Wiretap: Vaccination wars, cont’d.

The measles outbreak has made one thing very clear: Vaccinating yourself or your child is not a personal decision; it’s a community obligation, , writes Sarah Kliff for Vox. For immunization to work, it requires a critical mass of the population to be vaccinated. And the choice not to be vaccinated puts in jeopardy those with compromised immune systems, especially infants and the elderly.

With Russian-backed separatists suddenly making new gains in Ukraine, Obama administration reconsidering whether to send “lethal” military aid to Kiev forces. Via the New York Times.

No one would have guessed it would have turned out this way, but hospitals and insurance companies are now pleading with the Supreme Court to save Obamacare. Via the National Journal.

Even though Obama’s budget proposal is going nowhere, E.J. Dionne explains why it’s more important than ever. Via the Washington Post.

Why does the Republican Party, despite turning ever more conservative, keep nominating mainstream candidates for president like Romney and McCain? Nate Cohn writes in Upshot that you can blame the phenomenon on blue-state Republicans. Via New York Times.

A view from the right: With Romney out, Democrats lose their favorite presidential candidate. Via S.E. Cupp at CNN.

Free speech American-style and free speech European-style: Why are they so different? Via Adam Gopnik in the New Yorker.

What if America had never invaded Afghanistan? One spy tells the story of how at the 11th hour he tried to stop the war. Via the Atlantic.

The best and worst Super Bowl ads. Let’s start with Jeff Bridges, in his Dude getup, playing a Tibetan singing bowl and go from there. Via the New Yorker.

State news:

Republicans in the state legislature are seeking to revisit the state’s gun laws passed in 2013. Republicans are looking to pare back gun-purchase background checks; repeal a law limiting ammunition magazines to 15 bullets; allow anyone with the legal right to own a gun to carry it in public spaces except at schools; and protect businesses who shoot people they believe are intruders. The AP.

Thankfully, so far, precious little of this: Police arrested a 19-year-old suspect in Durango 45 minutes after he allegedly bound several employees with tape and zip-ties and made off with at least few thousand dollars and some of the product sold by medical marijuana dispensary Rocky Mountain High. Via the Durango Herald.

[Photo by Sanofi Pasteur.]

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