Freedom of Information Act: Fight Over Changes

From the AP:
Republican Sen. John Cornyn said Wednesday there is broad support for a bill to create a panel to study the federal Freedom of Information Act, but real reforms could run into trouble.
The bill, sponsored by Cornyn and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-VT, would create a 16-member panel that would recommend ways to speed information [...]

Bush Administration Absolved Of Manipulating Intelligence

From the Associated Press:
In a scathing report, a presidential commission said Thursday that America’s spy agencies were “dead wrong” in most of their judgments about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction before the war and that the United States knows “disturbingly little” about the threats posed by many of the nation’s most dangerous adversaries.
The report implicitly [...]

Judge Blocks Rule Cutting Seniors Benefits

Taken from an article in the NY Times dated March 30th:
A federal district judge on Wednesday blocked a Bush administration rule that would have allowed employers to reduce or eliminate health benefits for retirees when they reach age 65 and become eligible for Medicare,
The judge, Anita B. Brody of the Federal District Court in Philadelphia, [...]

Terri Schiavo Has Died

Breaking News:
Family representatives confirm brain-damaged woman passed away in Florida hospice; parents were denied access to daughter’s bedside in final hours.
That is all there is right now.

Bible Unconstitutional!

The Supreme Court of Colorado has decided that looking to the bible for moral guidance in deciding the death penalty is unconstitutional; so a murdering rapist gets life.
You can read a very well written column on the Three Bad Fingers Blog.

U.S. Develops Space Weapons

The Pentagon is developing weapons for space.
Analyzing the proposed Pentagon fiscal 2006 budget just sent to Congress, Hitchens and her colleagues pointed to $60.9 million for an experimental XXS spacecraft whose “micro-satellite payloads” could attack enemy satellites. Another $68 million is earmarked for a Near Field Infrared Experiment that would use infrared technology to disable [...]

Title IX Expanded

WASHINGTON, March 29 – A sharply divided Supreme Court expanded the reach of the landmark Title IX anti-discrimination law today, ruling that it protects people from retaliation when they complain about sex bias against others.
“Reporting incidents of discrimination is integral to Title IX enforcement and would be discouraged if retaliation against those who report went [...]

New Polling: Social Security In Trouble

There is growing polling data suggesting people believe SS is heading for problems.
A recent Gallup Poll found that Americans, for the first time, list Social Security as the No. 1 domestic issue at 12 percent, ahead of the economy (10 percent), health care (9 percent) and terrorism (9 percent). Last week, the Battleground 2006 poll [...]

Lebanon Update

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — In new opposition gains against Lebanon’s pro-Syrian leadership, the head of the nation’s military intelligence stepped aside Tuesday and the prime minister was expected to resign for the second time in four weeks after failing to form a new Cabinet.
The opposition has been demanding the resignations of Azar, four other security [...]

Miltary Families Attacked By Creditors

This just story just makes me angry. Read the whole NY Times Story here
The law, the Service members Civil Relief Act, protects all active-duty military families from foreclosures, evictions and other financial consequences of military service. The Supreme Court has ruled that its provisions must “be liberally construed to protect those who have been obliged [...]