Category Archives: ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Felix Baumgartner : Adventurer of the Year


Hero
Felix Baumgartner Named People’s Choice Adventurer of the Year
The votes are in, and we’re pleased to announce that Felix Baumgartner is the 2013 People’s Choice Adventurer of the Year. The Austrian BASE jumper made history on October 14, 2012, by completing a seven-year quest to become the first person to break the speed of sound in free fall.
Photos: Baumgartner’s Daring Jumps Around the World »
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

What Senate Delays Mean for Our Judicial System


Today Senate Republicans again blocked an up-or-down vote to confirm Caitlin Halligan, first nominated by President Obama in 2010 to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. As President Obama said today:

A majority of the Senate agrees that Ms. Halligan is exactly the kind of person who should serve on this court, and I urge Senate Republicans to allow the Senate to express its will and to confirm Ms. Halligan without further delay.

Ms. Halligan, who has bipartisan support from lawyers and law enforcement, has suffered endless delays in the Senate — and she’s not the only one.

Find out how the Senate’s delays are affecting our judicial system:

Learn more about judicial delays

In Case You Missed It

Here are some of the top stories from the White House blog:

The Changing Face of Veteran Reintegration For generations, when veterans took off their uniform, their desire to serve did not end. That’s just as true today. Some very creative post 9/ll veterans’ charities have adapted to this desire and have created models for continued service and engagement.

President Obama Announces Three Nominees to Help Tackle “Our Most Important Challenges” President Obama announces his nominees for Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Secretary of Energy, and Administrator of the EPA.

Hanging Out with First Lady Michelle Obama Mrs. Obama joins a virtual conversation about Let’s Move!, her initiative to ensure our nation’s kids grow up healthy and reach their full potential.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

They Deserve a Vote


By ThinkProgress War Room

Background Checks 101

Later this week, the Senate Judiciary Committee will take up four gun violence prevention measures. One of them is an important bill to strengthen the background check system and mandate universal background checks so we can keep guns out of the hands of people that should not have them.

Check out this infographic for everything you need to know about how universal background checks can help us prevent gun violence.

View the infographic

Evening Brief: Important Stories That You Might’ve Missed

The latest embarrassment for the Daily Caller.

Report: number of radical anti-government groups reached “all-time high” in 2012.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has died.

Poll: immigration now top issue for Latinos, who are following the immigration debate closely.

Everything you need to know about judicial nominations.

The Daily Caller’s brand of “entertainment.”

Jeb Bush followed up his triple-flip on immigration today with a flip-flop on Medicaid.

The House GOP is going after birth control — again.

OOPS: Dow hits record despite pundit predictions that the stock market would plunge under Obama.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

PM Harper and Idle No More


What are some of the movement’s key objections to the changes to those 3 acts?

Indian Act: First Nations communities can now lease designated reserve lands if a majority attending a meeting called for that purpose vote to do so, regardless of how many people show up. Previously, approval required the support of a majority of eligible voters.

Shawn Atleo, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, drums at the centre of the Idle No More protest on Parliament Hill Dec. 21. Shawn Atleo, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, drums at the centre of the Idle No More protest on Parliament Hill Dec. 21. (Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)

The Aboriginal Affairs minister can call the meeting to consider surrendering band territory. The minister can choose to ignore a resolution from the band council that’s in opposition to a decision at the meeting.

Idle No More says these changes allow “for easier opening of treaty lands and territory.”

Navigation Protection Act: Under the act, major pipeline and power line project advocates aren’t required to prove their project won’t damage or destroy a navigable waterway it crosses, unless the waterway is on a list prepared by the transportation minister. Idle No More claims the amendments remove that protection for 99.9 per cent of lakes and rivers in Canada.

Environmental Assessment Act: The first omnibus budget bill had already overhauled the assessment process and the second one reduces further the number of projects that would require assessment under the old provisions. Idle No More objects to the faster approval process.