CIVIL RIGHTS — IOWA LAWMAKER PRESSES THE STATE TO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST LGBT FAMILIES AT CAMPGROUNDS: In April 2009, the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously overturned a 10-year ban on same-sex marriage in the state, making it one of five plus the District of Columbia that currently performs and recognizes same-sex marriage. Although the far right claimed that this decision would upend traditional marriage, a September 2009 Des Moines Register poll found that 92 percent of Iowans believed marriage equality had “brought no real change to their lives.” But now, Iowa state Sen. Merlin Bartz (R) is trying to convince the public that LGBT families threaten the pastime of camping. Bartz, who sits on the Iowa Senate’s Administrative Rules Review Committee, believes the legislature should intervene in the Iowa Department of Natural Resource’s (DNR) effort “to make gay couples eligible for family camping at state parks.” The rule change would not allow gay families to pay a lower camping price — camping prices are already equal for families and non-families — but instead allow gay families the option to “put up more than one tent on a camp site.” Bartz said he wants to be “vigilant” as state agencies adjust policies in the wake of the court’s decision. “A lot of the advocates of gay marriage in Iowa have said, ‘It doesn’t affect anything. Nothing has changed,'” Bartz said. “The reality of it is that everything is changing.” The DNR has said the change has nothing to do with the court ruling and instead reflects the agency’s effort to “comply with a state policy that prevents discrimination.” Bartz has been a staunch opponent of marriage equality, encouraging county recorders to refuse marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Bartz’s effort, however, to “pass legislation giving county recorders a free pass to discriminate” failed.
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Congress at Work
The Senate will convene at 2:00pmET and will be in a period of morning business until 3pmET
At 3pm, the Senate will resume consideration of S.3217, Wall Street Reform.
There will be no roll call votes on Monday. We expect the next vote to occur Tuesday morning
Unanimous Consent:
Adopted S.Res.520, a resolution honoring the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Glacier National Park. (S.Res.520)
Tuesday’s schedule below is on the Senate calendar but subject to change ?
The Senate will convene at 10:00am and resume consideration of the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 (S.3217), with up to 80 minutes for concurrent debate in relation to Sanders amendment #3738, as modified, and Vitter amendment #3760. Senators Sanders, Vitter, Shelby, and Dodd, or their designees, will control 20 minutes each. ? Upon the use or yielding back of debate time, the Senate will proceed to vote in relation to the following amendments: o Sanders amendment to Dodd-Lincoln amendment in the nature of a substitute #3739, to require the non-partisan Government Accountability Office to conduct an independent audit of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System that does not interfere with the monetary policy, to let the American people know the names of the recipients of over $2,000,000,000,000 in taxpayer assistance from the Federal Reserve System, and for other purposes. (#3738, as modified) o Vitter amendment to Dodd-Lincoln amendment in the nature of a substitute #3739, to address availability of information concerning the meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee, and for other purposes. (#3760) ? The Senate will recess from 12:30pm until 2:15pm for the weekly caucus luncheons.
The next meeting is scheduled for 12:30pmET on May 11. 2010
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manic Monday News …
Today, our President is going to announce his newest pick; definitely a perk of being President …adding a new and possibly more left of center Supreme Court Justice. This is a very busy President and though it seems like folks aren’t recognizing it … the job numbers are up the economy is getting better but those things are just not as controversial enough to get press time … the Media is by far more likely to say okay the reports are a candidate is ok on the airwaves but then questions the what happens ifs …What ? give credit to the President and acknowledge what this man was given by the last guy and stop trying to make Americans look so bad … the likes of limbaugh,beck, bachmann and the others make us look vulnerable and maybe less safe with their comments maybe by people who are on the edge are more likely to do awful things
Though there are rumors out there about Ms Kagan, Solicitor General, teacher and public servant:FYI as stated by the President, ” Elena is widely regarded as one of the nation’s foremost legal minds. She’s an acclaimed legal scholar with a rich understanding of constitutional law. She is a former White House aide with a lifelong commitment to public service and a firm grasp of the nexus and boundaries between our three branches of government. She is a trailblazing leader — the first woman to serve as Dean of Harvard Law School — and one of the most successful and beloved deans in its history. And she is a superb Solicitor General, our nation’s chief lawyer representing the American people’s interests before the Supreme Court, the first woman in that position as well. And she has won accolades from observers across the ideological spectrum for her well-reasoned arguments and commanding presence.”
Apparently, Orrin Hatch has either forgotten his comments of the past or figures We the People have no true interest in what is going on that we don’t remember is beyond me; Mr. Hatch comes out against her but many progressive radio personalities have played his opposite comments …the guy seems to talk before thinking … isn’t that bad politics. The Hatch comments from a year ago are below …
You have to admit, Elena Kagan is a brilliant woman,” Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said during a radio interview a year ago when Kagan was being vetted for a high court seat. “She is a brilliant lawyer. If [Obama] picks her, it is a real dilemma for people,” especially conservatives. “And she will undoubtedly say that she will abide by the rule of law.”
And as we all hear the President announce his Supreme Court pick let the nonsense begin … fauxnews is coming out fast and quick to report what could be considered fauxnews about financial reform, racism and as Media Matters reports most if not all the questions about the BP spill being Obama’s Katrina; started by mainstream talking heads has been picked up by people on the right who also continue to repeat the Republican talking points then move on to embellish the story in a way only people on the right can.
The BP spill is getting worse the news is getting really ugly as profits from the spill itself were reported by some talkingheads this morning … which is very disturbing for the people on the Gulf Coast and the many industries associated …but hey that’s a part of having a huge insurance claim available. Congress will take time to investigate and question the people of BP for those who can do nothing but wait out this horrendous environmental tragedy.
Other News ..
**BP has spent 350mil on the oil spill so far and received an insurance claim of 256mil
**UK Gordon Brown PM will resign later on this year
**Lena Horne died at 92…great person;went to a concert with my mom
**Airports in Europe are closed as ash clouds keep planes down
**Richard Wolf will be on the Stephanie miller show 5/12
**Earthquakes in Indonesia get bigger and bigger 7.9
C-SPAN …
Pres. Obama’s Commencement Address 
Washington Post: “Education can fortify nation”
Elena Kagan, New Supreme Court Nominee
Solicitor General Elena Kagan has been nominated by Pres. Obama to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. If confirmed, she would be the 112th Supreme Court Justice and the third woman on the current Court. Ms. Kagan may begin meeting with Senators this week. Confirmation hearings are expected to begin in late June.
Formal Announcement: Available Soon Sen. Leahy Briefing: C-SPAN at 10:30am ET Wash. Post: Obama’s Supreme Court pickAfghan President Visits U.S.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is visiting Washington D.C. this week to request U.S. support for peace talks between Afghanistan and the Taliban forces in the region. Later today, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs will hold a press conference with Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of the international security forces in Afghanistan, and Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry.
Forum Asks: On Key Issues, Can U.S. and China Work Together?
Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg headlines a Brookings Institution forum on how China and the United States can cooperate to address global economic challenges, climate change issues and the potential threat of new nuclear states such as Iran and North Korea. He and three panels are expected to review the history of U.S.-China relations on these key issues and discuss recent outreach efforts. China holds a majority of U.S. national debt, and the two economies have become increasingly intertwined as China expands its global presence.
Brookings: LIVE on c-span.org at 10:30am ET
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OFA in full effect …
From folks advocating reform on Wall Street in Manhattan, to those calling their neighbors in Ohio, to senators’ offices getting calls from across the country, thousands of OFA supporters in every state spoke out with one voice to demand change.
In Greenville, South Carolina, the headline yesterday was about the 50 OFA supporters who attended a “rally to demand Wall Street reforms.” And the Indiana News Center led with “Local Hoosiers ‘Call’ For Wall Street Reform.”
Even better? The stories we got from participants.
Trisha, in Columbus, Wisconsin, called an elderly neighbor. As she tells it, “I asked him if he’d ever contacted a member of Congress. He said ‘no’ he hadn’t. Then after a short pause he said, ‘Well, just what was that number? I guess there’s a first time for everything. I’ll make that call!'”
After meeting in front of the library in Branigan, New Mexico, Evelyn — an OFA Neighborhood Team Leader — said that she and other volunteers “talked to people passing by about the importance of standing up to the power brokers and the lobbyists and the big banks. What I love the most is when you really get to have a conversation and inform someone about what’s really going on — they are so appreciative of getting straight-forward information.”
And at an event on Wall Street itself, a volunteer named Erin said that “I am here today to stand up for the everyday people who work and raise families and don’t want to have their lives disrupted as a result of Wall Street’s reckless practices.”
Everything you did this week made a difference. That’s why Wall Street reform legislation is picking up steam — there could even be final votes as early as next week.
We’ll be in touch soon with more ways you can help push reform through the final stretch.
Thanks for all you do,
Jeremy
Jeremy Bird
Deputy Director
Organizing for America
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Q&A: Facebook exec defends site’s privacy policies By Sharon Gaudin
Computerworld – Social networking giant Facebook has been taking it hard on the chin lately as critics contend that recent upgrades to the site and a bug that lets users view their friends’ chat sessions raise a bevy of privacy issues.
However, in an interview with Computerworld yesterday, one Facebook executive insisted that users are happy with recent changes to the site despite the hornet’s nest of controversy stirred up by online pundits and commentators. Ethan Beard, director of Facebook’s developer network, noted that the millions of users that have joined Facebook’s social network did so specifically to share information.
Beard also talked about the social network’s controversial privacy settings, why users’ information isn’t private by default, and reports that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that people shouldn’t expect online privacy.
What was the glitch this week that exposed private chats? I don’t know the specifics of it. We take privacy very, very seriously here. We try to give out users control over the privacy of their data. At times you’re going to have technical issues that we will work to address very, very quickly.
Were you surprised by the level of criticism of Facebook’s plan to allow user information to be shared with third-party Web sites? In some ways, yes. We think a lot about our users and privacy when we’re building products. Our goal is to make sure we’re delighting users. I think the response from users that we’ve seen from the products we launched at [Facebook’s F8 developer conference late last month] has been quite positive. People are actively opting-in to engage with the social Web. The response from users speaks very, very loudly that they love what we’re doing. I think there’s a lot of other talk that’s not coming from users necessarily. There’s been a lot of interest from the media, from organizations and officials. But to be honest, the user response has been overwhelmingly positive.
Are you saying the outrage has centered in the press? I can’t say where it’s coming from, but our users are very happy with it.
How do you respond to those who say Facebook’s privacy settings are complicated and confusing to navigate through? I think that privacy is a complicated matter and each individual’s view on privacy and how one thinks about it is quite nuanced. How I think about privacy and how I want to share my information is probably quite different from you. It requires us to create very sophisticated tools to deal with all these nuances and give people the control they want. It’s quite complicated, so you end up with sophisticated controls, which end up being fairly complicated to use. We try to walk a balance between the two.
Are you working on ways to make the privacy settings easier to use? We’re always looking to make our controls better and simpler to use. We don’t have any specific changes to talk about right now.
Wouldn’t switching from having users opt-out of strong privacy setting solve some of the issues? The reason that people use Facebook is to share information with their friends and to connect with things that are important to them. Sharing is not inherently a private activity. Frequently, we’ve found is that people want to share more and more broadly. You can’t start completely private. That doesn’t serve the purpose of helping people share information.
Do the concerns of U.S. Senators raise the stakes of the Facebook privacy debate? It’s a testament to the impact that we’re having on the world.
How can Facebook and social networks in general maintain today’s phenomenal growth and avoid becoming simply a fad like the pet rock? The social aspect of what’s going on in the Web is not new. Before the Internet, the first apps built … were to communicate. E-mail was one of the first. [Finding ways] to connect with people and share with people has been going on for thousands and thousands of years. The information we really care about is the information we share with each other. I don’t think that’s a fad. I think it’s part of a longer-term historical trend.
What new features are you working on now? We worked pretty hard to get everything ready for F8 two weeks ago. To be honest, we’re catching a bit of a breather.
Has the recent reports that Facebook CEO Zuckerberg said he doesn’t care about privacy caused much trouble for the company? I don’t think Mark Zuckerberg really said that. The amount of time, energy, effort and resources to make sure that our users have control is a testament to how importnt it is that our users have privacy. Anything to the contrary is not true.
Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and desktop and laptop chips for Computerworld. Follow Sharon on Twitter at 
@sgaudin, or subscribe to Sharon’s RSS feed 
. Her e-mail address is sgaudin@computerworld.com.
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