The New Nullification Movement

On June 25, the Supreme Court invalidated a key section of the Voting Rights Act, ruling that states with the worst history of racial discrimination in voting no longer had to clear their voting changes with the federal government. That decision has set off a new wave of disenfranchisement, primarily in the South, with eight states previously covered by the VRA passing or implementing new voting restrictions over the past four months.

A week before the Shelby County v. Holder ruling, the Supreme Court decided another voting rights case, Arizona v. The Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, which garnered few headlines but is also having major ramifications. In a 7–2 opinion written by Justice Antonin Scalia, who famously called the Voting Rights Act a “perpetuation of racial entitlement,” the Court found that Arizona’s proof-of-citizenship law for voter registration violated the 1993 National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). With a few important caveats—for example, that states have the power to set voter “qualifications” for elections—the ruling seemed like an unlikely voting rights victory from a Court known as markedly hostile to the cause.

Mike Rogers Defends NSA Surveillance, Says Public Information Is Misguided

WASHINGTON, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Two Republican congressmen on Sunday defended Washington's surveillance programs abroad in reaction to protests from allies, after the wide scope of the eavesdropping was revealed this year by former spy agency contractor Edward Snowden.

Mike Rogers, chairman of the House of Representatives intelligence committee, said much of the public information on those efforts, including allegations that the U.S. National Security Agency had spied on millions of French citizens, was misguided.

Walmart Disabled Greeter Matt Wood Fired For Clocking In Late

DURANGO, Colo. (AP) — Wal-Mart officials are checking out complaints that a man who suffered a brain injury in 2005 and has been working as a Wal-Mart greeter in Colorado was fired for clocking in late after lunches without proper representation.

Supporters say Matt Wood deserves a second chance at the Durango store because of his disabilities. They say his wife should've been notified because she is his representative and is best-suited to help him address any problems.

Store spokeswoman Kayla Whaling tells the Durango Herald (http://tinyurl.com/nxbetda ) the corporation takes these cases very seriously and it is looking into the situation.

Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.com
Author: AP

Nearly 300 Pipeline Spills In North Dakota Have Gone Unreported To The Public Since January 2012

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota, the nation's No. 2 oil producer behind Texas, recorded nearly 300 oil pipeline spills in less than two years, state documents show. None was reported to the public, officials said.

According to records obtained by The Associated Press, the pipeline spills — many of them small — are among some 750 "oil field incidents" that have occurred since January 2012 without public notification.

Canada Budget Surprise To Be Investigated By Watchdog

OTTAWA - The surprising revelation last week that Ottawa is almost $7 billion ahead of schedule for eliminating the deficit is attracting the scrutiny of the budget watchdog.

The No. 2 man in the Parliamentary Budget Office says officials have asked the Finance Department for clarification.

"We'll look at it because it will affect our own numbers, and try and figure out what the source of it is," says Mostafa Askari.

Canadians Detained Abroad: Over 1,500 In Foreign Prisons

MONTREAL - For nearly two months all eyes were turned to John Greyson and Tarek Loubani, the Canadian activists held in an Egyptian prison before being allowed to return to Canada.

Two other detained Canadians, Greenpeace activists Alexandre Paul and Paul Ruzycki, have also been in the headlines as they remain held in a Russian prison and could face a lengthy prison sentence on piracy charges.

NSA 'Stop Watching Us' Protest Draws Thousands In Washington

WASHINGTON -- Thousands rallied against the National Security Agency's domestic and international surveillance programs Saturday, marching from Union Station to the Capitol to call for an end to mass surveillance.

"We are witnessing an American moment, in which ordinary people -- from high schools to high office -- stand up to oppose a dangerous trend in government," said a statement from Edward Snowden, read aloud at the rally by a participant.

The former NSA employee who leaked information about government surveillance programs to the media ended his statement by saying, "It is time for reform. Elections are coming, and we're watching you."

Dick Cheney: Military Action In Iran Likely

Military action in Iran is likely unavoidable, Dick Cheney said on Sunday.

On ABC's 'This Week', host George Stephanopoulous asked Cheney about the effectiveness of diplomatic talks in Iran.

"Is military action against Iran inevitable?" he said.

"I have trouble seeing how we're going to achieve our objective short of that," Cheney said. "And I doubt very much that the diplomacy will be effective if there's not the prospect that, if diplomacy fails, that we will, in fact, resort to military force."

Cheney has long taken a hardline stance against Iran. As Vice President, he repeatedly pushed President Bush to pursue military action. In 2011, he urged President Obama to strike Iran to recover a drone.

Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.com
Author: Alana Horowitz

Party Crashers

In the late nineteen-sixties, Mitch McConnell came to Washington to work as an aide to Senator Marlow Cook, a Kentucky Republican. Cook backed clean-air standards and limits on strip mining. It was a time of political diversity among Republicans: in 1970, Senate Republicans endorsed the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. McConnell was briefly a fellow-traveller of those who regarded government as a source of public protection. He once called the Nixon Administration “at worst, completely reactionary.”

In 1984, McConnell was elected to the Senate, on the coattails of Ronald Reagan’s landslide reëlection. By then, a movement of Southern and evangelical conservatives was rising within the Party. McConnell tacked right periodically, saluting the new Republican leaders. During the Administration of George W. Bush, he backed the President by voting, with Ted Kennedy, to enact No Child Left Behind and the expansion of the Medicare drug benefit. By 2009, after Wall Street melted down, McConnell had risen to Minority Leader, and he forged a deal with Democrats to bail out big banks.

Ohio, West Virginia Residents Sue DuPont Over Exposure To C8 Chemical Used In Teflon

CINCINNATI -- CINCINNATI (AP) — Nine Ohio and West Virginia residents who have cancer and other diseases have filed federal lawsuits this month against chemical giant DuPont, alleging the company knowingly contaminated drinking-water supplies with a chemical used by one of its plants.

The lawsuits, filed Oct. 8 and this week, are among about 50 such cases — including one alleging wrongful death — filed against DuPont since April, when a court-appointed science panel found probable links between exposure to perfluorooctanoic acid, also known as C8, and kidney cancer, testicular cancer and thyroid disease, among others.