POLITICO: When President Barack Obama first began negotiating a nuclear deal with Iran, he was encouraged by the existence of an obscure religious ruling from the country’s Supreme Leader: in a fatwa, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared that developing or using nuclear weapons is against Islam… But as a June 30 deadline for a nuclear deal […]

By Phil Smith DRUG WAR CHRONICLE: With the signature of Gov. Jack Markell (D) Thursday night on House Bill 39, Delaware becomes the 20th state to either decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana or make it legal for adults. Markell, who had earlier indicated support for such legislation, signed the bill the same […]

WASHINGTON POST: …The overhaul could sweep some of MSNBC’s pundits and hosts away in favor of more news coverage, continuing a trend MSNBC has already started. The revamped lineup will feature a familiar face: Brian Williams, who NBC has decided to redeploy at MSNBC when his six-month suspension as anchor of “NBC Nightly News” lapses […]

POLITICO: …Former officials involved with the 1994 agreement with North Korea say that, looking back, the U.S. should have been as disciplined and focused on implementing that deal as it was in trying to reach it. Although none said having a “czar” would have ultimately saved the agreement, several said that not having one in […]

NEW YORK TIMES: …Will Pierce and his band of Bidenistas argue that the vice president is the best Democrat to carry on the legacy of President Obama and they are working overtime to convince him of that. They have collected more than 81,000 petition signatures, sponsored house parties, secured endorsements, made fund-raising calls, issued news […]

NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS: …he benefits from investments to reduce emission of CO2 and other greenhouse gases are a global public good. They require costly investments by individual countries. However, the benefits from the lower emissions are spread widely around the world, and the country undertaking the investments will receive only a tiny fraction […]

POLITICO: President Barack Obama’s trade agenda was jolted back to life Thursday, as the House voted narrowly to grant him fast-track authority to finalize a sweeping accord with 11 other Pacific Rim nations. Now, in order to score a major victory on a centerpiece of his economic agenda, he has to convince a handful of […]

WEATHER CHANNEL: …Global temperatures January-May 2015 exceeded 2010’s as the warmest first five months of any year, according to NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies… Record warm sea-surface temperatures in the northeast and equatorial Pacific Ocean, as well as areas of the western North Atlantic Ocean and Barents Sea north of Scandinavia contributed to the […]

REUTERS: Goldman Sachs Group Inc has told its summer investment banking interns not to stay in the office overnight in a bid to improve working conditions for its junior staff. The move, according to company sources and confirmed by a Goldman spokesman, illustrates how Wall Street banks are seeking to curb excessive hours worked by […]

NEW YORK TIMES: …Think about it this way: If an overweight man is consuming 1,000 more calories than he is burning and wants to be in energy balance, he can do it by exercising. But exercise consumes far fewer calories than many people think. Thirty minutes ofjogging or swimming laps might burn off 350 calories. […]

HARRISBURG PATRIOT NEWS OP-ED: …Back when our commonwealth was considering inviting casinos to operate here, my organization, the Pennsylvania Family Institute, argued that a result of casino gambling would be 300,000 gambling addicts. Of course, many of our leaders scoffed at what appeared to them a ridiculous prediction. Today, according to the National Council on […]