Necessary News
Today’s 10
AFGHANISTAN
The U.S. Marines launched a massive strike in Afghanistan yesterday. According to spokesman Capt. Bill Pelletier, the Marines led a helicopter strike into the lower Helmand river valley in southern Afghanistan, a valley of opium fields in the hands of the Taliban.[ Reuters]
POPULATION BOOM
Although the economic downturn’s forcing Americans across the country to stay put, several cities where the population had been shrinking are now seeing a rise in their number of inhabitants, according to Census estimates out Wednesday. Last year, Los Angeles recorded its biggest annual increase since 2002 and New York its second largest this decade. Chicago, where population had declined for five years this decade, grew by 0.73%. [USA Today]
HEALTH REFORM NOW
75 percent of Americans who have been “pushed into personal bankruptcy by medical problems actually had insurance when they got sick or were injured.” Since coverage is often meager, even one major medical incident can push a family into bankruptcy. [TP]
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I hope not. You know, I talked to God about that and he was like, ‘No.’” —Joe the Plumber on why he won’t run for office. [WND]
UNACCEPTABLE
“The only chance we have as a country right now is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States.” Former CIA counter-terrorism expert and bin Laden tracker Michael Scheuer on Glenn Beck last night. [TPM]
RIDICULOUS
By now, we assume you’ve read the Vanity Fair piece on Sarah Palin and the 2008 campaign. That said, the blog RedState would like to make themselves very, very clear: “If you were one of the people who participated in that Vanity Fair hit piece, and we find out your name, you will be a net drag on any national campaign for the rest of your professional career.” [Red State]
FOOD CRISIS
North Koreans, especially children, are facing a “critical” food situation as donations have dried up due to the country’s nuclear standoff with the world, said the UN’s food aid agency Wednesday. The WFP has had to scale back its goal of reaching 6.2 million of the hungry, and is now targeting just 2.27 million. A study by the World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization last year estimated nearly nine million North Koreans — more than a third of the country’s 24 million people — require food aid. [News.com.au]
GOV’T CRACKDOWN
The FTC has announced a major crackdown on get-rich-quick schemes and other phony services that promise jobs to consumers that don’t exist. One of the 15 cases announced by the FTC — as part of “Operation Short Change” — involved a company that marketed infomercials for “John Beck’s Free & Clear Real Estate System” and other get-rich schemes that make false claims about the ability to raise cash fast. The agency said that more than 600,000 people were duped out of about $300 million. [AP]
NO BOUNCE IN CALIFORNIA
“Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Wednesday ordered state workers to take a third day off without pay each month after Republican lawmakers acting with his support blocked a Democratic proposal to ease the state’s deficit and allow the government to keep paying bills. The Republican governor unveiled billions of dollars in additional proposed cuts to schools and public universities to deal with a deficit that he says is now $26.3 billion, an increase of $2 billion.” [LA Times]
QUOTE OF THE DAY
This is not a joke. On his July 1 show, Rush Limbaugh tried to blow your little mind with this gem: Michael Jackson “flourished under Reagan,” “languished under Clinton and Bush,” “died under Obama.” [Media Matters]
And One To Grow On
BACHMAN’S WAR
Michelle Bachman, bless her heart, is still going forward with her strange war against the Census. Tuesday, she asked Sean Hannity, “Sean, you know the one question they don’t ask? They don’t ask, “are you an American citizen?” (Ed. Note: Census Question #8 — Is this person a citizen of the United States?") [Think Progress]
Watercooler Sensation
Today’s 10
FAREWELL
Karl Malden, passed away yesterday at the age of 97. If you want to have a movie night to commemorate this great American actor, try any of the following classics: On The Waterfront. A Streetcar Named Desire. Baby Doll. Patton. Pollyanna. [Washington Post]
AN INCREASE IN THE OBESE
While the nation has long been bracing for a surge in Medicare as the baby boomers start turning 65, a new report from the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation makes clear that fat, not just age, will fuel much of those bills. In every state, the rate of obesity is higher among 55- to 64-year-olds — the oldest boomers — than among today’s 65-and-beyond. Case in point: In Alabama, nearly 39 percent of the oldest boomers are obese. [Yahoo]
BAR HOPPIN’ IN UTAH
In an effort to boost the state’s $7 billion-a-year tourism industry, Utah threw out a forty year law on Wednesday, that required customers to fill out an application, pay a fee and become a member of a private club before they were allowed to set foot in any bar. Now, getting into a bar in Utah is now as simple as showing a bouncer a valid ID. [NBC News]
MINDLESS EATING
A new study conducted by Yale University found that watching food ads on TV can lead to a boost in snacking among children and adults, increasing the risk of weight gain. Snack on this fact: That increased amount of snacking would lead to a weight gain of nearly 10 pounds a year, unless it was countered by decreased intake of other foods or increased physical activity, researchers said. [Yahoo]
GIVING BACK
Who said celebrities don’t give back? Reality star Kim Kardashian is set to sell her new and slightly worn clothes from her own closet on eBay this week. The money raised will go to the Dream Foundation, the first national wish granting organization for adults suffering from life-limiting illness. [People]
A BLOOMIN ONION HAS HOW MANY CALORIES?!
California became the first state in the nation Wednesday to require all chain restaurants to provide calorie counts on almost everything they serve. (PS: Did you know a “side” of chili cheese fries from Carl’s Jr. has 990 calories? Gulp.) [SacBee]
YOUR DRUGS ARE ADORABLE!
Cartoon-shaped drugs like Ecstasy have been showing up on the streets of Kansas City. Drug gangs are marketing pills in the shapes of Snoopy, Homer Simpson and President Barack Obama’s head to try to appeal to teens and kids. [Kansas City Star]
OH, WOW
In an attempt to freak people out about the new Congressional supermajority, former staffer for Rep. Dennis Hastert John Feerey ominously warns that the last time Democrats had a filibuster-proof majority, “Congress mandated that the American people embrace the metric system.” Yup, that’s what they’ve got. [CNN]
WAY TO GO GIRL
“I don’t like fat jokes about women. Men can take it because we live in a society where fat men still deserve love, still can be respected. Fat women are treated (in the white culture, anyway) like s**t, and it bums me out.” —Comedian Sarah Silverman on why she won’t make fat jokes. [The Frisky]
PATRICIA CLARKSON
Could she be any more amazing? Read her new interview with AV Club. (Our fave quote: “Every day when I want to complain about something I say ‘Patty, you’re 49 years old and you’re working in movies, honey. Suck it up. Do a jig and get your ass together and be peppy.’”) [AV Club]
And One To Grow On
OUCH
Headline you shouldn’t imitate: “Man Injured After Using Nail Clippers to Circumcise Himself.”[Fox News]
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