Submitted by Anne Landman on
The U.S. Coast Guard put in place a new rule slapping journalists with felony charges, a $40,000 fine and one to five years in prison for coming too close to oil spill clean-up efforts without permission.
Submitted by Anne Landman on
Submitted by Anne Landman on
Last year the federal government approved a 582-page, regional spill plan for the Gulf of Mexico. Sounds comprehensive, right?
From video of Gaza flotilla (Reuters)President Obama came to power promising to end the foreign policy of the Bush era and institute a commitment to international cooperation and diplomacy, especially with the Muslim world. The controversy surrounding Israel's recent raid on a Turkish aid flotilla has made it difficult for the Obama administration to fulfill that promise. The administration does not want to alienate Turkey, a large Muslim nation with aspirations of joining the European Union, nor does Obama want to anger Israel, which has strong historical ties to America. Trying to pacify both nations, the Obama administration has taken an ambivalent and ambiguous position on how to resolve the conflict, which does not include a definitive statement on an international investigation into the causes and culpability of the confrontation. While Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared last Tuesday that the United States "supports the Security Council's call for a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation" and "an Israeli investigation that meets those criteria," the administration is merely "open" to the possibility of international participation.
Submitted by Anne Landman on
The U.S Supreme Court has blocked (pdf) the state of Arizona from disbursing any public campaign matching funds until a constitutional challenge to Arizona's public campaign finance law is resolved. The news is extremely worrying for advocates of campaign finance reform.
Submitted by Anne Landman on
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has asked the Department of Health and Human Services to investigate two people appointed to serve on the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee, which evaluates tobacco product-related safety and health issues and provides advice, information and recommendations to the Commissioner of the
Elena KaganAs soon as I heard that Elena Kagan was President Obama's choice for the Supreme Court's latest open seat, I knew the first criticism of opponents would be that she "lacked judicial experience." That does not make her unqualified for this role, given her exceptionally distinguished career as a lawyer and policymaker. It does, however, reveal the deeply disingenuous games Republicans are playing with the U.S. judicial system. I want to tell you how that is so, based on my prior experience as the lead attorney on the Justice Department Working Group on Judicial Nominations and as the former Chief Counsel for Nominations for the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Submitted by Anne Landman on
Just as the official U.S. Census was starting up in March, the Republican National Committee (RNC) sent out deceptive fundraising mailers bearing the words "Census Document." Congress quickly passed a law banning such misleading mailers, but the RNC is persisting in the practice.
President Obama's chief economic adviser, Larry Summers, was interviewed on PBS late last week about the state of play on financial reform. In an odd, shifty-eyed discussion, Summers admits "mistakes were made," but none by him.
The Center for Media and Democracy's PRWatch is launching a free seminar series for spin-watchers like you. Our first one was scheduled for this week, and was going to focus on the new vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court and what it means for everyday people who are concerned about the Citizens United decision and its aftermath.
This audio seminar was canceled due to unforeseen technical/logistical problems.
In the future, we plan to provide an opportunity to:
CMD's new Executive Director, Lisa Graves, previously served as the Chief Counsel for Nominations for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee and as Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice, working with the White House on judicial selection in the Clinton Administration. Her plain-spoken but deeply researched analysis of public policy issues has been featured on CNN, Free Speech TV, and Democracy Now! and credited in the New York Times, The Nation, The Progressive, and Vanity Fair and by numerous journalists over the past decade.
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