(2 comments)        Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Kansas Union Bill Vote On Wednesday Prompts Security Briefing For Republican Legislators As Public Outrage Grows   SHARE Kansas Republican legislators are being warned to take increased security precautions in the state Capitol on Wednesday -- and female lawmakers are being urged to walk with a "male escort" -- as a contentious anti-union bill is scheduled to come up for debate and a vote. Freshman Republicans in the state House of Representatives were briefed during a caucus meeting Tuesday afternoon about a series of security guidelines they should follow, given the large crowd of union members expected in the Capitol. State Rep. Stephanie Clayton (R-Overland Park) tweeted that the precautions include removing name tags, taking a back staircase into the House chamber and for women legislators to walk with a "male escort." The House is slated to debate legislation that would prohibit automatic deductions from paychecks of public employee unions that are intended for political activity by the union.

(1 comments)        Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Opponents of "Corporate Personhood" Eye U.S. Constitution   SHARE here is a growing national movement to establish a 28th amendment to the constitution of the United States to address the issue of unlimited corporate spending in elections, although the groups working on the issue diverge on what exactly the amendment should say. One national coalition called Move to Amend (MTA) is led by David Cobb. A Green Party candidate for president in 2006, Cobb has been touring the country calling for a constitutional amendment to "clearly establish that money is not speech, a corporation is not a person, all corporations are subject to regulation, all campaign contributions will be disclosed, and (that) allows for no loopholes," according to the MTA website. But passing a constitutional amendment is a daunting task, requiring the support of two-thirds of the U.S. House and Senate, followed by ratification by three-fourths of the 50 state legislatures.

(1 comments)        Tuesday, January 29, 2013
New members of the 113th Congress: What they own and whom they owe   SHARE Even before he was elected last November to represent Chicago's southern exurbs in the House, Illinois Democrat Bill Foster decided to sell his stake in Electronic Theatre Controls, a company he founded with his brother. Foster jettisoned the shares -- worth at least $5 million -- "to potential conflicts of interest when voting on legislation that might impact his personal finances," according to his press secretary. Among this year's congressional freshmen, Foster stands out as a noteworthy exception. Now that President Barack Obama's inaugural festivities are over and the 113th Congress is getting down to serious business, Sunlight decided to take a look at the financial profiles of its 90 newest faces -- 52 Democrats, 37 Republicans, and one independent -- who are either first-time members of their chambers or, like Foster, returning from a hiatus. The new lawmakers are...

       Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Egyptian Army leader warns of 'collapse' if sides can't reconcile   SHARE The leader of Egypt's army, as violence escalates across the country, Tuesday warned of the collapse of the state if political forces failed to reconcile. "The continuation of the conflict between different political forces and their disagreement on running the affairs of the country may lead to the collapse of the state and threatens the future of the coming generations," said Gen. Abdul-Fattah al-Sisi, who also serves as Defense minister. Sisi, quoted on the army's Facebook page, also said an attempt to influence the stability of the state institutions "is a dangerous matter that harms Egyptian national security," The New York Times reported. The worst of the turmoil was in Port Said, which has seen 45 deaths in three days, where Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi imposed a month-long state of emergency, calling on the army to regain control of security.

       Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Islamist group Boko Haram announces ceasefire in Nigeria's Borno State   SHARE A man identifying himself as a commander of the Islamist sect Boko Haram has announced a cease-fire agreement with security forces in northeastern Nigeria. Sheikh Muhammed Abdulazeez said in addition to the cease-fire in Borno State, the government has promised to release some jailed sect members, Nigeria's Leadership Newspapers reported Tuesday. Abdulazeez released a statement calling on "all those who identify themselves with us and our cause to, from today, lay down their arms." The statement went on to explain that Boko Haram has met with Borno State government on two occasions and was embracing "the peace of dialogue."

       Tuesday, January 29, 2013
In Newtown, first responders struggle to rebuild   SHARE As the families of the 20 children and 6 adults killed at Sandy Hook Elementary mourn, and the debate over gun control rages on, the first responders of Newtown are also struggling in the aftermath of one of the worst school massacres in our nation's history. Seven police officers spoke with Ray Rivera of the New York Times to share a heartbreaking and sobering account of that fateful day, and the reality of post-traumatic stress disorder for those who witness horrific violence in the line of duty. "One look, and your life was absolutely changed," Michael McGowan, one of the first to arrive at the school, told the Times. As the officers recount the gruesome details of December 14, they also paint a picture of tremendous bravery, of young officers -- also fathers -- using their most soothing daddy voice to coax traumatized children out of their classrooms and standing to form...

       Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Britain supportive of peaceful political transition in Yemen   SHARE Yemen is called on the take advantage of an opportunity for peaceful political transition during the national dialogue session, the British government said. Members from the U.N. Security Council visited Yemen this week to express support for a political transition led by President Abdu Rabbo Mansour Hadi. The visit comes as Hadi announced the commencement of a national dialogue. Yemen has struggled with national security in the face of a threat from al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. A national dialogue conference is expected to culminate in preparations for a draft constitution. General elections should take place in 2014.

(2 comments)        Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Israel admits Ethiopian Jewish immigrants were given birth control shots   SHARE An Israeli journalist also found that most of the women given the shots say they were coerced - Israel has admitted that it has been giving Ethiopian Jewish immigrants birth control injections, according to a report in Haaretz. An Israeli investigative journalist also found that a majority of the women given these shots say they were administered without their knowledge or consent. Health Ministry Director General Prof. Ron Gamzu acknowledged the practice -- without directly conceding coercion was involved -- in a letter to Israeli health maintenance organizations, instructing gynecologists in the HMOs "not to renew prescriptions for Depo-Provera for women of Ethiopian origin if for any reason there is concern that they might not understand the ramifications of the treatment." Depo-Provera is a hormonal form of birth control that is injected every three months.

(1 comments)        Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Neil Heslin, Father Of Newtown Victim, Heckled by Pro-Gun Activists   SHARE Neil Heslin, the father of a 6-year-old boy who was slain in the Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14, stoically faced down pro-gun activists last night. More than 1,000 people attended a hearing before the Gun Violence Prevention Working Group at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford on Monday to share their views on gun control, USA Today reported. Among them was Heslin, who held a large framed picture of himself and his son Jesse as he urged officials to consider strengthening gun laws in Connecticut. But as he gave his emotional testimony, pleading with lawmakers to improve mental health options and to ban assault weapons like the one Adam Lanza used to murder his child and 25 other people, his speech was interrupted by dozens of audience members, The Connecticut Post reported.

(1 comments)        Sunday, January 27, 2013
Are Republicans the 'stupid party'?   SHARE Bobby Jindal is warning that the Republicans must stop being the "stupid party". The Louisiana governor, a likely contender for his party's presidential nomination in 2016, said a number of Republicans had "damaged the brand" by making "offensive and bizarre" comments. He's talking of course about those remarks about "legitimate rape" and how rape can't lead to pregnancy. The Republicans who made those comments did seem to be going out of their way to back up John Stuart Mill's 1866 comment: "I never meant to say that the Conservatives are generally stupid. I meant to say that stupid people are generally Conservative. I believe that is so obviously and universally admitted a principle that I hardly think any gentleman will deny it."

       Friday, January 25, 2013
Fox News Misrepresents Radical Court Decision That Undermines Decades Of Executive Action   SHARE In their rush to frame a federal appellate court opinion as a personal rebuke of President Obama, Fox News host Megyn Kelly and frequent guest Jay Sekulow misrepresented the truly radical and unprecedented nature of a decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on presidential recess appointments. Although Kelly and Sekulow erroneously reported that the opinion only affects Obama's recess appointment of members to the National Labor Relations Board, it actually casts doubt on hundreds of presidential appointments and subsequent actions since the 1940s. On the January 25 edition of America Live, Kelly repeatedly reported that the DC Circuit "clipped President Obama's wings" by holding the Republican-controlled Senate was actually in session when Obama made recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board, pursuant to long-standing presidential powers.

       Friday, January 25, 2013
Judge Faults Louisiana For Inadequate Voter Registration Efforts   SHARE A federal judge ruled this week that Louisiana violated federal voting law in not offering voter registration opportunities to applicants and recipients of public benefits programs such as food stamps, WIC and Medicaid. In yet another court affirmation of unfettered access to voting, U.S. District Court Judge Jane Triche Milazzo faulted the secretary of state for taking no action "to ensure that the State comply" with its obligations under the National Voter Registration Act, intended to facilitate voter registration opportunities for all citizens. After an election cycle characterized by dogged efforts to make it more difficult to access the ballot, attorney Ron Wilson said the value of the decision "cannot be overstated" in giving "due meaning to the purpose behind the enactment of the NVRA, to make it easier, and not more difficult, for individuals to register to vote."

       Friday, January 25, 2013
Paul Ryan Breaks Down Under Wonkterrogation   SHARE Ryan usually manages to elide the contradiction between the irreconcilable hopes placed in him by evading questioning, using weasel words, or just filibustering long enough to exhaust the topic. That’s what makes his talk Wednesday with Ezra Klein and other reporters so interesting. Ryan tried to evade the question, but Klein wouldn’t let him until Ryan had made it perfectly clear he would not accept higher revenue at all, under any conditions. The conversation is worth close examination, because Ryan simply hurls up nonsensical rationales one after another, and finally offers his actual reason when he has run out of gibberish...

(2 comments)        Friday, January 25, 2013
Christian radio hosts: Feminists are "selfish, narcissistic, family-destroying whores'   SHARE Conservative Christian radio hosts Kevin Swanson and Dave Buehner explained on a Tuesday segment of their "Generations with a Vision" show that there are "two kinds of feminism," the "Sarah Palin kind of feminism that wants to have a husband" kind and the "selfish, narcissistic, family-destroying whores" kind. "Now remember, the goal is that these women have to be independent," Swanson said on a show devoted to the idea that rising college costs were contributing to an alleged spike in prostitution. "The goal is lots and lots of birth control. The goal is lots and lots and lots of fornication. The goal is abortion. The day-after pill will help. And it will help a lot. Remember, the goal is to get that girl a job because she needs no stinkin' husband, she's got the fascist corporation and government-mandated insurance programs and socialist welfare that will take care of her womb...

       Friday, January 25, 2013
The Trouble With Roe   SHARE Individual, personal, private rights: are they sufficient? Unions and mass movements exist because they're not. In our time, millions of dollars have gone into reversing the notion that government has any responsibility to act assertively to protect the vulnerable or make this country a fairer place. The New Deal, the War on Poverty, the right to bargain collectively, integration, civil rights" It's not just that the drive to criminalize abortion is embraced by the same party that has all but destroyed those things. The attack on women's autonomy and the attack on workers are part of the same attack. Deciding Roe on the grounds of privacy was a dodge. The Congress has never legislated women's equality. The sooner we change that the better. Forty years of privacy rights have brought some women some distance, but not enough women, far enough.

       Friday, January 25, 2013
Goldman Sachs and Shell "Win" Public Shame Awards   SHARE A Wall Street titan and an oil giant have been singled out for their shameful pursuit of wealth by two progressive European organizations. In presenting the Public Eye Awards, Greenpeace Switzerland and the Berne Declaration (BD) chose to denounce Goldman Sachs and Shell for their "greed for profit and environmental sins." Goldman Sachs, recipient of the jury award, was dishonored for its role in creating the global financial crisis and helping cripple Greece's economy. In the words of Andreas Missbach of Berne Declaration, "Goldman's derivative deals, which fudged Greece's way into the Eurozone, pawned the future of the Greek people." In order to meet the requirements to join the European Union, the Greek government needed to mask the true level of its national debt. In 2001 Goldman Sachs stepped in and provided a secret loan using a fictitious historical exchange rate to...

(1 comments)        Friday, January 25, 2013
Mississipi GOP Considers State Sovereignty Bill   SHARE A pair of Republican lawmakers in Mississippi have proposed a bill to keep the federal government in its place, and laying out a plan to create a Joint Legislative Committee on the Neutralization of Federal Law, which would -- well maybe you can already start to guess what the committee would do. The bill, known as the Mississippi Balance of Powers Act, was authored by state Rep. Gary Chism (R), chairman of the House Insurance Committee, and Rep. Jeff Smith (R), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Earlier this week, the bill was referred to the House Constitution Committee. "The provisions of this act shall serve as a notice and demand to the federal government to cease and desist any and all activities outside the scope of its designated constitutionally enumerated powers, and that attempt to diminish the balance of powers as established," the bill reads...

       Friday, January 25, 2013
CNN Anchor Soledid O'Brien Tricks Opponent Of Women In Combat To Endorse Racial Segregation In The Military   SHARE O'BRIEN: I'm going to read a little bit from this colonel who said this: "The army is not a sociological laboratory; to be effective it must be organized and trained according to the principles which will ensure success"Experiments are a danger to efficiency, discipline and morale and would result in ultimate defeat.' BROWNE: I think that that's true. I don't think it's true with respect to ultimate defeat of the United States in a war. I think what's likely to occur though is the defeat of the United States in small battles, which means people are going to die. [...] O'BRIEN: That was from a guy in 1941. And that argument was about not allowing black people in the military. That was his exact argument of why blacks should not be allowed in the military, because it's a danger to efficiency and discipline and morale and will result in ultimate defeat. Watch it:

       Friday, January 25, 2013
GOP Florida House Speaker Blasts Plan To Rig Electoral College   SHARE Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford (R) poured cold water on a Republican plan to rig the Electoral College that is being considered in a number of states to all but ensure that the next president will be a Republican. A number of states that have voted consistently for Democrats at a national level but are currently controlled by Republicans at a state level, such as Virginia and Pennsylvania, are considering a change to the way they dole out presidential electoral votes. Currently, every state, except for Nebraska and Maine, uses a winner-take-all system. But a handful of Republican-controlled blue states are looking at a system of appropriating electoral votes by congressional district, based on maps gerrymandered to the GOP's favor. One possible state where this could happen is Florida, which has voted Democratic the last two presidential elections but is currently run...

       Friday, January 25, 2013
Two charts that should be in every health-care discussion   SHARE "This is the chart that I think ought to dominate the conversation about public-sector health-care spending in the United States," writes Matt Yglesias, "and yet it is curiously ignored." "The data show government health-care spending per capita in the United States and Canada. The United States spends more. And that's not more per person who gets government health insurance, it's more per resident. And yet Canada covers all its citizens, and we don't. That should be considered shocking stuff, and yet I rarely hear it mentioned." It should be considered shocking stuff. But I actually don't think that's the chart that should dominate the discussion over government health-care spending. See charts: