The Killers: President Obama said he is appalled by the beheading of an American journalist in Iraq, but that the US will continue with airstrikes. “The United States of America will continue to do what we must do to protect our people.” Protecting American embassy staff and troops has been the stated reason for American air strikes on ISIS, but continuing the strikes could be a death sentence for Steven Sotloff, another American freelance journalist held by ISIS.

ISIS had demanded a $132 million ransom for Foley, but the US refused. The administration revealed that earlier this summer a special operations team tried to rescue Foley and other captives, but none were at the location when the commandoes arrived. One US service member was lightly injured in a gunfight as the team was pulled out.

Obama said, “No faith teaches people to massacre innocents. No just God would stand for what they did yesterday and what they do every single day.” Strong words, but if bombs don’t deter ISIS, there’s little chance words will do the job.

Ebola: Violence broke out in a Monrovia slum blocked off by Liberian troops to stop the spread of the Ebola virus. Young men threw rocks and troops responded with live fire. The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is already the biggest in recorded history and it’s spreading to the cities, which could be festering grounds to spread the epidemic.

In a rare happy outcome with this disease, Dr. Kent Brantly, an American aid doctor who contracted Ebola, is expected to be released today from Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

Gaza: Hamas admits that three of its senior military leaders were killed today in an Israeli airstrike. Israel now appears to be shooting for Hamas leaders instead of just general military targets. On Tuesday the Israelis missed an attempt to get the top military commander, killing his wife and child instead.

In a related development, a senior Hamas leader admitted that the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teenagers in June was a Hamas operation. The incident sparked the latest round of warfare.

Dip: World Series winning pitcher Curt Schilling announced that he is in remission from cancer of the mouth, which he attributes to chewing tobacco. Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn died of salivary gland cancer in June, which he too believed was caused by chewing tobacco, a common thing among baseball players. Schilling said, “The pain that I was in going through this treatment, the second or third day, it was the first thing I had in my life that I wished I could go back and never have dipped. Not once.”

Nuked: The Navy has dismissed 34 sailors accused of cheating on their qualification exams to operate nuclear power plants. The Navy says a cheating ring had been working in one training station in Charleston, SC for seven years. The scandal is similar to a cheating conspiracy within the Air Force, but those guys were in charge of nuclear weapons.

The Banns: The Supreme Court stopped gay marriage in Virginia just 24 hours before licenses could be issued. A federal appeals court had knocked down the state’s ban, but the Court blocked the marriages until the issue could be brought to the Supreme Court itself. The Court is expected to take up at least one case involving gay marriage in the next session starting in October.

No Shots, But Fired: A police officer on Patrol in the Ferguson, Mo. demonstrations was suspended indefinitely after threatening to kill a video blogger. The officer from St. Ann, Mo. pointed his assault rifle and clearly said, “I will fucking kill you. Get back! Get back!” When asked his name the officer said, “Go fuck yourself.” After which, the demonstrators addressed him as “Officer Go Fuck Yourself.”

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