Piers Morgan signed off for good on Friday, but not before firing off his final salvo for stricter gun laws.
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- `` ``Over the past year,'' writes Maria Lipman, chair of the Carnegie Moscow Center’s Society and Regions Program, ``Putin’s approval rating has grown from 63 to 80 percent; 51 percent said they trusted him, up from 35 in March 2013. Such is the instant benefit of the takeover of Crimea.''
``The adjoining of Crimea is broadly seen as a triumph of “historical justice” that, in the minds of most Russians, appears to be superior to the justice of legal norms and procedures. What is also important is that this triumph came at no cost whatsoever to the Russian people...''
``The seizure of Crimea is Putin’s personal conquest, while the Russian people’s contribution has been reduced to their renewed pledge of allegiance to the national leader...For now Putin has succeeded in halting Russia’s social and economic modernization and has pushed Russia to an anti-modernization course.’’ http://goo.gl/s603MV
- The Washington Post and Kaiser Family Foundation conducted a nationally representative survey among Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. Highlights: 54 % disapprove of the way President is handling his job as president; 65 % think George W. Bush was a good commander-in-chief of the military; 44 % think the war in Iraq was worth fighting for, while 53 % think Afghanistan was worth fighting for. http://goo.gl/lozzbD
- NYT’s: Key swing states controlled by Republicans are making it harder to vote through the embrace of restrictive voting laws, which has triggered the fury of Democrats who are attempting to push back against these electoral restrictions. In all, the Times reports, since 2013, nine states have passed measures making it harder to vote, including restrictions on registering, and proof of citizenship. http://goo.gl/SSpZIZ
- USA Today Interactive: 14 political races to watch in 2014. http://goo.gl/F4rfVY
- Brookings Institution INFOGRAPH: What happens to the long-term unemployed? Only 11 percent of those who were long-term unemployed in a given month returned to steady, full-time employment a year later. http://goo.gl/Hs58jL
This and STAT
- ESPN: What did former Alabama QB AJ McCarron give former Miss Alabama Katherine Webb when they got engaged Friday night? http://goo.gl/hjzUss
- BankRate: More than a third of people in the U.S. haven’t been to the bank in at least a half of a year. http://goo.gl/fhRFsn
- Washington Post INFOGRAPH: Post-Cold War Spending-Spending on the military, 1988-2012 http://goo.gl/bOK7C2
- 12.9% of the 11 million ESPN Tournament Challenge brackets correctly picked Florida and Wisconsin to reach the Final Four.
- Florida is in Final Four for 1st time since 2007.
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