House Approves Extension of Patriot Act

Should Congress renew the Patriot Act?
Yes 32%
No 68%

Total Votes: 1193
http://www.capitalnews.org/

House Approves Extension of Patriot Act
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/121405Q.shtml

The House easily approved renewing a modified USA Patriot Act on Wednesday. But with the bill facing a subsequent filibuster in the Senate, its Republican leader began talks with the White House aimed at extending the current law, unchanged, for another year.

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McCain, White House Deadlock on Torture Ban
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/121405R.shtml
Sen. John McCain and President Bush's national security adviser remained at an impasse Wednesday over the senator's proposed ban on cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of foreign terrorism suspects. "At this point, discussions are ongoing," National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley told The Associated Press as he left McCain's Capitol Hill office following a meeting that lasted just over an hour.

Feingold Won't Rule Out Alito Filibuster
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/121405S.shtml
Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold said Tuesday he won't rule out a filibuster of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, although he said no one in his party is actively planning to use the tactic.

Republicans Drop Mining Provision from Budget Bill
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/121405EA.shtml
House Republicans have dropped a provision in budget legislation that would have allowed the sale of millions of acres of public lands with minerals to developers. House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo said he would work with Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., a former mining industry lawyer, to revive the proposal next year.

Amazon Trees Much Older than Assumed
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/121405EB.shtml
Using radiocarbon dating methods, a research team found that trees in the Amazon forests are much older than initially thought. Up to half of all trees greater than 10 centimeters in diameter are more than 300 years old. Because the trees are slow-growing, the Amazon forests, which contain about a third of all carbon found in land vegetation, have less capacity to absorb atmospheric carbon than previous studies have predicted.

Great Lakes Cleanup Could Cost Billions
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/121405EC.shtml
A plan to clean up the Great Lakes could cost some $20 billion. The plan calls for government funding to fix sewer systems, remove invasive species and clean up toxic hot spots. The Great Lakes supply 95 percent of the fresh water in the United States and contain approximately 20 percent of the world's fresh water.

More Deaths Are Linked to Device
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/121405HA.shtml
The Food and Drug Administration has received from the Guidant Corporation several new reports about recent patient deaths associated with short circuits in company heart devices. The company came under scrutiny for failing to promptly warn doctors and patients about the risks of short circuits.

David Bacon | Time to Say No
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/121405LA.shtml
Bacon: Every new Republican proposal for immigration reform in Congress makes the prospect for winning legal status for the nation's 12 million undocumented residents more remote. At the same time, Congress appears ready to pass measures that will increase border deaths, lead to wholesale violations of workers' rights, and give the country's largest corporations a huge new bracero program.

House Republicans, UAW Reach Pensions Deal
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/121405LB.shtml
House Republican leaders said Tuesday they had reached an agreement with the United Auto Workers on major pension legislation. UAW leaders said the changes would prevent companies from gaming their funded status to deliberately trigger benefit restrictions. But Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., said the bill would make pensions less secure.

Women's Rights Editor Jailed in Afghanistan Faces Increasing Threats
http://www.truthout.org/issues_05/121405WA.shtml
Ali Mohaqiq Nasab, the editor of an Afghan women's rights magazine who was convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to two years in prison, is facing increasing calls for harsher punishments, including a demand for his execution. Nasab published articles questioning harsh punishments for women, like death by stoning for conversion to another religion.

VIDEO SPECIAL | Katrina: Dispatch from Mississippi
A Film by Chris Hume
http://www.truthout.org/multimedia.htm
Chris Hume follows the story of the Mayor of Waveland, Mississippi, and his family in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Waveland lost everything, including the historic building its town hall called home. Chris takes a look at how the people of Waveland are rebuilding their lives.

Red State Road Trip: A 60-Minute Documentary
http://www.truthout.org/multimedia.htm
How could America have given George W. Bush a second term? Filmmaker Chris Hume decided to find out by embarking on a 6,000-mile, cross-country journey in search of America's soul. The result: a fascinating, hilarious, and often disturbing road-trip adventure.

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