September 17, 2013

"Fine Mess": Pittsburgh residents ticketed for parking in their own driveways

(CBS) PITTSBURGH - Parking in Pittsburgh? Even if you live there, you could get fined for keeping your car in your own driveway.

According to CBS Pittsburgh, City Councilman Corey O'Connor says it's happened on two city streets - and thanks to an old law still on the books, it could happen anywhere in the Steel City.

"This could happen tomorrow to any resident of the city of Pittsburgh," said O'Connor.

"We're no longer allowed to use our driveway to park, because of a law that says you have to park at least 30 feet away from the street," said Eileen Freedman, who says she recently got a warning letter from the Bureau of Building Inspection.

"This is where I've been parking for over 18 years," said Eileen Freedman, as she pointed at the driveway to her home in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood.


http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57602734-504083/fine-mess-pittsburgh-residents-ticketed-for-parking-in-their-own-driveways/



Pittsburgh residents are angered after being ticketed for parking in their own driveways.
/ CBS Pittsburgh

September 13, 2013

Warm water under Antarctic glacier spurs astonishing rate of melting

A two-month-long expedition to one of the most remote sites on the planet — the sprawling Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica — has revealed that currents of warm water beneath the glacier are melting the ice at a staggering rate of about 2.4 inches (6 centimeters) per day.

An international team of researchers journeyed to the southernmost continent to study the Pine Island Glacier, which is the longest and fastest-changing glacier on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. This region, in the far reaches of Antarctica, has been of particular interest to scientists because it is among the most rapidly melting ice masses in the world, thinning as it flows to the Amundsen Sea at a rate of about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) each year.

Since warm seawater flows beneath the ice shelf (the part of the glacier that floats on the ocean), scientists have known that the Pine Island Glacier was melting from below. Now, using sensors deployed across the 31-mile-long (50-km-long) glacier, the researchers have gauged the rate of glacial melt beneath the solid ice. [Album: Stunning Photos of Antarctic Ice]

The results demonstrate the crucial need to better understand melting processes underneath massive glaciers, including how this undersea process will affect global sea-level rise in the future.


http://www.nbcnews.com/science/warm-water-under-antarctic-glacier-spurs-astonishing-rate-melting-8C11140007




Researchers from the Naval Postgraduate School deployed multiple, unique sensors through 1,640 feet (500 meters) of solid ice to determine how quickly warm water was melting Antarctica's massive Pine Island Glacier from beneath.

September 9, 2013

Sanders wary of 'regime change' language on Syria

http://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/video/inplay/sanders-wary-of-regime-change-in-syria/2013/09/09/ebeae1e4-196e-11e3-82ef-a059e54c49d0_video.html


September 9, 2013 12:35 PM EDT — In an interview with Jackie Kucinich, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) says the "terrible quagmire" in the Middle East has distracted lawmakers from Americans' real concerns. (The Washington Post)

September 6, 2013

Hawks, Doves, Fence Sitters (Updated with names)

There are 18 kinds of Syria bombing opponents in Congress, and 12 kinds of bombing supporters.

This piece has been updated since original publication to add to the list of members of Congress for and against Syria action.

During the Cold War and for a period after the attacks of 9/11, a national security consensus existed between the two parties. When it came to foreign adventures, the president’s party would support him, and a significant portion of the opposition (sometimes a majority) would go along, too. This consensus has been fraying. On issues from President Obama’s use of drones, to the breadth of U.S. surveillance, to how to respond to the coup in Egypt, there is confusion, instability, and partisanship in Washington.

This is why the Congressional debate over the president’s decision to attack Syria is so fraught. The well-worn partisan splits don't tell us much. House Republican leaders John Boehner and Eric Cantor are supporting the president, but they’re leaving it up to Obama to make the case to colleagues who don’t like him and and many of whose constituents are against action. A recent Pew poll found 48 percent of voters, including 40 percent of Republicans oppose action. (Only 29 percent of the public favors action and only 35 percent of Republicans do.)

Isolationist Republicans are aligned with Democratic doves in opposing the move. Republican hawks are aligning with Democrats anxious to support the president and who believe in using force for humanitarian ends. The consensus will only really be known after the vote and may not tell us much beyond the narrow limits of the minutely tailored congressional authorization. The attack is supposed to punish Bashar al-Assad without changing the balance of power in the ongoing civil war (like stopping a fugitive to give him a speeding ticket before letting the chase continue), which means members may tailor their reasons for voting in equally careful ways. As they do so, here is a preliminary typology of the distinct positions on intervention in Syria:


http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2013/09/obama_congress_and_syria_arguments_for_and_against_the_bombing_resolution.html



Sens. John McCain (L) and Lindsey Graham (R) have expressed support for intervention in Syria.
Photo by Gianluigi Guercia/AFP/Getty Images