House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said that the effort by House Republicans to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress is really about his previous opposition to GOP-backed voting laws. We're taking a closer look at this story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

Nancy Pelosi Slams Contempt Vote: 'I Could Have Arrested Karl Rove ... But We Didn't'

Submitted by kennymotown

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi criticized the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee for pursuing contempt of Congress charges against Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday. The House committee voted to hold the attorney general in contempt for not handing over certain documents sought by the committee chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.). Pelosi said that Issa is undermining the process of holding someone in contempt of Congress:

"I could have arrested Karl Rove on any given day," Pelosi said to laughter, during a sit-down with reporters. "I'm not kidding. There's a prison here in the Capitol ... If we had spotted him in the Capitol, we could have arrested him."

Asked on what grounds she could have arrested Rove, Pelosi replied, "Oh, any number. But there were some specific ones for his being in contempt of Congress. But we didn't."

After a day after word of former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak's reported clinical death, many Egyptians are questioning the details about his health. We're taking a closer look at this story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

BREAKING NEWS - Former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak clinically dead

Submitted by Vierotchka

After holding power for over 30 years, Hosni Mubarak has been declared "clinically dead" in a military hospital near Cairo after suffering multiple strokes. Until Tuesday, Mubarak, 84, had served 17 days of a life sentence for murder as an accomplice in failing to stop the killing of hundreds of protesters during the uprising in 2011.

A MENA report reads: "Former president Hosni Mubarak has clinically died following his arrival at Maadi military hospital on Tuesday evening. Mubarak's heart stopped beating and was subjected to a defibrillator several times but did not respond."

The former president’s health has been a source of constant speculation and suspicion since his imprisonment: 

Mr. Mubarak has had health problems for years, but the flood of reports and scares in recent weeks led many Egyptians to believe that the military rulers, determined to move Mr. Mubarak out of a notorious prison, were using those accounts to prepare the public for such a move.

Low ranking security officers, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, speculated that the previous night’s reports that Mr. Mubarak was on the edge of death were part of a scheme to transport him out of Egypt for care. Indeed, many Egyptians on Wednesday wondered if the state news agency reports of his near death were all a morbid hoax.

Two exciting elections took place in Europe this week. In Greece, pro-austerity conservatives were the big winners. In France, the president's Socialist party won an absolute majority of parliament seats. Both stories elicited a variety of reactions from the Current.com community.

Pro-austerity conservatives prevail in Greece

submitted by JohnA

Socialists Win Complete Majority of French Parliament in Historic Elections !

submitted by kennymotown

These opposing ideologies will have a major effect on the existing Eurozone crisis. And Americans will look to France and Greece to see how socialism versus austerity work out in practice. Commenters seem to think both sides are doomed.

France's Socialist party won the majority of French parliament seats in Sunday's election. We're taking a closer look at this story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

Socialists Win Complete Majority of French Parliament in Historic Elections !

Submitted by kennymotown

Yesterday, French voters gave 314 parliamentary seats to the Socialist party, which constitutes an absolute majority in their government. President François Hollande, a member of the Socialist party, had urged voters to give his party the majority to better navigate the Eurozone financial crisis.

A newly released map reveals as many as 64 drone bases are located on American soil. We're taking a closer look at this interesting story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

Revealed: 64 Drone Bases on American Soil !

Submitted by kennymotown

A map published by Public Intelligence, a nonprofit group dedicated publishing public government data acknowledge that the US military operated 64 bases for unmanned drone aircraft on American soil and has 22 more planned across the country. 33 states either have a base already or are slated to have one.

Assembled from military sources — especially this little-known June 2011 Air Force presentation (.pdf) – it is arguably the most comprehensive map so far of the spread of the Pentagon’s unmanned fleet. What exact missions are performed at those locations, however, is not clear. Some bases might be used as remote cockpits to control the robotic aircraft overseas, some for drone pilot training. Others may also serve as imagery analysis depots.

We're taking a closer look at this interesting story  from   the Current community. Check it  out and add your two cents:

Solar-powered 'supertrees' breathe life into Singapore's urban oasis

Submitted by FreeSpiritMuse

Singapore's latest development of solar-powered supertrees will be open to the public later this month. The man-made mechanical forest consists of 18 supertrees, varying in height between 25 and 50 meters. The supertrees generate solar power, acting as air venting ducts for nearby conservatories, and collecting rainwater. To generate electricity, 11 supertrees are fitted with solar photovoltaic systems that convert sunlight into energy, which provides lighting and aids water technology within the conservatories below.

Speaking at a preview event last November, Lee Kuan Yew, the first prime minister of the Republic of Singapore, said the project would "showcase what we can do to bring the world of plants to all Singaporeans," adding that the gardens would become "the pride of Singapore."

Washington Post opinion writer Harold Meyerson raised the question whether or not American unions are still effective. We're taking a closer look at this story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

What happens if America loses its unions - The Washington Post

Submitted by ghewittofa

In a recent article, Meyerson takes a look on the decline of unions and how America would look like without a union movement. Evidently, our country is almost at that point as the rate of private-sector unionization has fallen below 7 percent and the economic effects are apparent with "an economically stagnant or downwardly mobile middle class, a steady clawing-back of job-related health and retirement benefits and ever-rising economic inequality."

When unions are powerful, they boost the incomes of not only their members but also of nonunion workers in their sector or region. Princeton economist Henry Farber has shown that the wages of a nonunion worker in an industry that is 25 percent unionized are 7.5 percent higher because of that unionization. Today, however, few industries have so high a rate of unionization, and a consequence is that unions can no longer win the kinds of wages and benefits they used to.

Deunionization is just one reason Americans’ incomes have declined, of course; globalization has taken its toll as well. But the declining share of pretax income going to wages is chiefly the result of the weakening of unions, which is the main reason American managers now routinely seek to thwart their workers’ attempts to unionize through legally questionable but economically rewarding tactics (rewarding, that is, for the managers). 

JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon went before Congress to explain how the bank, the largest in the United States, lost $2 billion on risky trades and whether it failed to properly manage risk. We're taking a closer look at this story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

PROTESTERS CHALLENGE JP MORGAN CHASE CEO: 'FACE THE PEOPLE YOU FORECLOSED ON'

Submitted by letsliveinpeace

Before the hearing could even formally begin, protesters yelled at President and CEO of JPMorgan Chase Co. Jamie Dimon as he appeared before a Senate Banking Committee hearing. Dimon sat emotionless while the protests occurred. The committee is hearing testimony from Dimon on how JPMorgan Chase lost over’s two billion dollars in stock market trades. 

One man initially yelled, “Why don’t you face the people you foreclosed on?”

Protesters disrupted the start of proceedings, with one man shouting, "Jamie Dimon is a crook."

Others chanted, "Stop foreclosures now," before being escorted out of the hearing room.

George Zimmerman's wife was arrested Tuesday and charged with perjury for allegedly lying at her husband's bond hearing about the couple's finances. We're taking a closer look at this ongoing story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

George Zimmerman's wife ARRESTED, charged with perjury

Submitted by UhOhSpaghettiO

Shellie Zimmerman faces one count of perjury and was booked into John E. Polk Correctional Facility, the same jail her husband is behind bars. Authorities arrested Zimmerman around 3:30 p.m. ET, after they were advised by the office of state attorney Angela Corey that a warrant had been issued by assistant state attorney John Guy. She has been charged for knowingly making false statements during the April hearing about the money raised from a website. She has been since released on a $1,000 bond, while her husband remains in jail facing a second-degree murder charge.

Four days before she testified to having no knowledge of the funds, the affidavit says, Shellie Zimmerman began a series of transfers into her account — totaling $74,000 between April 16 and April 19.

The affidavit says about $47,000 more was transferred from George Zimmerman's account to his sister's. Shellie Zimmerman withdrew about $18,000 more cash, prosecutors say.

"In my account do I have at least $100?" Zimmerman asked. "No... there's like $8. $8.60," she replied.

Prosecutors say the Zimmermans used a rudimentary "code" to discuss the money in recorded jailhouse phone calls — referring to $100,000, for example, as "$100." At least two of the calls, the state alleges, were made while Shellie Zimmerman and her husband's sister were at a local credit union making the transactions.

Today, Obama for America released a new television ad titled "Number One" that attacks Mitt Romney's economic record as Governor of Massachusetts. We're taking a closer look at this interesting story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

Obama For America TV Ad: "Number One"

Submitted by letsliveinpeace

The latest Obama campaign ad describes Mitt Romney as "number one" in state debt and arguing that he will make the same economic choices as president. Romney increased state debt by $2.6 billion and left Massachusetts with $18 billion of debt – more per person than any other state. The ad will air in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

The advertisement also attacks Romney’s record on jobs in Massachusetts, saying that the state ranked 47 out 50 in job creation among the rest of the country.

"Romney economics didn’t work then, and it won’t work now," the ad states.

The daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney accused President Obama of leaking information about the drone strikes and calls for an outside investigation. We're taking a closer look at this interesting story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

Liz Cheney suggests Obama personally behind intelligence leaks

Submitted by KB723

During an interview with Fox News, Liz Cheney stated she believes President Obama had personally authorized recent intelligence leaks. The president already denied the claims about secret programs used to fight terror overseas. Liz Cheney suggested a special prosecutor might be necessary:

“I’d like to see an independent investigation,” she told Fox News host Chris Wallace. “If you’ve got members of the national security team — which is what we know from reading [New York Times reporter] David Sanger’s piece, that’s what he says — giving him chapter and verse of what went on in these National Security Council meetings then somebody’s got to be held accountable for, you know, what is a betrayal to the nation.”

“I do think that it’s important — as Mike Rogers, chairman of the House intel committee, has said — that whoever is looking at this needs to be outside the chain of command so that you can be absolutely sure that it is followed to it’s conclusion,” she added. “And that may well be the president of the United States.”

A group of scientists are staging a series of demonstrations in the form of bake sales, car washes and other events hoping to keep NASA's dream of planetary exploration alive. We're taking a closer look at this interesting story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

Bake Sale for NASA: Scientists to Sell Milky Way Cupcakes, Wash Cars for funds

Submitted by DeliaTheArtist

The Southwest Research Institute hopes the string of bake sales and car washes will draw attention to planned 2013 budget proposal submitted by the Obama adminstration that would cut funding for NASA's planetary science projects by about $300 million. The National Planetary Exploration Car Wash and Bake Sale Day will include nearly 20 events spread out across the nation, many of which will occur on or near universities.

University of Central Florida students and professors who hope to sway lawmakers into providing more money for studying the solar system. 

"We're not asking for more of the pie, we're asking for less of a bite out of the pie," Laura Seward, a graduate student at the university who organized the event, said in a statement. "A strong robotic planetary exploration program is essential for a strong human planetary exploration program."

After being rejected by their mother, two endangered Siberian tigers were adopted and nursed by a motherly dog. We're taking a closer look at this touching story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

SMILE of the day: Dog nurses orphaned Siberian Tigers

Submitted by UhOhSpaghettiO

Soon after giving birth to a litter of her own, a Shar Pei named Cleopatra, welcomed two orphaned tigers, Clyopa and Plyusha, into her family. Zookeepers found an unlikely adoptive parent through a local dog breeding club. Cleopatra fed the young cubs, who seem to have taken to their new surroundings and puppy counterparts quite well. In the wild, Siberian tiger populations have been reduced to just a few hundred members. 

"The baby tigers will spend about 30 more days with Cleopatra and her family, where they will grow stronger and become accustomed to humans. After that, Clyopa and Plyusha will then return to the zoo."

After pressure from the Congress over leaked classified information to journalists, President Obama denied the claims about secret programs used to fight terror overseas. We're taking a closer look at this story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

Obama Addresses National Security Leaks At Press Conference

Submitted by letsliveinpeace

During a briefing on the economy Friday morning, President Obama defended his White House officials about possibly leaking classified information about national security matters, calling them accusations "offensive" and "wrong." The president said has "zero tolerance" for leaks and that his administration investigates every such instance. Details about the president’s personal role in directing drone attacks against terrorists and a U.S. cyber attack against Iran’s nuclear program was reported by the New York Times and the Associated Press.

“The notion that my White House would purposely release classified national security information is offensive,” he told reporters in the White House briefing room. “It’s wrong, and people I think need to have a better sense of how I approach this office and how people around here approach this office.”

The White House insists President Obama will not extend the Bush-era tax cuts for wealthier Americans. We're taking a closer look at this story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

Obama Won't Extend Bush Tax Cuts Again: Pledge To House Dems

Submitted by letsliveinpeace

Obama spokesman Jay Carney stated that the president has been clear in his opposition to extending tax cuts for households with annual incomes above $250,000. Carney's response came after former President Bill Clinton suggested that the Bush tax cuts should be extended for the wealthy.

"President Obama has been clear about his position and it has not changed," White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters traveling with Obama to California. "We should not extend and he will not extend the ... Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest two percent of the American people."

Pressed directly on whether Obama would support a temporary extension, Carney said: "He will not. Could I be more clear?"

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker defeated his Democrat contender Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, being only the third governor in history to face a recall election. We're taking a closer look at this interesting story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

Why Scott Walker won the Wisconsin recall

(Submitted by letsliveinpeace)

Gov. Walker's victory on Tuesday night comes as a blow for an effective and vigorous government. The GOP star became the first governor in U.S. history to survive a recall attempt and will hold his job after his push to slash collective bargaining rights for public employees. Walker had nearly 53 percent of the vote, compared with 46 percent for Barrett, suffice to say the win didn’t come cheaply, as the Walker campaign outspent the Barrett campaign by a nearly 8-to-1 margin.

"Tonight we tell Wisconsin, we tell our country and we tell people all across the globe that voters really do want leaders who stand up and make the tough decisions," Walker said in his victory speech in Waukesha.

Walker said: “Bringing our state together will take some time, but I hope to start right away. It is time to put our differences aside and figure out ways that we can move Wisconsin forward.”

Barrett told supporters at his concession speech: “And what we have seen over the last 16 months, is we have seen this democracy come alive. To those of you who fought, who obtained signatures, who stood out in the cold, who did what you thought was right — never, ever stop doing what you think is right. That’s what makes this such a great country.”

Wisconsin voters lined up before the polls opened at 7 a.m. to help decide on the recall race between the Republican Gov. Scott Walker and Democratic former Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. We're taking a closer look at this story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

Governor Scott Walker; Wisconsin's shame---Koch Bros. Puppet.

Submitted by jackhole

Considered by many as the second biggest race of the 2012 election cycle, Wisconsin's long-awaited recall election happens today. Voters finally get their chance to recall Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who pushed policies attacking bargaining rights and stripped public workers of their collective bargaining rights. Critics predict a loss would likely end Walker's political career, while a win would elevate him to superstar status among conservatives and a potential presidential run.

But on a national level, the recall effort has become a proxy fight over whether Republicans can push through spending cuts and confront organized labor - and live to tell about it. And the outcome will have major implications not just for the GOP but for the labor movement, the Obama campaign and the outside groups poised to play a major role in the November elections. 

George Zimmerman returned to jail yesterday after a Florida judge withdrew his bond after prosecutors argued he had misled the court. We're taking a closer look at this on-going story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

Sheriff: Zimmerman Being Booked, Processed

Submitted by letsliveinpeace

After "deceiving the court" regarding his finances,  George Zimmerman surrendered himself in to authorities and was booked in a central Florida jail two days after his bond was revoked. Zimmerman turned himself in 40 minutes before the 2:30 p.m. Sunday deadline and is currently being held on no-bail status in administrative confinement at Seminole County's John E. Polk Correctional Facility. Defense attorney Mark O'Mara stated:

"He is in custody now," O'Mara said of Zimmerman, 28. "He's going to remain there until we get back before Judge Lester if and when he grants us a bond hearing. It sounded like he might consider it. But that is going to be based upon the motion itself."

George Zimmerman's lawyers have vowed to file a motion for a new bond hearing for their client:

Benjamin Crump, an attorney for Martin's family said Monday that "if attorney O'Mara files the motion, then the stage is set for George Zimmerman and his wife to have to take the witness stand and try to explain what the state attorney said were blatant lies to the court, thus exposing them further to credibility issues."

The so-called "City of Brotherly Love" began enforcement that bans citizens from feeding the homeless. We're taking a closer look at this interesting story from the Current community. Check it out and add your two cents:

Philly Law Banning Feeding the Homeless Goes into Effect

Submitted by Truthitswhatsfordinner

Mayer Michael Nutter of Philadelphia announced the ban in March that ends outdoor feeding in city parks. Nutter explains the law will encourage more indoor and safe eating, protect the dignity of the homeless and cleanliness of the parks. Signs have been posted prohibiting outdoor feeding, while repeat violators are subject to $150 fines. The ban has angered many homeless advocates and outreach groups:

"These regulations are clearly designated not with the intent of protecting the health and dignity of the homeless, but are designed to tuck the homeless in a corner and pretend that the problem does not exist in our city," said Reverend Brian Jenkins of Chosen 300 Ministries.

"The people are the number one resources of this city, not the Barnes Museum," said Erike Younge, writer at the One Step Away, a newspaper which represents the voice of the city’s homeless. "Feeding people and serving the needs of the people is a fundamental right. And to ban it or to oppose it and not to work to solve this problem is unconstitutional and inhumane."