US service sector booms in August, hits nine-year high

US service sector booms in August, hits nine-year high: "The pace of growth in the U.S. services sector rose in August to its highest level since 2005, according to an industry report released on Thursday.
The Institute for Supply Management said its services index rose to 59.6 last month from 58.7 in July. The August reading was the highest since August 2005 and topped economists' forecasts for 57.5, according to a Reuters survey.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector."

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Texas voter ID

A U.S. court in Texas heard arguments on Tuesday in a case over a law requiring voters to present photo identification, a move the state's Republican leaders say will prevent fraud while plaintiffs call it an attempt at suppressing minority turnout.

The case is also part of a new strategy by the Obama administration to challenge voting laws it says discriminate by race in order to counter a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June that freed states from strict federal oversight.

Cops Who Killed John Crawford III At Ohio Walmart Shot Him 'On Sight': Attorney

Cops Who Killed John Crawford III At Ohio Walmart Shot Him 'On Sight': Attorney: "Surveillance video from an Ohio Walmart shows that a man fatally shot by police earlier this month had his back to officers and was talking on a cell phone, an attorney for the man's family says.

John Crawford III died Aug. 5 after Beavercreek police responded to reports of an armed man at a Dayton-area Walmart. Crawford was not armed -- he had a pellet gun with him, which he had picked up in the store's toy department."

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Guy With Confederate Flag Sets His Head On Fire In Ice Bucket Challenge Fail

Guy With Confederate Flag Sets His Head On Fire In Ice Bucket Challenge Fail: "In what just might be the dumbest take yet on the ALS ice bucket challenge, a man waving a Confederate flag took a swig of something in a flask, spit, and then set his head on fire."
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Eric Cantor joins Wall Street bank - Lucy McCalmont - POLITICO.com

Eric Cantor joins Wall Street bank - Lucy McCalmont - POLITICO.com: "Former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is joining the Wall Street firm Moelis & Co., the firm announced on Tuesday.

“Eric has proven himself to be a pro-business advocate and one who will enhance our boardroom discussions with CEOs and senior management as we help them navigate their most important strategic decisions,” the firm’s founder, Ken Moelis said in a statement."

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ISM manufacturing index hits 59.0 in August; Construction spending rises 1.8% in July

ISM manufacturing index hits 59.0 in August; Construction spending rises 1.8% in July: "The pace of growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector rose in August to its highest level since March 2011, according to an industry report released on Tuesday.

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its index of national factory activity rose to 59.0 from 57.1 the month before." "Separately, data showed construction spending rebounded strongly to hit its highest level in more than 5-1/2 years in July as private construction increased and state and local government outlays surged, a further sign of vigor in the economy.

Construction spending increased 1.8 percent to an annual rate of $981.31 billion, the highest level since December 2008"

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Immigration Enforcement Cost Higher Than FBI, Policing Drugs, Guns Combined: Report

Immigration Enforcement Cost Higher Than FBI, Policing Drugs, Guns Combined: Report: "The United States spends more money on immigration enforcement -- nearly $18 billion in the 2012 fiscal year -- than on its other law enforcement agencies combined, according to a report released Monday from the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute.

That spending went to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and US-Visit, a program that helps states and localities identify undocumented immigrants.

By contrast, the U.S. spent $14.4 billion -- combined -- on its other prime law enforcement agencies: the FBI, Secret Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshal Service and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

There's a reason for the high cost. The Migration Policy Institute found that ICE and CBP also refer more cases to prosecution than those other agencies combined, and the immigration agencies also held more individuals in fiscal year 2011 than the federal Bureau of Prisons."



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Coverage for End-of-Life “death panels” Talks Gaining Ground - NYTimes.com

Private Insurers are doing what!

Coverage for End-of-Life Talks Gaining Ground - NYTimes.com: "Five years after it exploded into a political conflagration over “death panels,” the issue of paying doctors to talk to patients about end-of-life care is making a comeback, and such sessions may be covered for the 50 million Americans on Medicare as early as next year.

Bypassing the political process, private insurers have begun reimbursing doctors for these “advance care planning” conversations as interest in them rises along with the number of aging Americans."
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Both Sides Cite Discrimination in Battle Over Texas Voter ID Law - NYTimes.com

Both Sides Cite Discrimination in Battle Over Texas Voter ID Law - NYTimes.com: " Minority groups and Democrats in Texas have loudly opposed a state law requiring voters to show government-issued photo identification before casting their ballots. But one of the law’s biggest critics can be found not in Texas but Washington – Eric H. Holder Jr., the United States attorney general.

On Tuesday, in a federal courtroom in Corpus Christi, Justice Department lawyers will try to convince a judge to strike down the voter ID law, the latest skirmish in a three-year legal battle over whether the law passed by the Republican-led Legislature in 2011 discriminates against blacks and Hispanics."

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Israel seizes 400 hectares of West Bank land - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

Israel seizes 400 hectares of West Bank land - Middle East - Al Jazeera English: "The United States has urged Israel to reverse its decision to seize nearly 400 hectares of land in the occupied West Bank, a move anti-settlement activists termed the largest land grab in 30 years.

Israel announced the massive land appropriation on Sunday in the Etzion settlement bloc near Bethlehem just days after Gaza ceasefire.

A Palestinian official said the latest land grab by Israel would cause only more friction after the Gaza war that left more than 2,000 Palestinians dead and over 10,000 injured.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, called on Israel to cancel the appropriation. "This decision will lead to more instability. This will only inflame the situation after the war in Gaza," presidential spokesman Abu Rdainah said.

A US State Department official called the announcement as "counterproductive to Israel's stated goal of a negotiated two-state solution with the Palestinians"."

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