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via Associated Pres, NPR The Chicago City Council has approved a measure that would allow police officers to ticket instead of arrest people found with small amounts of marijuana. Aldermen voted 43-3 in favor of the ordinance Wednesday. Under the ordinance, anyone in possession of 15 grams of marijuana — roughly the equivalent of 15 … Continue reading
via Leigh Ann Caldwell, CBS News The House of Representatives voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress Thursday for failing to provide documents relating to the Fast and Furious gunwalking program. The first vote, 255-67, charged Holder with criminal contempt of Congress but is likely not to go anywhere as the … Continue reading
via David Jackson, USA Today Barring a last-minute deal on documents, leaders of the Republican-run House expect to vote this afternoon on a contempt of Congress citation for Attorney General Eric Holder. Democrats and the White House call it all politics, while House members criticize Holder for declining to release documents related to the botched … Continue reading
[Editress’ Note: Read the Supreme Court’s full decision here.] via Robert Barnes and N.C. Aizenman, The Washington Post The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the individual health-insurance mandate that is at the heart of President Obama’s landmark health-care law, saying the mandate is permissible under Congress’s taxing authority. The potentially game-changing decision — a major … Continue reading
via Robert Rizzuto, The Republican Although perhaps no statement this year was as landmark for the gay community as President Barack Obama’s endorsement of marriage equality, it isn’t just Democrats who are calling for increased rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people — often abbreviated as LGBT — ahead of the 2012 elections. Christian Berle, … Continue reading
via Izhar Harpaz, Dateline, MSNBC The small communities that dot the picturesque mountain landscape outside Boulder, Colorado conjure up an image from long before the great recession. Here the manicured lawns and expensive cars are a testament to the achievements of a fiercely independent and educated middle class; a 21st century version of suburban bliss. … Continue reading
via Whitson Gordon, LifeHacker Facebook just removed everyone’s email address from their profile and replaced it with an @facebook.com email address without asking you. Here’s how to easily fix the problem. Long ago, Facebook launched its own email service, which was promptly forgotten by everyone. Recently, they removed everyone’s email addresses from their profile, replacing … Continue reading
via The Associated Press, NPR The Supreme Court on Monday reaffirmed its 2-year-old decision allowing corporations to spend freely to influence elections. The justices struck down a Montana law limiting corporate campaign spending. By a 5-4 vote, the court’s conservative justices said the decision in the Citizens United case in 2010 applies to state campaign … Continue reading
via Jess Bravin and Miriam Jordan, The Wall Street Journal The Supreme Court upheld a key part of Arizona’s tough-immigration law but struck down others as intrusions on federal sovereignty, in a ruling that gave both sides something to cheer in advance of November elections where immigration is a major issue. The court backed a … Continue reading
via Kelly Newson, The Guardian Express Come July 1, Mississippi just may be the only state in the United States to not have an abortion clinic. This is due to a huge vote in that state’s legisture for all physicians to have admitting privileges to the local hospital. Many of the practicing physicians do not … Continue reading
via Manya Brachear, Chicago Tribune Seeking to heal historical rifts between religious congregations and the gay community, organizers of this year’s Pride Parade have moved the faithful closer to the front lines. More than a dozen religious organizations — Protestant, Jewish and, for the first time, Mormon — will lead the 2012 Pride Parade down … Continue reading
via Owen Bowcott, The Guardian The US policy of using aerial drones to carry out targeted killings presents a major challenge to the system of international law that has endured since the second world war, a United Nations investigator has said. Christof Heyns, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, summary or arbitrary executions, told … Continue reading
via Peter Landers, The Wall Street Journal The Supreme Court is ruling next week on the Obama health law. Of the many possible scenarios, here are the most likely four, shown in order of how much of the law would be struck down: Scenario #1: The entire law is upheld. After all is said and … Continue reading
via Britney Fitzgerald, The Huffington Post How many times have you posted a brilliant Facebook comment, only to realize that you made a ridiculous spelling mistake? Facebook took note of this predicament and started rolling out a new feature today, allowing users to edit their comments without deleting them. While only select groups of people … Continue reading
via Sam Laird, Mashable A stodgy lawyer, a deposed prince, a helpless (yet filthy rich) waif with a needy relative — their emails land in our inboxes all too often asking for a modest cash advance in exchange for a massive payday down the line. And a disproportionate number of those too-good-to-be-true missives purport to … Continue reading
via Alexis Tsotsis, TechCrunch After about a month of speculation, Facebook has finally announced its acquisition of Israeli facial recognition technology Face.com. We’ve heard from multiple sources that the acquisition price was around $100m, with others reporting that the price was between $80m-$100m. (Update: We’re now hearing from a source familiar with the matter that … Continue reading
via Paul West, L.A. Times President Obama’s decision to extend administrative relief to an estimated 800,000 young illegal immigrants has won favor with Latino voters in key battleground states, according to a new poll. The Latino Decisions survey found that Obama’s move had wiped out an earlier “enthusiasm deficit” among Hispanic voters over the administration’s … Continue reading
via Editorial Board, The Seattle Times President Obama has sensibly and responsibly used his executive powers to temper the deportation of younger illegal immigrants building productive lives in this country. The announcement Friday by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is not a pathway to citizenship, but the immunity from deportation recognizes the reality of young … Continue reading
via Justin Sink, The Hill’s Blog Briefing Room Despite widespread speculation that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is one of the top names under consideration for Mitt Romney’s vice presidential nomination, the freshman senator has not been asked to complete any questionnaires or fill out any financial disclosure documents, according to a report by ABC News. … Continue reading
via Natalie Wolchover, The Huffington Post While female sexuality appears to be more fluid, research suggests that male gayness is an inborn, unalterable, strongly genetically influenced trait. But considering that the trait discourages the type of sex that leads to procreation — that is, sex with women — and would therefore seem to thwart its … Continue reading
via The Editorial Board, The New York Times This is now the pattern of business in the House of Representatives: Spend most of the time passing bills designed not to become law but to satisfy the ideological desires of conservative voters. And block laws that actually need to get passed. This colossal waste of time, … Continue reading
via Jason McLure, The Huffington Post Rhode Island’s governor is expected to sign into law the first “Homeless Bill of Rights” in the United States as early as next week, formally banning discrimination against homeless people and affirming their equal access to jobs, housing and services. The legislation, which won final approval by the state … Continue reading
via Laura Vozzella, The Washington Post One of several military veterans in Virginia’s House of Delegates has dropped his opposition to the appointment of a gay man as a judge, saying that he no longer believes Tracy Thorne-Begland violated Navy regulations when he came out on national television 20 years ago. In a letter sent … Continue reading
via Valerie Strauss, The Washington Post In the ‘you-can’t-make-up-this-stuff’ category, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is spending about $1.1 million to develop a way to physiologically measure how engaged students are by their teachers’ lessons. This involves “galvanic skin response” bracelets that kids would wear so their engagement levels could be measured. If this … Continue reading
via Tyler Kingkade, The Huffington Post Even members of Congress are carrying student debt. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is $100,000 in the hole for student loans he took out in the 1990’s — and could owe as much as $250,000. The exact figure is unknown because members of Congress are allowed to report financial holdings … Continue reading
The Brandt Standard 