Good morning! On this date in 1957, “In God We Trust” first appeared on American currency. In a Cold War-inspired effort to differentiate the US from its “Godless” Soviet rival, Congress had made the phrase the official motto of the United States the previous year.
Stat of the day: 96 percent — A new study from the Department of Veterans Affairs’ brain repository in Bedford, Massachusetts, found that 76 of 79 deceased NFL players showed signs of degenerative brain disease.
Don’t panic –> The CDC confirmed the first case of Ebola in the US. Elahe Izadi, Mark Berman and J. Freedom du Lac report for WaPo that the unidentified victim developed symptoms four days after traveling from Liberia to Dallas. Ebola has spread rapidly in Africa after overwhelming under-resourced health care systems, and doesn’t pose a major threat in the US.
New war is already awful –> Michael Isikoff reports for Yahoo News that the White House has acknowledged that the “strict standards President Obama imposed last year to prevent civilian deaths from U.S. drone strikes will not apply” in Syria and Iraq. As many as a dozen civilians, including women and children, were killed when an “errant cruise missile destroyed a home for displaced civilians.” AND: The Turkish military is ramping up its defensive positions as Islamic State fighters approach its border. Justin Sink also reports for The Hill that British forces launched their first airstrikes in Iraq on Tuesday. ALSO: An analysis by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments estimates that the campaign has cost the US between $780 and $930 million through September 24. Their conservative estimate is that it will likely run between $200 and $320 million per month for the duration.
“…Relies heavily on analysis from a very ideological law professor” –> A third Republican-appointed federal judge ruled that people in the ACA exchanges run by the feds aren’t eligible for Obamacare’s subsidies. Ian Millhiser reports for ThinkProgress that the judge’s legal reasoning was full of holes. Six federal judges have so far seen it differently, and the case will likely be decided by the Supreme Court.
Mother Earth’s children –> A report released on Tuesday by the World Wide Fund for Nature finds that “wildlife numbers have plunged by more than half in just 40 years as Earth’s human population has nearly doubled.” (AFP, via The Raw Story)
How about a little good news? –> NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio is fulfilling a campaign promise by raising the city’s “living wage” from $11.90 to $13.13 per hour, and expanding the (limited) number of workers who are covered by the ordinance. Erin Durkin has details at the NY Daily News.
AWOL –> A drug case may be dismissed after Darren Wilson, the Ferguson police officer who shot Michael Brown, failed to show up in court for a hearing. According to Robert Patrick at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Wilson’s lawyers say he won’t attend any court proceedings this year, and a half dozen other cases may be jeopardized by his absence.
High cost of cheap bigotry –> A new study finds that LGBT-Americans have lower incomes and face more financial stress and poverty in states with anti-gay laws than in more tolerant ones. NBC News’ Miranda Leitsinger reports.
A Supreme Court for the “powerful and privileged” –> Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick speaks to Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California–Irvine School of Law, about his new book, The Case Against the Supreme Court. He argues that SCOTUS has consistently “failed, throughout American history, at its most important tasks, at its most important moments.”
A contrarian view –> At Politico Magazine, Bill Scher argues that if Republicans win control of the Senate in next month’s elections, their internal conflicts will play out in the glare of a presidential campaign with disastrous results for the party. AND: FiveThirtyEight’s forecast model gives the GOP a 58.3 percent chance taking control of the chamber.
Always read the fine print –> AFP reports that several Londoners agreed to terms and conditions for the use of free Wi-Fi that included handing over their first-born children. The “stunt” was actually an experiment designed to reveal “the total disregard for computer security by people when they are mobile.”
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