irie1972

Fact check: Which President Has Bypassed Congress the Most in U.S. History? Definitely Not Obama

from http://www.policymic.com/articles/80707/which-president-has-bypassed-congress-the-most-in-u-s-history-definitely-not-obama

During Tuesday’s State of the Union address, President Barack Obama raised eyebrows when he stated that though he hopes to spend 2014 working with Congress to increase growth and opportunity, “wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, that’s what I’m going to do.” In short, the president pledged to continue his controversial rule by executive order.

Conservative leaders and news outlets were taken aback by the president’s words. Senator Ted Cruz penned a Wall Street Journal editorial that opens by accusing the president of a “persistent pattern of lawlessness” and enforcing policies “via executive fiat.” Senator John McCain described Obama as abusing “the intent of the Constitution,” and vowed to take the president to court. However, before he begins speed dialing lawyers, McCain may want to take a glimpse at the following graph.

Source: WonkViz

Created by Christopher Ingraham, a data visualizer for the Brookings Institution, the graph shows the rate at which United States presidents have issued executive orders, going all the way back to George Washington. (While executive orders aren’t specifically authorized by the Constitution, they almost date back to it; Washington’s first came a mere five weeks after his swearing in.) Ingraham’s work makes it clear that Obama is hardly a tyrant blasting out executive orders with reckless abandon.

In fact, he’s resorted to executive orders with less frequency than any president since the 19th century.

Despite president and birthday boy Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s flurry of orders establishing the New Deal, Republican presidents have, on average, been more reliant on executive orders than have their Democratic counterparts. In fact, it wasn’t too long ago that Democrats were lamenting a certain Republican president’s use of executive orders to green light the CIA’s torture of detainees and constrain stem cell research.

It’s almost as if both Republicans and Democrats would be happier if we had a different, less unilateral way to enact rules. Perhaps a system by which both parties could propose, debate, and enact legislation.

read the rest at http://www.policymic.com/articles/80707/which-president-has-bypassed-congress-the-most-in-u-s-history-definitely-not-obama

irie1972

TN Tea Party Rep. DesJarlais Exposes Own Ignorance of Constitution, Opposes Religious Freedom (Video)

read herer http://progressivepopulist.org/2014/01/31/tn-tea-party-rep-desjarlais-exposes-own-ignorance-of-constitution-opposes-religious-freedom-video/

"Desjarlais, a doctor who won his seat in 2010 in part because of his outspoken opposition to abortion rights, is best-known nationally for the 2012 revelation that he had urged one of his patients to get an abortion after he impregnated her and testified during divorce proceedings that he and his then-wife made a mutual decision for her to have two abortions. He expressed his anxiety and let his constituents know that he has heard their concerns about the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro being permitted to construct a cemetery on its grounds. He took to his Facebook page recently to publicly declare his anxiety.

The comment was first noted by the Nashville Scene.

desj

“Friends, I have received numerous calls over the last couple of weeks regarding the Murfreesboro mosque cemetery. Although this is a state issue, I am deeply concerned over the impact it might have on our community. Unfortunately the Tennessee Religious Freedom Act, passed by the TN General Assembly, may have played a key role in allowing this cemetery to be approved. There is a difference between legislation that would protect our religious freedoms and legislation that would allow for the circumvention of laws that other organizations comply with on a daily basis.”"

irie1972

Report paves way approve Keystone Pipeline. @barackobama talks like an environmentalist but is not really one.

This pipeline will be incredibly destructive to the environment and will only make people like the Koch Brothers more wealthy. Its really sad that this president wants us to believe he’s pro climate change and pro environment but in reality governs like a conservative and is pro-big oil.

from The New York Times:

Government Report Paves Way for Obama’s Approval of Keystone Pipeline

The State Department released a report on Friday that could pave the way toward President Obama’s approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
The long-awaited environmental impact statement on the project concludes that approval or denial of the pipeline, which would carry 830,000 barrels of oil a day from Alberta to the Gulf Coast, is unlikely to prompt oil companies to change the rate of their extraction of carbon-heavy tar sands oil, a State Department official said. Either way, the tar sands oil, which produces significantly more planet-warming carbon pollution than standard methods of drilling, is coming out of the ground, the report says.
In his second term, Mr. Obama has sought to make his fight against climate change a cornerstone of his legacy. In a major speech on the environment last summer, Mr. Obama said that he would approve the pipeline only if it would not “significantly exacerbate” the problem of carbon pollution. He said the pipeline’s net effects on the climate would be “absolutely critical” to his decision.
The conclusions of the report appear to indicate that the project has passed Mr. Obama’s climate criteria, an outcome expected to outrage environmentalists, who have rallied, protested, marched and been arrested in demonstrations around the country against the pipeline.

READ MORE »

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/01/us/politics/report-may-ease-way-to-approval-of-keystone-pipeline.html?emc=edit_na_20140131
irie1972

Ghana’s e-waste mecca E-waste at the Agbogbloshie dumpsite near Accra has created a socio-economic and environmental disaster.

from http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/2014/01/pictures-ghana-e-waste-mecca-2014130104740975223.html

Agbogbloshie is the world’s biggest e-waste dumpsite and is located close to Accra, Ghana. Electronic waste – TVs, PCs, HiFi systems, refrigerators – defines the landscape of this former wetland and recreation area.

Traders from Europe, US, China and India label their containers as "Development Aid" or "Second-Hand Products", and in the end, up to 500 containers find their way, illegally, to Tema Harbour, 20 miles east of Agbogbloshie. Customers around the globe expect proper recycling, but illegal dumping became a lucrative business.

Here in Agbogbloshie 7- to 25-year-old boys smash stones and simple tools against TVs and PCs to get to the metals, especially copper. They will earn approximately $2.50 per day. Most of them, hoping for a better future, left their families from the poor northern and upper west regions of Ghana for this kind of work.

Injuries like burns, untreated wounds, lung problems, eye damage, and back problems go hand in hand with chronic nausea, anorexia, debilitating headaches and respiratory problems. Almost everyone suffers from insomnia. Smoke and invisible toxins (especially cadmium) harm the careless workers because they often don’t know about the risks and walk around in flimsy footwear like flip-flops. Most of them die from cancer while in their 20s.

Besides these horrible facts and circumstances, though, you will find a colourful and spiritual environment with optimistic people. Many young people believe that this is just a temporary situation and hope that they will find their way out of it one day.

Nevertheless Agbogbloshie is a socio-economic and environmental disaster. It is estimated that e-waste dumping in Agbogbloshie will double in 2020. The 40,000 settlers nicknamed this area "Sodom and Gomorrah".


/Kevin McElvaney/Al Jazeera

As commonly done in Agbogbloshie, Adam Nasara, 25, uses Styropor from refrigerators to light a fire.

rest at http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/2014/01/pictures-ghana-e-waste-mecca-2014130104740975223.html

irie1972

Zimmerman kills someone and is now categorized as a “celebrity” because he killed someone

from http://deadstate.org/george-zimmerman-agrees-to-fight-in-celebrity-boxing-match-coming-up-in-march/

George Zimmerman has agreed to participate in a celebrity boxing match, according to a report from WFST-ABC Action News.

The bout is set to take place on March 1 against a not-yet-selected opponent.

TMZ first broke the news of the planned match, which was later confirmed by ABC with the fight promoter. Zimmerman will be donating the fight’s proceeds to charity.

rest at http://deadstate.org/george-zimmerman-agrees-to-fight-in-celebrity-boxing-match-coming-up-in-march/

irie1972

Possible Big Spoilers For X-Men: Days Of Future Past

from http://movies.cosmicbooknews.com/content/possible-big-spoilers-x-men-days-future-past

Young Jean Grey appears in the past.

Cannonball appears in a mutant refugee camp in the future that is attacked by Sentinels.

Rogue has been captured so the Sentinels can duplicate her powers and use it against mutants. The X-Men later rescue her, and, due to the genetic manipulation done by the Sentinels, Rogue briefly displays super-strength and flight during the escape.

The Sentinels are made of magnetized plates and therefore can change their shape, becoming learner or bulkier. The addition of Rogue’s powers makes them virtually unstoppable, which is why the X-Men decide to move forward with the last-ditch effort to change the outcome of the war by altering the past.

There is a mutant unit led by William Stryker that Havok and Toad are a part of, in 1972.

Banshee left the X-Men to be with his family, and Emma Frost has been captured by the government again, but Magneto isn’t bothered to break her out yet again.

Mystique assassinates President Kennedy while Magneto tries to stop her, which results in him being captured and forced to join the unit. However, this is part of his plan, and Mystique later stages an attempt against President Nixon’s life so Magneto can break out.

When Mystique goes to Saigon to help the mutant unit escape, Toad takes the opportunity, and is later recruited to Magneto’s brotherhood.

The timeline "fractures" in the end. The original timeline (which includes "X-Men Origins: Wolverine", "X2", "X-Men: The Last Stand" and "The Wolverine") remains the same, and the new timeline (which includes "First Class") is a clean slate, in which anything could happen. Old Xavier mentions he is able to feel the other timeline still.

Young Beast and Old Mystique share a brief moment in which he apologizes for not creating a better future, and she apologizes for not being able to change the past. Beast still harbors a crush on her and even attacks Magneto during the Kennedy assassination, under assumption he’s trying to hurt her.

Wolverine’s mind remains in his 1972 body. His future self is left in a comatose state.

The X-Men’s hideout is an ancient tomb where Apocalypse lies dormant, though he awakens in the end. The comatose Wolverine might become his first Horseman in "X-Men: Apocalypse".

There is a reference to the Fantastic Four.

rest at http://movies.cosmicbooknews.com/content/possible-big-spoilers-x-men-days-future-past