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Quote of the Day. "It is reckless. Information is powerful, but misunderstood information can be powerfully bad." Hank Greely, director of Stanford University's Center for Law and the Biosciences, on a new do-it-yourself genetic test to scan for various illness. The test will soon be available at retail drugstores. (Washington Post)
RELIGION IN THE NEWS
Green Patriarch Calls Gulf Coast Oil Spill a Sin "Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, dubbed the "green patriarch" because of his environmental activism, called the recent oil spill in the Gulf Coast a sin against nature and God."
Kagan's church-state and social-issue views not clear from scant record "President Obama's latest Supreme Court nominee has an exceedingly thin paper trail on some of the legal questions most important to people of faith."
Argentinean bishop warns against overlooking human face of poverty "Bishop Jorge Lozano of the Argentinean Bishops' Committee on Social Ministry said last week that the country must acknowledge the real faces of poverty and not just focus on cold statistics, because 'these faces are awaiting an answer.'"
Pope Issues Strongest Words to Date on Abuse "In his strongest and most direct condemnation of the sexual abuse crisis that has swept the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday said that the "sins inside the church" posed the greatest threat to Catholicism, adding that "forgiveness does not substitute justice."
Obama Urged to Lift U.S. Restrictions on Religious Travel to Cuba "Leaders of the National Council of Churches and Church World Service are urging the president to lift the restrictions on religious travel to Cuba, calling the current U.S. policy toward Cuba "ineffective and counter-productive."
Honest debate imperative for healthcare (Sister Simone Campbell, The Hill) "Health care reform has been the law of the land for a month now, and opponents of the landmark legislation are hard at work using misinformation about federal funding of abortion to exact punishment against pro-life members of Congress who voted for the bill."
NEWS AT HOME
Supreme Court Nominee. Elena Kagan nomination for Supreme Court riles both sides of political aisle "Activists and politicians aggressively jumped in Monday to define the debate over Solicitor General Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court, beginning an argument that may well dominate the summer on Capitol Hill." Kagan helped draft policies on welfare, guns "She had come to the Clinton domestic policy shop in 1997 after serving as an administration lawyer. By the time she left two years later, she had put her stamp on the office, a unit that took on tobacco and gun industries, advocated campaign finance reform, backed affirmative action and worked to preserve abortion rights." Nomination of Kagan Leaves Some Longing on the Left "But much like every other Democratic nominee since the 1960s, she does not fit the profile sought by the left, which hungers for a full-throated counterweight to the court's conservative leader, Justice Antonin Scalia." For the court, a broker's skills "The White House is counting on Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan to use her influential voice, intellectual heft, and knack for building consensus to help keep the high court from shifting to the political right, Democrats say."
Oil Spill.New Dome Is Prepared to Contain Leaking Oil "After a 98-ton steel containment dome failed to stop a leak that continues to pour oil from a runaway well in the Gulf of Mexico, BP executives said on Monday that they would take another attempt at stemming some of the flow later this week with a far smaller containment device." BP continues hunt to stop Gulf oil spill "Nearly three weeks after an oil rig explosion turned the Gulf of Mexico into an environmental disaster zone, BP today still casting about for a clear plan to shut off the gusher of crude that has cost the company $350m (£235m)." BP's next plan for oil spill includes 'top hat' and 'junk shot' "BP officials on Monday announced another experimental plan to capture the crude oil that's gushing from a mangled well 5,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico as Louisiana authorities prepared for the likely arrival of a massive oil slick along the state's marshy shoreline."
Climate & Energy Bill. White House aims to use Deepwater disaster to win votes for US climate bill "Senators are set to take a last run at producing a climate and energy law tomorrow, betting on the spectre of environmental disaster raised by the BP oil spill to build support for a comprehensive overhaul of America's energy strategy."
Low Taxes. Tax bills in 2009 at lowest level since 1950 "Amid complaints about high taxes and calls for a smaller government, Americans paid their lowest level of taxes last year since Harry Truman's presidency, a USA TODAY analysis of federal data found."
National Service. New national service grads pondering: What's next? "The government's rapidly expanding role in national service will reach a turning point this month as thousands of AmeriCorps members added with stimulus funds start to enter the workforce, and struggling non-profits try to replace them."
NEWS AROUND THE WORLD
British Elections. 'Crunch time' in UK government talks "The Lib Dems and Conservatives have resumed negotiations for a fourth day, as a senior Lib Dem tells the BBC the Tory offer was the 'only deal in town.'" Brown Says He'll Resign to Help Labour "Britain's quest for a new government took a sudden turn on Monday when Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that he would resign within months as Labour Party leader as part of a bid to lure the Liberal Democrats into rejecting the Conservatives and joining a rejuvenated Labour in a left-of-center governing coalition." Brown sets timetable for his departure
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