According to Wikileaks.org, Snowden has also submitted asylum requests to Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Venezuela Ecuador and Iceland. 

CBS News reports on some of his rejections:

Continue Reading...

Comparisons between Davis and just about every popular female television character of the last few years have sprung up across the Internet -- most commonly, to Emilia Clarke's Daenerys Targaryen from "Game of Thrones," Amy Poehler's Leslie Knope from "Parks and Recreation," and Connie Britton's Tami Taylor from "Friday Night Lights."

The last one makes sense, sort of -- Davis and Taylor both are Texan women with teased heads of blond hair. It was little wonder that fans of "Friday Night Lights" started comparing the two even as the filibuster was going on.

[embedtweet id="349640240702566401"]

[embedtweet id="349668289833738241"]

[embedtweet id="349688861959524352"]

[embedtweet id="349701931301740546"]

[embedtweet id="349716526577889280"]

[embedtweet id="349744540820832257"]

Continue Reading...

Thousands of demonstrators gathered to voice their opposition to the proposed abortion ban, many choosing to do so with a little levity.

A roundup of the best signs of the day:

[slide_show id=13348181]

Continue Reading...

The statement in full:

One week ago I left Hong Kong after it became clear that my freedom and safety were under threat for revealing the truth. My continued liberty has been owed to the efforts of friends new and old, family, and others who I have never met and probably never will. I trusted them with my life and they returned that trust with a faith in me for which I will always be thankful.

On Thursday, President Obama declared before the world that he would not permit any diplomatic "wheeling and dealing" over my case. Yet now it is being reported that after promising not to do so, the President ordered his Vice President to pressure the leaders of nations from which I have requested protection to deny my asylum petitions.

This kind of deception from a world leader is not justice, and neither is the extralegal penalty of exile. These are the old, bad tools of political aggression. Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me.

For decades the United States of America have been one of the strongest defenders of the human right to seek asylum. Sadly, this right, laid out and voted for by the U.S. in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is now being rejected by the current government of my country. The Obama administration has now adopted the strategy of using citizenship as a weapon. Although I am convicted of nothing, it has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person. Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum.

In the end the Obama administration is not afraid of whistleblowers like me, Bradley Manning or Thomas Drake. We are stateless, imprisoned, or powerless. No, the Obama administration is afraid of you. It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised — and it should be.

I am unbowed in my convictions and impressed at the efforts taken by so many.

Edward Joseph Snowden

Monday 1st July 2013

Continue Reading...

“The same left-wing extremists who support Pete Gallego want more burdensome regulations that put the interests of spiders above our need to create more jobs,” the flier declared, referring to discovery of the endangered Braken Bat Cave meshweaver. “The best way to stop left-wing extremists from killing jobs is to vote against their hand-picked candidate Pete Gallego.”

Continue Reading...

[He] offers a blueprint for his laptop computer and provides YouTube links to a commercial for a laughing doll from the 1970s and for The Rock-afire Explosion, an animatronics band that played in ShowBiz Pizza locations in the 1980s.

In one thread on the website thehighroad.org in October 2009 at 1 a.m., the poster believed to be Lanza asks whether a ban on a certain semiautomatic pistol might extend to other weapons.

Another poster suggests that he ask the Connecticut State Police.

"I always prefer asking through proxy when I can avoid speaking to someone directly. I was just wondering if anyone knew because I have a fetish for .32 ACP," the poster suspected to be Lanza responds, referring to ammunition.

Continue Reading...

The bill, called the Federal Marriage Amendment, is quite short:

Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman.

Last week, the Supreme Court held that Section 3 of DOMA, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman for the purposes of receiving federal benefits, is unconstitutional.

Though there's no chance that Huelskamp's legislation will become law, 28 Republicans have signed on as co-sponsors to it, mostly unsurprising conservatives like Paul Broun, Ga., Trent Franks, Ariz., Louie Gohmert, Texas, Ralph Hall, Texas, Jim Jordan, Ohio, and Steve Stockman, Texas.

The Huffington Post reports:

Continue Reading...

Newly published research suggests that’s a complete misreading of the facts. According to this analysis, politically engaged Mexicans who move to the U.S. fall all over the ideological spectrum, very much like native-born Americans.

What’s more, according to University of Nebraska-Lincoln political scientist Sergio Wals, those on the right are more inclined to participate in the American electoral process than those on the left.

Continue Reading...

[embedtweet id ="351741175977349120"]
[embedtweet id ="351768986519744512"]
[embedtweet id ="351774115419537408"]
[embedtweet id ="351761503235481601"]
[embedtweet id ="351763171587006464"]
[embedtweet id ="351719790865420288"]

[embedtweet id ="351772062068645890"]
[embedtweet id ="351765330114256896"]

[embedtweet id ="351784320756744192"]
[embedtweet id ="351785045104660480"]
[embedtweet id ="351777132239798272"]
[embedtweet id ="351784320756744192"]
[embedtweet id ="351740893927178240"]

Continue Reading...

Few outside Zimmerman's defense team have done more to help him than Sean Hannity, who on Friday declared that Zimmerman had already won the trial. "As far as I'm concerned, this case is over," the Fox host said after playing testimony from a witness who said he saw Trayvon Martin beating Zimmerman "MMA style." The day before that, Hannity said on his radio show that the judge should dismiss manslaughter, let alone the second-degree murder charges.

"So the question is why are we here? And the answer to that question is purely political. Politics influenced the decision, the media influenced the decision," Hannity said, succinctly revealing why the conservative media has found itself vocally defending someone who admitted to killing teenager Trayvon Martin. It goes like this: Liberals and the media made hay out of the fact that Zimmerman was initially not charged in the killing of Martin. Liberals and the media are bad. Therefore, Zimmerman must be good.

Continue Reading...

"I agree with thousands of Kentuckians, that Kentucky is tired of 28 years of obstruction," she said, adding: "Kentucky is tired of a senior Senator that has lost touch with Kentucky issues, voters and their values."

Grimes could prove a formidable opponent for McConnell: A May poll from the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling found that McConnell and Grimes were neck-and-neck at 45 percent. McConnell, in general, is facing some tough poll numbers: The same survey found that 47 percent of voters disapprove of him, with only 44 percent approving.

Continue Reading...

From the study:

[I]n 2011 and 2012, Koch Industries Public Sector LLC, the lobbying arm of Koch Industries, advocated for the Energy Tax Prevention Act, which would have rolled back the Supreme Court’s ruling that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could regulate greenhouse gases. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., and co-signed by 92 Republicans (and three Democrats), 61 of whom signed an anti-climate tax “pledge.” An economist with the American Council for Capital Formation — a nonprofit group that receives Koch money — testified about that same bill before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Margo Thorning told members of the House in February 2011 that regulation of greenhouse gas emissions “makes little economic or environmental sense,” according to her testimony.

Continue Reading...

As Salon has previously reported, the antiabortion amendments in the budget block funding for rape crisis centers that refer women to abortion service providers, impose mandatory ultrasounds on women seeking abortions, and, because of a provision blocking transfer agreements between abortion clinics and hospitals, could shutter four of the state's 12 abortion service providers.

The move was quickly denounced by state Democrats and reproductive rights advocates.

Continue Reading...

Clapper, you may recall, unequivocally said "no, sir" in response to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., asking him: "Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?" Clapper's response was shown to be a lie by Snowden's disclosures, as well as by reports from the Guardian, the Washington Post, the Associated Press and Bloomberg News (among others). This is particularly significant, considering lying before Congress prevents the legislative branch from performing oversight and is therefore a felony.

Continue Reading...

"The fact that they didn't even pursue accessing the private e-mails is very disturbing to me," Speier said of the Pentagon's inspector general report on the matter, in an interview with USA Today. "Because it would suggest that it was an incomplete investigation at the very least. At the worst: [they were] intentionally not pursuing an investigation into whether or not there was an inappropriate relationship, secrecy, national-security breaches. Classified information."

The emails in question were the  thousands of exchanges between Gen. Allen and Kelley. Kelley was pulled into the spotlight when she complained to the FBI about harassing emails, eventually revealed to have been sent by David Petraeus' biographer Paula Broadwell, which eventually led to revelations that Petraeus and Broadwell were having an affair.

From USA Today:

Continue Reading...

If Snowden wants to stay in Russia he "must stop his work aimed at harming our American partners".

Snowden "is not a Russian agent", Putin said, repeating that Russian intelligence services were not working with the fugitive American, who is believed to remain in the transit area at a Moscow airport eight days after arriving from Hong Kong.

He said Snowden should choose his final destination and go there.

Continue Reading...

Bush was speaking with CNN in an interview from Zambia, and said that there "needs to be a balance" between privacy and security, "and as the president explained, there is a proper balance."

Bush was asked about the NSA's phone and Internet surveillance program specifically, and replied: "I put that program in place to protect the country. One of the certainties was that civil liberties were guaranteed."

He also commented on Edward Snowden, who first leaked information on the program to the press. "I think he damaged the security of the country," Bush said.

Watch:

Continue Reading...

Politicker NY reports:

“We love Weiner and you can quote me on that!” shouted 25-year-old Justin Curtis after Mr. Weiner passed, flanked by a slew of supporters who followed in his footsteps, holding a “Weiner!” sign that stretched the length of the street itself.

“You guys know that’s my name right?” Mr. Weiner offered at one point. “We’re not just saying that.”

Continue Reading...

From Politico:

The Congressional Budget Office, which judges the budgetary impact of all legislation, says “Depending on the number of additional births under H.R. 1797, such Medicaid costs could range from about $75 million over the next 10 years to more than $400 million over that period.”

CBO officially estimates that the bill increases federal deficits by $75 million between 2014 and 2018, and $225 million between 2014 and 2023.

Continue Reading...

The second special session, called for by Gov. Rick Perry after the measure failed to pass in the previous session, will begin Monday at 2 p.m. (3 p.m. ET) and could last up to 30 days.

The bill is expected to pass in the Republican-controlled Legislature, and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who supports the measure, told the Dallas Morning News on Saturday that the second session leaves little hope for a successful filibuster: “We’re not going to get it back from the House within filibuster range,” Dewhurst said. “We’re going to make sure that we’ve got plenty of time, and no human being can talk for two weeks.”

Continue Reading...