Confession d'un ex-agent de la TSA

La TSA (Transportation Security Agency) gaspillerait-elle l'argent des contribuables? Voici les révélations d'un ancien agent.

 "I quickly discovered I was working for an agency whose morale was among the lowest in the U.S. government. In private, most TSA officers I talked to told me they felt the agency’s day-to-day operations represented an abuse of public trust and funds. Charges of racial profiling by the TSA made headlines every few months, and working from behind the scenes we knew what was prompting those claims. Until 2010 (not long after the TSA standard operating procedure manual was accidentially leaked to the public), all TSA officers worked with a secret list printed on small slips of paper that many of us taped to the back of our TSA badges for easy reference: the Selectee Passport List. It consisted of 12 nations that automatically triggered enhanced passenger screening."

 Le reportage en entier:
  http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/01/tsa-screener-confession-102912.html?hp=t1#.Uuvb6Pl5PAw

Amanda Knox ne retournera pas en Italie de son plein gré

 Les résultats de ce second procès en Italie pour Amanda Knox impliquent un éventuel retour de l'américaine en sol italien pour y servir sa peine. La cause qui sera probablement portée en appel pourrait devenir très politique si Knox refuse de coopérer. Les États-Unis, pour préserver leurs relations avec l'Italie, pourraient très bien livrer la jeune femme aux autorités italiennes.

 "Knox's conviction has raised questions about her possible extradition to Italy to serve her 28½-year sentence, handed down in absentia, since she has been in the United States throughout the retrial.

 But Simon said it was too early to talk about extradition since there is still an appeals process to go through, which will probably last another year. Knox, 26, told ABC she would fight every step of the way. "I will never go willingly back to the place where I -- I'm gonna fight this until the very end," she said.

 Asked how she was coping with the situation, her attorney highlighted her strength of character.

 "While she accepted that very difficult news, she has rebounded. She has shown great resilience and fortitude. And with a great deal of family support, they're going to go forward and appeal what we would characterize as a completely unjust conviction," Simon said.

 The attorney argued there was "no evidence" implicating his client in the murder and never had been, adding that it was "incomprehen

 http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/31/world/europe/italy-amanda-knox-retrial/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Ces jeunes visages blancs de l'esclavage

Présenter des photographies d'esclaves "blancs" (à la peau beaucoup plus claire) pour sensibiliser encore plus les habitants du nord des États-Unis pendant la guerre de Sécession? Article particulièrement intéressant dans le New York Times de ce matin.

  http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/30/the-young-white-faces-of-slavery/

Football, douleur et marijuana

Un groupe appelé Marijuana Policy Project demande à ce qu'on puisse étudier la possibilité d'autoriser les joueurs de football à consommer de la marijuana pour soulager la douleur. Le groupe a acheté des espaces publicitaires en prévision du match de dimanche.

 "It’s a fair question. Marijuana isn’t a performance-enhancing drug, for starters, and more than 20 states have legalized it for medical purposes. The league would merely be catching up to contemporary practice by creating a medical exception.

 At a news conference on Jan. 7, the league commissioner, Roger Goodell, did not rule out a change in policy. “I don’t know what’s going to develop as far as the next opportunity for medicine to evolve and to help either deal with pain or help deal with injuries,” he said, “but we will continue to support the evolution of medicine.” On Jan. 23, he said the league would “follow medicine and if they determine this could be a proper usage in any context, we will consider that.” There is, in fact, a body of evidence indicating a “proper usage”: one of particular relevance to a hard-hitting, injury-riddled sport.

 “Cannabinoids,” the Institute of Medicine reported in 1999, “can have a substantial analgesic effect.” N.F.L. medical experts obviously aren’t convinced, but N.F.L. players seem to be. HBO’s “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel” estimated in January that 50 to 60 percent of players smoked marijuana, many to manage pain.

La suite:
http://app.nytimes.com/#2014/01/31/opinion/football-pain-and-marijuana

Bruno Mars: l'autre négligé du Super bowl

L'artiste qui est passé par le Festival d'été de Québec l'an dernier assure qu'il nest pas intimidé et q'il est prêt!

 "Compared with previous artists who have played to national television audiences of 100 million or more on the coveted Super Bowl stage, a roster that has included Beyoncé, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney, Mr. Mars seemed to lack the stature and longevity of these monolithic musicians.

 For the N.F.L., the selection of Mr. Mars is a potentially risky experiment for the halftime show, as the league forgoes a heavily mined supply of time-tested musicians in favor of a younger and relatively hipper headlining act. But the biggest risk of all is to Mr. Mars himself, who, in the span of a few songs, can either prove that he is a rising talent worthy of this distinction or that his detractors were right to be skeptical.

“He needs to really come across strongly and obviously not fall flat on his face, or it could kill his career,” said Gary Bongiovanni, the editor in chief of Pollstar, a publication that tracks the concert tour industry. “I’m sure he’s concerned about doing the very best show that he possibly can.”

http://app.nytimes.com/#2014/01/31/arts/bruno-mars-says-hes-ready-for-his-big-stage

Caricature Obama n'hésitera pas à "contourner" le Congrès

Caricature de STEVE SACK, THE MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE

Caricature jour de la marmotte et Super bowl

Caricature de RANDY BISH, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Caricature Mike Huckabee et la libido des femmes...

Caricature de MIKE KEEFE, CAGLE CARTOONS 

 Dans une des mes dernières chroniques je référais à une déclaration de Mike Huckabee qui, critiquant des dispositions d'Obamacare, disait que les Américains n'avaient pas à payer pour les contraceptifs de ces femmes qui ne parviennent pas à contrôler leur libido et leur "appareil reproducteur". Pas la déclaration la plus habile pour contribuer à rapprocher les républicains d'un électorat féminin qui leur échappe...

Caricature NCAA et syndicalisation des joueurs collégiaux

Caricature de NATE BEELER, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev fera face à la peine de mort

La décision de Attorney General (Ministre de la justice) Eric H. Holder Jr a été annoncé aujourd'hui. Le plus jeune des frères Tsarnaev pourrait être condamné à mort à la suite de l'attentat du marathon de Boston.  Eric Holder a également présenté des arguments pour justifier ce recours.

 "“While I understand the public interest in this matter, we have rules that limit the release of information and the scope of public statements,” Ortiz said. “The process by which this decision was made is confidential, and I will not comment further about that process other than to say that it entailed a careful and detailed consideration of the particular facts and circumstances of this case.”

 If Tsarnaev is convicted, a second trial would take place to determine his sentence. In court papers filed today, prosecutors outlined their legal arguments to justify the death penalty. Among those arguments: That Martin Richard was merely 8 years old and was “particularly vulnerable due to youth,” that the attacks were “heinous, cruel and depraved,” that they were engineered to inspire other terrorists, and that they were committed in “betrayal of the United States.”

 “Dzhokhar Tsarnaev received asylum from the United States; obtained citizenship and enjoyed the freedoms of a United States citizen; and then betrayed his allegiance to the United States by killing and maiming people in the United States,” prosecutors wrote.

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2014/01/accused_bomber_dzhokhar_tsarnaev_to_face_death_penalty

Caricature drones sur Cape Cod

Caricature de DAVE GRANLUND, POLITICALCARTOONS.COM 

 La célèbre destination touristique au sud de Boston a été sélectionnée par la FAA (Federal Aviation Administration)

  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/31/us/politics/us-names-domestic-test-sites-for-drone-aircraft.html

Hillary Clinton largement en avance chez les démocrates pour 2016

Un sondage ABC-Washington Post qui confirme l'opinion d'une majorité d'observateurs. Mme Clinton serait également gagnante lors de l'élection générale, mais la course entre les candidats républicains à l'investiture est très ouverte.

 "Although Clinton’s favorability rating has fallen since she stepped down as secretary of state a year ago, she has broad Democratic support across ideological, gender, ethnic and class lines. Her lead is the largest recorded in an early primary matchup in at least 30 years of Post-ABC polling.

 The race for the Republican nomination, in contrast, is wide open, with six prospective candidates registering 10 percent to 20 percent support. No candidate has broad backing from both tea party activists and mainline Republicans, signaling potential fissures when the GOP picks a standard-bearer in 2016.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was at or near the top of the Republican field in many public opinion surveys last year, appears to have suffered politically from the bridge-traffic scandal engulfing his administration.

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/for-2016-hillary-clinton-has-commanding-lead-over-democrats-gop-race-wide-open/2014/01/29/188bb3f4-8904-11e3-833c-33098f9e5267_story.html

Brokeback mountain, l'opéra.

On retrouvait bien des sceptiques lorsque le projet fut annoncé, mais la première cet opéra figure maintenant à l'agenda de bien des critiques.

 "The premiere of “Brokeback Mountain,” one of the most anticipated events of the international opera season, took place at the Teatro Real here on Tuesday night. It is a serious work, an impressive achievement. But it is a hard opera to love.

 Mr. Wuorinen has written an intricate, vibrantly orchestrated and often brilliant score that conveys the oppressiveness of the forces that defeat these two men, whose lives we follow over 20 years, starting in 1963, when they take a summer job herding sheep on Brokeback Mountain. But the same qualities in Mr. Wuorinen’s music that can captivate listeners — ingenious complexity, lucid textures, tartly atonal harmonic writing — too often weigh down the drama in this work.

To his credit, there is not one saccharine or melodramatic touch in the score. Still, you yearn for the music to sing, to convey the moments of romantic bliss and sensual pleasure that the uptight Ennis Del Mar and his more daring companion, Jack Twist, experience. For long stretches, though, Mr. Wuorinen’s music comes across as a little too brainy and relentlessly busy.

 http://app.nytimes.com/#2014/01/30/arts/lyrical-cowboys-in-love-on-stage

Atlanta: 2 pouces de naige qui paralysent toute une ville!

Si à Québec les conditions routières lundi ont entraîné des retards pour le transport en commun et compliqué sérieusement les déplacements, ce n'est rien comparaison de la paralysie qui a touché les six millions d'habitants de la région d'Atlanta.

 "On Tuesday, snowfall of just over 2 inches shut down metropolitan Atlanta’s roads, schools, churches, government offices and businesses. Thousands of flights were cancelled at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. More than 2,000 school children were separated from their parents, and spent the night in buses, police stations, or classrooms. It seemed that the only places open were Waffle House and Home Depot, the former serving hash browns and coffee and the latter opening up its stores as makeshift shelters. People who didn’t camp out in supermarket aisles and hotel lobbies were trapped in cars for 10, 16, 20 hours as they tried to make commutes that normally take just 30 minutes"

  http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/01/atlanta-snow-storm-102839.html?hp=t1#.Uupgjvl5PAw

Réactions des républicains au State of the Union: qu'en pense "l'américain moyen"?

Caricature deJ OE HELLER, GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE

Ce que femme veut: réflexions républicaines

Caricature de PAT BAGLEY, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE 

 Bagley récupère ainsi le thème de la "war on women" que mèneraient les républicains au Congrès.

Caricature Obama et la présidence impériale

Caricature d'ERIC ALLIE, CAGLECARTOONS.COM 

 Avant son discours devant le Congrès Obama affirmait avoir un stylo qu'il n'hésiterait pas à utiliser pour signer des projets de loi lui permettant de contourner le pouvoir législatif. Allié à donc penser à un nouveau sceptre...

Caricature inégalités sociales

Caricature de JIMMY MARGULIES, THE RECORD OF HACKENSACK, NJ 

 Dans son "State of the Union" Obama mentionnait la nécessité de s'attaquer aux inégalités.

Mitt Romney "slow jams" the news avec Jimmy Fallon

Obama s'était déjà prêté au jeu:

Caricature State of the Union et "premiers répondants"

Caricature de PAT BAGLEY, SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

'I'll Break You In Half. Like A Boy.' Un républicain menace un journaliste.

Contrarié par l'attitude d'un journaliste à qui il prétendait faire une faveur, le républicain Michael Grimm lui aurait lancé cette phrase menaçante: I'll break you in half. Like a boy".

 Voici les explications du politicien de Staten Island (New York): "I was extremely annoyed because I was doing NY1 a favor by rushing to do their interview first in lieu of several other requests. The reporter knew that I was in a hurry and was only there to comment on the State of the Union, but insisted on taking a disrespectful and cheap shot at the end of the interview, because I did not have time to speak off-topic. I verbally took the reporter to task and told him off, because I expect a certain level of professionalism and respect, especially when I go out of my way to do that reporter a favor. I doubt that I am the first Member of Congress to tell off a reporter, and I am sure I won’t be the last."

  http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/michael-grimm-statement

Caricature Obama utilise son stylo

Caricature d'ERIC ALLIE, CAGLECARTOONS.COM

 Depuis une semaine Obama affirme qu'il a un téléphone et un stylo et qu'il n'hésitera pas à s'en servir s'il doit contourner le Congrès.

Un discours d'Obama c'est comme le sexe? (Alex Castellanos, CNN)

 Assurément la citation de la soirée pour les analyses du discours d'Obama. Et Castellanos n'en est pas à sa première référence au sexe dans une analyse politique.

 "However, as he said, this isn’t the first time Castellanos has compared politics to sex. In October he attempted to relate the government shutdown and the actions of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to “bunny sex”. He’s repeatedly likened Obama’s speaking skills to sex."

  http://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/alex-castellanos-obama-state-of-the-union-speech-like-sex-102775.html?hp=lh_b3

State of the Union: Biden vole la vedette sur Twitter

 Les mimiques du Vice-président Joe Biden pendant le discours de son "patron" ont animé les échanges sur Twitter. Le site POLTICO présente un montage de ses meilleures expressions et fournit quelques exemples de gazouillis.

  http://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/state-of-the-union-2014-joe-biden-twitter-102774.html?hp=lh_b2

Abolir le State of The Union? (POLITICO)

Vide le discours? Une suite de banalités? Une cérémonie inutile ou un "pep talk" destiné aux médias? L'auteur croit qu'il est plus que temps de réformer la pratique ou de l'abolir.

 "“The Constitution’s mild requirement has become a tiresome exercise in political exhibitionism,” the columnist George Will wrote this week, calling the speech “the most execrable ceremony in the nation’s civic liturgy, regardless of which party’s president is abusing it” as a “made-for-television political pep rally.”

 Conor Friedersdorf, a liberal writer for The Atlantic, complained that the message has become “a banal, risk-averse, scattershot speech that could be cancelled without any great consequence,” in part because tradition calls for it to address “so many subjects that nothing deep or lasting can be said about any of them.” In this sense, Obama was true to form, voicing support for such motherhood-and-apple-pie (but not easily achievable) causes as equal pay for women, good mental health care for veterans, greater access to early childhood education and affordable college.

 The limitations of the speech’s hodge-podge genre have not stopped the media from investing the annual ritual with outsize importance. Indeed, for at least a couple of decades, the Washington punditocracy has portrayed the State of the Union as a make-a-break, do-or-die, cliché-of-your-choice occasion for whoever happens to be the sitting president. News organizations (including this one) have capitalized on the hype to sponsor marketing and promotional events — countdown clocks, watching parties, after-panels, live-blogging — and have coined an ungainly acronym, SOTU, to sum it all up.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/state-of-the-union-2014-make-it-stop-102787.html?hp=t1

L'intégral du State of the Union d'Obama

"Tonight, this chamber speaks with one voice to the people we represent: it is you, our citizens, who make the state of our union strong."

  http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/full-text-of-obamas-2014-state-of-the-union-address/2014/01/28/e0c93358-887f-11e3-a5bd-844629433ba3_story.html#SOTU

Caricature Obama et le discours sur l'état... Des sondages!

Caricature de STEVE SACK, THE MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE

Pete Seeger et Bruce Springsteen: this land is your land (Inauguration d'Obama)

Caricature Pete Seeger (1919-2014): where all the flowers have gone

Caricature de DAVE GRANLUND, POLITICALCARTOONS.COM

Caricature Pete Seeger (1919-2014): vidéos en prime!

Caricature de DAVID FITZSIMMONS, THE ARIZONA STAR

Caricature Alabama et préparatifs pour la neige!

Caricature de RICK MCKEE, THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE

Caricature Tea party et Congrès: faire le poids?

Caricature de RJ MATSON, ROLL CALL

Caricature Beatles et bristish invasion: cinquante ans déjà!

Caricature de DAVE GRANLUND, POLITICALCARTOONS.COM

Caricature le cowboy Marlboro est mort

Caricature de RANDY BISH, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Eric Lawson est décédé du "cancer du fumeur"...

Super bowl et préparatifs culinaires...

Caricature de JIMMY MARGULIES, THE RECORD OF HACKENSACK, NJ

Caricature internet, un cadeau de Dieu!

Caricature de NATE BEELER, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Caricature State of the Union et Super bowl: même stratégie!

Caricature de DAVE GRANLUND, POLITICALCARTOONS.COM

Caricature Obama imite le pape François pour le State of the Union!

Caricature de RJ MATSON

Caricature Obama, Clinton et le pot...

Caricature de JEFF DARCY, THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER

State of the Union: un agenda modeste pour le Président?

Après une année 2013 difficile Que dira le Président Obama devant le Congrès ce mardi? Le New York Times prétend que les objectifs du Président seront plutôt modestes.

 "So these days, Mr. Obama envisions a more modest place in the tide of history. “At the end of the day, we’re part of a long-running story,” he told David Remnick of The New Yorker. “We just try to get our paragraph right.”

 Mr. Obama said that while he might not accomplish his goals during his tenure, he hoped to plant seeds. “The things you start may not come to full fruition on your timetable,” he told Mr. Remnick. “But you can move things forward. And sometimes the things that start small may turn out to be fairly significant.”

 The seemingly diminished expectations expressed in those comments surprised many in Washington, where presidents rarely acknowledge limits. Concerned about the impression Mr. Obama had left, aides warned against overanalyzing his words and said he was reinvigorated after the setbacks of 2013.

http://app.nytimes.com/#2014/01/26/nytfrontpage/obama-pursuing-a-modest-agenda-in-state-of-union

Bill Clinton le "prédateur": Rand Paul ramène Monica Lewinsky dans l'actualité

Le républicain Rand Paul, qui offrira mardi la réponse républicaine au State of the Union du Président Obama, décoche indirectement une flèche en direction d'Hillary Clinton en ramenannt sur le tapis la relation entre Bill Clinton et Monica Lewinsky. Aux yeux de son épouse cette histoire devrait être discutée lors d'une éventuelle candidature de Mme Clinton. Les républicains sont régulièrement accusés de livre une "guerre contre les femmes" et Paul en profite pour glisser que le comportement "prédateur" de Bill Clinton n'est assurément pas ce que les Américains veulent pour les femmes... Le cas de Clinton, une affaire privée, est-il pertinent en 2014? Paul n'insiste pas sur le fait qu'on l'a accusé de plagiat dans ses discours....

 ""He took advantage of a girl that was 20 years old and an intern in his office. There is no excuse for that, and that is predatory behavior," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press" about Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky. "Bosses shouldn't prey on young interns in their office."

Paul's wife, Kelley Paul, told Vogue in September that Bill Clinton's conduct on the White House should be a factor for voters when considering Hillary Clinton for president. While Rand Paul said that Bill Clinton's behavior with Lewinsky should be considered when judging him, he said it shouldn't necessarily impact Hillary Clinton's potential presidential run.

 "Yes, I think it's a factor," he said, adding that, "no, it's not Hillary's fault."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/rand-paul-bill-clinton-predatory-behavior

Combien de temps me reste-t-il? "I can't go on. I will go on" (NY Times)

Un texte triste et dur pour un dimanche? Peut-être, mais surtout un texte pertinent. Il s'agit de la réflexion d'un neurochirurgien de 36 ans sur sa maladie et les pronostics des médecins. Pour les personnes atteintes de cancer, la question que ce médecin se pose oriente bien des choix et/ou des comportements. Pourtant, rares sont les médecins qui osent avancer une réponse. En sont-ils incapables?  Non, ils s'y refusent probablement parce que c'est mieux ainsi... L'angoisse de la mort ne trouve pas de réponse dans les statistiques. Dans sa quête de sens et/ou de motivation l'auteur s'en remet à cette phrase de Samuel Beckett: "I can't go on, I will go on".

 "The reason doctors don’t give patients specific prognoses is not merely because they cannot. Certainly, if a patient’s expectations are way out of the bounds of probability — someone expecting to live to 130, or someone thinking his benign skin spots are signs of impending death — doctors are entrusted to bring that person’s expectations into the realm of reasonable possibility.

 But the range of what is reasonably possible is just so wide. Based on today’s therapies, I might die within two years, or I might make it to 10. If you add in the uncertainty based on new therapies available in two or three years, that range may be completely different. Faced with mortality, scientific knowledge can provide only an ounce of certainty: Yes, you will die. But one wants a full pound of certainty, and that is not on offer.

 What patients seek is not scientific knowledge doctors hide, but existential authenticity each must find on her own. Getting too deep into statistics is like trying to quench a thirst with salty water. The angst of facing mortality has no remedy in probability.

 http://app.nytimes.com/#2014/01/26/sundayreview/how-long-have-i-got-left

Le State of the Union address (SOTU): exhibitionnisme politique?

Les penseurs de la Constitution américaine se seraient-ils trompés? L'exercice visant à informer le Congrès de l'état de l'Union ne se limite-t-il qu'à un spectacle partisan préparé pour la télévision? L'opinion de George Will dans le Washington Post.

" As undignified as it is unedifying and unnecessary, the vulgar State of the Union circus is again at our throats. The document that the Constitutional Convention sent forth from Philadelphia for ratification in 1787 was just 4,543 words long, but this was 17 too many. America would be a sweeter place if the Framers had not included this laconic provision pertaining to the president: “He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union.”

 “Information”? Not exactly.

 The Constitution’s mild requirement has become a tiresome exercise in political exhibitionism, the most execrable ceremony in the nation’s civic liturgy, regardless of which party’s president is abusing it. You worship bipartisanship? There is not a dime’s worth of difference between the ways the parties try to milk partisan advantage from this made-for-television political pep rally.

La suite:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-f-will-the-political-exhibitionism-of-the-state-of-the-union/2014/01/24/ce3e11f2-8462-11e3-9dd4-e7278db80d86_story.html?hpid=z2

Trois morts dans un centre commercial au Maryland: nouvelle tuerie aux États-Unis

Encore une fois cette semaine j'expliquais aux élèves dans mes classes que les Américains entretiennent une relation pour le moins tordue avec les armes à feu. J'ajoutais qu'hélas on peut difficilement couvrir l'actualité pendant quelques semaines sans rapporter un incident de violence armée. Je ne croyais pas que le prochain épisode arriverait si rapidement... Difficile de ne pas partager cette déclaration d'une femme qui se trouvait sur les lieux:
 “I think this country is in a lot if trouble,” said McKindles, who moved to Columbia from Cockeysville, north of Baltimore, two months ago. “I mean, what possesses someone to, on a Saturday afternoon, in this cold, to come to a mall and shoot people? Why? I just can’t understand what motivates that.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/mall-in-columbia-on-lockdown-amid-reports-of-shooter/2014/01/25/4b3e8fb2-85e2-11e3-b85b-b305db87fb90_story.html?hpid=z1

Obamacare: trois millions d'adhérents

Après des débuts catastrophiques, Obamacare rejoint de plus en plus d'américains. Selon des informations dévoilées par la Secrétaire Kathleen Sebelius on compte maintenant trois millions d'adhérents au programmes. Le rythme des inscriptions a légèrement diminué jusqu'à maintenant en janvier, mais il semble que les problèmes des mois de septembre et novembre attribuables au système informatique soient chose du passé.

" Three million Americans have now enrolled in private coverage through Obamacare, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Friday, reflecting a continued increase in sign-ups through the health care reform law.

Sebelius announced the new enrollment number during her remarks in Jacksonville, Fla., and they were reported by Bloomberg's Alex Wayne on Twitter. An administration official confirmed the figure to TPM.

 The enrollment total as of Dec. 28 was 2.2 million, according to a report released earlier this month by HHS. That would indicate that at least 800,000 people have enrolled in the following weeks.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/obamacare-january-enrollment-sebelius

Caricature pot pire que l'alcool?

Caricature de JOHN COLE, THE SCRANTON TIMES-TRIBUNE

Caricature Masahiro Tanaka signe avec les Yankees

Caricature de JIMMY MARGULIES, THE RECORD OF HACKENSACK, NJ

Chronique à Radio-Canada cet après-midi: Mike Huckabee et Hillary Clinton

La chronique début à 17h50 sur l'audio fil du 24 janvier: http://ici.radio-canada.ca/emissions/radio-canada_cet_apres-midi/2013-2014/index.asp

Un premier Super Pac pour appuyer la campagne 2016 d'Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton n'a toujours pas annoncé son intention de présenter sa candidature pour l'élection présidentielle de 2016, mais ses partisans sont déjà au travail. On annonçait hier la création d'un premier Super Pac pour appuyer l'ancienne First lady. Les "comités d'action politique" doivent être indépendants du parti et de la candidate et, depuis une décision de la Cour suprême de 2010, ils n'y a plus de plafond imposé pour les contributions. Généralement leur influence ans les campagnes électorales est perceptible au plan publicitaire. En 2012, le Priorities USA Action avait dépensé soixante-sept millions de dollars en publicités négatives contre Mitt Romney. Des vétérans de la dernière campagne d'Obama joignent les rangs de ce Super Pac.

 "The move is perhaps the earliest start to big-dollar fund-raising in support of a nonincumbent presidential candidate, providing a fund-raising portal for wealthy Clinton supporters eager to help her White House prospects — and to the legions of others eager to ingratiate themselves with Mrs. Clinton and her inner circle.

 Jim Messina, Mr. Obama’s campaign manager in 2012, who has forged close ties with many Democratic donors, will serve as co-chairman of the revamped super PAC and an affiliated nonprofit, along with Jennifer M. Granholm, the former Michigan governor, who is among the most persistent voices calling for Mrs. Clinton to enter the 2016 race.

 http://app.nytimes.com/#2014/01/24/nytfrontpage/biggest-liberal-super-pac-to-fund-possible-clinton-bid

Caricature Justin Bieber: mal entouré?

Caricature de JOHN COLE, THE SCRANTON TIMES-TRIBUNE

Caricature pétrole et transport ferroviaire: explosion de la demande...

Caricature de JOHN COLE, THE SCRANTON TIMES-TRIBUNE

Caricature Justin Bieber et Forrest Gump

Caricature de RANDY BISH, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Les États-Unis devraient cesser de brusquer le Canada (Washington Post)

Billet intéressant de Charles Krauthammer dans le Washington Post de ce matin. Il considère que la Canada n'a pas été bien traité par l'administration Obama, particulièrement dans le dossier du pipeline Keystone XL. On devine un "léger penchant" pour le développement des sables bitumineux. Il n'est pas particulièrement tendre lorsqu'il mentionne les environnementalistes.

 "If Obama wants to cave to his environmental left, fine. But why keep Canada in limbo? It’s a show of supreme and undeserved disrespect for yet another ally. It seems not enough to have given the back of the hand to Britain, Israel, Poland and the Czech Republic, and to have so enraged the Saudis that they actually rejected a U.N. Security Council seat — disgusted as they were with this administration’s remarkable combination of fecklessness and highhandedness. Must we crown this run of diplomatic malpractice with gratuitous injury to Canada, our most reliable, most congenial friend in the world?

 And for what? This is not a close call. The Keystone case is almost absurdly open and shut.

 Even if you swallow everything the environmentalists tell you about oil sands, the idea that blocking Keystone would prevent their development by Canada is ridiculous. Canada sees its oil sands as a natural bounty and key strategic asset. Canada will not leave it in the ground.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/charles-krauthammer-stop-kicking-canada-around/2014/01/23/0398b8fa-846a-11e3-8099-9181471f7aaf_story.html?hpid=z2