At the bottom of the world, a controversial search for cosmic leftovers
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on December 5th, 2011 5:34 am by HL
At the bottom of the world, a controversial search for cosmic leftovers
The geologist who conceived it called it the poor man’s space program. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) fumed that it was a waste of taxpayer dollars. Meteorite hunter Ralph Harvey simply calls it work.
For the 35th year, the United States is mounting its annual campaign to gather space rocks from the wind-hammered icefields of Antarctica.
White House pushes for confirmation of consumer watchdog nominee
White House officials Sunday issued a new report aimed at ramping up pressure on Senate Republicans to support President Obama’s choice to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, as key GOP lawmakers renewed their vow to block any nominee unless broad changes are made to the watchdog agency.
The new push by the Obama administration comes as the full Senate is expected to vote Thursday on the nomination of former Ohio attorney general Richard Cordray to head the CFPB, which opened in July but is blocked from exercising its full authority until a director is confirmed.
Iowa caucuses: Four weeks out, what to watch for in the GOP race
NEWS FLASH: There are only 29 shopping days left before the Iowa caucuses!
The final four weeks between Monday and Jan. 3 will be a political junkie’s dream as a somewhat sleepy Republican presidential contest bursts into full view.
With candidates hopscotching between early-voting states, new television ads appearing almost daily, and attacks coming hot and heavy, it’s hard to know what will really matter between now and when Iowans cast the first ballots of the Republican race.
Presidential pardons: A lawmaker’s support improves criminals’ odds for mercy
Dale Critz Jr. had millions riding on his bid for a presidential pardon. Scion of a prominent family in Savannah, Ga., Critz was poised to inherit the luxury car dealerships his grandfather had built in one of America’s most historic cities.
But Critz’s past blocked his way. Years earlier, while learning the ropes at an unrelated dealership in Florida, he took part in a scheme to falsify loan documents for low-income car buyers. He pleaded guilty in 1989 to a felony — a conviction that could have prevented him from owning the family business. Many automakers do not let felons run their franchises.
Kennedy Center Honors: D.C.’s glitziest night of all
You want eclectic? You got eclectic, and then some, at the Kennedy Center Sunday night during the annual Honors Gala, the city’s biggest, ritziest, celebrity-est party, fundraiser and made-for-TV tribute fest.
The 34th version of the three-hour show — this year honoring Yo-Yo Ma, Meryl Streep, Barbara Cook, Sonny Rollins and Neil Diamond — was its usual concoction of high and low and several things in between, played out in front of the president and first lady and a tuxedo-and-ballgowned crowd. Alternately noisy and solemn, rousing and high-minded, the Honors performances were, typically, a three-ring circus of American arts and culture.
