Obama To Visit Rising Economic Power Brazil

President Obama heads off on a trip to Latin America this weekend. He's due to visit Chile, El Salvador and Brazil — a growing economic and political powerhouse that is looking for a new relationship with the United States.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/03/17/134633193/Obama-To-Visit-Latin-America?ft=1&f=1003

al sharpton bill oreilly fox news hamid karzai barak obama

Game On (Balloon-juice.com)

Here we go: The United Nations Security Council voted Thursday to authorize military action, including airstrikes against Libyan tanks and heavy artillery and a no-fly zone, a risky foreign intervention aimed at averting a bloody rout of rebels by forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. The foot is in the door: "It's going to be [...] Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/66815113?client_source=feed&format=rss

bill oreilly fox news hamid karzai barak obama hillary clinton

At Japan Plant, Minor Progress, Much Frustration

U.S. officials expressed frustration Thursday at the inability to obtain information about the deepening crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. Meanwhile, the U.N. nuclear watchdog announced a bit of progress in efforts to reconnect power to one troubled reactor.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/03/17/134611731/helicopters-douse-crippled-nuclear-reactor-in-japan?ft=1&f=1004

newt gingrich sarah palin al sharpton bill oreilly fox news

Libya Interventionists Trust Govt, Not People

Tim Carney, DC ExaminerPresident Obama isn't the only one undecided on whether the United States should intervene in Libya's civil war. The Republican base, including the Tea Party movement, also has yet to stake out a position on a third U.S. war in the Muslim world.Some sparks of bellicosity are flying among Tea Partiers, but they are dampened by an awkward fact: The politicians and pundits calling most loudly for war are largely the elites who publicly and repeatedly derided the Tea Partiers as unwashed rubes.

Source: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/2011/03/17/libya_interventionists_trust_govt_not_people_252161.html

hillary clinton george w bush nancy pelosi harry reid john mccain

RNC selling TV rights of debates?

The Republican National Committee is considering sanctioning the GOP presidential primary debates and then selling the broadcast rights to news outlets, two Republicans with knowledge of the idea tell CNN.

The proposal was mentioned last week during a meeting of top RNC officials and a handful of political operatives representing potential GOP presidential candidates.

In February, the RNC disclosed it was saddled with more than $22 million of debt left over from the 2010 midterm elections. At that time, newly elected Chairman Reince Priebus acknowledged the committee has "a lot of work to do" to pay off its obligations so it can focus on raising money for the 2012 presidential election.

Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_allpolitics/~3/yhTSrioSeOA/index.html

bill oreilly fox news hamid karzai barak obama hillary clinton

States' Abortion Legislation Questioned By Critics

State legislatures are considering a new wave of abortion restrictions this year. Some require longer waiting periods to get abortions. Others would direct doctors to show women ultrasounds of fetuses.

But critics say new conservative lawmakers are pushing these bills to test the limits.

If South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard signs a newly passed bill, women seeking abortions will now have to wait 72 hours after their initial visit to a clinic before having the procedure done in that state. The bill also requires counseling at a crisis pregnancy center.

"We already know that it's an unborn child that's being aborted, and a 72-hour wait time is certainly not too much to consider when you're taking the life of an unborn child," says Valerie Johnson, of South Dakota Right to Life.

Johnson calls counseling at a crisis pregnancy center "a free second opinion."

However, according to Sarah Stoesz of Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, it is not a second opinion because crisis pregnancy centers do not provide unbiased counseling.

"The mission of a crisis pregnancy center is to talk women out of having abortions. That's not the same thing as offering an opinion," Stoesz says.

Most states require a 24-hour waiting period. Stoesz says a longer period would mean several trips to a clinic, which for some women in this rural state is hours away. Daugaard is expected to sign the bill.

At least 20 states have passed laws that require doctors either to offer women ultrasounds or to perform one. Seven others are now considering bills that would mandate the ultrasound.

In Texas, the House and Senate have passed two versions of a bill requiring sonograms before women could have abortions. Doctors would also have to offer to show women the image, provide a detailed description, and allow women to hear a heartbeat if one is audible.

"This bill is one of the most invasive bills in the U.S.," says Sarah Wheat, who works with Planned Parenthood of Texas. "And at the end of the day it doesn't make women healthier and it doesn't help prevent the need for abortion."

Wheat says the bills amount to government intrusion into a private medical decision. A similar measure that passed in Oklahoma last year is now being challenged in court.

"The time is right, and we have the votes," says Elizabeth Graham, who leads the group Texas Right to Life. "And the language has been streamlined to be really effective and to protect the rights of women when they are in abortion clinics considering an abortion." Graham sees the bill as an expansion of the informed consent process and something widely supported by state legislators.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has made the bill a priority and he has promised to sign whatever compromise version is passed.

But abortion-rights activists say these bills show a renewed vigor by states to enact more limitations on abortion. They point to Ohio, where lawmakers are debating a bill that would ban abortions if a fetal heartbeat is detected.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/03/16/134425357/states-abortion-legislation-questioned-by-critics?ft=1&f=1014

hillary clinton george w bush nancy pelosi harry reid john mccain

Japan Tries To Cool Damaged Nuclear Reactors

In Japan, workers are struggling to gain control over reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant damaged by last Friday's earthquake and tsunami. Reactor No. 3 is perhaps in the direst condition — with damaged fuel rods, a possible breach in the containment system and smoke rising from the reactor. Japan aborted a helicopter mission to dump water on the reactor Wednesday evening. Michele Norris talks to NPR's Richard Harris.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/03/16/134602773/Japan-Tries-To-Cool-Damaged-Nuclear-Reactors?ft=1&f=1007

al sharpton bill oreilly fox news hamid karzai barak obama