POLITICO: Days before the March 1 deadline, Senate Republicans are circulating a draft bill that would cancel $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts and instead turn over authority to President Barack Obama to achieve the same level of savings under a plan to be filed by March 8. The five- page document, which has the […]
Month: February 2013
Italy Seeks Way Out of Potentially Crippling Election Stalemate
NEWSMAX: …The election, a massive rejection of the austerity policies applied by Prime Minister Mario Monti with the backing of international leaders from U.S. President Barack Obama to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, caused consternation across Europe… Projections by the Italian center for Electoral Studies showed that the center-left will have 121 seats in the Senate, […]
For ’60s civil rights leader, the march isn’t over
USA TODAY: …Don’t try to tell Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., an icon of the civil rights movement, that the key section of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 can be retired in 2013 — something the Supreme Court will consider Wednesday… “People ask me all the time whether the election of Barack Obama is a […]
Chris Christie Medicaid Plan To Offer Coverage To Poor New Jersey Residents
HUFFINGTON POST: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie became the eighth Republican governor to back expanding Medicaid under President Barack Obama’s health care reform law on Tuesday.
Chuck Hagel Confirmed By Senate As Obama’s Secretary Of Defense
HUFFINGTON POST: …Hagel has been under fire during the confirmation process for his outspoken opposition to the war in Iraq, criticism of the Israeli lobby’s influence in Washington and past statements on Iran. Hagel also didn’t do himself any favors by performing poorly in his confirmation hearing. Some Senate Republicans have spoken harshly about Hagel […]
HCLU Interview with Former EU Drugs Commissioner Carel Edwards
by David Borden, DRUG WAR CHRONICLE: Our friends at the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union have a fascinating interview with former EU drugs commissioner Carel Edwards online. He explains that the EU — an overarching body whose powers are limited relative to its individual member countries — has only “soft power” on drug policy (or “drugs” […]
Another Russian Child Is Killed by Americans
Last week Pavel Astakhov, the Kremlin’s envoy for children, wrote on Twitter: “Urgent! A three-year-old Russian child has been murdered by his adoptive mother in Texas.” That sentence was widely quoted by Russian media. The main message of the publications was: “Another Russian child is killed by Americans!”
Budget cut deadlock needlessly punishes Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG PATRIOT NEWS EDITORIAL: … Education: Pennsylvania would lose about $26.4 million in funding for primary and secondary education, putting around 360 teacher and aide jobs at risk. About 29,000 fewer students would be served and approximately 90 fewer schools would receive funding. More than 2,000 kids would lose access to early childhood education.
John Boehner’s big bet
POLITICO: …Leading Republicans are betting — perhaps badly — that the $85 billion in sequester cuts set to take effect on Friday won’t tank markets and the public won’t immediately feel the impact.
Christie Apparently Snubbed By CPAC Organizers
NEWSMAX: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who angered some fellow Republicans with his public praise of President Obama’s handling of Superstorm Sandy just days before the November election, appears to have been snubbed by this year’s Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) gathering. Despite being chosen to deliver the keynote speech at last year’s Republican National […]
Teachers not gung-ho on guns at school
Even among the 36% who say they own a gun, only about one in three would be likely to bring it to school.
Scientists claim 72 is the new 30
The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, looked at Swedish and Japanese men – two countries with the longest life expectancies today. It concluded that their counterparts in 1800 would have had lifespans that were closer to those of the earliest hunter-gatherer humans than they would to adult men in both countries today.
Italy braced for political deadlock
FINANCIAL TIMES: …Italy was on Monday night staring at a period of prolonged political instability following a general election in which voters delivered a resounding rebuff to austerity policies with little hope of any party mustering a governing majority. The upstart anti-establishment Five Star Movement, founded only three years ago by the comedian-blogger Beppe Grillo, […]
Keith O’Brien Resigns: Top UK Cardinal Will Skip Papal Conclave Over Allegations Of Misconduct
HUFFINGTON POST: Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Britain’s highest-ranking Catholic leader, says he is resigning as archbishop in the wake of misconduct allegations and will be skipping the conclave to elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI. The cardinal said in a statement Monday that he will not attend because he doesn’t want media attention focused on […]