News and Politics // Current

^#21

Judge rules Feds can search e-mail without notice

No matter how much of our personal lives exist in e-mail services such as Gmail, a U.S. District Court judge says if the... more

riverratt50
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McCain introduces bill to block Net neutrality

Raw Story-Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) introduced a bill in the Senate on Thursday that would effectively allow Internet service... more

RFIDemocracy
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Grayson blasts GOP and the bipartisan fetish in brilliant floor speech.

Man this guy keeps hitting it out of the park, doesn't he?

kennymotown
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Interracial couple denied marriage license

HAMMOND, La. - A Louisiana justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple out of... more

current89
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"Yes" Wins Question One in Maine with 53%

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091104/ap_on_el_st_lo/us_gay_marriage_maine PORTLAND, Maine – Maine voters repealed a state... more

asherp
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Bill Clinton, George W. Bush debate canceled

UPDATE: A debate between former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush was canceled, according to the New York Post, after the... more

Future_America
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Daily Show Under Fire from Pro-Israel Lobby

http://rawstory.com/2009/10/daily-show-israelipalestinian-conflict/ Jon Stewart's comedy news show The Daily Show is... more

asherp
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Daily Show Beat Meet The Press To The Punch On Jon Krakauer

Here's an excellent observation from Mediaite's Rachel Sklar, who reminds us that while the "big news to come out... more

atomiclegion
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There are 5 million children who could be potentially orphaned by ICE deportations

Cristina in her show on Univision tonite featured the stories of several children who have been left orphaned in the United States due to the deportation of their parents. On Cristina's website she reports, based on ICE estimates, that 5 million children, United States citizens by birth, live with their illegal alien parents. On her show she focused on several cases of children whose parents were taken from their homes and the children were forced to be placed in the hands of family relatives or friends because ICE, according to the children, wouldn't allow the parents to take the children with them, because they were "United States Citizens".

The US Immigration newsletter says different....http://www.usimmigrationsupport.org/newsletter/2006/dec_15.html

They claim that the government does not make the decision for the parents, they claim that the decision is the parent's decision. One thing they do make clear to the parents, they say, is that if the children are left behind without being left in the care of responsible adults, they will be handed over to Child Protective Services and they will end up in the Foster Care System.

Another troubling consequence, besides the suffering of the children left behind in the United States, is the growing anger and hatred they feel towards American Authority figures for having their parents, sometimes violently, ripped away from the children's lives.

Watching the show is a very emotional experience. To look into the eyes of these children is so heartbreaking. Several parents interviewed by Cristina reported that they were not given the option of taking their children with them, while others talked about another unique situation. Families where one parent has a work visa, the other parent doesn't, and they have one child who was born outside of the country while they have two children born inside of the country.

In a case recently in Yakima, Washington, three children were orphaned by a domestic violence incident that left both their illegal alien parents dead in a murder suicide. The children were taken in by their illegal alien aunt who legally adopted them in American courts. She was being deported but the five children, two of hers, and the three of her sisters, were not named in the deportation order. According to the article in the New York times, "Here in Eastern Washington, where the number of illegal immigrants is high, Gonzalez's almost certain deportation would hardly be worthy of note. But because of the children, her case has ensnarled government agencies in ways such cases seldom do, with state and Yakima County juvenile-court officials advocating that the family be allowed to stay, while immigration authorities move toward deportation."

What do you think should happen to the children? Should they be deported with their parents? What if they are American Citizens, should the ICE be deporting American Citizens because of their parent's illegal status? Recently, a class-action lawsuit against the U.S. government was filed by 60 American children whose parents face deportation. Their argument is that such deportation violates certain amendments of the U.S. Constitution.Cristina in her show on Univision tonite featured the stories of several children who have been left orphaned in the United States... more

jubal
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173 comments

16 days ago

^#30

Obama declares H1N1 flu national emergency

President Obama signed a proclamation declaring the H1N1 influenza a national emergency, giving doctors and medical facilities... more

vincius
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96 comments

12 days ago

^#31

What's Beck's Beef? Vegetarians, This Time

I've been following Glenn Beck's exploits for a while now, from his take down of Van Jones to his paranoid tirades... more

pjacobs51
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73 comments

7 days ago

^#32

Stewart Takes On 30 Republicans Who Voted Against Rape Amendment

In 2005, Jamie Leigh Jones was gang-raped by her Halliburton/KBR co-workers while working in Iraq and locked in a shipping... more

atomiclegion
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66 comments

21 days ago

^#33

Shepard Smith Apologizes For "Lack Of Balance" In Fox News Report (VIDEO)

Shepard Smith apologized for a "lack of balance" on a story aired during his Fox News show today. Reporter Shannon Bream... more

slarabee
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23 comments

8 days ago

^#34

Father calls insurance company's decision to drop son's coverage "attempted murder"

Rather than continue to pay for Ian Pearl's million dollar medical treatments, one insurance company has decided to end... more

asherp
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46 comments

20 days ago

^#35

Twitter shuts down phony accounts Republicans created to bash Democrats

Twitter shut down 33 fake Twitter accounts created by Republicans using the names of Democratic state representatives. The... more

Future_America
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31 comments

14 days ago

^#36

Bush-era offshore drilling plan shelved

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration on Tuesday overturned another Bush-era energy policy, setting aside a draft plan to allow... more

current89
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26 comments

9 months ago

^#37

Same-Sex Marriage Law Rejected In Maine

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/04/maine.same.sex/index.html On November 3, voters rejected the bill allowing same sex... more

IndieArtist
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0 comments

15 hours ago

^#38

GOP mom champions pot

Lately to the smallish conservative crowd, notably once led by anti-prohibitionist William F. Buckley, is Jessica Corry of... more

vincius
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29 comments

4 days ago

^#39

Medical marijuana raid raises question: What's Obama policy?

WASHINGTON — A recent Drug Enforcement Administration raid on a South Lake Tahoe, Calif., medical marijuana dispensary showcases one of the legal conflicts inherited by the Obama administration.

The Jan. 22 raid near the California-Nevada border occurred two days after Obama took office and before the new president's own Justice Department team was in place. The raid resembled many conducted during the Bush administration, but seemingly clashed with Obama's campaign opposition to such tactics.

"I think the basic concept of using medical marijuana for the same purposes and with the same controls as other drugs prescribed by doctors (is) entirely appropriate," Obama told Oregon's Mail Tribune newspaper in March. "I'm not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on this issue."

Now, citing the Tahoe episode, medical marijuana activists and civil libertarians are urging Obama to freeze future raids. Some hope, as well, that Obama will reverse a Bush administration decision and let additional legal marijuana production to take place.

At the very least, activists and law enforcement officials alike are awaiting clarification about what's changed in the world of medical marijuana. This could take time.

"We're sympathetic to the fact the administration is just getting its feet on the ground," Marijuana Policy Project spokesman Dan Bernath said on Thursday, "but this does show he needs to appoint folks who will respects his principles and policies."

Attorney General Nominee Eric Holder has not yet been confirmed by the Senate, and his proposed deputy hasn't yet had a confirmation hearing. The phrase "medical marijuana" never came up during Holder's extensive hearing, nor in the follow-up written questions asked by senators.

Obama has yet to nominate a permanent DEA administrator, though acting administrator Michele Leonhart is considered one potential candidate and would be the first African-American woman to run the agency. Obama, likewise, has yet to nominate a new head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

"The new drug czar could recommend policies that are more restrictive, or more lenient," noted Bill Ruzzamenti, director of the Central Valley High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area in California.WASHINGTON — A recent Drug Enforcement Administration raid on a South Lake Tahoe, Calif., medical marijuana dispensary... more