Citizen Cartwright

Indiana lawmakers to clarify religious-objections law

Amid a growing "firestorm" of criticism, Republican legislative leaders said on Monday they're working on adding language to the law to make it clear that the measure doesn't allow discrimination against gays and lesbians.

As signed by GOP Gov. Mike Pence last week, the measure prohibits state laws that "substantially burden" a person's ability to follow his or her religious beliefs.

The definition of a "person" includes religious institutions, businesses and associations.

When the federal government adopted a religious protection act in 1993, the intent was to protect members of vulnerable religious minorities from punishment for the exercise of their beliefs.

Since then, 20 states have passed their own religious freedom laws.

Liberal activists say that over time court decisions and conservative legal initiatives started to change the meaning of those laws — not to protect minorities but to enable some religious groups to undermine the rights of women, gays and lesbians or other groups.

Here is the editorial of the Indianapolis Star headlined "Gov. Pence, fix 'religious freedom' law now."

Ways the U.S. talks with Iran are changing regional politics

So Iran, the United States and five other world powers are trying to put together a preliminary deal on Iran's nuclear program by their self-imposed deadline of midnight on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, many in Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations say they fear that the nuclear talks could lead to a broader détente or even an alliance between Washington and Tehran, The New York Times reports.

“There is a disbelief in the Arab world that these negotiations are only about the nuclear file, and a frequent complaint here is that we are kept in the dark, we are not consulted,” says Gamal Abdel Gawad Soltan, a political scientist at the American University in Cairo. “The U.S. is much less trusted as an ally, as an insurance policy towards the security threats facing the governments in the region, and so those governments decide to act on their own.”

Saudi Arabia, Iran’s chief regional rival, is leading airstrikes against an Iranian-backed faction in Yemen; backing a blitz in Idlib, Syria, by jihadists fighting the Iranian-backed Assad regime; and warning Washington not to allow Iranian-backed militia to capture too much of Iraq during the fight against the Islamic State, according to Arab diplomats.

And through Egypt, a major beneficiary of its aid, Saudi Arabia is backing plans for a combined Arab military force to combat Iranian influence around the region. With another major aid recipient, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia is expected to step up its efforts to develop a nuclear bomb, potentially setting off a regional arms race.

A key to happiness: Treat your spouse as you would a stranger

When we’re around our romantic partner, we aren't necessarily as pleasant as when we're talking to people we don’t know so well. No disagreement there, right?

But when we interact with strangers for whom we do put our best faces forward, we get a mood boost from this positive behavior, says Elizabeth Dunn, a happiness researcher at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

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Role of mental illness in Germanwings crash raises worry about stigma

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Experts: Breast cancer isn't one disease; focus on tumor subtypes could help patients

Pre-Snowden, NSA considered ending its phone program

The National Security Agency considered abandoning its secret program to collect and store American calling records in the months before former NSA contractor Edward Snowden revealed the practice because the costs outweighed the counterterrorism benefits, The Associated Press reports.

The behind-the-scenes NSA concerns, which haven't been reported previously, could be relevant as Congress decides whether to renew or modify the phone records collection when the law authorizing it expires in June, AP says.

To Republicans, Obama is a more imminent threat than Putin

A third of Republicans believe the president poses an imminent threat to the United States, outranking concerns about Russian President Putin and Syrian President Assad in a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Given the level of polarization in U.S. politics, the results aren't that surprising, says Barry Glassner, a sociologist and author of "The Culture of Fear: Why Americans are afraid of the wrong things."

"There tends to be a lot of demonizing of the person who is in the office," Glassner says.

Feeling unproductive? Reflect on the value of doing nothing

Are you feeling oppressed by your to-do list?

Are your days a triumph of hope over experience when it comes to your own productivity?

Well, mine often are. At the same time, I don't want to look back on a life consumed by getting relatively meaningless things done.

So, if you're anything like me, here are 10 quotes to help you feel better when you're not as productive as you think you should be, from The Washington Post.

Not on the list is my personal favorite, from Walt Whitman:

"I loaf and invite my soul."

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Arab leaders announce joint force to intervene in the region’s wars

Iraqi army eyes cost of U.S.-led strikes in Tikrit as militiamen leave in protest

Iran backs away from key detail in nuclear deal 2 days before deadline

Mexico announces 'landmark' greenhouse gas goal: A 22 percent cut by 2030

For GOP, support for Israel becomes a new litmus test

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid to retire from Senate in 2016

New taxes on the affluent pulled in $23 billion in 2014

Ellen Pao loses Silicon Valley bias case but succeeds in shaking things up

Study says quality time with kids trumps quantity

New hepatitis C medications are costing Medicare billions

Makers of generic drugs challenge FDA's plan for updated warnings

Scientists say they've developed a diet that reduces Alzheimer's risk

People may become more trusting with age, study finds

Obama's struggles with the 'messy Middle East'

The Mideast has "descended into a state of disarray unusual even for that troubled region," imperiling President Obama’s policy dreams and leaving him with limited ability to control events, says The Wall Street Journal.

The Obama administration finds itself in a "highly awkward position," says the WSJ: It's lined up against Iran in Yemen. It's trying to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran. It's working on the same side as the Iranians to defeat Islamic State fighters in Iraq.

At the same time, Obama finds his ties to Israel and Egypt, two traditional bulwarks of pro-American sentiment, under great strain.

And Obama's dream of smoothly exiting the long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan suffered a double blow this week as U.S. planes had to spring back into action in Iraq in an attempt to push back Islamic State forces, and Obama agreed to keep in Afghanistan thousands of troops he'd hoped could leave by year’s end.

Some experts say there can't be an overarching U.S. policy in the Middle East at the moment, The New York Times reports.

The best the White House can do, those experts say, is to tailor policies according to individual crises as they flare up.

“It is messy. It is contradictory. That’s foreign policy,” says Barbara Bodine, a former U.S. ambassador to Yemen who now is director of the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University.

House overwhelmingly passes changes to Medicare

The bill, passed on Thursday on a 392 to 37 vote, is "the most significant bipartisan policy legislation to pass through that chamber since Republicans regained a majority in 2011," says The New York Times.

Lawmakers couldn't immediately recall the last time a bill of such consequence had passed with a huge majority in the era of divided government, when just keeping federal agencies from shutting down counts as a major achievement, the Times says.

"I just want to say to the American people, don't look now but we're actually governing," said GOP Rep. Renee Ellmers of North Carolina.

"I want to give John Boehner and Nancy Pelosi credit" for negotiating the deal, President Obama said. "They did good work today."

The bill contains money for health care programs for children and low-income people that Democrats are touting as victories. Republicans get long-term though modest strengthening of Medicare's finances, including cost increases for higher-income recipients.

Under the bill, Medicare would pay doctors based on their performance, rewarding them for higher-quality work rather than for the volume of services.

Prospects have brightened for the bill in the Senate, as Democrats have muffled their criticism and Obama has embraced the bill, says The Associated Press.