MB Civic

Conservative Democrats Oppose Public Option Health Plan – In a letter sent last night, 40 members of the Blue Dog [pricks] Coalition said the bill “lacks a number of elements essential to preserving what works and fixing what is broken” … The conservative Democrats expressed major reservations about establishing a government-run public health insurance program … Meanwhile, Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) said the 80-member Progressive Caucus will only support a bill that includes a public plan
Costa Rica Hosts Talk Over Honduras Coup – Zelaya and the military-backed president of Honduras Roberto Micheletti met separately with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias but there were no face-to-face meetings between the two sides
Reporters At Murdoch Papers Accused of Hacking Into Cell Phones – The Guardian newspaper reports Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. has paid out about $1.6 million to settle lawsuits that would have revealed that dozens of Murdoch’s reporters in Britian had worked with private investigators to spy on numerous public figures. Reporters at the News of the World and the Sun reportedly hacked into cellphones and accessed confidential personal data … The list of targeted individuals included politicians, sports stars and entertainers
Panetta Orders Inquiry Into CIA’s Handling Of Secret Program – Newsweek is reporting CIA Director Leon Panetta has ordered an internal inquiry into the agency’s handling of a contentious and still highly classified intelligence program that was kept secret from members of Congress for eight years … The program’s existence erupted into a major political dispute this week when seven Democrats on the House intelligence committee released a letter charging that the agency had “misled” members of Congress by failing to inform the oversight committees about the program until last month
GM Exits From Bankruptcy – The era of a new General Motors began today as the carmaker officially left bankruptcy and sold its most desirable assets to a new government-backed company
Thousands of Iranians Protest in Tehran – In Iran thousands of protesters defied a ban on demonstrations and marched in Tehran on Thursday. Security forces fired tear gas and charged the protesters with batons. The protest came on the 10th anniversary of a student uprising at Tehran University
27 AIDS Activists Arrested on Capitol Hill – In Washington, 27 AIDS activists were arrested inside the Capitol Rotunda Thursday while protesting President Obama’s AIDS policies. The activists decried the Obama administration’s failure to to lift the federal ban on funding syringe exchange, to fully fund lifesaving global AIDS programs, and to fully fund AIDS housing programs in this year’s budget
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