Michelangelo Signorile reports today that he has a named source, Aaron Belkin of the University of California, Santa Barbara's Palm Center, claiming that "national gay rights organizations" have not only colluded with the White House to delay addressing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, which was reported by the Daily Beast yesterday, but have actually campaigned against Congressional efforts to lift the ban.
I really respect Chris Mooney, as he's done a really good job of cataloguing the various assaults on science that we've witnessed for the past eight years. But his recent blog post calling out the so-called "New Atheists" is pretty disappointing and significantly diminishes the respect I have for him.
Ken Cuccinelli appears to be one of those who are afraid of black helicopters, and afraid of social security numbers. He's a sitting state senator in Virginia, and is running for Attorney General. It's funny except that this guy could actually be the Commonwealth's chief law enforcement official!
U.S. policy in the broader Middle East over the next four years will be judged in the region according to whether the pledges that President Obama made in Cairo today are kept. So it's important for Americans to know what those pledges were.
President Obama hit a number of extremely important points today in his speech to the Muslim world, but the most salient was one phrase toward the end that I'd like to draw your attention to. The following quote is a powerful rebuke to neoconservative ideology, one that will, more than anything else that Obama said today, help to forge a new path in middle east foreign policy: "I know there are many, Muslim and non-Muslim, who question whether we can forge this new beginning. Some are eager to stoke the flames of division and stand in the way of progress. Some suggest that it isnt worth the effort; that we are fated to disagree, and civilizations are doomed to clash ... But if we choose to be bound by the past, we will never move forward."
I heard Fox News and Bill O'Reilly state that Dr. George Tiller performed abortions "for any reason" after a women's 24th week of pregnancy." It's difficult to challenge or confirm the veracity of a statement like that when it's based upon medical records you aren't allowed to read due to HIPAA restrictions. That should raise serious doubts of anyone who claims that Dr. Tiller performed abortions "for any reason" after a women's 24th week of pregnancy.
Sonia Sotomayor's ethnicity can only be a plus on the Supreme Court, which needs the Constitution to be interpreted by people who know the law and know our country. We should have a broader definition of qualifications, and from what we know about Sotomayor, she certainly seems to pass that test.
I am running for Congress in New Hampshire's Second District. With Paul Hodes running for U.S. Senate, the second district is an open seat for the first time in over 20 years. I am launching this campaign because we need real, progressive change with a commitment to the principles we all share.
There has been a fair bit of activity recently from environmental and conservation groups to try and protect America's clean drinking water " if you are member of the National Wildlife Federation, the Sierra Club, Ducks Unlimited, Trout Unlimited, or various other groups, you've probably seen action alerts on the Clean Water Restoration Act (S. 787). The Clean Water Restoration Act is a pretty simple bill " it simply restores the scope of the 1972 Clean Water Act to what it was prior to 2001 (and again in 2006) when the Supreme Court ruled that isolated streams and wetlands were not eligible from protection from pollution and destruction.
Rubber mulch has become part of the White House playscape, where Sasha and Malia Obama and their friends play. Their playground surface was made from 1,400 used tires. The tires were ground up and dyed green and called rubber mulch. Rubber mulch is not good for children or gardens because ground up rubber tires have lots of toxins in them.