US Politics Mega-thread - Page 773

WASHINGTON -- The federal government will recognize the same-sex marriages that were performed in Utah during a brief window, despite the state government's decision not to do the same, Attorney General Eric Holder announced Friday.

A federal judge in Utah struck down the state's ban on same-sex marriages on Dec. 20, and thousands of couples rushed to get their marriage licenses. But the state of Utah is appealing the decision, and the Supreme Court earlier this week put the ruling on hold until the appeals court has ruled.

The Supreme Court's decision halted the state from performing any additional same-sex unions, but it didn't address the status of those same-sex marriages performed in the interim period. Holder's announcement Friday clarified that those couples will, for now, be afforded the federal benefits married couples receive.

"I am confirming today that, for purposes of federal law, these marriages will be recognized as lawful and considered eligible for all relevant federal benefits on the same terms as other same-sex marriages," Holder said in a video released Friday afternoon.

Port Authority Executive Director Pat Foye wrote an impassioned email to the general manager of the George Washington Bridge on Sept. 13, arguing that lane closures that spiraled into a major scandal this week were illegal.

Foye's email, addressed to Robert Durando and other Port Authority officials, fumed that he was not included in the decision, which he said was damaging the public safety and the economy. He ordered that it be reversed.

"This hasty and ill-advised decision has resulted in delays to emergency vehicles. I pray that no life has been lost or trip of a hospital- or hospice-bound patient delayed," he wrote. He added: "I believe this hasty and ill-advised decision violates Federal Law and the laws of both States."

The New Jersey lawmaker who's been leading the state assembly's investigation into the scandal surrounding lane closures on the George Washington Bridge said Friday that newly released documents raise further questions about the extent to which New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's (R) administration covered up the mess.

Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D) in a statement drew particular attention to a document showing an apparent meeting between Christie and the chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees the bridge, just days before his deputy chief of staff wrote an email to a top Port Authority appointee saying it was "time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee."

West Virginia schools and restaurants closed, grocery stores sold out of bottled water, and state legislators who had just started their session canceled the day’s business after a chemical spill in the Elk River in Charleston shut down much of the city and surrounding counties even as the cause and extent of the incident remained unclear.

The warnings affect about 300,000 people. There have been no reports of sickness or death, although residents have expressed frustration and anger at authorities and the chemical plant for not informing them of the spill earlier.

“About time you issued this! Communication failure to the public on your part!” a Charleston resident tweeted Thursday at American Water, the water company that services the city.

“The water has been contaminated,” said West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, who didn't know how long the emergency declaration would last. Federal authorities have also declared a disaster in the area, which includes West Virginia American Water customers in Boone, Cabell, Clay, Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Putnam and Roane counties.

Tomblin told residents of the affected area that tap water should be used only for flushing toilets, saying the advisory extends to restaurants, hospitals, nursing homes and other establishments.

Mr. Christie, a Republican, complained in a private phone call to Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, that Patrick Foye, the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, was pressing too hard to get to the bottom of why the number of toll lanes onto the bridge from Fort Lee, N.J. was cut from three to one in early September, according to this person. The lane closures occurred without notice to local authorities, officials have said, and snarled traffic for a week in the small borough on the Hudson River bluffs.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo this week to complain about a Cuomo appointee's handling of a growing controversy over traffic pattern changes on the George Washington Bridge, a person familiar with the matter said.

Mr. Christie, a Republican, complained in a private phone call to Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, that Patrick Foye, the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, was pressing too hard to get to the bottom of why the number of toll lanes onto the bridge from...

WASHINGTON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a closely watched appeal filed by the four major broadcasters against online television service Aereo Inc, which they claim steals copyrighted television content.

Walt Disney Co's ABC network, CBS Broadcasting Inc, Comcast Corp's NBCUniversal and Twenty-First Century Fox Inc appealed a decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in April that denied their request to shut Aereo down while litigation moves forward.

Aereo, backed by Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp , charges users a low monthly fee to watch live or recorded broadcast TV channels on computers or mobile devices. Aereo does not pay the broadcasters.

On January 11 2014 12:24 zlefin wrote:
To me it's not clear that Hillary will run. She certainly might; and people saying they aren't gonna run isn't reliable. But she would be very aware of how much the presidency takes out of a person; and has previously indicated she might not run simply because she doesn't have the energy to.

On January 12 2014 03:45 xDaunt wrote:
So what are the odds that Hillary gets thrown overboard yet again for another democrat in the primary?

WASHINGTON – The House of Representatives passed a bill on Thursday overhauling the country's hazardous waste laws.

The bill, called the Reducing Excessive Deadline Obligations Act, amends both the Solid Waste Disposal Act and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (which is commonly known as Superfund). It would remove requirements that the EPA periodically update and review solid waste disposal regulations, and would make it harder for the government to require companies that deal with hazardous substances to carry enough insurance to cover cleanup. The bill would also require more consultation with states before the government imposes cleanup requirements for Superfund sites -- places where hazardous waste is located and could be affecting local people or ecosystems.

The bill passed by a vote of 225 to 188, largely along party lines. Four Republicans voted against it, and five Democrats voted for it.

Rep. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), the bill's sponsor, called the legislation "common-sense revisions of existing rules and regulations." But others were quick to criticize the bill, saying it weakens environmental protections.

The environmental group Earthjustice has said the bill would "gut" the Superfund program, which was created in 1980 to ensure that polluting industries pay to clean up hazardous sites. There are currently more than 1,300 sites around the country listed as priority Superfund cleanup sites. Opponents say the changes in the House bill would delay those efforts and put taxpayers on the hook for future cleanups. A group of 129 environmental and local citizens groups have written to Congress urging the defeat of the bill.

A Green-Movement Website Shakes Up The Debate Over GMOs

A 26-part series on genetically modified food was not Nathanael Johnson's idea. And he didn't realize it would take six months, either.

Last year, Johnson was hired as the new food writer for Grist, a website for environmental news and opinion. Grist's editor, Scott Rosenberg, was waiting with an assignment: Dig into the controversy over GMOs. ...

Where he ends up, in fact, is the final surprising thing about this series. Instead of preaching to the deep-green choir, Johnson questions its faith. He challenges many of the anti-GMO views that Grist's readers are used to seeing.

Which doesn't put him squarely in the pro-GMO camp, either. Unlike British polemicist Mark Lynas, who switched sides in this debate, Johnson is all about nuance. Are GMOs bad for the environment? Well, yes and no. They've allowed farmers to cut their use of insecticides while increasing the use of chemical weed-killers. More effective weed control is good for crop yields but bad for the Monarch butterfly. And so on.

Some of Grist's readers haven't appreciated the nuance, and reacted to Johnson's series with the kind of anger that's reserved for those who betray a righteous cause. ...

On January 12 2014 06:02 sam!zdat wrote:
gmos are only one facet of a deeply problematic regime of industrial agriculture, the problem here is just that the public discourse about it is myopic

is our agricultural production deeply fucked? yes. is it deeply fucked entirely and unequivocally because of gmo? no

edit: also, while I'm thinking about it, I want to address something from a couple of weeks ago. after some idiot banned me, most of the responses to me were based on mocking me for beliefs I do not hold (the main way that people respond to me here). I just want to put forth that I believe 100 percent in private property and that I think one of the main problems with our society today is that there is very little private property. a joint stock corporation is not private property, it is a form of absentee landlordism, which is the antithesis of private property. late capitalism is NOT a system based on private property, there is basically no private property in the capitalist system today. equities are not private property. your mortgaged house is not private property. securities are not private property. anyone who doesn't understand this is an idiot and needs to go read their adam smith