Minority leader: Odds long to undo health care law

FILE - In this June 26, 2012 file photo, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, of Ky., center, accompanied by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, left, and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., speaks to reporters outside the Senate, on Capitol Hill in Washington, following a political strategy session with other GOP Senate leaders. On Monday, July 2, 2012, McConnell said the odds are against repealing the health care law championed by President Barack Obama. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

FILE - In this June 26, 2012 file photo, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, of Ky., center, accompanied by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, left, and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., speaks to reporters outside the Senate, on Capitol Hill in Washington, following a political strategy session with other GOP Senate leaders. On Monday, July 2, 2012, McConnell said the odds are against repealing the health care law championed by President Barack Obama. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

(AP) ? It's on his to-do list, but U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says the odds are against repealing the health care law championed by President Barack Obama.

The Kentucky Republican said Monday it's hard to unravel something of the magnitude of the 2,700-page health care law, WHAS-TV (http://bit.ly/LSUtqX ) reports.

"If you thought it was a good idea for the federal government to go in this direction, I'd say the odds are still on your side," McConnell said. "Because it's a lot harder to undo something than it is to stop it in the first place."

McConnell discussed the law in comments to about 50 people at Hardin Memorial Hospital in Elizabethtown. The state's senior senator was making stops at Kentucky hospitals discussing what's next since last week's ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court's that the law was constitutional.

The court upheld the law's crucial mandate that individuals buy health insurance or face a penalty.

Chief Justice John Roberts, a conservative, provided the pivotal vote in that decision by ruling that the penalty was legal under the government's taxing authority. While technically handing a political victory to Obama, Roberts' ruling invigorated Republicans eager to cast the law as a new tax.

McConnell still says he'll do whatever he can to repeal the law.

If given control of the Senate next year, McConnell said he would support using budget reconciliation rules to repeal it. Doing so would prohibit Senate filibusters and require only 51 votes to succeed. In 2010, Republicans lambasted Democrats for relying on these rules to pass the health care bill, calling their tactics unusual and hyperpartisan.

"I'm confident they're going to give us the votes to repeal it," he said of the American public.

___

Information from: WHAS-TV, http://www.whas11.com

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-07-02-McConnell-Health%20Care%20Law/id-24b7e546ea314e34aa6eb565ce1d7ba5

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Report: Assad regrets shooting down Turkish jet

FILE - In this Wednesday, July 22, 2009 file photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad, right, meets with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria. Syrian President Bashar Assad said he regrets the shooting down of a Turkish jet by his forces, and that he will not allow tensions between the two neighbors to deteriorate into an "armed conflict," a Turkish newspaper reported Tuesday, July 3, 2012. (AP Photo/SANA, File) EDITORIAL USE ONLY

FILE - In this Wednesday, July 22, 2009 file photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad, right, meets with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria. Syrian President Bashar Assad said he regrets the shooting down of a Turkish jet by his forces, and that he will not allow tensions between the two neighbors to deteriorate into an "armed conflict," a Turkish newspaper reported Tuesday, July 3, 2012. (AP Photo/SANA, File) EDITORIAL USE ONLY

FILE - In this Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009 file photo, Syrian President Bashar Assad, seen, during a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, unseen, at the presidency in Tehran, Iran. Syrian President Bashar Assad said he regrets the shooting down of a Turkish jet by his forces, and that he will not allow tensions between the two neighbors to deteriorate into an "armed conflict," a Turkish newspaper reported Tuesday, July 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

Map locates Latakia, Syria, near where a Turkish plane was shot down by Syria.

FILE - In a March 30, 2011 file photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad, addresses the Parliament, in Damascus, Syria. A Turkish newspaper says Assad, speaking in an exclusive interview, has expressed regret over the shooting down of a Turkish jet by his forces. (AP Photo/SANA, file) EDITORIAL USE ONLY

In this image made from amateur video released by the Ugarit News and accessed Monday, July 2, 2012, black smoke leaps the air from shelling near a mosque in Talbiseh, the central province of Homs, Syria. The head of the Arab League urged Syria's exiled opposition to unite Monday, saying they must not squander the opportunity to overcome their differences as Western efforts to force President Bashar Assad from power all but collapse. (AP Photo/Ugarit News via AP video) TV OUT, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL

BEIRUT (AP) ? Syrian President Bashar Assad said he regrets the shooting down of a Turkish jet by his forces, and that he will not allow tensions between the two neighbors to deteriorate into an "armed conflict," a Turkish newspaper reported Tuesday.

Syria downed the RF-4E warplane on June 22. Syria says it hit the aircraft after flew very low inside its airspace, while Turkey says the jet was hit in international airspace after it briefly strayed into Syria.

In an interview with the Cumhuriyet daily, Assad offered no apology, insisting that the plane was shot down over Syria and that his forces acted in self-defense.

He said that the plane was flying in a corridor inside Syrian airspace that had been used by Israeli planes in 2007, when they bombed a building under construction in northern Syria. The UN nuclear agency has said that the building was a nearly finished reactor meant to produce plutonium, which can be used to arm nuclear warheads.

"The plane was using the same corridor used by Israeli planes three times in the past," Assad told Cumhuriyet. "Soldiers shot it down because we did not see it on our radars and we were not informed about it."

Assad said: "I say 100 percent, I wish we did not shoot it down."

Commenting for the first time on a U.N.-brokered plan for a political transition in Syria that was adopted by world powers at a conference in Geneva on Saturday, Assad said he was "pleased" that the decision about Syria's future was left to its people.

The plan calls for the creation of a transitional government with full executive powers in Syria. But at Russia's insistence, the compromise left the door open to Assad being part of the interim administration and left its composition entirely up to the "mutual consent" of the Assad administration and its opponents.

"The Syrian people will decide on everything," Assad said.

The conflict in Syria has killed more than 14,000 people since the revolt began in March 2011, according to opposition estimates. The fighting has grown increasingly militarized in recent months, with rebel forces launching attacks and ambushes on regime targets.

Even as opposition figures meeting in Cairo pleaded for the international community to take action to save the besieged people of Homs ? Syria's devastated, third largest city ? government forces continued to pound rebel-controlled districts there and in the towns of Talbiseh and Rastan north of the city.

Activists said at least 25 civilians were killed across the country Tuesday, including three in Homs and nine in the suburbs of the capital Damascus.

A convoy carrying U.N. observers in Syria headed to the besieged Damascus suburb of Douma Tuesday to visit hospitals, but turned back due to the security situation in the town. A team from the International Committee for the Red Cross and the Syria Red Crescent was touring the suburb, ICRC Rabab Rifai said.

Syrian troops flushed out rebels from Douma on Saturday after a 10-day assault that left dozens dead, hundreds wounded and caused a major humanitarian crisis. But activists said fighting was still going on near the southern edge of the town.

Activist Mohammad Saeed, who fled the town during the assault and was now in hiding nearby, said regime forces have stationed snipers on rooftops and that several people were killed Tuesday.

Turkey has responded to the downing of its warplane by deploying anti-aircraft missiles on the Syrian border. It also scrambled jets Tuesday for the third consecutive day after it said Syrian helicopters approached its border. A search for the wreckage of the plane and its two missing pilots is still under way in Syrian waters.

Assad said Syria had no intention of fueling tensions along its border with NATO-member Turkey.

"We will not allow it to turn into an armed conflict that would harm both countries," he said. "We did not build up our forces on the Turkish border and we will not."

He said Syria "would have apologized" for the shooting if the plane had not been shot down in Syrian airspace. He said the rise of tensions could have been prevented if channels of communication between the two militaries remained open.

"We are in a state of war, so every unidentified plane is an enemy plane," the paper quoted Assad as saying. "Let me state it again: We did not have the slightest idea about its identity when we shot it down."

Turkey, however, has insisted that the plane's electronic signals, which indicate if an aircraft is friend or foe, were activated during the entire flight and that Turkey even intercepted radio conversations in which Syrian forces referred to the plane.

Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper, citing intelligence sources, reported early last week that Syrian forces referred to the plane using the word for "neighbor" in an intercepted radio conversation.

Turkey also insisted that the plane was not spying on Syria but just testing Turkey's radar capabilities.

___

Hacaoglu reported from Turkey.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-07-03-Syria/id-139d2879d01f4225951105fbcb49ac13

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Monti: Italy does not need a bailout

Italian Premier Mario Monti, right, listens to German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaking at a press conference during a bilateral meeting at Villa Madama in Rome, Wednesday, July 4, 2012. Merkel is traveling to Rome for a regular meeting of the senior officials from the two countries along with several of her top ministers, including the economy and finance ministers. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

Italian Premier Mario Monti, right, listens to German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaking at a press conference during a bilateral meeting at Villa Madama in Rome, Wednesday, July 4, 2012. Merkel is traveling to Rome for a regular meeting of the senior officials from the two countries along with several of her top ministers, including the economy and finance ministers. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Premier Mario Monti arrive for a bilateral meeting at Villa Madama in Rome, Wednesday, July 4, 2012. Merkel is traveling to Rome for a regular meeting of the senior officials from the two countries along with several of her top ministers, including the economy and finance ministers. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

(AP) ? Italian Premier Mario Monti insisted Wednesday the country doesn't need a European bailout because its public finances will improve, but acknowledges work still needs to be done to cut government spending, boost economic growth and create jobs.

Monti spoke at a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel after meeting about Europe's debt crisis. It was their first encounter since European leaders in Brussels last week agreed to use the continent's bailout fund to funnel money directly to struggling banks and let countries following budget rules apply for financial aid without stringent conditions attached.

Monti, who had pressed for such a deal, insisted Italy didn't need a bailout to help it pay its government debt because its budget deficit was low compared with many other European countries and forecast to improve.

As of the end of 2011, official European statistics put Italy's deficit at 3.9 percent, just above the EU limit of 3 percent. Spain's, by contrast, was much higher at 8.5 percent.

Italy's big problem is the economy is in recession and it has a high public debt load equivalent to 120 percent of GDP. Investors fearing Italy may have trouble repaying that debt have been asking for high interest rates to lend to the country.

The measures announced by European leaders last week have helped relieve the fear that Italy may default. In particular, making it easier for countries to access European bailout funds has convinced investors that Italy has a credible financial backstop should it run into trouble financing itself.

Agreeing to loosen the conditions for bailouts was not easy, however, and was the source of heated debated between Monti and Merkel in recent weeks and at the summit.

Going into the summit, Monti had issued a thinly-veiled jab at Merkel over her opposition to allowing European governments to share debt obligations. Sharing debt is another way to spread individual countries' debt risk across Europe, but Merkel continued to oppose them at the summit.

With debt-sharing ruled out, Monti pushed for the European leaders at the summit to agree to other measures that might increase confidence in Italy's finances. Easing conditions for countries to take bailouts was one of them.

Monti has lamented that Italians have endured the effects of government spending cuts and tax hikes, but that Italy's government borrowing rates remained high in financial markets.

By Wednesday, the two leaders were downright chummy, with Monti calling Merkel by her first name and emphasizing their "excellent" relations.

Merkel, for her part, praised the speed with which Monti's government has pushed through structural reforms and insisted that it was in Germany's interest to keep Italy from failing.

"If our neighbors in Europe aren't well, eventually we Germans won't be in good shape," she said.

Monti nevertheless acknowledged a rough road ahead: the government is embarking on a program of public spending cuts after having pushed divisive labor market reforms through parliament last week.

And new unemployment figures have made clear that the recession and the impact of austerity measures are hitting home: Monti termed "unacceptable" that youth unemployment had now hit 36 percent.

"Reducing the weight of the public sector in the markets, including the financial markets, will give us greater possibilities for productivity and work for young people," he said when asked how much more austerity Italians can take before growth measures kick in.

Both leaders stressed the need for Italian and German companies to collaborate more, particularly in manufacturing, to boost economic growth.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-07-04-Europe-Financial%20Crisis/id-003ad740868e4a1c935741044c794f41

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Internet cartoonist's charity fundraiser turns into free speech debate

The Oatmeal

This cheeky response to a legal threat began a successful charity fundraiser, but it also led to convoluted drama.

By Rosa Golijan

Most of the time, I avoid calling legal fights "bizarre" or "unbelievable," but both terms seem applicable to?what is going on between cartoonist Matthew "The Oatmeal" Inman and attorney Charles Carreon.

In less than a month,?a lawsuit threat was turned into a highly successful charity fundraiser which then became a legal drama so twisted that a crowd-sourcing website, two charities, one hundred individuals listed as "John Doe," and even the California state attorney general found themselves involved.

But why does all this matter to you?

Because freedom of speech is on the line ??as it often is whenever someone's Internet activity leads to a legal mess.

Wait! How'd we get to this point?
Even though many people don't recognize his name, 29-year-old?Matthew "The Oatmeal" Inman is a popular cartoonist. You've probably seen plenty of his work?? such as "10 Words You Need To Stop Misspelling,"??"What It's Like To Own An Apple Product," or "Cat vs Internet"?? in your?Facebook?feed, on Twitter, or on your favorite blog at some point. It's almost impossible to avoid Inman online.

As we explained when we intially begain covering the Carreon vs. Inman drama, the popularity of Inman's work often prompts websites to repost it without asking or crediting him. More often than not, these websites will even profit from this practice.

About a year ago, Inman got fed up with a website ??called FunnyJunk ??which had become particularly prone to?re-hosting and monetizing his work. He?wrote a blog post?declaring that FunnyJunk had "practically stolen [his] entire website."?The website's owner responded?by claiming that Inman was threatening to sue him and removing any content which referenced "The Oatmeal."

But then at the beginning of June 2012, Inman was served with papers explaining that the owner of FunnyJunk was threatening to file a federal lawsuit unless Inman paid $20,000 in damages.?He consulted a lawyer and sat on the letter for about a week before finally posting it online, along?with his rebuttal and an explanation of what he'll do.?

"I've got a better idea," he wrote. "I'm going to try and raise $20,000 in donations. I'm going to take a photo of the raised?money. I'm going to mail you that photo, along with this drawing of your mom seducing a Kodiak bear. I'm going to take the money and donate one half to the National Wildlife Federation and the other half to the American Cancer Society."

The fundraiser was a huge success. Inman collected over $200,000 via a crowd-sourcing website called?Indiegogo. The Internet cheered, but not everyone was happy.

Hell hath no fury like a lawyer scorned
Charles Carreon, who initially simply represented FunnyJunk, was definitely not happy about the entire situation. When I reached out to him on June 12, 2012, he told me that he'd removed his contact information from his website due to the large number of people who'd contacted him after Inman's blog post went online.?

"I really did not expect that he would marshal an army of people who would besiege?my website and send me a string of obscene emails," he said.

At this point, Carreon switched gears. He filed suit on his own behalf, against Inman, the charities he was raising funds for and more. He wanted to freeze the funds and to silence the criticism of his actions.

The showdown continues
Now the battle feels as if it's Carreon vs. Everyone Else.

The attorney is attempting to stop the distribution of the $200,000+ collected for the American Cancer Society and the National Wildlife Federation and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) ??a donor-funded nonprofit organization created to defend digital rights ??has teamed up with Inman's attorney Venkat Balasubramani to fight the temporary Carreon's demand for a temporary restraining order.?

EFF's Kurt Opsahl broke down the situation in a blog post, describing Carreon's initial legal threat?? the one which inspired the charity fundraiser?? "baseless" before proceeding to explain just how "outrageous" the attorney's latest legal demand is:

Carreon's claim runs contrary to the Constitution.?As Carreon is?well aware, freedom of speech is a cornerstone of our legal system. ?Carreon wants the court to shut down Inman's speech: a comic response to the letter. ?Sorry, Charlie, the First Amendment protects Inman's right to challenge your legal threat.

Opsahl also calls out other flaws in Carreon's claims, but that one about constitutional rights is what matters to you?? it's the reason you should continue following this case. Should Carreon somehow succeed in his actions against Inman or any of the other individuals he's filed suit against, we might all have to be significantly more careful about how we raise funds online and how we reply to legal threats.

Want more tech news, silly puns, or amusing links? You'll get plenty of all three if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts,?or circling her?on?Google+.

Source: http://digitallife.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/02/12523622-internet-cartoonists-charity-fundraiser-turns-into-freedom-of-speech-debate?lite

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The Ultimate Plane Survival Kit

Fodor's:

Flying isn't what it used to be. So long silverware, farewell free food, hello plastic cup of luke-warm Diet Coke. Between squished seats and lavatory line-ups, traveling in economy sometimes feels like survival of the fittest. Coping in coach is like a meeting of creativity and preparedness; pack the right essentials and its smooth skies ahead, but board with nada and that five-hour flight just turned into a transcontinental trek. To ensure your onboard experience is more jet-set than jarring, we've created the ultimate head-to-toe plane survival kit (in TSA-friendly sizes, too).

Read the whole story at Fodor's

Contribute to this Story:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/01/the-ultimate-plane-surviv_n_1641790.html

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NASA'S Orion Arrives At Kennedy, Work Underway For First Launch

An anonymous reader writes in with news about the arrival of the Orion spacecraft at NASA?s Kennedy Space Center today. "More than 450 guests at NASA?s Kennedy Space Center in Florida welcomed the arrival of the agency?s first space-bound Orion spacecraft Monday, marking a major milestone in the construction of the vehicle that will carry astronauts farther into space than ever before. 'Orion?s arrival at Kennedy is an important step in meeting the president?s goal to send humans to an asteroid by 2025 and to Mars in the 2030s,' NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver said. 'As NASA acquires services for delivery of cargo and crew to the International Space Station and other low-Earth destinations from private companies, NASA can concentrate its efforts on building America?s next generation space exploration system to reach destinations for discovery in deep space. Delivery of the first space-bound Orion, coupled with recent successes in commercial spaceflight, is proof this national strategy is working.'"

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/eZOFPgpz4EQ/nasas-orion-arrives-at-kennedy-work-underway-for-first-launch

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Mexicans head to the polls: 4 key reforms the next president must tackle

Mexicans are at the polls today to elect a new president, and the nation is eagerly awaiting the results: Enrique Pe?a Nieto, from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), who has been the frontrunner in polls; Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD); or Josefina Vazquez Mota of the ruling National Action Party (PAN).

But no matter who takes the race, the next leader faces a difficult reform agenda if Mexico is to fulfill its dream of becoming a country of middle class citizens living within the rule of law, instead of a nation that exports millions of residents abroad and is increasingly wearied by deadly drug violence. "Mexico has not lived up to [its]? potential," says Lorenzo Lazo, a political analyst in Mexico City who served in several PRI administrations. And if it is going to, here are the key reforms the next leader must tackle, according to observers? across the political spectrum:

- Sara Miller Llana,?Staff writer

Graco Ramirez is running for one of the open governorships in Mexico for the Democratic Revolution Party. Seen here on Thursday in Texmixco, he says that drug cartels have been harassing campaign workers and encouraging voters to stay home. (Alexandre Meneghini/AP)

Can the violence be curbed?

Security is the nation?s most visible problem and will be the next president?s greatest challenge. Violence not only threatens the safety of Mexican citizens, but also government effectiveness, the way the world perceives Mexico, and how much investors are willing to invest there. Despite a military-led effort by President Felipe Calder?n, heartily backed in morale and muscle by the United States, drug violence has surged, resulting in 50,000 deaths under Mr. Calder?n?s administration.

Mexico needs to put more resources into revamping its judicial system and creating a trustworthy police apparatus that is not only more effective at investigating crimes but is one that society trusts. ?As long as prosecutions are ineffective, slow, and corrupt, it affects so many areas of life in Mexico,? says Eric Olson, a Mexico expert at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

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Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/TXB_u9uKJ3M/Mexicans-head-to-the-polls-4-key-reforms-the-next-president-must-tackle

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