Via Think Progress… Newt Gingrich waffles and flip flops on Libya: Earlier this month, former Speaker of the House and current presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich was hammering President Obama for not intervening in Libya… Now that Obama has initiated a no-fly zone over Libya, Gingrich has completely reversed his position with no apparent explanation. He told Politico over the weekend — less than 24 hours after Obama took action — that “it is impossible to make sense of the...
Monthly Archives: March 2011
Screen Icon Elizabeth Taylor Dies at 79
Screen icon Elizabeth Taylor died today at Los Angeles’ Cedars-Sinai Hospital, she was 79. Taylor’s publicist, Sally Morrison, said in a statement, “She was surrounded by her children: Michael Wilding, Christopher Wilding, Liza Todd, and Maria Burton.” Taylor ”dazzled generations of moviegoers with her stunning beauty” and her ”name was synonymous with Hollywood glamour.” She first appeared on the screen when she was 9. Her first film with Universal Studios was There’s One Born Every Minute. Universal dropped Taylor and MGM picked her up, making her a...
Former Diplomats Propose New Peace Process To End Afghanistan War
A group of former diplomats and others are proposing a political settlement to end the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, and they recommend beginning that process now. That process, they say, would involve talks with all parties in the country, including the insurgent Taliban. Led by former UN Special Envoy for Afghanistan Lakhdar Brahimi and former U.S. ambassador and Under Secretary of State Thomas Pickering, a group of 15 American and non-American diplomats and scholars put forward their plan in...
Brazilian Unions Ask President Obama to Support Wisconsin Workers
In a letter to President Obama on March 19, six Brazilian labor confederations expressed their solidarity with public employees in Wisconsin and other states who are fighting to defend collective bargaining rights, according to an American labor union lauding the action. The letter was hand delivered by Brazilian labor leader Artur Henrique da Silva to Obama during his visit to Brazil. It states that the Brazilian unions “are surprised, and must register our protest, that on the grounds of...
The Build Act: A Chance to Build Again
Last week I wrote about the bi-partisan Build Act legislation sponsored by Senators John Kerry (D-MA), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), and Mark R. Warner (D-VA): The legislation would serve to create an infrastructure bank that would help to close America’s widening infrastructure funding gap and create millions of American jobs in the next decade, making the United States more competitive in the 21st century. On Sunday, the NY Times editorial board came out in favor of the legislation saying: The bank...
Senator Urges Broad Nuclear Moratorium
In the aftermath of the nuclear disaster in Japan, Sen. Bernie Sanders is urging the White House to form a presidential commission on nuclear safety in the United States as part of a five-point crisis response. In a letter to President Obama, Sanders (I-Vt.) also asked for a moratorium on license renewals by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). He says the White House should withdraw a request for $36 billion to bankroll building new nuclear plants. He questioned why...
War and Nuclear Plants – a Teachable Moment
Oh, I know, nobody "sane" or "rational" would target nuclear power plants, but since when have sanity and rationality been the hallmarks of warfare? Or, put it this way: nobody starts a domestic violence dispute with a shotgun. But, all too often, they END with one.
Japan Finds Tainted Food 90 Miles From Nuclear Sites
Yesterday Japan retroactively upgraded the danger level from the nuclear plants that have been releasing radiation into the atmosphere. Today, radiation was found in food 90 miles from the nuclear sites. Officials in Japan tried to downplay the risks to consumers from the food: Yukio Edano, the chief cabinet secretary, said that spinach and milk were the only products found to have abnormally high radiation levels. The level of radioactivity found in the spinach would, if consumed for a...
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