Woo hoo

~ susie ~ 4 Comments

unemployment benefits

This is some unexpected good news:

WASHINGTON—Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid broke publicly with the White House Wednesday on trade policy, instantly imperiling two major international trade deals and punching a hole in one piece of the economic agenda the president outlined in his State of the Union address a day earlier.

Mr. Reid told reporters he opposed legislation aimed at smoothing the passage of free-trade agreements, a vital component to negotiating any deal, and pointedly said supporters should back down.

“I’m against fast track,” Mr. Reid (D., Nev.) said, using the shorthand term for legislation that prevents overseas trade agreements from being amended during the congressional approval process. “I think everyone would be well-advised just not to push this right now.”

The move spells trouble for two sets of complicated talks, one with the European Union and the other with countries in the Asian-Pacific region. Both deals likely would have required such a “fast track” approval to clear the Congress. The U.S.’s negotiating partners wouldn’t likely commit to a final agreement that could be unpopular back home without assurances that it couldn’t be modified by U.S. lawmakers.

BP Deepwater supervisors will be tried on manslaughter charges

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

Deepwater_Horizon_fire_Coast Guard

It’s about fucking time. Of course, they should be going after the owners:

Law360, New York (January 28, 2014, 6:30 PM ET) — A Louisiana federal judge on Monday refused to toss manslaughter charges against two BP PLC supervisors for their roles in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, rejecting claims that the charges are unconstitutionally vague because they lack a clear standard of care that the supervisors allegedly violated.

The U.S. Department of Justice claims Robert Kaluza’s and Donald Vidrine’s negligence caused the 11 rig worker deaths in the Deepwater Horizon explosion, which sent nearly 5 million barrels of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico.

Hmm

~ susie ~ 3 Comments

NASA - Coronal Mass Ejection Exhibit

Now what did this have to do with our national security?

WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency monitored the communications of other governments ahead of and during the 2009 United Nations climate negotiations in Copenhagen, Denmark, according to the latest document from whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The document, with portions marked “top secret,” indicates that the NSA was monitoring the communications of other countries ahead of the conference, and intended to continue doing so throughout the meeting. Posted on an internal NSA website on Dec. 7, 2009, the first day of the Copenhagen summit, it states that “analysts here at NSA, as well as our Second Party partners, will continue to provide policymakers with unique, timely, and valuable insights into key countries’ preparations and goals for the conference, as well as the deliberations within countries on climate change policies and negotiation strategies.”

“Second Party partners” refers to the intelligence agencies of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, with which the U.S. has an intelligence-sharing relationship. “While the outcome of the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference remains uncertain, signals intelligence will undoubtedly play a significant role in keeping our negotiators as well informed as possible throughout the 2-week event,” the document says.

The Huffington Post published the documents Wednesday night in coordination with the Danish daily newspaper Information, which worked with American journalist Laura Poitras.

Radical

~ susie

I always loved this 1996 Catie Curtis song, and found out that they wouldn’t release the video until recently. Boy, it doesn’t seem strange at all now, does it? LOL: