Some days there’s just so much good news, it’s hard to pick!
Jim Jordan says, “Let’s lock her up,” Sessions is the broken clock again:
Attorney General Jeff Sessions threw some cold water on increasing calls from the right for a second special counsel to investigate 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
During testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Sessions told Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio that something that "looks like" it is worthy of the appointment of a special counsel "is not enough basis to appoint one."
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"It would take a factual basis that meets the standards of the appointment of a special counsel," Sessions responded after Jordan read off a list of reasons why he believed an appointment was necessary. "We will use the proper standards, and that's the only thing I can tell you, Mr. Jordan. You can have your idea but sometimes we have to study what the facts are and to evaluate whether it meets the standard that requires a special counsel."
15,000 Scientists take the warnings seriously:
Humanity is now being given a second notice, as illustrated by these alarming trends (figure 1). We are jeopardizing our future by not reining in our intense but geographically and demographically uneven material consumption and by not perceiving continued rapid population growth as a primary driver behind many ecological and even societal threats (Crist et al. 2017). By failing to adequately limit population growth, reassess the role of an economy rooted in growth, reduce greenhouse gases, incentivize renewable energy, protect habitat, restore ecosystems, curb pollution, halt defaunation, and constrain invasive alien species, humanity is not taking the urgent steps needed to safeguard our imperilled biosphere.
As most political leaders respond to pressure, scientists, media influencers, and lay citizens must insist that their governments take immediate action as a moral imperative to current and future generations of human and other life. With a groundswell of organized grassroots efforts, dogged opposition can be overcome and political leaders compelled to do the right thing. It is also time to re-examine and change our individual behaviors, including limiting our own reproduction (ideally to replacement level at most) and drastically diminishing our per capita consumption of fossil fuels, meat, and other resources.
The rapid global decline in ozone-depleting substances shows that we can make positive change when we act decisively. We have also made advancements in reducing extreme poverty and hunger (www.worldbank. org). Other notable progress (which does not yet show up in the global data sets in figure 1) include the rapid decline in fertility rates in many regions attributable to investments in girls’ and women’s education (www. un.org/esa/population), the promising decline in the rate of deforestation in some regions, and the rapid growth in the renewable-energy sector. We have learned much since 1992, but the advancement of urgently needed changes in environmental policy, human behavior, and global inequities is still far from sufficient.
Ryan calls for Moore to step aside:
"He should step aside," Ryan told CNN Tuesday morning. "Number one, these allegations are credible. Number two, if he cares about the values that he claims to care about, then he should step aside."
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One Republican senator, Jeff Flake, the Arizonan who announced last month he would retire at the end of his term, became the first to present another choice Monday night: support Moore's opponent.
"If the choice is between Roy Moore and a Democrat, a Democrat no doubt," Flake told reporters.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday did not rule out trying to expel Roy Moore if the Alabama Republican wins a U.S. Senate seat in that state's special election next month.
“He’s obviously not fit to be in the United States Senate,” the Kentucky Republican told reporters on Tuesday. “And we’ve looked at all the options to try to prevent that from happening.”
Harassment reporting reaches Congress:
Lawmakers in both parties said Tuesday that current members of Congress have been involved in sexual harassment and called for mandatory training for lawmakers and their staffs.
“I think the culture in this country has been awakened to the fact that we have a serious epidemic in the workplace, in all professions, in all walks of life and it’s incumbent on those who are in authority to address it and address it swiftly," Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., said after testifying before the House Administration Committee.
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She also cited a letter signed by more than 1,500 former and current staff members who complain of sexual harassment on the hill dating back to thee [sic] 1970s.
Iran complying with nuclear deal:
Iran undertook to curb its uranium enrichment program in return for relief from international sanctions that crippled its economy, and U.N. nuclear inspectors have repeatedly verified Tehran’s adherence to the key aspects of the accord.
Gwen Ifill honored:
Simmons College announced on Tuesday that its new College of Media, Arts, and Humanities will be named in remembrance and honor of the late journalist Gwen Ifill, an alumnus of the school.
The Gwen Ifill College of Media, Arts, and Humanities will be one of four newly-reconstituted colleges of study under the Simmons academic umbrella that will be launched in 2018, the school said.
First digital pill approved:
The FDA announced Monday that it has approved for the first time the use of a digital pill to monitor how and when a patient takes medicine during treatment of certain mental health disorders.
The pill, Abilify MyCite – an anti-psychotic medication with a sensor embedded inside – can now be used for "schizophrenia, acute treatment of manic and mixed episodes associated with bipolar I disorder and for use as an add-on treatment for depression in adults," according to the federal agency.
Once consumed, the pill sends a message to a wearable patch, which then relays the information to a mobile application so that a patient can track his ingestion of the medication on his smartphone. With the patient's permission, his caregivers and physician can access the tracking system through a web-based portal, according to the FDA.
Bill Gates to build “smart city”: (Lightly edited for punctuation)
Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has purchased nearly 25,000 acres of land in southwestern Arizona for the construction of a brand-new "smart city," AZ Central reports.
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"The experimentation that takes place in this new community has the potential to demonstrate the viability of new smart city concepts and serve as an example for cities nationwide and globally," Brooks Rainwater, the director of the City Solutions and Applied Research Center at the National League of Cities, told Business Insider.
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Belmont Partners said in a statement that the city "will transform a raw, blank slate into a purpose-built edge city built around a flexible infrastructure model." It has not yet specified a timeline for construction. Rainwater said that when details are released, he hopes technology will serve as the "backbone" of the city, "not the purpose of its existence."
Hilarious effort to stop the wall: (h/t to FoundingFatherDAR)
The people at Cards Against Humanity are back with another impossible-to-ignore holiday promotion. In case you thought they couldn't top the Holiday Hole of 2016, now they're touting "Cards Against Humanity Stops The Wall."
The makers of the card game bought a plot of land on the U.S.-Mexico border to take a stand against President Trump's plan to build a "700 to 900 mile" border wall. Or as they put it:
"Donald Trump is a preposterous golem who is afraid of Mexicans. He is so afraid that he wants to build a twenty-billion dollar wall that everyone knows will accomplish nothing. So we've purchased a plot of vacant land on the border and retained a law firm specializing in eminent domain to make it as time-consuming and expensive as possible for the wall to get built."