Negative Blogs

The House sent its historic health care reform legislation to President Barack Obama for his signature, The Associated Press reported. The bill, which would extend health care coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans and ban insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, passed the House 219-212 on Sunday. “I want to thank every member of Congress who stood up tonight with courage and conviction to make health care reform a reality,” Obama said. “I know this wasn’t an easy vote for a lot of people. But it was the right vote.” Republican lawmakers attacked the legislation and said the voters would hold House members accountable for passing it. “In this economy, with this unemployment, with our desperate need for jobs and economic growth, is this really the time to raise taxes, to create bureaucracies and burden every job creator in our land? The answer is no,” Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) said.

In other news: The U.S. warned ships sailing off the coast of Yemen to be wary of a possible al Qaeda attack, Reuters reported. The U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence said it received information that ships in the Red Sea, the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait between Yemen and Djibouti and the Gulf of Aden along Yemen’s coast were at the greatest risk of attacks similar to the suicide bombing of the U.S. warship Cole that killed 17 in 2000.

Sandstorms whipped across China today, shrouding cities and towns with sand and grit. According to The AP, the sweeping storms have prompted officials to suspend some services due to poor visibility and issue health warnings. Breathing in the sand can cause chest discomfort and respiratory problems, even in healthy people. Click here to see images of the sandstorms.

Lastly, the British Airways strike entered its 3rd — and busiest — day on Monday, The AP reported. The union representing the cabin crew and the airline both claimed victory over the walkout that has caused BA to cancel hundreds of flights. The acrimonious dispute over pay and working conditions is expected to cost the airline more than $95 million. Last week, BA offered a proposal that would reduce 3,000 workers from full- to part-time status, freeze wages for a year and cut cabin crew sizes on long haul flights.

Most read stories: Three Swiss pilots set a new speed record after completing a round the world trip in less than 58 hours, Reuters reported. The charter plane flew over 33 countries, and stopped to refuel 10 times.

Readers were also interested in this AP obituary for Margaret Moth. The CNN war zone camerawoman died on Sunday from cancer at the age of 59. Moth was seriously wounded by sniper fire in 1992 in Sarajevo. After undergoing several reconstructive surgeries, she returned to the war-torn country to record the documentary “Fearless: The Margaret Moth Story.” Moth also covered the rioting that followed Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984 and the Israeli invasion of the West Bank in 2002. Hard money training.