Obama Admin to Urge End to Gay Marriage Ban

Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli, plans to file a brief today with the Supreme Court in favor of challengers of Prop. 8, according to an administration source.

It would mark the first time that the Obama administration has come out in court against the California ballot initiative that defines marriage as between one man and one woman.

As far back as 2008, the president said that he thought Prop 8 was "divisive and discriminatory," but his Justice Department has never opined on its constitutionality. Because the DOJ is not a party to the case, it is not required to file a "friend of the court" brief, but the deadlines for briefs supporting the challengers to Prop 8 is tonight at midnight.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Theodore Olson, one of the lead lawyers challenging Prop 8, told reporters last week that he hoped the DOJ lawyers would take the opportunity to set down a legal position.

In Depth: Obama's Prop 8 Decision

"However," Olson added, "whether they do or not, the president of the United States made it very clear in his inaugural address that we cannot rest in America until all civilians have equal rights under the law so, in a sense, the president has made that statement already."

Today, 39 states have laws restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples. This number includes voter-approved constitutional amendments in 30 states barring same sex marriage. Nine states allow gay marriage.

Related: Eric Holder Says Gay Marriage is the Next Civil Rights Issue

Related: Republican Moderates Join Legal Fight for Gay Marriage

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CAP releases, retracts statement on McCarthy nomination at EPA

Gina McCarthy, Assistant Administrator with the Environmental Protection Agency.
(Alex Brandon - AP)
Looks like someone at the Center for American Progress has an itchy trigger finger.

The think tank on Wednesday released a statement congratulating Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for air and radiation at the
Environmental Protection Agency, on her nomination to lead the agency. We hadn’t heard a peep from the White House but CAP has close ties to the Obama administration, so we figured we must have missed something.

But wait... not so fast.

Turns out, there had been no nomination. CAP later sent a second message retracting the first. “The statement... was sent from us in error. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused .”

Oopsie.

One can imagine why they jumped the gun. After all, McCarthy’s selection for the post is a near-certainty — and even the Loop thought the annoucement from the White House would come sooner.

Consider it a practice run.

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Brin sees Google glasses hitting market this year

LONG BEACH, California: Sergey Brin envisions Google's Internet glasses hitting the market this year with an eye toward freeing people from unsocial habits engendered by "emasculating" smartphones.

Brin spoke of inspiration behind Google Glass eyewear during a brief appearance Wednesday on stage at a TED Conference known for an inspiring mix of influential big thinkers and "ideas worth spreading.

He playfully demonstrated his point on stage by ignoring a theater audience to stare down at his smartphone, saying he was intent on a message from a Nigerian prince need of $10 million dollars.

"I like to pay attention because that is how we originally funded the company," the Google co-founder quipped about a well-known scam.

"Seriously, in addition to potentially socially isolating yourself when you are out and about using your phone, I feel it is kind of emasculating," he continued.

Brin described Glass as the first form factor to deliver on a vision he had from Google's inception that one day search queries would be outmoded and information from the Internet would come to people when they need it.

Glass frees the eyes as well as the hands when it comes to connecting to the Internet on the go, according to Brin.

"That is why we put the display up high, out of the line of sight," Brin said, wearing the Glass eyewear he is rarely seen without.

"If I wore a ball cap, the display would be on the brim and not where you are looking," he continued. "And sound goes through bones in the cranium, which is a little freaky at first, but you get used to it."

Glass wearers can speak commands to the eyewear, and built-in camera technology allows pictures or video to be captured from first-person perspectives while people take part in what is happening.

"Lastly, I realized I also have a nervous tic," Brin said. "The cell phone is a nervous habit. If I smoked, I'd probably smoke instead."

He observed that smartphones sometimes become props used by people as distractions or to appear busy, saying that Glass strips away excuses not to be sociable or to not be honest about simply wanting to take a break.

"It really opened by eyes to how much of my life I spent secluded away in email, social posts or what-not," Brin said. "There is nothing bad about that, but with this thing I don't have to be checking them all the time."

Brin said Glass eyewear will be available later this year at prices lower than the $1,500 charged to software developers and early adopters during a restricted test phase.

Wednesday was the last day for "explorers" with creative vision and $1,500 to spare to vie to be part of a select group of people who get to experiment with Glass.

A video intended to capture what it feels like to use Glass was online at google.com/glass/start/.

Google has been speaking with eyeglass frame companies about ideas for a consumer version of the glasses, which he expected would cost "significantly" less than the Explorer prototypes.

US adults interested in the program had to say what they would do if they had Glass eyewear and then post the messages at Twitter or Google+ social networks with hashtag #ifihadglass.

People chosen for the Explorer program will need to pick up in person at sessions to be held in New York, Los Angeles, or San Francisco.

- AFP/ac

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Cash-in-bag case: HC notice to CBI on Yadav's plea regarding prosecution sanction

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday issued a notice to the CBI on a petition filed by Justice Nirmal Yadav (retired), an accused in cash-in-bag case, seeking photocopies of the record of ministry of law and justice pertaining to her prosecution sanction.

While issuing notice to the CBI for March 21, Justice Ranjit Singh asked CBI to file its reply on the demand of Yadav, who filed an appeal after a special CBI judge, Chandigarh, rejected her demand for the record on February 2. The special court had allowed her to inspect the documents but not allowed her to photocopy them.

In her appeal, justice Yadav claimed that the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPc) came into force in 1973, when technology was not so advanced. In case of a voluminous record, inspection, rather than supply of copies, was a solution.

"Those were the days of manual typewriters. But over the years technology has progressed and providing copies of documents was now a matter of minutes due to efficient photocopiers," argued her counsel, adding that they are ready to bear the cost of photocopies of the record.

She also added that non-supply of documents was against the principles of natural justice, as these would be relied upon by the prosecution during the trial.

The scandal had come to the fore on August 13, 2008, after a clerk, allegedly sent by the then additional advocate general of Haryana, Sanjiv Bansal, dropped the money at the official residence of Justice Nirmaljit Kaur of the Punjab and Haryana high court. Later, an inquiry by CBI found that the money was meant for Justice Yadav.

Later, on March 4, 2011, CBI had filed charge sheet against Yadav, Bansal, Delhi based hotelier Ravinder Bhasin, Chandigarh based businessman Rajiv Gupta and Nirmal Singh for corruption, conspiracy, destroying evidence and creation of false evidence. The trial against all of these accused is pending with the special CBI court Chandigarh.

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Why African Rhinos Are Facing a Crisis

The body count for African rhinos killed for their horns is approaching crisis proportions, according to the latest figures released by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

To National Geographic reporter Peter Gwin, the dire numbers—a rhinoceros slain every 11 minutes since the beginning of 2013—don't come as a surprise. "The killing will continue as long as criminal gangs know they can expect high profits for selling horns to Asian buyers," said Gwin, who wrote about the violent and illegal trade in rhino horn in the March 2012 issue of the magazine.

The recent surge in poaching has been fueled by a thriving market in Vietnam and China for rhino horn, used as a traditional medicine believed to cure everything from hangovers to cancer. Since 2011, at least 1,700 rhinos, or 7 percent of the total population, have been killed and their horns hacked off, according to the IUCN. More than two-thirds of the casualties occurred in South Africa, home to 73 percent of the world's wild rhinos. In Africa there are currently 5,055 black rhinos, listed as critically endangered by the IUCN, and 20,405 white rhinos. (From our blog: "South African Rhino Poaching Hits New High.")

Trying to snuff out poaching by itself won't work, said Gwin. The South African government is fighting a losing battle on the ground to gangs using helicopters, dart guns, high-powered weapons—and lots of money. (National Geographic pictures: The bloody poaching battle over rhino horn [contains graphic images].)

"Every year they get tougher on poaching, but rhino killings continue to rise astronomically," said Gwin. "Somehow they have to address the demand side in a meaningful way. This means either shutting down the Asian markets for rhino horn, or controversially, finding a way to sustainably harvest rhino horns, control their legal sale, and meet what appears to be a huge demand. Either will be a formidable endeavor."

Hope and Hurdles

The signing in December of a memorandum of understanding between South Africa and Vietnam to deal with rhino poaching and other conservation issues raises hope for some concrete action. Observers say the next step is for the two governments to follow through with tangible crime-stopping efforts such as intelligence sharing and other collaboration. The highest hurdle to stopping criminal trade, though, is cultural, Gwin believes. "In Vietnam and China, a lot of people simply believe that as a traditional cure, rhino horn works." (Related: "Blood Ivory.")

The recent climb in rhino deaths threatens what had been a conservation success story. Since 1995, due to better law enforcement, monitoring, and other actions, the overall rhino numbers have steadily risen. The poaching epidemic, the IUCN warns, could dramatically slow and possibly reverse population gains.

The population growth is also being stymied by South Africa's private game farmers, who breed rhinos for sport hunting and tourism and for many years have helped rebuild rhino numbers. Many of them are getting out of the business due to the high costs of security and other risks associated with the poaching invasions.

Those who still have rhinos on their farms will often pay a veterinarian to cut the horns off—under government supervision—to dissuade poachers, but the process costs more than $2,000 and has to be repeated when the horns grow back every two years. Even then the farmers are stuck with horns that are illegal to sell—and which criminals seek to obtain.

Room for Debate

Rhino killings and the trade in their horns will be a major topic at a high-profile conference, the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which opens in Bangkok March 3. What won't surprise Gwin is if the issue of sustainably harvesting rhino horns from live animals comes up for discussion.

"It's an idea that seems to be gaining traction among some South African politicians and law enforcement circles," he said, noting that the international conservation community strongly opposes any talk of legalizing the trade of rhino horn, sustainably harvested or not. The bottom line for all parties in the discussion is clear, said Gwin: "The slaughter has to stop if rhinos are to survive."

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Newtown Dad's Tearful Plea at Senate Gun Hearing

A father who lost his son in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School sobbed as he testified at a Senate hearing today in favor of an assault weapons ban.

Across town Vice President Biden alluded to untold horror of the Newtown tragedy in an appeal for help from the nation's attorneys general.

Despite their emotional appeals, the push for gun reforms championed by the White House and many Democrats faces an uncertain future.

"Jesse was the love of my life," said Neil Heslin, sobbing as he described his 6-year-old son before the Senate Judiciary Committee. "He was the only family I had left. It's hard for me to be here today to talk about my deceased son. I have to. I'm his voice."

Heslin's son, Jesse Lewis, was among the 20 children and six teachers and school administrators murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. last December. Heslin recounted his last moments with his son when he took him to pick up his favorite, sausage egg and cheese sandwich and hot chocolate before dropping him off at school on the morning of Dec. 14.

"It was 9:04 when I dropped Jesse off. Jesse gave me a hug and a kiss and at that time said goodbye and love you. He stopped and said, I loved mom too." Heslin and his wife are separated.

"That was the last I saw of Jesse as he ducked around the corner. Prior to that when he was getting out of the truck he hugged me and held me and I could still feel that hug and pat on the back and he said everything's going to be ok dad. It's all going to be ok," Heslin said breaking down in tears a second time. "It wasn't ok. I have to go home at night to an empty house without my son."

Army Vet Awarded Medal of Honor for Afghan Firefight Watch Video

Heslin was one of eight witnesses testifying at a hearing to back a proposed assault weapons ban. Another witness was Dr. William Begg, a physician who made it to the emergency room the day of the Newtown shooting.

"People say that the overall number of assault weapon deaths is small but you know what? Please don't tell that to the people of Tucson or Aurora or Columbine or Virginia Tech, and don't tell that to the people in Newtown," Begg said as he choked up and people in the crowd clapped. "Don't tell that to the people in Newtown. This is a tipping point. This is a tipping point and this is a public health issue. Please make the right decision."

Related: Read More About Heslin's Testimony

The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to consider four gun safety measures, including the assault weapons ban, on Thursday. The three other bills aim to stop illegal gun trafficking, enhance safety in schools, and enact universal background checks.

As the hearing unfolded on Capitol Hill, Biden tapped into the stories that Newtown's first responders have shared with him as he urged attorneys general to help the administration push their gun proposals.

Related: The Tragedy at Sandy Hook

"With the press not here, I can tell you what is not public yet about how gruesome it was," Biden said of the massacre's gruesome aftermath at a Washington luncheon. "I met with the state troopers who were on the scene this last week. And the impact on them has been profound. Some of them, understandably, needing some help."

A spokeswoman for Biden could not clarify the non-public information to which he referred. The vice president suggested that what he heard in private conversations should spur lawmakers to enact some measures aimed at curbing gun violence.

Related: President Obama's Campaign Organization Turns to Gun Control

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Lack of sleep leads to groggy genes: study

WASHINGTON: Lack of sleep has a potentially harmful effect on gene expression, according to a study out Tuesday that sheds light on the link between sleep deficits and a wide range of health conditions.

A sleep deficit -- even just a week's worth -- can have damaging effects on our genes, researchers said in a new study out Tuesday.

Lack of adequate shut-eye had already been linked to conditions from heart disease and cognitive impairment to obesity.

But sleep researcher Derk-Jan Dijk and his fellow researchers have delved into the molecular mechanisms behind the phenomenon, looking at how missed sleep leads to health problems.

They found that a week of sleeping six hours or less a night affects the expression of some 711 genes -- including those involved in inflammation, immunity, and stress responses.

Moreover, compared with test subjects who were allowed to sleep as long as 10 hours a night, those who lacked sleep had irregularities in their genes' circadian rhythms, experiencing a sharp reduction in the number of genes that wax and wane throughout the day and a dampened amplitude for many more.

At the end of the week, the test subjects were kept awake for 40 hours, with blood tests at regular intervals.

The research showed that, for those who had gotten adequate sleep previously, the affects of the sleep deprivation were seven times less than for those already operating under a sleep deficit.

Nearly a third of American workers -- some 40.6 million people -- average six hours or less of sleep a night, according to a 2010 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A normal night's sleep for healthy adults is considered to be between seven and eight hours.

-AFP/ac

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IB sulks over govt bid to place NCTC outside its ambit

NEW DELHI: As it tries to assuage the concerns of states over the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), which sees the concept as an encroachment on their turf, now the Centre also has to contend with the resentment of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) to the proposed mechanism.

Anxious to win over the states on the issue of NCTC which it sees as imperative for better co-ordination among counter-terror agencies, the Centre is considering keeping the proposed body out IB's ambit. States had apprehended that NCTC being part of the IB will help the Centre extend its jurisdiction to "law and order" issues which under the Constitution is not part of New Delhi's remit. The Centre has tried to appease states also by proposing that NCTC will be mandated not to carry out arrests of terror suspect in any state without informing the relevant DGP.

While the response of states to the fresh NCTC pitch is still awaited, the Centre has to put up with the sulks of IB. The leading intelligence body had seethed with resentment when the government responded to the trauma of 26/11 attack on Mumbai by setting up the National Investigating Agency (NIA). The arrival of NIA, with a countrywide jurisdiction that other central agencies can only envy, has been at the cost of IB's reputation as government's chief counter-terror agency.

The fear of loss has also fuelled anxiety about what the setting up of NCTC might spell for the IB. Sources in the home ministry said that concept of NCTC as the premier body tasked with gathering and disseminating counter-terror intelligence, which will be functioning independently of the IB, will be a blow to what a MHA source called "the Old Lady".

As per a Cabinet note prepared by the MHA for consideration by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) at its next meeting, the NCTC has been proposed as an independent body reporting directly to the Union home secretary. Its chief will now be a DGP-level officer, as against the additional DGP-rank proposed earlier: a change that can only add to the autonomy of the body vis-a-vis the IB.

The Cabinet note also seeks to revise the norms for exercising NCTC's powers of search and arrest during operations, and makes it mandatory for the body to inform the DGP of the state concerned, in advance.

According to sources in the government, the IB, in its comments on the CCS note, does not agree with the proposal to take NCTC out of its ambit and make it a parallel organization under the MHA. A senior government functionary indicated that the IB has even opposed powers of search and arrest for NCTC, stating that these should remain with the state governments or the NIA.

There is also a view that NCTC can be placed under NIA, as it would then automatically be empowered to search and arrest as per the NIA Act. A senior NIA official said creating a separate counter-terror body would pose practical problems like getting good officers on deputation and other infrastructure, something that has been ailing NIA as well.

The fresh thrust for operationalizing NCTC, created by an executive order passed in February, 2012, comes in the wake of the Hyderabad blasts pointing to gaps in intelligence coordination between the Centre and the states. Though both the Opposition as well as state governments agree on the basic need to have a specialized counter-terror body at the Centre, they are opposing NCTC in its current avatar.

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A History of Balloon Crashes

A hot-air balloon exploded in Egypt yesterday as it carried 19 people over ancient ruins near Luxor. The cause is believed to be a torn gas hose. In Egypt as in many other countries, balloon rides are a popular way to sightsee. (Read about unmanned flight in National Geographic magazine.)

The sport of hot-air ballooning dates to 1783, when a French balloon took to the skies with a sheep, a rooster, and a duck. Apparently, they landed safely. But throughout the history of the sport, there have been tragedies like the one in Egypt. (See pictures of personal-flight technology.)

1785: Pioneering balloonist Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier and pilot Pierre Romain died when their balloon caught fire, possibly from a stray spark, and crashed during an attempt to cross the English Channel. They were the first to die in a balloon crash.

1923: Five balloonists participating in the Gordon Bennett Cup, a multi-day race that dates to 1906, were killed when lightning struck their balloons.

1924: Meteorologist C. LeRoy Meisinger and U.S. Army balloonist James T. Neely died after a lightning strike. They had set off from Scott Field in Illinois during a storm to study air pressure. Popular Mechanics dubbed them "martyrs of science."

1995: Tragedy strikes the Gordon Bennett Cup again. Belarusian forces shot down one of three balloons that drifted into their airspace from Poland. The two Americans on board died. The other balloonists were detained and fined for entering Belarus without a visa. (Read about modern explorers who take to the skies.)

1989: Two hot air balloons collided during a sightseeing trip near Alice Springs, Australia. One balloon crashed to the ground killing all 13 people on board. The pilot of the other balloon was sentenced to a two-year prison term for "committing a dangerous act." Until today, this was considered the most deadly balloon accident.

2012: A balloon hit a power line and caught fire in New Zealand, killing all 11 on board. Investigators later determined that the pilot was not licensed to fly and had not taken  proper safety measures during the crash, like triggering the balloon's parachute and deflation system.

2012: A sightseeing balloon carrying 32 people crashed and caught fire during a thunderstorm in the Ljubljana Marshes in Slovenia. Six died; many other passengers were injured.

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Senate Votes to Confirm Hagel as Defense Secretary

After a tough two-month battle characterized by tough interrogation and a partisan divide, the Senate voted 58-41 to confirm Chuck Hagel -- President Obama's nominee -- as secretary of defense this afternoon.

Only four Republicans broke party lines to vote in Hagel's favor. They included Sens. Thad Cochran of Mississippi, Richard Shelby of Alabama, Mike Johanns of Nebraska and Rand Paul of Kentucky, though Paul had voted against moving forward with the vote earlier today.

Before that cloture vote to close the debate and bring Hagel's nomination to a vote, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., warned Republicans against continuing their partisan fight against the nominee.

"Senate Republicans have delayed for the better part of two weeks for one reason: partisanship," Reid said. "Politically motivated delays send a terrible signal to allies around the world, and they send a terrible signal to tens of thousands of Americans serving in Afghanistan, other parts of world and those valiant people who are serving here in the United States. For the sake of national security, it's time to set aside this partisanship."

The measure to move forward passed by a vote of 71-27. It needed at least 60 votes to pass.

Some Republican senators took the time before the vote to take a last stab at Hagel.

John Cornyn, R-Texas, who was one of 15 senators who sent a letter to Obama last week calling for him to withdraw his nomination of Hagel, said Hagel had proved that he's ill-prepared to assume the defense secretary post.

Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense: Confirmation Process Watch Video

Obama Taps Sen. Chuck Hagel for Defense Secretary Watch Video

"There's simply no way to sugar coat it," Cornyn said. "Sen. Hagel's performance before the Senate Armed Services Committee was remarkably inept, and we should not be installing a defense secretary who is obviously not qualified for the job and who holds dangerously misguided views on some of the most important issues facing national security policy for our country. Sen. Hagel is clearly the wrong man for the job."

The Senate returned today after a week off from debating Hagel's pros and cons.

Today's was not the first attempt to bring Hagel's nomination to the floor.

Republicans blocked a cloture vote to confirm Hagel on Valentine's Day, pushing the decision back until after their President's Day recess.

Democrats framed that rejection as a filibuster, while Republicans said they needed another week to discuss the candidate's record.

"This is a very controversial nominee. There is a desire to not end debate now," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said that Thursday. "We feel like come back next week, after the break, unless there is some bombshell I'd be ready to move on to vote."

Ten days later, GOP Sens. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and John McCain of Arizona predicted the Senate would go through with a vote today.

A group of 15 Republicans sent a letter to Obama last week asking him to withdraw Hagel's nomination. Coburn, one of the senators who signed that letter, said the fight among lawmakers over Hagel's qualifications would weaken him should he become secretary.

"I like Chuck Hagel as an individual, but the fact is, in modern times, we haven't had one defense secretary that's had more than three votes against him," Coburn said on "Fox News Sunday" this weekend. "And you're going to have 40 votes against him, or 35 votes. And that sends a signal to our allies as well as our foes that he does not have broad support in the U.S. Congress, which limits his ability to carry out his job."

McCain did not sign that letter.

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