From the newswires …
On Gun Violence: Obama in Minneapolis
As the debate over guns after Newtown moves into the often bitterly partisan halls of Congress, President Obama flew Monday to the Midwest to remind the country there’s more unity on gun control than the rancorous debate in the nation’s capital might suggest
Read More: Minneapolis’ Progressive Approach to Reducing Gun Violence
Read More: PCCC Ad Targets Mitch McConnell on Gun Control
Violence Against Women Act Flying Toward Senate Passage
The Senate overwhelmingly agreed Monday to advance legislation reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, winning over strong bipartisan support to bypass a filibuster and consider the renewal of domestic abuse funding that is currently on life support. […]
“It is unthinkable that Republicans in the House would prevent us from taking action – again refuse to do anything as they did last Congress,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said before the vote Monday. “Allowing partisan delays to put women’s lives at risk is simply shameful. … I hope the Senate’s bipartisan action this week will send a strong message to House Republican leaders that further partisan delay is unacceptable.”
Read More: Eight Senators Vote To Block Violence Against Women Act
Read More: DCCC Ad Targets Eric Cantor over VAWA
Hillary Clinton Debuts New Website
Hillary Clinton appears to have a new website. So far, hillaryclintonoffice.com has a picture of the former secretary of state and a form for contacting her.
Read More: Hillary Clinton: The Most Powerful Woman in American Politics
S&P expects U.S. lawsuit over pre-crisis credit ratings
Feb 4 (Reuters) – Standard & Poor’s said it expects to be the target of a U.S. Department of Justice civil lawsuit over its mortgage bond ratings, the first federal enforcement action against a credit rating agency over alleged illegal behavior tied to the recent financial crisis.
Read More: McGraw-Hill Tumbles Most Since ’87 as U.S. Prepares S&P Lawsuit
CIA rendition: more than a quarter of countries ‘offered covert support’
The full extent of the CIA’s extraordinary rendition programme has been laid bare with the publication of a report showing there is evidence that more than a quarter of the world’s governments covertly offered support.
A 213-page report compiled by the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI), a New York-based human rights organisation, says that at least 54 countries co-operated with the global kidnap, detention and torture operation that was mounted after 9/11, many of them in Europe.
Quick Takes …
Sea Urchins Chalk Up Global Warming Win
Sunshine may ‘reduce arthritis risk’
‘Well, That Was Cool,’ Say Archaeologists Before Dumping Bones Of King Richard III Back Into Hole