708) 280-7911
6 P.M.
Dubuque Town Meeting, Loras College, 1550 Alta Vista Street, Dubuque
The event is free and open to the public. Admission is first come, first served. Tickets are not required, but an RSVP is strongly encouraged.
https://berniesanders.com/press-release/bernie-returns-to-iowa/
Kirsten Gillibrand Hits Carly Fiorina For Opposition To Paid Leave
"She can afford support when she needs it, but her low-wage worker can't."(snip)
On Sunday, Fiorina said she would oppose a government requirement to give private sector workers paid leave.
"I don't think it's the role of government to dictate to the private sector how to manage their businesses," Fiorina told Jake Tapper on CNN's "State of the Union." "For the government to tell others how to do things, when the government hasn't gotten its basic house in order, is not only ineffective, it's hypocritical."
(snip)
“She may just not be aware, she may be in her own world, her own bubble where she can afford child care, she can afford support when she needs it, but her low-wage worker can’t,” Gillibrand added.
A February HuffPost/YouGov poll showed most Americans support paid leave, with 67 percent favoring paid maternity leave, and 55 percent supporting paid paternity leave. In May, Gillibrand announced a plan to provide all U.S. workers with paid leave.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kirsten-gillibrand-carly-fiorina-paid-leave_55cb44b6e4b0f1cbf1e6d592?utm_hp_ref=politics&kvcommref=mostpopular
Bradblog talks to John Nichols of The Nation about Black Lives Matter and Bernie Sanders
(snip)
Then, Nichols, a long time supporter of Bernie Sanders, addresses the recent controversy concerning Black Lives Matter protesters confronting the Vermont Senator and quickly rising 2016 Dem candidate to suggest that, as he explains in detail at The Nation today, such protests have, in fact, made Presidents such as FDR and Kennedy much greater than they might have been otherwise. He argues that the BLM protests have already had a similar effect on Sanders' campaign.
"What we should understand is that pressure from activists often makes politicians into what we like about them, what we respect about them," he says. "What it means is that pressure from activists forces politicians --- and Presidents even --- to step up, to do what they should do, do what will make them more universal in their appeal."
Finally, some very good polling news for Sanders in New Hampshire and more embarrassing polling news for Bush, Walker and the rest of the Republican Party...
starts at 47.28
http://bradblog.com/?p=11309
at the bottom of the article
Download MP3 or listen online below...(just press the arrow)
We Need Activists to Make Politicians Better
A. Philip Randolph taught us that pressuring candidates and presidents is necessary—for them and for movements.
http://www.thenation.com/article/we-need-activists-to-keep-politicians-honest/
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