us news

Margaret Beckett

The former foreign secretary said the parties “have to do more” to support women in politics after Home Secretary Theresa May and Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman were confirmed as the only two to gain senior roles in the coalition Cabinet.

Cheryl Gillan and Baroness Warsi are the only other women to feature at the top table.
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Ohio Vote Against Kasich’s Anti-Union Bill

Yesterday, the Ohio Senate passed by a single vote a radical bill that would strip most of the state’s public employee unions of their collective bargaining rights. Gov. John Kasich (R-OH) claims doing so will save the state over a billion dollars, yet he continues to defend tax breaks and loopholes for the wealthy that would serve the same purpose. Read more…

Bradley Manning facing death penalty

The Army has filed 22 new counts against suspected WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning.
Bradley Manning, the military intelligence analyst who is accused of leaking a trove of government files to WikiLeaks a year ago.
The new charges more accurately reflect the broad scope of the crimes that Pvt. 1st Class Manning is accused of committing,” Capt. John Haberland, a legal spokesman for the Military District of Washington, told CBS News.
The new charges, filed under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, include wrongfully causing intelligence to be published on the Internet, Read more…

westboro baptist church Supreme Court Appeal

”Westboro Baptist Church Wins Supreme Court Appeal Over Funeral Protests”

The Supreme Court, in an 8-1 decision, has ruled that the incredibly offensive protest staged by Fred Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church at the Kansas funeral of Matthew Snyder a marine killed in Iraq was a legitimate exercise of free speech.
Westboro alerted local authorities to its funeral protest and fully complied with police guidance on where the picketing could be staged. The picketing was conducted under police supervision some 1,000 feet from the church, out of the sight of those at the church.
Speech is powerful. It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and as it did here inflict great pain.
On the facts before us, we cannot react to that pain by punishing the Read more…

texas independence day 2011

The Unanimous Declaration of Independence made by the Delegates of the People of Texas in General Convention at the town of Washington on the 2nd day of March 1836.

When a government has ceased to protect the lives, liberty and property of the people, from whom its legitimate powers are derived, and for the advancement of whose happiness it was instituted, and so far from being a guarantee for Read more…

USS Ponce and USS Kearsarge To Libya

Navy Times says, “Defense Secretary Robert Gates ordered the Kearsarge and the amphibious transport dock Ponce to move from the U.S. Central Command region into the Mediterranean Sea to provide the capability for evacuation or humanitarian aid.” Read more…

oil prices increased – Bernanke comments

”Oil prices jump on Middle East, Bernanke comments”

During a speech in Jackson Hole, Wyo., on Aug. 27, Bernanke outlined an effort to spur economic growth, prevent prices from falling and push markets higher through the purchase of government bonds.
Benchmark West Texas Intermediate for April delivery gained $2.66 to settle at $99.63 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In London, Brent crude gained $3.62 to settle at $115.42 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
The comments suggest Bernanke will keep the Fed on course to complete $600 billion of Treasury purchases through June under the Read more…

Scott Walker Budget Speech

Three weeks after igniting a firestorm of protest from unions, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker introduced a budget Tuesday that would slash more than $1.25 billion from aid to local governments.

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Continuing Budget Resolution

In its final act on FY2011 Appropriations, the 111th Congress extended the Continuing Resolution (CR) until March 4, 2011. The CR (H.R. 3082) essentially continues funding for most programs at the FY2010 level. However, the total funding rate for the bill is $1.16 billion higher than 2010 level. Read more…

Mike Huckabee Said Obama Grew Up In Kenya

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee got his facts wrong when he claimed twice during an interview Monday that President Obama was raised in Kenya.
Huckabee’s claim that President Obama grew up in Kenya is false. President Obama was born in Hawaii and spent part of his youth in Indonesia, not Kenya. The president’s biological father was Kenyan, and Obama barely knew him. Read more…