Attack in France, Obamacare Lives
Friday, June 26, 2015
Vol. 4, No. 177
Developing: French authorities are investigating after at least two attackers stormed a factory near Lyon, France today in what appears to be a terrorist incident. Witnesses report explosions and seeing a man waving an Islamic flag. A decapitated body has been found and one suspect has been arrested.
The Supremes: Supporters of Obamacare celebrated yesterday after the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to reject a challenge that could have gutted the healthcare subsidy and eliminated insurance for millions of people.
The case involved sloppy language in the healthcare bill that said – if taken literally – that federal subsidies are available only in states that have set up their own healthcare exchanges. In a bizarre twist, a coalition of Republican dominated states that refused to set up exchanges sued to eliminate the subsidy that helped their own residents get insurance.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority, “Congress passed the Affordable Care Act to improve health insurance markets, not to destroy them.”
Some Republican leaders including House Speaker John Boehner say they will continue efforts to repeal Obamacare. But in the near term, the court’s decision saves them the embarrassment of having no alterative to offer as they have promised.
Nation: President Obama is expected to deliver the eulogy today for the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, who was killed in last week’s Charleston church massacre.
The first two of nine funerals were held yesterday for 70-year-old Ethel Lance, and 45-year-old Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, who was a high school coach and single mother.
Lance had been a beloved usher at Emanuel AME Church. Her grandson Brandon Risher said, “She is a victim of hate, but she can be a symbol for love. That is what she was in life. Hate is powerful but love is more powerful.”
Waterworld: Nearly a third of the world’s 37 greatest aquifers are being drained by humans faster than they are being replenished, according to a study led by researchers at the University of California, Irvine. Most of the threatened aquifers are in agricultural areas ranging from India to California’s Central Valley that support 2 billion people. California already relies on groundwater for half its supply.
But scientists also say they don’t know how much water is still in reserve underground. They haven’t been able to measure it.
New World: Google has started testing its driverless cars on city streets. They go no faster than 25 mph and have a human occupant who can take control in an emergency.
But Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates said he thinks the ride service Uber, which has poured money into the project, might develop a dependable driverless car before anyone else.
Speaking of Uber, the interior minister of France ordered it to stop operating in his country after a day of angry and sometimes-violent protests by French taxi drivers. They say Uber is stealing their livelihood.
Small Screen: Univision has dumped Donald Trump’s Miss USA pageant after the comb over king delivered a June 16 speech insulting Mexicans. The Donald said, “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” The pageant is popular with Hispanic audiences and Univision decided it just couldn’t do business with someone who talks that way about its viewers.
From the Bench: Sharp-penciled Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia added some color to the legal lexicon yesterday in his dissent on the Obamacare decision. Scalia described the majority decision as “jiggery-pokery”, “pure applesauce” and “somersaults of statutory interpretation.” And he seems to have coined a new word, calling the majority opinion “SCOTUScare” because the Supreme Court of the United States has kept healthcare reform alive twice.
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