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via Editorial Staff, The New York Times Even in the ultrapolarized atmosphere of Capitol Hill, it should be possible to secure broad bipartisan agreement on reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, the 1994 law at the center of the nation’s efforts to combat domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. The law’s renewal has strong backing … Continue reading
via Eric Zorn, Chicago Tribune Noah Millman of the American Conservative asks us to perform a thought experiment: Pretend it’s not the Catholic Church at the center of the current controversy over the rights of religious institutions to exercise moral judgments regarding their employees’ health care plans. Instead, Millman suggests in a recent commentary, pretend … Continue reading
via Jamie Confliffe, Gizmodo Google’s new privacy policy has already caused a stir among users. Now, Congress and EU regulators are sniffing around the changes and aren’t happy about them — but Google doesn’t seem to care in the slightest. According to The Hill, house lawmakers questioned Google representatives for two hours yesterday about the … Continue reading
via Domenico Montanaro, NBC In a country sharply divided on almost every issue, most Americans agree on one thing: they don’t like Congress, and they would vote to replace every single member — even their own — if they had the option. Fifty-six percent of registered voters say they would vote out every member of … Continue reading
via Luke Johnson, The Huffington Post Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) intends to marry his longtime partner, Jim Ready, according to his office. “Barney is planning to get married to his partner Jim Ready. The ceremony will take place in Massachusetts,” Harry Gural, Frank’s spokesman, told HuffPost. A date has not been set. Frank announced last … Continue reading
via Ryan Grim and Zach Carter, The Huffington Post A Senate bill banning the trading of corporate stocks by members of Congress based on nonpublic political information will see a vote next week, according to Democratic sources working on the bill. “It’ll be on the floor next week, either hotlined or an actual vote,” one … Continue reading
via Katherine Skiba and Rick Pearson, Chicago Tribune U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk underwent surgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital to relieve pressure on his brain after suffering a stroke, and doctors say they are hopeful about his recovery. “On Saturday, Senator Kirk checked himself into Lake Forest Hospital, where doctors discovered a carotid artery dissection in … Continue reading
via Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune Show of hands: How many of you tried to go to Wikipedia on Wednesday and, instead of reading “List of Gilmore Girls Episodes,” were puzzled by the black and white screen that said “Imagine a World Without Free Knowledge”? Every English-language article was blocked, the frivolous ones and the serious … Continue reading
via Corey Boles, The Wall Street Journal Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the Arizona Democrat who survived a gunshot wound to the head a year ago last week, said Sunday she was stepping down from Congress. In a video released on YouTube, Ms. Giffords said she had more work to do on her recovery. “I’m getting better … Continue reading
via Luke Johnson, The Huffington Post The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), and its Senate counterpart, the Protect IP Act (PIPA), have ignited widespread online protests–yet there is considerable confusion surrounding the legislation. Here’s a rundown of how the bills would work: The legislation would allow copyright holders and the Justice Department to seek court … Continue reading
via Jasmin Melvin, Reuters Lawmakers stopped anti-piracy legislation in its tracks on Friday, delivering a stunning win for Internet companies that staged an unprecedented online protest this week to kill the previously fast-moving bills. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said he would postpone a critical vote that had been scheduled for January 24 “in light … Continue reading
via Mike Masnick, Techdirt Well, well. It appears that Congressman Lamar Smith (R-TX) really wants to tempt fate and stick his tongue out at the internet. Beyond announcing that he’s moving forward with SOPA, he’s also continuing to mock the critics, calling the Wikipedia blackout a “publicity stunt”: “It is ironic that a website dedicated … Continue reading
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via Zach Carter, The Huffington Post Google will join thousands of tech activists, entrepreneurs and corporations on Wednesday in protesting the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act, a controversial bill that has generated national outrage among Internet experts. On Wednesday, more than 7,000 websites are expected to voluntarily “go dark,” by blocking access to their content … Continue reading
via Sarah Skidmore, Christian Science Monitor Wikipedia will black out the English language version of its website Wednesday to protest anti-piracy legislation under consideration in Congress, the foundation behind the popular community-based online encyclopedia said in a statement Monday night. The website will go dark for 24 hours in an unprecedented move that brings added muscle … Continue reading
via Josh Wretlind, Examiner In a surprise move today, Representative Eric Cantor (R-VA) announced that he will stop all action on SOPA, effectively killing the bill. This move was most likely due to several things. One of those things is that SOPA and PIPA met huge online protest against the bills. Another reason would be … Continue reading
via Jonathan Turley, The Washington Post Every year, the State Department issues reports on individual rights in other countries, monitoring the passage of restrictive laws and regulations around the world. Iran, for example, has been criticized for denying fair public trials and limiting privacy, while Russia has been taken to task for undermining due process. Other countries … Continue reading
via Jonathan Turley, The Guardian President Barack Obama rang in the New Year by signing the NDAA law with its provision allowing him to indefinitely detain citizens. It was a symbolic moment, to say the least. With Americans distracted with drinking and celebrating, Obama signed one of the greatest rollbacks of civil liberties in the … Continue reading
via Declan McCullagh, CNET News A marathon congressional hearing on the Stop Online Piracy Act, which detoured through discussions of Twitter-borne insults and the popular meme “The Internet is for Porn,” was expected to resume sometime in 2012. But Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican, said Friday on Twitter that the hearing will continue Wednesday … Continue reading
via Charles C. Krulak and Joseph P. Hoar, The New York Times In his inaugural address, President Obama called on us to “reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.” We agree. Now, to protect both, he must veto the National Defense Authorization Act that Congress is expected to pass this week. … Continue reading
via E.D. Kain, Forbes In 2008, during the aftershocks of the housing market and financial collapse and the fall of Lehman Brothers, and amidst the increasingly frightening din of anti-Obama sentiment that was coming to define the presidential campaign between him and rival John McCain, it was nevertheless difficult to not feel a swell of … Continue reading
via E.D. Kain, Forbes If Obama does one thing for the remainder of his presidency let it be a veto of the National Defense Authorization Act – a law recently passed by the Senate currently which would place domestic terror investigations and interrogations into the hands of the military and which would open the door … Continue reading
via Margaret Talev and Nicole Gaouette, Bloomberg The Obama administration will weigh how countries treat gays and lesbians in making decisions about foreign aid, according to a presidential memorandum released by the White House. Laws prohibit same-sex sexual activity in many nations in the Middle East and Africa, and in two of the largest recipients … Continue reading
via Michael McAuliff, The Huffington Post The Senate on Thursday blocked a second attempt to spare U.S. citizens from potential indefinite military detentions and was set to vote on a third effort to do the same later in the day. Under a provision of the mammoth defense authorization bill, the military would be granted the … Continue reading
via Jennifer Liberto, CNN There’s one thing that turns some Tea Party Republicans into government-job lovers like their Democratic rivals: Their neighborhood post office. In fact, the U.S. Postal Service’s reach into every state and congressional district is a big reason why Americans shouldn’t expect Congress to make the drastic changes that the postmaster general … Continue reading
The Brandt Standard 