News and Views is a new column containing an assortment of interesting political and financial information, opinions, candidate reviews, scheduled events, meetings and press releases that we hope will interest you.
NBC Brings On Left-Wing Host to Slam ‘Far-Right’ Objections to Obama Birth Control Mandate
After finally deciding to actually cover the controversy swirling around the Obama administration’s attempt to force Catholic institutions to pay for birth control in health insurance plans, NBC’s Today on Tuesday (which ran a full story from Andrea Mitchell) also brought on leftist MSNBC host Rachel Maddow to dismiss all legitimate opposition to the move as a “pretty far-right perspective” and “an extension of anti-abortion politics.” While co-host Matt Lauer began by wondering if President Obama had “miscalculated on the issue,” he quickly seized on Maddow’s supposed “logic” on the topic: “…you hear people saying President Obama could suffer because of this in the election, and yet, you use your logic there, if the majority of women in this country say that they use birth control, could this backfire on the Republican candidates who are now making it the issue?”
Canada Turns to China After Keystone Failure
Following the Obama administration’s rejection of TransCanada’s request for a permit to build the Keystone pipeline to the Gulf of Mexico, Canada is drawing up plans to build a pipeline west through Canada to provide China with easier access to its oil. It’s a strong sign that an economic alliance is forming between the two countries — a natural alliance, given that Canada is the third largest oil producer, after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, and that China is one of the world’s largest markets for oil.
NYT Says ‘Old’ Constitution Outdated for Failing to Guarantee ‘Entitlements’ Like Health Care
New York Times Supreme Court reporter Adam Liptak conflates constitutional rights with entitlements: “The United States Constitution is terse and old, and it guarantees relatively few rights….But the Constitution is out of step with the rest of the world in failing to protect, at least in so many words, a right to travel, the presumption of innocence and entitlement to food, education and health care.” Liptak even dismisses the Second Amendment as an idiosyncrasy.
Will the U.S. be Dragged into an Iran/Israel Assassination War?
Last week’s carefully-timed assassination attempts against Israeli diplomats in Georgia and India were almost certainly sponsored by the Iranian government in response to a series of assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists over the last two years for which Israel has been widely blamed. Could this lead to an Iran/Israel assassination war that drags in the United States?
Egypt: Military’s Feud with U.S. Could Backfire
Despite a calmer domestic situation in Egypt, relations between Washington and Cairo remain tense. The Egyptian interim military government continues to take a defiant attitude concerning its decision to prosecute employees of several non-government organizations, including 19 Americans. Although the military does not want this situation to spin out of control and jeopardize U.S. military assistance, Islamists in the Egyptian parliament appear to have other ideas.
Philippines: Al Qaeda Affiliates On the Ropes
The Philippine military scored a major win early this month with an airstrike coordinated with the United States on a training camp that killed three of Southeast Asia’s most-wanted terrorist leaders in the southern Philippines. The success of this strike against such high profile targets is a major setback to terrorist activity in the Philippines but does not mark the defeat of these groups
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