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Purveyor's JournalGasoline Prices Rise At Fastest Rate In Almost Two Years: AAA
Source: MarketWatch
February 4, 2013, 3:30 PM
The average price for a regular gallon has jumped more than 17 cents, or 5.2%, from a week ago – the fastest weekly rate in nearly two years, according to AAA.
Prices stood at $3.52 a gallon Monday, up 17.4 cents from a week ago, according to AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report. A month ago, it stood at $3.299 and a year ago it was at $3.48.
The last time prices increased as quickly in one week was in 2011, when the average price jumped 18.4 cents, or 5.6%, during the week of Feb. 25 through March 4, according to Michael Green, an AAA spokesman.
Prices have now climbed for 18 days in a row, he said, rising in response to climbing crude-oil prices and “as refineries conduct seasonal maintenance and begin the transition to summer blends of gasoline.”
Read more: http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2013/02/04/gasoline-prices-rise-at-fastest-rate-in-almost-two-years-aaa/
Violence Against Women Act Still in Limbo in House
The Violence Against Women Act is expected to clear a procedural hurdle Monday and be moved out of the Senate by the end of the week with bipartisan support, but its future remains in limbo in the House of Representatives because of key protections for immigrants and the LGBT community.
The original bill, which was passed in the 1990s, expired nearly two years ago. Its reauthorization has been a top priority for Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy and Idaho Republican Mike Crapo since the legislation sailed through the Senate in April 2011 with 68 votes. But the House version, which passed in May 2012, was significantly different. The bill was stripped of many of the Senate's provisions, and the White House threatened to veto it. The House and the Senate never agreed on how to proceed, so lawmakers started from scratch in January when the 113th Congress reconvened.
And while the Senate bill has been tweaked slightly, many of the partisan sticking points remain.
"The Leahy-Crapo VAWA bill seeks to protect all victims of domestic and sexual violence, including tribal women, college students, and members of the LGBT community," Leahy said in a statement. "The bill closely mirrors the bill that was overwhelmingly approved by the Senate last year, and is the result of close consultation with law enforcement officials and the dedicated experts in the field."
MORE...
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/02/04/violence-against-women-act-still-in-limbo-in-house
U.S. Army To Build Soldier "Resilience" To Fight Suicides, Violence
Source: REUTERS
By Laura L. Myers
TACOMA, Washington | Mon Feb 4, 2013 10:09pm EST
(Reuters) - The U.S. Army, grappling with a spike in military suicides, plans to take steps to improve soldiers' resilience to mental health problems to combat such deaths as well as depression, substance abuse, and violent behavior, Army Secretary John McHugh said on Monday.
McHugh ordered Army officials to lay out detailed plans by February 15 to boost soldiers' "physical, emotional and psychological resilience," but did not reveal program specifics, such as estimated costs or goals.
"Interventions are not coming as soon as I would like to see them," McHugh told a news conference at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state. "Taking care of soldiers is one of our top priorities. It is not just a necessity but a moral imperative."
The announcement came after the U.S. military acknowledged in January that suicides had hit a record last year, outpacing combat deaths, with 349 active-duty suicides - almost one per day.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/05/us-usa-army-health-idUSBRE91404R20130205
Party-Line Voting Makes Scott Brown Part of a Dying Breed in the Senate
By NATE SILVER
Scott P. Brown’s decision not to run in a special Senate race in Massachusetts is a blow to Republican hopes of reclaiming the Senate. Mr. Brown might have had a 50-50 chance of capturing the seat formerly held by Secretary of State John Kerry. But Republicans as popular as Mr. Brown are hard to come by in Massachusetts.
Even 10 years ago, Mr. Brown would not have been quite so much of a novelty; there were considerably more Republican senators serving in blue states like Massachusetts, and more Democratic senators serving in red states, than there are today.
We can define the 18 blue states as those that have been won by Democrats in each presidential election since 2000, and the 22 red states as those that have been carried by Republicans in each election during that period. Ten years ago, there were eight Republicans serving in the Senate from the blue states: Peter Fitzgerald of Illinois, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, Norm Coleman of Minnesota, Gordon H. Smith of Oregon, Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island. Only Ms. Collins still holds her Senate seat today. She is joined by three new colleagues (Mark Kirk of Illinois, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin) who were elected in the Republican wave year of 2010. But the number of Republican senators in blue states has been cut to four from eight.
There are more Democratic senators from red states than Republican senators from blue states. But the Democratic figure has been on a gradual decline as well, from 14 senators a decade ago to 10 now.
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http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/04/party-line-voting-makes-scott-brown-part-of-a-dying-breed-in-the-senate/#h[]
Hagel Pentagon Nomination Picks Up Steam; Armed Services Committee Votes Thursday On Nomination
His nomination hearing didn't go well, so former Sen. Chuck Hagel is on Capitol Hill this week wooing senators to back his bid to replace Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.
An administration official working with Hagel told Secrets that the former Nebraska senator has about 20 individual meetings with senators planned and that the initial ones are going well. He has received public endorsements from several Democrats as well as two Republicans, likely assuring his confirmation.
The official said that the administration is confident Hagel will be confirmed. The Senate Armed Services Committee votes Thursday on his nomination. "We feel like the momentum is headed in the right direction, and we're confident he's going to get confirmed," said the official.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/hagel-pentagon-nomination-picks-up-steam/article/2520537
After Spending $51B, U.S. Can't Verify Size Of Afghan Security Force
Source: Washington Examiner
The United States has spent over $51 billion to help Afghanistan field, clothe, arm and house a national security force, but the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction Monday said that Washington doesn't even know the size of the Afghan force it's paying for.
And in a shocking statement, the IG, John Sopko, said that the numbers the U.S. is relying on from Afghan officials could be a sham, resulting in billions in waste.
Sopko, whose office is in charge of auditing the near $100 billion taxpayers are funnelling to rebuilding Afghanistan, said, "It looks like our data on the forces, the Afghan National Security Forces, that we are going to be relying on, may be bogus. We don't know what supports it."
His comments at a seminar hosted Monday by Center for Strategic and International Studies heightened concerns in his latest quarterly report on U.S. spending that taxpayers might be getting ripped off.
Read more: http://washingtonexaminer.com/after-spending-51b-u.s.-cant-verify-size-of-afghan-security-force/article/2520491
Obama Says Assault Weapons Ban Deserves A Vote In Congress
Source: Reuters
MINNEAPOLIS | Mon Feb 4, 2013 6:38pm EST
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama pressed Congress on Monday to at least hold a vote on banning assault weapons, the most contentious part of his plan to curb gun violence in the United States.
Obama's comments suggested a realization in the White House that it will be difficult to get such a ban passed by lawmakers, despite consistent public support for the measure.
Opposition is high in Congress, including among some Democrats, and by calling simply for a vote, Obama seemed to acknowledge that even getting that far - let alone having an assault weapons ban approved - would be a struggle.
"We should restore the ban on military style assault weapons and a 10-round limit for magazines. And that deserves a vote in Congress, because weapons of war have no place on our streets," Obama said as uniformed law enforcement officers stood behind him at the Minneapolis Police Department's Special Operation Center.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/04/us-usa-guns-obama-idUSBRE9130KL20130204
U.S., Allies Ready More Anti-Mine Drills As Iran Tensions Simmer
Source: Reuters
WASHINGTON | Mon Feb 4, 2013 6:51pm EST
(Reuters) - The U.S. military announced on Monday an anti-mine exercise in "the Middle East's international waterways" in May with more than 20 nations participating, the latest show of global will to keep waterways open as tensions with Iran simmer.
The drill was characterized as defensive and a follow-up to the IMCMEX 12 exercise held last September, focused on keeping oil shipping lanes open by clearing mines that potentially Iran, or even guerrilla groups, might deploy to disrupt tanker traffic.
"This year's effort will reaffirm the ongoing, global cooperation that this mission enjoys with the international community's strong support for free trade," General James Mattie, commander of the U.S. military's Central Command, said in a statement.
U.S. officials have in the past sought to play down any link between the drills and ongoing tensions with Iran, which is pushing forward with a nuclear program the West fears is aimed at giving it the capability to build an atomic bomb. Tehran says the program is peaceful.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/04/us-usa-iran-military-idUSBRE91313B20130204
Insight: Electric Cars Head Toward Another Dead End
TOKYO/DETROIT | Mon Feb 4, 2013 1:13am EST
(Reuters) - Are electric cars running out of juice again?
Recent moves by Japan's two largest automakers suggest that the electric car, after more than 100 years of development and several brief revivals, still is not ready for prime time - and may never be.
In the meantime, the attention of automotive executives in Asia, Europe and North America is beginning to swing toward an unusual but promising new alternate power source: hydrogen.
The reality is that consumers continue to show little interest in electric vehicles, or EVs, which dominated U.S. streets in the first decade of the 20th century before being displaced by gasoline-powered cars.
Despite the promise of "green" transportation - and despite billions of dollars in investment, most recently by Nissan Motor Co - EVs continue to be plagued by many of the problems that eventually scuttled electrics in the 1910s and more recently in the 1990s. Those include high cost, short driving range and lack of charging stations.
MORE...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/04/us-autos-electric-hydrogen-idUSBRE91304Z20130204
Obama Says Assault Weapons Ban Deserves A Vote In Congress
Source: Reuters
MINNEAPOLIS | Mon Feb 4, 2013 6:38pm EST
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama pressed Congress on Monday to at least hold a vote on banning assault weapons, the most contentious part of his plan to curb gun violence in the United States.
Obama's comments suggested a realization in the White House that it will be difficult to get such a ban passed by lawmakers, despite consistent public support for the measure.
Opposition is high in Congress, including among some Democrats, and by calling simply for a vote, Obama seemed to acknowledge that even getting that far - let alone having an assault weapons ban approved - would be a struggle.
"We should restore the ban on military style assault weapons and a 10-round limit for magazines. And that deserves a vote in Congress, because weapons of war have no place on our streets," Obama said as uniformed law enforcement officers stood behind him at the Minneapolis Police Department's Special Operation Center.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/04/us-usa-guns-obama-idUSBRE9130KL20130204
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