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A “massive” aerial and naval blockade of Iran is the only thing that prevent Iran from pursuing nuclear weapons, says Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz. Steinitz warned Bloomberg news on Wednesday that economic sanctions “might not be sufficient” to deter Iran’s nuclear ambitions and that a blockade similar to that imposed by President John F. Kennedy on Cuba in 1962 should be imposed. Appearing on Fox Business on Tuesday, Steinitz welcomed the announcement of the new E.U. ban on Iranian oil but warned that a “more complete economic blockade” might be necessary. Watch it:

Tags: election-2012, european union, iraq, islamophobia, media, newt gingrich, security, united nations, var-jplayerswf, war

Yesterday during a speech in Fort Myers, FL, a protester interrupted Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign stump speech to press the now-GOP frontrunner on whether he would start a war with Iran as president: Q: Are you going to send our children to Iran? … Are you going to send us to war in Iran? GINGRICH: I hope not. That’s a legitimate question . My goal would be to apply the same strategy that Reagan, Thatcher and Pope John Paul II used to undermine and defeat the Soviet empire without a general war. But my goal would be to do everything we could to replace the Ahmadinejad dictatorship in a peaceful way using all the different tools that we have, tools that were used very effectively against the Soviet empire, which was a lot bigger and a lot more difficult challenge. On the other hand, I will tell all of you, I think we have a very great reason to not want the Iranians to get nuclear weapons and I think they are a direct threat to our cities if they end up getting nuclear weapons. Watch it: While Gingrich says he hopes he doesn’t have to start a war with Iran, he has an odd way of showing it. Back in 2003, the former House Speaker argued that the United States should develop and use nuclear bunker busters against Iran’s nuclear facilities. “This would be a weapon designed to be used,” he wrote in a 2003 USA Today op-ed. “It would not simply be a weapon of deterrence, as current nuclear weapons are.” IAEA director general Yukiya Amano recently issued a warning about Iran’s nuclear program. “What we know suggests the development of nuclear weapons,” he said. And the U.N. nuclear watchdog is heading to Iran at the end of the month to seek answers on its nuclear program’s military dimension. While Iran’s nuclear program is a serious concern, Republicans on the campaign trail, including Gingrich, focus on war, rather than diplomacy, to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. “I agree entirely with Governor Romney,” Gingrich said in a recent debate referring to Romney’s assertion that he’d use military action to stop Iran’s nuclear program. “If in the end, despite all of those things, the dictatorship persists, you have to take whatever steps are necessary to break its capacity to have a nuclear weapon,” he said.

Tags: economy, gingrich-stump, iran, iraq, newt gingrich, security, tweets, var-jplayerswf, war

Virginia Del. David Englin (D-Arlington) introduced a resolution exploring whether his state should allow marijuana to be sold in state-run liquor stores . According to Englin, “right now people are smoking marijuana secretly. They’re spending money on it and it’s going into in to the hands of criminals. This legislation just seeks to find out how much money we could potentially be raising to fund core services for the Commonwealth.”

Tags: citizens-united, economy, health, january-2012, lgbt, media, security, var-jplayerswf

Bloomberg.com’s “ Chart of the Day ” notes that consumer spending’s share of the U.S. GDP is experiencing a surge as household purchases, including health care expenses, has grown as a proportion of the economy, climbing from 61 percent in the mid 1960s to 71 percent today. “Medical payments now account for about 16 percent of total consumer spending, more than food and clothing combined, which make up about 11 percent, or housing, which accounts for about 15 percent.” Health care costs have remained steady in 2010, increasing by just 3.9 percent , thanks in part to the Affordable Care Act . Over time , reform will further lower the rate of increase by investing in comparative effectiveness research and rewarding more efficient delivery of services. – Fatima Najiy

Tags: donate, economy, fatima-najiy, feeds, health, health care costs, january-2012, lgbt, pennsylvania, var-jplayerswf, war

Gawker reported today that Andrew Adler, the owner and publisher of the weekly newspaper the Atlanta Jewish Times, wrote in a January 13 column about what options Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Neyanyahu might have if he receives a report that Hezbollah is about to attack with thousands of rockets and Iran has “reached nuclear launch capabilities.” In this hypothetical scenario, Adler says that an Israeli diplomat will have informed Nethanyahu that he “cannot expect much help from the United States due to its newly implemented military budget and the administration’s never ending ‘Alice in Wonderland’ belief that diplomacy is the answer.” One option (Option three), according to Adler, would be for U.S.-based Mossad agents to assassinate the President of the United States: Three, give the go-ahead for U.S.-based Mossad agents to take out a president deemed unfriendly to Israel in order for the current vice president to take his place, and forcefully dictate that the United States’ policy includes its helping the Jewish state obliterate its enemies. “Yes, you read ‘three’ correctly,” Adler says, “Order a hit on a president in order to preserve Israel’s existence. Think about it. If I have thought of this Tom Clancy-type scenario, don’t you think that this almost unfathomable idea has been discussed in Israel’s most inner circles?” In a statement today, the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) condemned Adler’s editorial: “ It is the height of irresponsibility to make the horrific suggestion that the State of Israel should assassinate the President of the United States of America ,” [NJDC President and CEO David] Harris said. “To dare to give such despicable ideas space in a newspaper — no less in the words of the paper’s owner and publisher, and a Jewish newspaper at that — is beyond the pale.” As for Adler, Gawker caught up with him to see just what he was talking about. He said he wasn’t advocating for assassinating President Obama. “I was hoping to make clear that it’s unspeakable—god forbid this would ever happen,” Adler said, adding, “I wrote it to see what kind of reaction I was going to get from readers.” “We’ve gotten a lot of calls and emails,” Adler told Gawker. “Nothing from the Secret Service, though. Yet,” Gawker’s John Cook adds. Update Adler told the Guardian that he deeply regrets writing the column suggesting that Israel assassinate Obama. It seems that Adler isn’t remorseful about suggesting that the president be assassinated, but that his readers might think Israel actually will do it: Adler said he understood why readers might interpret his writing as suggesting that Israel is seriously considering assassinating the US president but that is not what he meant. “No, no, no. It’s unfathomable, unthinkable,” he said, adding: “I’m definitely pro-Israel to the max.”

Tags: author, donate, economy, health, iran, january-2012, joe-romm, president, security, thinkprogress, var-jplayerswf, war

Despite a strong La Nina event cooling the Pacific Ocean, 2011 was about the 10th hottest year on record , scientists have found. “It’s clear over time the El Niño years tend to be the warmer years and the La Niña years tend to be the cooler years,” said Tom Karl, director of NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center. “This year the La Niña-related temperatures for 2011 were as warm as anything we’ve seen in the past, very close to the year 2008.” Every year since 1976 has been warmer than average, according to NOAA. While 2011 was the coolest year in the 21st century, it was tied with the second-warmest year of the 20th century, notes Climate Central’s Andrew Freedman.

Tags: author, barack-obama, director, economy, global-warming, green, health, january-2012, joe-romm, security, var-jplayerswf

A provision in the health care law that allows young adults to stay on their parents’ health care plans until the age of 26 is working, new analysis from the Employee Benefits Research Institute confirms. According to the Institute, “the percentage of people between ages 19 and 25 being carried as a dependent on a parent’s employment-based coverage increased from 24.7 percent in 2009 to 27.7 percent in 2010 . The number of young adults with employment-based coverage as a dependent increased from 7.3 million to 8.2 million” as uninsured teens find coverage or shift into dependent insurance if they lose their employer-sponsored insurance. However, the economic recession and increasing health care costs are still causing Americans over the age of 50 — or those who actually use more care — to skip health care services. Relying on data from the National Health Interview Survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Institute found that almost 22 percent of “households reported that they have made some changes in their prescription drugs to save money, and nearly as many report that they have either skipped or postponed doctor appointments to do so.” Twenty seven percent of households “reported difficulty in paying their monthly bills”:

Tags: economy, green, health, health care reform, igor-volsky, january-2012, joe-romm, pennsylvania, security, sponsor, var-jplayerswf

While foreclosure rates hit a four-year low in 2011 , the early signs for 2012 don’t look good when it comes to housing, as banks have begun to work through a backlog of foreclosures that were delayed by the foreclosure fraud scandal. In fact, the New York Federal Reserve anticipates that 3.6 million foreclosures will occur in the next two years, piling on to the 1 million in 2010 and the 800,000 last year. “The ongoing weakness in housing has made it more difficult to achieve a vigorous economic recovery,” said New York Fed President William Dudley. “Housing has inhibited economic activity through a number of channels.” (HT: Realty Biz News )

Tags: author, economy, green, health, january-2012, lgbt, pat-garofalo, security, tweets, var-jplayerswf

Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani told CBS News that he thinks Arab nations should intervene militarily in Syria to stop the violence. “For such a situation to stop the killing … some troops should go to stop the killing,” he said in an interview to be aired on 60 Minutes. Qatar backed the NATO mission in Libya last year that eventually led to Muammar Qaddafi’s ouster from power and eventual death. The Emir is the first Arab leader to propose military intervention in Syria. Qatar’s prime minister, who is head of the Arab League mission in Syria, said earlier this month that the organization’s observer mission in Syria had made mistakes and asked the United Nations for assistance.

Tags: #Syria, author, ben-armbruster, economy, green, health, iran, january-2012, lgbt, media, qatar, var-jplayerswf

I’m sorry for dropping the ball yesterday on starting our A Visit from the Goon Squad Book Club: in between traveling and the first day of the Television Critics Association Press Tour, I got totally caught up. We’ll start next Friday. Same reading assignment.

Tags: donate, hip-hop, january-2012, joe-romm, nbc, politics, tca-press-tour, thinkprogress, var-jplayerswf, video-games