AACONS sits down with Allen West and Mike Gonzalez to discuss the news of the day....
"This has been a project that has lingered far too long. It is clearly supported by 60 or more members of this body," Landrieu said on the Senate floor Wednesday, minutes after lawmakers kicked off their post-midterm election lame duck session. The Louisiana Democrat is fighting for her political life ahead of a Dec. 6 runoff election against Republican challenger Bill Cassidy. The Keystone XL pipeline represents a chance for Landrieu to flex her muscles on issues important to her energy-rich state one last time. Republicans have countered her moves by promising Cassidy a seat on the energy panel.This move by Landrieu may ingratiate herself with the energy lobby, but if President Obama chooses to veto Congressional approval of the pipeline project, her efforts may be meaningless:
"They wanted me to stop talking to the media about them, and it was basically done to try and bully me. But it didn't work."It sure didn't: Asked for comment, Lost Voices leader Melissa McKinnies essentially responded, "It wasn't me."
"A lot of other protestors went around her that was not members of the Lost Voices. Then some of the Lost Voices went, you know, over to speak with her."And I'm stickin' to it:
MSNBC is always good for a hacktastic laugh...
San Diego County’s “good cause” permitting requirement impermissibly infringes on the Second Amendment right to bear arms in lawful self-defense.(As an aside, I had the opportunity to meet briefly with Mr. Peruta when I spoke at the NRA's 17th Annual Firearms Law Seminar this past April, and found him quite personable.) One potential consequence of this ruling was that the losing parties could request the case to be reheard by the entire 9th Circuit panel, consisting of 11 judges. It was generally believed that the larger panel would be much less amenable to the plaintiff's claims than was the two-judge majority in the underlying Peruta decision. (The 9th Circuit as a whole is widely referred to as "the most liberal circuit in the country.") The San Diego County defendants, however, declined to seek an en banc rehearing of the case. In an effort that can only be described as desperate, the state of California and various gun control organizations (including the moribund Brady Campaign) sought to step into the defendants' shoes by obtaining intervenor status; this would have enabled them to request the en banc hearing not sought by the actual defendants. Yesterday, however, the 9th Circuit crushed these hopes by denying them intervenor status. This decision ends Peruta for purposes of the 9th Circuit, and thus has been perceived by many as being the final decision on the "may issue" matter in the Circuit.
Harry Reid wants Warren in Senate leadership Senate Democrats want to enlist a progressive firebrand as a member of their leadership: Elizabeth Warren. The incoming Senate minority leader, Harry Reid, is engaged in private talks with the Massachusetts freshman to create a special leadership post for the former Harvard professor, according to several people familiar with the matter. It’s unclear exactly what the new job would entail — but luring the populist liberal into leadership could inject fresh blood into a team reeling from significant midterm election losses. Adding Warren, Democrats say, would bring in a nationally known name who could help sharpen the Democratic message as it goes toe-to-toe with the new Senate Republican majority. The move would likely be viewed favorably by an increasingly liberal caucus.The Democratic Party's hard-left progressivism was soundly rejected by the American people last week. Their solution to the problem? Even harder-left progressivism! That being said, maybe Elizabeth Warren will finally get big money out of American politics...
"I don't see how (the new laws) can be compatible with existing conventions," Yury Fedotov, executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), told reporters. Asked whether there was anything the UNODC could do about it, Fedotov said he would raise the problem next week with the U.S. State Department and other U.N. agencies.After Washington state and Colorado voted in 2012 to legalize recreational marijuana, the Justice Department made waves when it announced that it wouldn't challenge the new laws, causing some to question whether or not this could cause similar legislative initiatives in other states. Now, two more states and the District have voted to legalize, which means that if the UN wants to roll back legalization, they'll need to work fast, because the legislative trend is spreading:
Who are you calling "stupid?"...
Republican Dan Sullivan won Alaska's U.S. Senate race, defeating first-term incumbent Democrat Mark Begich. Sullivan led Begich by about 8,100 votes on Election Night last week and held a comparable edge after election workers had counted about 20,000 absentee, early-voted and questioned ballots late Tuesday. Thousands more ballots remained to be counted, but the results indicated that Begich could not overcome Sullivan's lead. The Alaska seat was initially considered key to the Republicans' hopes of taking control of the U.S. Senate, but that goal was accomplished before the Alaska race was decided. Sullivan, in a statement, said he was humbled and sounded a note of inclusion. While it was a hard-fought race, moving forward "I want to emphasize that my door will always be open to all Alaskans," he said. "While we have challenges to address, the opportunities in Alaska and our country are limitless," Sullivan said. "Today, we are going to begin the process of turning our country around and building a brighter future for our children." Begich was not conceding. His campaign manager, Susanne Fleek-Green, said in a statement that Begich believes every vote deserves to be counted and will follow the Division of Elections as it continues toward a final count.
Over 300,000 Americans have already been infected with the potentially fatal 'kissing bug disease' called Chagas but U.S. healthcare workers lack of knowledge about the illness is letting many cases of the parasite unnoticed. Some doctors are calling it the 'new AIDS' because of the way it develops. Researchers who gathered on Tuesday at the annual American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene meeting in New Orleans said that if caught early the disease can be cured however sometimes the disease can be asymptomatic and there is a dearth in medication for the condition. The CDC reports that the initial symptoms of the disease caused by a parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi, which is spread through the feces of kissing bugs includes fever, fatigue, body aches, rash, diarrhea and vomiting. One of the first visual signs can be a skin lesion or a purplish swelling of the lid of one eye.More details are offered in an IN News Report:
OFA is a movement of millions fighting for real, lasting change. This isn't for everyone — we're community organizers, and we're proud of it. If you’re someone who'd rather get involved than sit back, if you refuse to be cynical about what we can get done together, then you should be part of this. Let's go.
