WASHINGTON POST: Congress is so last year. As expected, President Obama made clear — both in terms of the policy proposals he outlined and the rhetoric he used to do it — that his focus for the next year would be on what he could do without Congress. “Whenever and wherever I can take steps […]
Month: January 2014
Farm Bill includes provision allowing states and universities to grow hemp for research
OREGONLIVE: The U.S. Senate and House conference committee on the Farm Bill tonight released its report, which includes an amendment allowing colleges, universities and state agriculture departments to grow hemp for research purposes…. “Oregonians have made it clear that they believe industrial hemp should be treated as an agricultural commodity, not a drug,” [U.S. Rep. […]
NYT OBITUARY: Pete Seeger, Songwriter and Champion of Folk Music
NEW YORK TIMES: …Mr. Seeger’s career carried him from singing at labor rallies to the Top 10, from college auditoriums to folk festivals, and from a conviction for contempt of Congress (after defying the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s) to performing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at an inaugural concert for Barack Obama…
For Putin, Slights Signal Tension With E.U.
But Mr. Putin’s own hand is now looking considerably weaker than it did just a few days ago. After seizing the initiative in Ukraine by prodding President Viktor F. Yanukovych to spurn a far-reaching trade and political agreement with Europe in November, the Russian president risks being caught wrong-footed by the rush of events, said Michael Emerson, the bloc’s former envoy in Moscow.
Capitolwire: Mothers plea to Senate panel for legalized medical marijuana.
“As humans, we tend to fear what we don’t understand. It’s our first natural reaction. And for 85 years, we’ve been given at the very best misinformation about this plant and at the very worst an innate fear that’s lasted up until the present day,” he said. “These fears are breaking up now with the help of proof and science.”
Labor unions pack Pa. Capitol over paycheck bill
CENTRE DAILY: Labor unions are widening their fight over legislation in Pennsylvania that aims to prevent the state and local governments from deducting union dues and union political action committee contributions from the paychecks of unionized workers… Members of private- and public-sector unions showed up to assail the legislation as an “attack on workers’ rights” […]
Beethoven Sonata Cycle
On Friday, January 31 at 7:30pm, Dr. Michael Jamanis and his mother, Frances Veri, will perform at Lancaster Catholic High School, 609 Juliette Ave Lancaster PA.
Medicinal pot no danger
PITTSBURGH TIMES-TRIBUNE Editorial: Whether legal recreational use of marijuana becomes more common likely will depend upon the unfolding experiments in Colorado and Washington. The question of whether cannabis should be used for valid medical treatments is far less complex. Pennsylvania should join the states that allow it… Gov. Tom Corbett opposes any legalization of marijuana. […]
Gov. Corbett asks court to reverse decision on voter ID
The team of private lawyers and the attorney general’s office on Monday filed 39 pages of post-trial arguments that ask for the law to be reinstated, the decision revised or a new trial ordered.
Mexico Just Legalized Vigilantism And Then Captured A Huge Cartel Leader
BUSINESS INSIDER / AP: Mexico essentially legalized the country’s growing “self-defense” groups Monday, while also announcing that security forces had captured one of the four top leaders of the Knights Templar drug cartel, which the vigilante groups have been fighting for the last year. The government said it had reached an agreement with vigilante leaders […]
Obama Raising Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors by Executive Order
NEWSMAX: President Barack Obama will announce on Tuesday he is issuing an executive order to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour for federal contract workers with new contracts, the White House said
Ukrainian premier submits resignation
The prime minister’s resignation would remove one of the figures most despised by the opposition and repeal of the anti-protest laws would remove a severe aggravating factor in the crisis. But they stop well short of opposition demands, which include Yanukovych’s resignation…
Folk singer Pete Seeger dies at age 94
But whatever you called him, Seeger influenced scores of other singers, including Springsteen, Joan Baez, Dave Matthews, Rufus Wainwright, John Mellencamp and Arlo Guthrie. All performed in 2009 at Seeger’s 90th birthday party at sold-out Madison Square Garden, a fundraiser for his favorite local cause: cleaning up New York’s Hudson River…
California students sue state over teacher-protection laws
ALJAZEERA: Nine California public school students sponsored by an advocacy group are suing the state over its laws on teacher tenure, seniority and other protections that the plaintiffs say keep bad educators in classrooms. The lawsuit, which went to trial Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court, seeks to overturn five California statutes that set guidelines […]