5/4 Defense Chief Vouches for U.S. Strategy on ISIS

Ashton Carter, the new defense secretary said that the Obama administration had “the ingredients of the strategy” to defeat Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria. This approach includes political and economic pressure as well as military force. He says that the US needs to use help from other countries in fighting ISIS. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/24/us/politics/defense-chief-vouches-for-us-strategy-on-isis.html?ref=politics

4/4 Govern Yourselves, State Lawmakers Tell Cities, but Not Too Much

Darren Hodges, a republican mayor from Fort Stockton, is a fierce defender of his town's decision to ban plastic bags. The power of this town and other cities is being threatened by the state capital. The governor has said that many cities have been undermining the "texas model" with a patchwork of regulations.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/24/us/govern-yourselves-state-lawmakers-tell-cities-but-not-too-much.html?ref=politics

3/4 Concerns Mount as Homeland Security Shutdown Looks Likely

Just a few weeks ago, the idea that congress might shut down the department of homeland security seemed ridiculous. One of the republican staff members laughed when he was asked if the republicans were going to shut down the agency in a battle over Obama's recent actions. But now the shutdown of the department is looking more likely.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/24/us/concerns-mount-as-homeland-security-shutdown-looks-likely.html?ref=politics&_r=0

2/4 Is ISIS a Religious Group? Of Course It Is.

 ISIS makes it obvious that their actions are done in faith to their religion. They show Koranic justification for their terrible actions such as beheadings of Christians, throwing gay people off of buildings, stoning women to death who have committed adultery, or enslaving people. This article says that ISIS is the definition of a fundamentalist religious group.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-paul/is-isis-a-religious-group_b_6730968.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

1/4 Kayla Mueller's Parents Say They Have Been Notified Of Her Death

The parents of a woman, Kayla Jean Mueller, who was held by the Islamic State group said on tuesday that they were told that she is dead. They received a message from her captors this past weekend. ISIS said that Mueller had been killed by a Jordanian airstrike in Raqqa, Syria, which was highly unlikely according to the Jordanian government. Kayla Mueller is from Arizona. She was taken in a northern city in Syria August 2013. While Kayla was held captive, she wrote a note that said "I know you would want me to remain strong. That is exactly what I'm doing, I have learned that even in prison, one can be free. I am grateful. I have come to see there is good in every situation, sometimes we just have to look for it." Before she was taken captive, she was working in Turkey to help Syrian refugees. Mueller is the fourth American to be killed by ISIS. There were three others who were killed: James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and Peter Kassig. They were all beheaded. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/10/kayla-mueller-killed-isis_n_6633708.html

5/3 Florida Law Would Make It A Crime For Transgender People To Use Public Bathrooms

In florida, there was a bill proposed that would make it illegal for some one to go into public place made for one sex if they weren't born as that sex. This goes for bathrooms, dressing rooms, locker rooms and showers, or wherever there is an "expectation of privacy". If some one who was born as a man went into a girl's restroom, they could be fined up to 1000 or go to prison for a year. This is called the Single-Sex Public Facilities Act, and is made to target Florida's transgender community. Although they recently won legal protection from discrimination with a Human rights ordinance, which was passed only a few months ago in December. This bill is Representative Frank Artiles's response to that. He says, "My number one concern is public safety. It's not that the transgender or the gender identity community is dangerous by any means, but the ordinance creates a giant loophole for criminals, sexual deviants and sexual predators to walk into a shower, a woman's locker room under the cover of law."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/09/florida-transgender-bathroom-law_n_6645910.html

4/3 Alabama Judge Defies Gay Marriage Law

Chief Justice Roy S. Moore of the Alabama Supreme Court ordered the state’s probate judges not to issue marriage licenses to gay couples on Monday the night before. He did this in an act of defiance to the federal system. Moore's order said, "Effective immediately, no probate judge of the State of Alabama nor any agent or employee of any Alabama probate judge shall issue or recognize a marriage license that is inconsistent." He insisted that the probate judges were not required go by Judge Granade's decisions declaring Alabama's refusal unconstitutional. Some judges said they would not permit a marriage license to gay couples, or any couples for that matter. One office had a sign that said: “Marriage licenses and ceremonies are no longer available at the Pike County Probate Office.” 

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/09/us/gay-marriage-set-to-begin-in-alabama-amid-protest.html?ref=politics&_r=0

3/3 Climate Change Is of Growing Personal Concern to U.S. Hispanics, Poll Finds

Alfreda Padilla, a migrant farmer from Texas, who is now an insurance lawyer, says he is very concerned about global warming. He says that this affects poor people harder, since they are typically more reliant on weather. In a survey conducted by the Times last month, it was found that Hispanics are more likely than whites to view global warming as a problem that would personally affect them. It also said that they would be more likely to support policies and taxes that would lower the amount of greenhouse gas pollution. This poll could have major affects on the 2016 election, with candidates trying to win hispanics' votes. 54 percent of hispanics rated global warming as extremely important to them, 37 percent of whites voted it important. 67 percent of hispanics said that they would be negatively affected personally if nothing was done to reduce it, and half of whites voted this.


http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/10/us/politics/climate-change-is-of-growing-personal-concern-to-us-hispanics-poll-finds.html?ref=politics

2/3 Bobby Jindal: Liberals Are 'Obsessed' With Race

     Bobby Jindal accused liberals with being "obsessed" with race. This was after a photo which was assumed to be his official portrait was showing a much paler version of the governor of Louisiana. Jindal is the country's first indian-american governor. Jindal's chief of staff, Kyle Plotkin, responded to the tweet of the paler photo with Jindal's real official portrait. After seeing this Jindal said, "I think that this whole thing is silly. I think the left is obsessed with race." Jindal says that he is not bothered by race at all, and is just tired of hearing about it. Jindal said that his parents moved  from India to America  "to become Americans, not Indian American."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/09/bobby-jindal-race_n_6645172.html

1/3 Same-Sex Marriages Proceed in Alabama as State Judge’s Order Is Defied

Some counties in Alabama began granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples on Monday. Couples lined up outside courthouses in Huntsville, Birmingham and Montgomery with their licenses. In Troy, the courthouse was quiet. The judge was not granting marriage licenses to anyone. Sunday night, the chief justice Roy Moore sent an order to county probate judges telling them not to issue licenses, but by monday morning that had been overruled by the United States supreme court. Same-sex marriage is being refused in 24 counties right now. The federal court and the state's court are not getting along on the issue.


http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/10/us/alabama-supreme-court-same-sex-marriages.html?ref=politics&_r=0