Obama’s impact on federal judiciary

It takes a calculator and perhaps the rigor of Sherlock Holmes to cut through the partisan rhetoric about President Obama’s first-term record on judicial nominations. But the bottom line is clear enough. There are more vacancies on the federal courts now than when Obama took office nearly four years ago. And he is the first president in generations to fail to put a nominee on the U.S....

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Israel's Lieberman may face tougher charges: ministry

JERUSALEM: Israel's ex-foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, who quit this month after being charged with breach of trust five weeks ahead of a general election, may have the charges against him toughened, the justice ministry said Sunday.Media reports said police will question Lieberman, head of the ultranationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, this week in an inquiry relating to the promotion...

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BJP seeks all-party meet, BSP wants special session to enact law for crimes against women

NEW DELHI: Bahajan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Sunday joined BJP in demanding a special session of Parliament to enact a stringent law for rape and crimes against women. Mayawati also demanded passage of the bill on quota in promotions for SCs/STs in the same session. In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the BSP chief sought a special session to amend laws relating to crime against...

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Pictures: Fungi Get Into the Holiday Spirit

Photograph courtesy Stephanie Mounaud, J. Craig Venter InstituteMounaud combined different fungi to create a Santa hat and spell out a holiday message.Different fungal grow at different rates, so Mounaud's artwork rarely lasts for long. There's only a short window of time when they actually look like what they're suppose to."You do have to keep that in perspective when you're making these creations,"...

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NRA Chief LaPierre: 'Call Me Crazy'

National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre fired back at his critics today, defending his proposal to put armed guards in every school in the country as a way to prevent future tragedies like the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that took the lives of 20 children and six adults."If it's crazy to call for armed officers in our schools to protect our children, then call...

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Boehner faces a political cliff over budget fracas in Washington

House Speaker John A. Boehner spent much of Thursday confidently predicting that he could pass a plan to avert the year-end “fiscal cliff.” “Sure did,” Boehner acknowledged with a wry smile Friday, the day after he was forced to cancel the vote due to lack of support. The stunning rebuke by his fellow Republicans was the most critical test of Boehner’s leadership since he assumed control...

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CIA chief decries torture in Osama bin Laden hunt movie

WASHINGTON: Acting CIA director Michael Morell said that "Zero Dark Thirty," the Hollywood take on the hunt for Osama bin Laden, exaggerates the importance of information obtained by harsh interrogations.The movie by Academy Award-winning director Kathryn Bigelow tells the story of the decade-long search after September 11, 2001 that climaxed in last year's dramatic and deadly raid in...

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Virbhadra Singh to be Himachal CM

SHIMLA: Congress Party's old warhorse Virbhadra Singh will be the next chief minister of Himachal Pradesh. This will be his sixth term as the head of the hill state. After a meeting of Himachal Pradesh Congress Legislature Party (CLP) here on Saturday, Virbhadra's name was cleared by party president Sonia Gandhi. At the CLP meet, the MLAs had sent a one-line resolution asking Sonia Gandhi to decide...

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Pictures: Fungi Get Into the Holiday Spirit

Photograph courtesy Stephanie Mounaud, J. Craig Venter InstituteMounaud combined different fungi to create a Santa hat and spell out a holiday message.Different fungal grow at different rates, so Mounaud's artwork rarely lasts for long. There's only a short window of time when they actually look like what they're suppose to."You do have to keep that in perspective when you're making these creations,"...

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Urban Advocates Say New Gun Control Talk Overdue

For years, voices have cried in the urban wilderness: We need to talk about gun control.Yet the guns blazed on.It took a small-town slaughter for gun control to become a political priority. Now, decades' worth of big-city arguments against easy access to guns are finally being heard, because an unstable young man invaded an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., with a military-style...

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