Policy Fellow Matt Rumsey wrote this post.

The Senate Homeland Security Committee held a business meeting yesterday morning where they discussed a number of measures, including S. 743, the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2011. The Act is intended to renew and strengthen previous whistleblower protection legislation passed in 1989.

According to the Project on Government Oversight, the bill has 14 cosponsors and support from more than 400 groups and 50 members of the Make it Safe coalition.

According to Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI), who sponsored the bill, federal courts have interpreted the original act in a way that is inconsistent with congressional intent. These interpretations have proved harmful for whistleblowers. Akaka introduced his bill in order to solve these issues.

Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) noted that a similar bill had been passed by the Senate last year, but the House of Representatives had stripped it of provisions protecting intelligence community personnel. The bill ultimately failed. This year, according to Collins, the two chambers “worked to achieve a consensus on how intelligence commuity personnel should be handled” that is now reflected in the bill.

Before voting on the bill, Senator Akaka introduced an amendment to clarify provisions on nondisclosure agreements, give the Government Accountability Office more time to review the bill, and provide the Defense Department with access to information and consultation rights in some of the intelligence provisions. The amended bill was passed by the committee via a voice vote and will now advance to the full Senate.

The committee also considered and passed S. 1409, the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2011 and S. 237, the Government Accountability Office Improvement Act of 2011, in addition to a number of other measures.

A webcast of the entire hearing is available here.

Thanks to PopVox, you can view and search the bill text below.

Andy Rash of iotacons crafted these amazing 8-bit versions of your elected senator, well done.  I’ve also gone ahead and added Influence Explorer data to each one, take a look below.  You can embed this image into your blog by mousing over it and clicking the embed icon in the top left corner.

From iotacons.blogspot.com -

TOP ROW: Richard Shelby (R-AL), Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Mark Begich (D-AK), John McCain (R-AZ), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Mark Pryor (D-AR), John Boozman (R-AR),Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Mark Udall (D-CO), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Joe Lieberman (ID-CT), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tom Carper (D-DE), Chris Coons (D-DE), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Johnny Isakson (R-GA); SECOND ROW: Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Jim Risch (R-ID), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Richard Lugar (R-IN), Dan Coats (R-IN), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Rand Paul (R-KY), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), David Vitter (R-LA), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Susan Collins (R-ME), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Ben Cardin (D-MD); THIRD ROW: John Kerry (D-MA), Scott Brown (R-MA), Carl Levin (D-MI), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Al Franken (D-MN), Thad Cochran (R-MS), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Max Baucus (D-MT), Jon Tester (D-MT), Ben Nelson (D-NE), Mike Johanns (R-NE), Harry Reid (D-NV), John Ensign (R-NV), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Robert Menendez (D-NJ); FOURTH ROW: Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Tom Udall (D-NM), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Richard Burr (R-NC), Kay Hagan (D-NC), Kent Conrad (D-ND), John Hoeven (R-ND), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Rob Portman (R-OH), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Tom Coburn (R-OK), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Bob Casey, Jr. (D-PA), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Jim DeMint (R-SC); FIFTH ROW: Tim Johnson (D-SD), John Thune (R-SD), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Bob Corker (R-TN), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), John Cornyn (R-TX), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Mike Lee (R-UT), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jim Webb (D-VA), Mark Warner (D-VA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Herb Kohl (D-WI), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Mike Enzi (R-WY), John Barrasso (R-WY)

Good Wednesday Morning,

Dear Friends,

I am taking time today to announce my candidacy for the US Senate seat being vacated by Hillary Clinton as she takes her position with the new incoming Administration. My only other announced opponent in this race is Caroline Kennedy.

The way I look at it, if a woman who virtually no one knows other than by virtue of her last name, smashing good looks and copious amounts of money can “run” for the seat, so too can a blue collar guy from Putnam County, NY. But I’m a better choice and here’s why:

Here are the benefits of sending me to the US Senate:

I’m an unknown and have no political affiliations or present loyalties meaning I owe no one anything, no favors and no paybacks. I come to office pretty clean. Rich people don’t get or stay rich by being “clean”.

I’m not a lawyer even though my mother wishes – to this day – that I was one. Do we really need another lawyer in the Senate? Are there any painters in the Senate? They need one.

I have a bit of a corporate background but am now working in a blue collar environment giving me experience in both worlds, worlds that my opponent probably only reads about in books and sees on TV. Has she ever climbed a 30′ ladder carrying a paint bucket? Has she ever crawled under a house to set traps for mice? Has she ever restarted a hot water heater or taped a wall? No. Does she have a clue what working men and women go through each and every day?

Ms. Kennedy is apparently heterosexual and the Senate is full of heteros. Do they really need one more?

I was raised in a conservative, eastern European Jewish-American household and there are very few Jewish US Senators. (I am not responsible for Joe Lieberman. Besides, he’s from a different sect.) Ms. Kennedy is the antithesis of Jewish. In fact, other than Baah’ston, she has no ethnicity. She knows about potatoes and cabbage but has she ever eaten a knish? Has she ever bought tacos from a roadside truck? Are beans and rice “trendy comfort food” or only what she can afford during hard times like the rest of us? Have Raman Noodles ever been an important part of her diet?

While Ms Kennedy is honorary chair of the American Ballet Theatre, I hang lights and run cables at a local arts center which is anything but honorary. While she’s off at Board Meetings in fancy hotels, I’m covered in dust, grime and dirt.

I’m poor and living at the edge of the poverty line. Ms. Kennedy’s doorman earns more than I do. There are no poor Senators and as such Senators really have no clue what it means to go month to month not knowing if you’re going to have a place to live or if you can afford to fix the car to get to work… if you have work. I’m sure Ms. Kennedy calls the driver and has someone take care of her expenses. Unemployment for her means spending an extra week at the beach house. Unemployment for me is a disaster, just like it is for you. Is there anyone in the Senate living month to month, paycheck to paycheck?

I have never owned a pony. Working class people do not own ponies. Working class people aren’t represented in the US Senate.

I am not the offspring of a President. When was the last time this nation had a working class President? (Note: the argument can be made that Barack Obama came from working class roots. If that’s the case, what better than a working class Senator allied with a working class President?)

I have no health insurance nor could I ever begin to afford it. How many US Senators can make that claim? How many Senators worry about getting sick or injuring themselves to the point that will leave them in debt or destitute for the rest of their lives?

I have foreign policy experience. I’ve been to Canada. Several times. More times than Sarah Palin and she was almost the Vice President. I’ve been to Spain and France and speak enough Spanish to know what people on the subway are saying about me and enough French to order Freedom Fries in a gité.

I’m a man of the people. I mix easily with artists and roofers, movie producers and plumbers, gas station attendants and postal service employees. Ms. Kennedy does too, but only as her limo passes them by. Don’t we have enough limo-riding Senators? How about one that drives a busted-up jeep for a change.

Having two Kennedys in the Senate smacks of nepotism.

It’s time to send a commoner to the US Senate and I’m urging you to support me, Jeff Green, to be appointed by Governor Paterson to the US Senate. You know I’ll be more fun than Ms. Kennedy and more attentive to the needs of the millions of working class New Yorkers… we’re just not part of her culture but we make up 99% of the population of the United States. Isn’t it time we had our chance? Isn’t it time someone represented us who was “of us”?

Email Governor Paterson and tell him to appoint Jeff Green to the US Senate. I am willing, able and excited about the prospect of being able to represent what no other US Senator represents – the people. The common, working class, average, run-of-the-mill citizen, those who are the backbone of this nation and who are regularly ignored by the ruling classes – though they’re quite happy to make us pay for everything.

It’s time to send a common man to the Senate and I’m the guy.

Email Governor Patterson now before he makes a mistake that will take years to undo. Tell Governor Patterson that Jeff is the man to represent New York.

And now, the News:

1. Diesel, Made Simply From Coffee Grounds
2. Farm’s Closing Time Is Dinner Time for Pheasants
3. NY Budget’s pain is far-reaching
4. Critics dispute ‘shared sacrifice’ of tax hikes on utilities, soda, clothes
5. Over 2 Trillion tons of ice melted in arctic since ’03
6. Males of All Species Are Becoming More Female
7. Rep. Dennis Kucinich on His Battle With the Banks
8. Seven suggestions for new president

Diesel, Made Simply From Coffee Grounds

(Ah, the Exhaust Aroma)

By HENRY FOUNTAIN

In research that touches on two of Americans’ great obsessions — coffee and cars — scientists at the University of Nevada, Reno, have made diesel fuel from used coffee grounds.

The technique is not difficult, they report in The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, and there is so much coffee around that several hundred million gallons of biodiesel could potentially be made annually.

Mano Misra, a professor of engineering who conducted the research with Narasimharao Kondamudi and Susanta K. Mohapatra, said it was by accident that he realized coffee beans contained a significant amount of oil. “I made a coffee one night but forgot to drink it,” he said. “The next morning I saw a layer of oil floating on it.” He and his team thought there might be a useful amount of oil in used grounds, so they went to several Starbucks stores and picked up about 50 pounds of them.

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Farm’s Closing Time Is Dinner Time for Pheasants

By COREY KILGANNON

The governor says: Let them eat pheasant.

It may sound odd, but the economic pinch on New York State’s government may result in thousands of needy families dining on pheasant this Christmas.

Ending a long tradition of operating pheasant farms for hunting, New York State officials have announced that they will close the last state-run pheasant farm, the Richard E. Reynolds Game Farm, which opened in 1927 in Dryden, N.Y., near Ithaca.

The farm’s approximately 8,000 pheasants will be slaughtered over the next three weeks and distributed to food pantries throughout the state’s Southern Tier, said Yancey Roy, a spokesman for the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation.

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NY Budget’s pain is far-reaching

Legislators, advocacy groups split on governor’s proposals to cut aid for education, health care

By RICK KARLIN, Capitol bureau
First published: Wednesday, December 17, 2008

ALBANY — Gov. David Paterson’s $121.1 billion budget proposal attempts to close a projected $13.7 billion gap with cuts, consolidations and a dizzying array of new and increased fees, surcharges and taxes on New Yorkers from almost all walks of life.

In addition, the cuts to education and health care — sectors that make up more than half the budget — would almost certainly drive up costs at the local level.

“The world has changed,” said Paterson, who used Tuesday’s unveiling to remind New Yorkers that, like the larger economy, the state’s tax revenues are in free fall.

While the governor’s budget is traditionally released in January, Paterson put out his plan early to get a jump on the $1.7 billion deficit that remains in this year’s budget, which ends March 31 and by law must be balanced.

In all, Paterson must cut $15.4 billion over the next 16 months. His plan is almost guaranteed to hit various roadblocks in the Legislature, from lawmakers worried about higher property taxes on Long Island, new fishing fees in rural areas and reductions in municipal aid to New York City.

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Critics dispute ‘shared sacrifice’ of tax hikes on utilities, soda, clothes

Jay Gallagher
Albany Bureau

ALBANY – Though Gov. David Paterson’s budget plan wouldn’t raise broad-based taxes, it would hit New Yorkers with taxes on clothes and shoes, haircuts, movie tickets, cable TV, soda, utility bills and a host of other products and activities, costing taxpayers more than $4 billion a year.

The 88 new or increased fees also include levies on beer, health insurance, vehicle registrations and driver’s licenses, cigars, expensive cars and yachts, rental cars and use of state parks.

“The governor feels these fees are fair, reasonable and necessary to balance this budget,” Paterson press secretary Errol Cockfield said.

But the new levies target some people least able to afford them, said Dan Cantor of the Working Families Party.

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Over 2 Trillion tons of ice melted in arctic since ’03

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 2 trillion tons of land ice in Greenland, Antarctica and Alaska have melted since 2003, according to new NASA satellite data that show the latest signs of what scientists say is global warming.

More than half of the loss of landlocked ice in the past five years has occurred in Greenland, based on measurements of ice weight by NASA’s GRACE satellite, said NASA geophysicist Scott Luthcke. The water melting from Greenland in the past five years would fill up about 11 Chesapeake Bays, he said, and the Greenland melt seems to be accelerating.

NASA scientists planned to present their findings Thursday at the American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco. Luthcke said Greenland figures for the summer of 2008 aren’t complete yet, but this year’s ice loss, while still significant, won’t be as severe as 2007.

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Males of All Species Are Becoming More Female

December 09, 2008 01:59 PM
by Rachel Balik

Various studies indicate that unregulated chemicals released into the environment are causing male animals and humans to take on feminine characteristics.

Pollution Puts Men in Danger
Thousands of chemicals released into the environment are interfering with animal and human endocrine systems, resulting in physical changes. Comprehensive research indicates that these chemicals, nicknamed “gender-benders,” are causing the males in many species to become feminized.

In British lowland rivers, 50 percent of male fish were found to be growing eggs in their testes, the Independent reported. Other discovered anomalies include hermaphrodite polar bears or deer with abnormal antler growth.

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Rep. Dennis Kucinich on His Battle With the Banks

Posted on Dec 15, 2008

By Rep. Dennis Kucinich

Once they were as gods, but the deities of the American banking system are now in ruins, plunged from their pedestals into the maw of taxpayer largesse. Congress voted to give the banks $700 billion, lifting them temporarily out of their sepulcher of debt, while revealing a deep truth about the condition of America’s financial powers:

They never had the money they said they had as they constructed their debt-based monetary system which now lies in ruins. Their decisions on behalf of depositors, shareholders and investors were lacking in basic integrity and common sense. Green gods bailing out with their golden parachutes.

There was a time when their power was real. Come with me to Cleveland 30 years ago today.

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Seven suggestions for new president

By: J. Gordon Douglas

Every pundit has a list of items that President-elect Barack Obama should tackle soon after his inauguration.

Here are some suggestions from On the Wild Side:

1) First, I agree with great biologist, philosopher and Pulitzer Prize-winning author professor Edward O. Wilson that Obama should announce in his inaugural speech that the U.S. must lead the world in science and technology.

Wilson says Obama should set up commissions of distinguished scientists and business leaders to provide guidance covering medicine, environment, alternative energy, basic science and science education. This highest priority program should be bipartisan.

I was interested to hear Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, call for the same priorities. He does not want us to focus on the economy to the point where we overlook the needs for science, education and business vitality.

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Good Thursday Morning,

Don’t forget we’ve got an active blog running now. Click here to register then comment, pontificate or elucidate. But remember, be nice. It’s not a free-for-all and bad behavior will be edited to that big bit-bucket in the aether.

As I drove back from Patterson yesterday evening I noticed the absence of political signs. Yay! Thanks to the candidates who cleared theirs up, all but Mr. Lalor whose signs have been up since, oh, it seems like, since 1932.

As I predicted here the other day, the Patterson Town Board voted 3-2 last evening to move the budget hearing from the Town Hall to the Rec Center, next Wednesday, November 12 at 7:30 PM. Councilman Kassay almost blew his top when his well laid plans were dashed. You had to see it!

I had a report the other day about some problems with the new electronic voting machines in Patterson. If you can verify problems in other parts of the county, please write.

Need a dose of Christmas music? Go to a Wal*Mart. Wal*Mart started playing all your holiday favorites on November 1 and will until the lead in Santa’s toys have been eaten by bad little girls and boys.

But you all won’t be shopping Wal*Mart this holiday season since you’re all on the pledge: Nothing over $20, Nothing from China. Right? Of course right!

Just when you thought it was safe to swim in the NY State Senate’s pool someone had to pee in the water. In this case it was the “Gang of Four”, Democrats from New York City: Ruben Diaz Sr. and Pedro Espada Jr., both of the Bronx; Carl Kruger of Brooklyn; and Hiram Monserrate of Queens.

So, what’s the deal? They’ve been meeting with GOP leaders who have promised them new cars, naked (wo)men and month-long vacations in the Caribbean if they would switch their party affiliations to (R) so that Republicans could maintain their control of that august body. (I made up the promises, we have no idea what they’ve been promised. But I guarantee you’ll be paying for it… whatever it is.)

News reports say that Governor Paterson took a swan dive into the pool and surfaced with a deal with two of the four which would allow them to “vote their conscience” for at least a year without censure – if they remain Democrats. Imagine that! Elected representatives allowed to vote their conscience! Sheldon Silver should take a page from that playbook.

And, while we’re talking about that venerable Assemblyman from NYC, maybe it’s time for term limits for state Assembly and Senate leaders? What say you Ms Galef?

On Monday I noted in this column that Assembly candidate John Degnan had been struck by a car driven by a worker for the Ball campaign. Assemblyman Ball denied that the driver, Chris Arnold, worked for him. Yet, according to a report in the Putnam Courier, that paper received an email from Mr. Arnold on October 30th signing it, “Christopher Arnold, Communications Director, New Yorkers on the Ball.” We’ve got two more years of that crap.

There’s a benefit show tonight at the Town Crier in Pawling to help raise funds for the Kubie family of Patterson who were burned out of their home just a few months ago. More information on this event (it’s only $20!) is here. The show will feature Sol Y Canto whose joyful, original Latin roots music is passionate, poetic, playful and honest. The heart and soul of their music is this sextet’s trademark vocal harmonies, serving up a delicious and constantly changing musical feast, from beautiful, tender ballads to driving dance tunes with churning Latin rhythms.

From the So, You Don’t Think Your Vote Counts? department: As of 11:15 PM last evening (CST) the two contenders in the Minnesota Senate Race (Norm Coleman’s and Al Franken) sit a mere 477 votes apart – out of 2,900,000 cast.

The Putnam County Legislature has designated the month of November as the time period when landowners may file a request for inclusion of land in the Putnam County Agricultural District. To be eligible for inclusion, the property must be a viable agricultural entity or business.

Mark Your Calendars:
Saturday, November 15 from 11AM – 5PM  and Sunday November 16, from 11AM – 3PM:  Interfaith Fair Trade Bazaar. Fairly-traded craft items from around the world, plus merchandise from local artisans and non-profit organizations.  Co-sponsored by Dutchess County Interfaith Council.  Ely Hall, Vassar College.  Contact Pat Lamanna, 845-452-4013, patla@hvc.rr.com.  www.uupok.org. This event will help towards your goal of your $20 – Nothing From China holiday shopping!

Tomorrow is the weekly “Things to Do” edition of News That Matters so if your organization has an event schedule for tomorrow night or during this weekend, be sure to get it in by this afternoon for inclusion. If you’d like to post it to the blog, point your browser here, sign up and post.
And now, the News:

1. Editorial: Hudson River cleanup can’t take more delays
2. New York City’s Iconic Skyline Goes Dimmer to Save Energy
3. Sprawl to meet its limit in Atlanta
4. President Tricks Environment, Treats Factory Farms
5. Roadblocks to the Altar
6. Banks begin rush for US bailout funds
7. Clean Energy Options

Editorial: Hudson River cleanup can’t take more delays

With only six months to go before the startup of the long-awaited and environmentally critical Hudson River dredging, it’s imperative that an apparent breakdown in communication is resolved between key players and some small communities about 25 miles downriver from the project.

As important is that federal environmental officials satisfy concerns and questions these communities have about the massive project and its effect on their drinking water, concerns that at this point appear to be leading to legal action and another potential delay. This is outrageous.

There have been decades of legal battles over the cleanup of polychlorinated biphenyls, which General Electric discharged into the Hudson for decades until the 1970s, when PCBs were finally banned. Back in 2002, General Electric and the EPA announced an agreement to dredge “hot spots” of contamination in the Hudson. The project was supposed to start in 2005, but there have been a series of delays.

Read More

New York City’s Iconic Skyline Goes Dimmer to Save Energy

CFLs, LEDs, Sensors, Timers and More Help Buildings Save Money

In recent memory, New York City’s iconic skyline blazed all night long, lit from the lights of thousands of unoccupied offices, cafeterias, stores and other businesses, not to mention apartments of those burning the midnight oil and unshielded streetlights.

But now, after the age of Cheap Oil has apparently passed, building managers have gotten wise to the fact that they can save literally millions of dollars a year by not paying for lighting that no one uses.

As the New York Times points out, attitudes are changing, and it’s no longer seen as so fashionable to illuminate the entire breadth of a skyscraper just for the sake of showing off. Today, more buildings are opting to simply illuminate the crowns, lending a muted, yet tasteful and “greener,” glow to Manhattan. Companies are saving valuable energy dollars by installing motion sensors, timers and dimmers. In today’s economy, it’s likely every dollar saved counts.

According to the Times, the New York State Assembly passed legislation in June requiring that new outdoor lighting have shields that reduce glare and waste. The bill’s sponsor, Assemblywoman Linda B. Rosenthal (D-Manhattan), hopes the State Senate will take up the case, especially if Democrats win a majority in the next election.

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Sprawl to meet its limit in Atlanta

By Christopher B. Leinberger

>From News Services
Wednesday, November 05, 2008

I have been coming to Atlanta for 35 years, consulting for the likes of Trammel Crow Residential, Cousins Properties and Carter and Associates, and I have witnessed one of the most remarkable metropolitan transformations in the country. Those changes led me to remark in a speech in the 1990s that metropolitan Atlanta was the fastest-growing human settlement in history regarding land consumption.

This phenomenal growth has been in all four cardinal directions but particularly to the north, up I-75, Ga. 400 and I-85. This northern thrust is in the heart of the “favored quarter,” that 90-degree arc coming out from downtown that has been the focus of the vast majority of growth in Atlanta, just as it is in every metropolitan area in the country.

However, this development pattern is changing.

The underlying population and employment growth will continue —- well above national rates. However, where that growth will locate is evolving.

Read More

President Tricks Environment, Treats Factory Farms

Polluting Factory Farms Will Have Fewer Restrictions Thanks to New Bush Rule. There Goes the Water Supply…

President Bush might not be providing much assurance on the state of the economy these days. But as he prepares to leave office, he is ensuring that the environment takes a hit.

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) issued a press release explaining that a new Bush administration rule signed on Halloween–trick or treat?–made thousands of factory farms exempt from needing permits that limit water pollution. In addition, the EPA did not choose to improve controls for bacteria and other pathogens that pose risks to human health and wildlife.

Confined Animal Feeding Lots or CAFOs, as factory farms operations are known, are huge polluters. They create large amounts of waste that doesn’t become fertilizer for farms but often runs off into waterways, contaminating drinking supplies and harming aquatic life. The release says that the EPA estimates that these facilities generate three times more waste than people do nationwide.

Read More

Roadblocks to the Altar

Being the first state to recognize both civil unions and same-sex marriage puts Connecticut—and its JPs—in a tricky position
Comments (0)
Thursday, November 06, 2008
By Dave Bonan

Between the time the plaintiffs in Kerrigan v. Connecticut Department of Public Health and their supporters cheered on the steps of the Connecticut Supreme Court and the time same-sex couples actually marry in the state, there are a host of legal matters to sort out. The landmark decision, delivered on Oct. 10, comes not at the end but somewhere in the middle of a series of legal hurdles to full gay rights.

The Kerrigan suit was brought about in 2004 after eight same-sex couples were denied marriage licenses and sued. They were represented by attorneys from Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, the Boston group that won same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.

The Connecticut ruling is unique in that it’s the only instance in which same-sex marriage was imposed on a state that already recognized civil unions; the first time a court said that civil unions aren’t enough. Connecticut was the first state to pass laws to affirm civil unions in 2005; Vermont, the first state to recognize them, did so under the order of its supreme court.

The General Assembly is expected to pass a gay marriage bill next session, codifying the Supreme Court ruling, according to State Sen. Michael Lawlor (D-East Haven), chair of the Judiciary Committee.

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Banks begin rush for US bailout funds

Early reluctance is giving way as hundreds prepare to apply before the deadline.

By Peter Grier | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the November 5, 2008 edition

Washington – Badge of shame – or sign of solvency?

That’s the question for thousands of banks across the US as they decide whether to apply for government investments from the Treasury’s $700 billion rescue fund.

When Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson first announced that Washington would inject capital into private banks directly via equity purchases, some analysts thought that participation might mark regional institutions as somehow impaired.

But dozens of banks have already signed up, and hundreds more now are expected to follow by the mid-November deadline. That rush – plus the fact that the money represents reasonably priced capital – appears to have changed the equity program’s image.

“There’s some feeling this is a club you have to be a member of,” says Robert Brusca, chief economist at Fact and Opinion Economics.

The Treasury’s rescue effort already has changed and grown into something more complicated than officials envisioned when the bill authorizing it was signed into law by President Bush on Oct. 3.

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Clean Energy Options

12 clean technologies that will help save our planet from self-destruction
by Paul McGinniss | posted November 2008

With so many conflicting reports, it might be hard to gauge the real truth about global warming, no matter one’s political or economic persuasion. On one side of the climate-change debate, there are those who still say there is no global warming at all, whatsoever, and even go so far as to say we are possibly heading toward a potential ice age. Articles such as “Climate change: Menace or myth?,” which appeared on the Website NewScientists.com in 2005, were fairly common up until recently.

Then there are the people who say that, yes, there might be some global warming, but we don’t know how bad it is, and it is not proven to be caused completely by human behavior.

Vice Presidential candidate Governor Sarah Palin denies that global warming is caused by human behavior. “A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I’m not one, though, who would attribute it to being man-made,” Palin said in an August 2008 interview.

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