Iowa Senate: What’s important to the U.S.? “Up First Briefing: Supreme Court Ethics Code; What Climate Change Costs the United States,” Jan. 15, 2015
Researchers have found their first hint that gene-editing can cut high cholesterol, which could eventually provide new ways of preventing heart attacks and strokes. A study involving 10 patients found that editing a gene inside the liver can significantly reduce levels of “bad cholesterol,” though more testing is needed. While scientists still have many questions, they’re excited about the role gene-editing could play in treating all sorts of genetic diseases. Read the story and listen to it here.
There was a thing I noticed about being in Iowa and asking people about these topics. Many were afraid or anxious about what the next months had in store. If their facial expressions were words, they clearly read, “Oh great … here we go again.”
Iowa will set the tone for who will challenge President Biden for the White House at the caucus on January 15. There are some things I learned while in Iowa.
A year out from the general election, I spent a week in Iowa asking voters how they were feeling about the president, GOP presidential candidates and what issues are most important to them.
Source: Up First briefing: Supreme Court ethics code; what climate change costs the U.S.
Supreme Court Ethics Code: What Climate Change Costs the U.S. Source: Up First Briefing: Gaza City Hospital, Israel’s Chief Military spokesperson Daniel Hagari
A major report from the federal government explains how climate change is affecting our lives and who is paying the biggest price. The National Climate Assessment says natural disasters cause an estimated $150 billion in direct losses every year. People of color and people in poverty are disproportionately affected.
Israel claims to have evidence that Hamas has a military compound under the Children’s Hospital. Israel’s chief military spokesperson, Daniel Hagari, appears in a video that purports to show a tunnel outside the hospital and weapons in a room below it, details NPR can’t independently confirm. There is a dire need for treatment in the Gaza City hospitals with many patients dying from a lack of treatment and there isn’t a safe way out.
The Supreme Court adopted an ethics code that was pushed by Congress and the public. After revelations of wealthy benefactors giving gifts to justices, trust in the court has fallen. The code — which all nine justices have signed — tries to be specific about what they can do. Critics are not happy that it has an enforcement mechanism for what they aren’t supposed to do.
Source: Up First briefing: Supreme Court ethics code; what climate change costs the U.S.
A Letter to President Biden Proclaiming his Support for Israel in the Israeli Operation ‘Stillas of Nuclear Destabilization’
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Israel launched a ground invasion last month in Gaza in response to militant attacks that left more than 1,200 people dead. So far, more than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s military offensive according to Gaza’s health ministry.
“We call on President Biden to urgently demand a cease-fire; and to call for de-escalation of the current conflict by securing the immediate release of the Israeli hostages and arbitrarily detained Palestinians; the restoration of water, fuel, electricity and other basic services; and the passage of adequate humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip,” the letter states.
More than 400 appointees and staff members from some forty government agencies wrote a letter to President Biden protesting his support for Israel in its war in Gaza.
The signatories of the letter submitted on Tuesday and the one circulating among USAID employees are anonymous, the USAID letter explains, out of “concern for our personal safety and risk of potentially losing our jobs.” The State Department dissenters must disclose their names but they have not been made public.
Although the Biden administration has recently started voicing concern over the high numbers of Palestinian civilians killed while urging Israel to show restraint, that budding criticism does not appear to be placating many in the U.S. government.
The New York Times looked at the letter and found that it started by condemning the attacks by Hamas, then called for Mr. Biden to stop the bloodshed in Gaza.
Two political appointees who helped organize the letter to Mr. Biden said the majority of the signatories are political appointees of various faiths who work throughout government, from the National Security Council to the F.B.I. and the Justice Department.
Some of the people who signed it helped Mr. Biden get elected, because they were concerned he wouldn’t win if the administration supported Israel in Gaza.