GOP Congressman: Iowa could become 'gay marriage Mecca'
by Muriel Kane
In the wake of a decision by the Iowa Supreme Court striking down a ban on same-sex marriages, that state's Republican Congressman Steve King expressed alarm at the prospect that the state might become a "gay marriage Mecca."King and his fellow conservatives are now pressing for an amendment to the state constitution banning same-sex marriage. |
WPLG-ABC Channel 10 anchor Charles Perez, ex-partner battle in court
by Joan Fleischman
WPLG-ABC 10 anchor Charles Perez filed a petition in Miami-Dade court for an injunction for protection against domestic violence. Perez, 46, alleges that his former partner, Dennis Ricardo Peña, has ''stalked, harassed and threatened'' him, and vowed to wreck his TV career. |
No Decline in Belief That Obama is a Muslim
by Pew Reaserch Center
Nearly One-in-Five White Evangelicals Think SoMore than two months into Barack Obama's presidency, as many people incorrectly identify him as a Muslim as did so during the 2008 campaign. When asked about Obama's religious beliefs, 11% say he is a Muslim. In October, 12% said Obama is a Muslim, which was unchanged from earlier in the campaign. |
As NY gunman's life unraveled, he took others'
by Michael Rubinkam
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – Jiverly Wong was upset over losing his job at a vacuum plant, didn't like people picking on him for his limited English and once angrily told a co-worker, "America sucks."It remains unclear exactly why the Vietnamese immigrant strapped on a bulletproof vest, barged in on a citizenship class and killed 13 people and himself, but the police chief says he knows one thing for sure: "He must have been a coward." |
Reps Paul, Frank introduce bill to legalize industrial hemp
by Stephen C. Webster
University: In 2007, hemp products accounted for at least $350 million in sales nation-wideOne of the earliest plants domesticated by man may be on the verge of a resurgence in popular production across the United States.Industrial hemp, a non-drug variety of the cannabis plan, used for centuries for its versatile fibers, is the subject of a new bill filed by Congressmen Ron Paul (R-TX) and Barney Frank (D-MA). They and eight cosponsors, both Republican and Democrat, hope to legalize the plant so American farmers can begin supplying fibers for a wide array of products, with the overreaching goal of opening a new sector in American agriculture. |
Officers supporting anti-gay policy are 'lemmings': ex-Army Sec.
by David Edwards and Rachel Oswald
President Jimmy Carter's former Secretary of the Army, Clifford Alexander, issued a stinging rebuke Thursday of the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy when he called it a form of bigotry and an overall "inconsistent, foolish policy."Alexander told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell that the policy, which prohibits gays in the military from being open about their sexuality, was "a little bit like having a bowl of bigotry surrounded by a curtain of silk. It takes the basic integrity of a person and says 'you must forget it.' It turns people into liars." |
On April 24, marriage equality meets the 'Heartland'
by Stephen C. Webster
All that wailing and gnashing of teeth you're hearing is just Iowan conservatives reading and rereading the book of Leviticus.From AP: Gay marriage, seemingly the province of the nation's two coasts, is just weeks away from becoming a reality in the heartland and apparently it will be years before social conservatives have a chance to stop it. |
Obama: 'Unprecedented progress' made at G20
by Raw Story
US President Barack Obama hailed the "real and unprecedented progress" made at meetings with world leaders in Europe this week in an address to the nation Saturday."As we have worked this week to find common ground and strengthen our alliances, we have not solved all of our problems. And we have not agreed on every point or every issue in every meeting," Obama said in his weekly radio address. |
Obama set to ease Cuban ban on travel, money
by Matthew Lee
WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration intends to allow Americans to visit relatives in Cuba and send money back to their families on the communist island nation, senior U.S. officials said Saturday.President Barack Obama plans to announce the policy change before the Summit of the Americas April 17-19 in Trinidad and Tobago, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement had not been made. |
Why We Should Listen to the Protesters
by Johann Hari
The way out of the credit and the climate crunch is the same - a Green New DealWhen this hinge-point in human history is remembered, there will be far more sympathy for the people who took to the streets and rioted than for the people who stayed silently in their homes. Two global crises have collided, and we have a chance here, now, to solve them both with one mighty heave - but our leaders are letting this opportunity for greatness leach away. The protesters here in London were trying to sound an alarm now, at five minutes to ecological midnight. |
Dear President Obama: Get Us out of Afghanistan
by Rita Lasar
Dear President Obama,Let's get rid of the easy part first.I voted for you joyfully.Let's get to the hard part now.You are absolutely wrong about your policy in Afghanistan.Let me tell you why.My brother, Abraham Zelmanowitz, was on the 27th floor of the North Tower on September 11th, 2001. Although he could have easily escaped, he chose instead to stay with his friend and coworker Ed Bayea, a paraplegic in a wheelchair, who could not leave. My brother told all who passed them on their way down that he would wait with Ed until help came. They both died. |
No Armies Are Moral
by Michael Schwalbe
People in every country want to see their soldiers as acting nobly. So perhaps it's no surprise that Israeli propagandists have tried to claim first place by calling the IDF the "most moral army in the world." The problem with this phrase is not just that it is risible in the case of the IDF, but that it implies the possibility of any army being moral. On the contrary, by virtue of how they are organized and what they inevitably do, all armies are moral failures. |
Barack’s Continental Coolness
by Gail Collins
If nothing else, the president’s trip overseas helped resolve the longstanding question of who can be more irritating, the Republicans or the French.Before we pursue that thought any further, let’s agree that the Obamas wowed them in Europe. We were expecting a good reception, given the fact that the previous administration set the bar so low that Barack was able to get hysterical applause just by telling a crowd of students that Americans don’t believe in torturing people. |
The End of Greed Conservatism
by Brent Budowsky
One striking truth to emerge from the Group of 20 meeting is the growing triumph, among global conservatives, of an enlightened form of conservatism and the isolation, defeat and coming end of the Republican style of greed-based conservatism. Compare Harper of Canada, Merkel of Germany and Sarkozy of France with Republicans in Congress, Palin of Alaska and Jindal of Louisana. |
Hooray for Juries: Ordinary Folks Once Again Defeat the System
by Dave Lindorff
A group of 6 ordinary people in a Colorado courtroom saw through the McCarthyite political tactics of the University of Colorado officials and Colorado politicians who conducted a witch hunt against tenured professor and long-time Native American activist Ward Churchill, saying with remarkable clarity and sense that he never would have had his tenure revoked and been fired by the university had it not been for his unapologetic left-wing politics and writings. |
How to Follow the Health Reform Debate
by RJ Eskow
In what may become a new Opening Day tradition, John McCain threw out the first cranky1 when debate on Kathleen Sebelius's nomination began this week. That means the topic of health reform is about to heat up even more, and it's getting hard to tell the players without a scorecard. |
Body Control: The War on Drugs is a War on You
by Michael Boldin
The drug war is based on a repugnant assertion: that you do not have ownership over your own body; that you don't have the right to decide what you'll do with your body, with your property and with your life. The position of the drug warriors is that you should be in jail if you decide to do something with your body that they don't approve of. |
Miss Universe's Excellent Adventure
by Michael Winship
"A crown is merely a hat that lets the rain in." That was Frederick the Great of Prussia's take on the pain of being royalty.Just ask Queen Elizabeth II and Michelle Obama. When they briefly touched one another at Buckingham Palace Thursday, a moment of contact that was more gentle pat than hug, you would have thought the First Lady had challenged Her Royal Highness to pistols at 20 paces. What a breach of protocol! |
After the Summit: What Was Accomplished and for How Long?
by Danny Schechter
Summits Come and Summits Go, As the Economy Continues Its SlideThe eyes of the world have been on the Economic Summit in London, but the ideas of the world were mostly conspicuous by their absence. Here we have a global crisis. The house is on fire. Unemployment is climbing. The real estate contagion is now claiming condos and even shopping malls. It's bad and, by most accounts, getting worse. And, all the "leaders" of the world can do is devote ONE DAY to a forum that must have cost millions to stage. |
Go Ahead, Call Me Crazy - But...
by Stephen Pizzo
This morning flipped on CNN, as I do every morning over my coffee and paper. A live broadcast was already in progress of a live town hall meeting of Obama in France.Over the last eight years I've become so accustomed to cringing in embarrassment whenever our President spoke abroad that I was prepared turn the volume down and read my morning paper, letting the Prez just drone on in the background. |
Feith Dares Obama to Enforce the Law
by David Swanson
Doug Feith is bluffing big time, and he's lifted Dick Cheney and George Bush onto the table as his bet. Now if only he could stop visibly sweating.Feith's Wall Street Journal column on Friday argues that Spain has no right to put Americans on trial for torture, at least not second-tier officials who provided pseudo-legal justifications for torture and advocated its use, actions that Feith believes should be immune from prosecution, unlike ordering torture or engaging in it. |
Regressive Hypocrisy (Yawn...) Again
by David Michael Green
Hey, what time is it? Does anybody know? Is it one o'clock? Two? Six? Ten?It doesn't matter. Whatever time of day it is, there is always one thing you can be assured of. You'll never have a shortage of regressive hypocrisy on your hands. You'll never have to deal with painful withdrawal symptoms. |
