Author: J.K. Trotter

Five Best Green Stories

What We Don't Know About Fracking

AP

Grist on the information vacuum around fracking, The Atlantic Cities on Google's personalized maps, ABC News on the impact of climate change on human allergies, The Guardian on the threat of flooding in London, CNN on the specter of oil manipulation.

By J.K. Trotter

Jan 7, 2013

The 'Google Delegation' Has Landed in North Korea, but Can They Do Their Job?

Google chairman Eric Schmidt and former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson have arrived.Whether they have any chance of freeing an American citizen named Kenneth Bae, well, they're not getting their hopes up.

Comments | 649 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Jan 4, 2013

Get Ready for the Great Chuck Hagel Confirmation Fight of 2013

After weeks of speculation and before weeks of heated partisan bickering over his appointee's controversial record, President Obama will nominate former Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense "as early as Monday."

Comments | 4,610 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Jan 4, 2013

Drunk Pilot Nearly Re-Enacted the Movie 'Flight' Before He Was Arrested

An arrest at the Minneapolis airport certainly is reminiscent of the Denzel Washington film: a 48-year-old American Eagle pilot was detained after he took a Breathalyzer test.

Comments | 4,033 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Jan 4, 2013

Mormon Senator Mike Crapo Pleads Guilty to Driving Drunk

Mike Crapo, the Republican Senator from Idaho who was arrested in Virginia on December 23 under the suspicion of driving while intoxicated, pled guilty in a Virginia court today.

Comments | 4,451 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Jan 4, 2013

Barney Frank Really Wants to Replace John Kerry

Newly retired Representative Barney Frank confirmed Friday morning his interest in temporarily filling John Kerry's soon-to-be abandoned Senate Seat — and said that he'd told Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick "I would now like, frankly, to do that."

Comments | 1,944 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Jan 3, 2013

Stat of the Day

The Milky Way Is Home to 100 Billion Scary Alien Planets

A new study published is giving astrophysicists a case of existential anxiety.

Comments | 11,077 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Jan 3, 2013

So Who's Filling John Kerry's Senate Seat?

Elizabeth Warren is in, and Scott Brown wants back in, but someone needs to step in for Kerry when he takes over for Hillary Clinton — and then there's going to be a special election. Here's a field guide as the 113th Congress convenes.

Comments | 3,287 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Jan 3, 2013

Hillary Clinton Returning to the Office Next Week and Will Testify on Benghazi

After leaving the hospital where she was already conducting official State Department business, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will return to Foggy Bottom next week, although when, exactly, she will testify on the Benghazi attacks, remains unclear.

Comments | 2,759 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Jan 3, 2013

Watch Senator Mark Kirk's Post-Stroke Return to Congress, 'Rocky'-Style

The Illinois Senator, who suffered a stroke in January 2012 and spent the last year learning how to walk again, returned to Capitol Hill Thursday for the convening of the 113th Congress, climbing the steps of the Capitol building for his swearing-in.

Comments | 1,277 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Jan 3, 2013

Someone Sent White Powder to the Paper That Published the Gun Permit Map

The backlash continues against the Journal News, but the most notorious local paper of the year doesn't seem to be backing down.

Comments | 4,033 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Jan 3, 2013

Vladimir Putin Has Officially Made Gerard Depardieu an Ex-Frenchman

In the midst of a French flap over taxing the rich, Putin publicly offered Depardieu a Russian passport. But that was only the start: According to the Kremlin's official Twitter account, Depardieu is now an actual citizen of Russia.

Comments | 2,005 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Jan 2, 2013

Cliff Diving

Any Fiscal Cliff Deal Would Have Sent the Markets Soaring This High

The contentious fiscal cliff deal struck Tuesday night sent stock markets, here and abroad, "climbing", "surging", "rallying," and "soaring" on Wednesday. Which confirms the importance of striking a deal — any deal! — in the first place.

Comments | 345 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Jan 2, 2013

Christie Slams 'Know Nothings' on Sandy Bill's Failure, but Was It Boehner's Fault?

The New Jersey governor went off on the House leadership in a nuclear press conference Wednesday afternoon, but perhaps more damning than Christie's harsh words for all of Congress was who he blamed for the bill: House Speaker John Boehner. 

Comments | 7,735 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Jan 2, 2013

Scott Brown's Negative Campaigning to Return to the Senate Has Already Started

Much like the nasty fight he started over Elizabeth Warren's Native American heritage, Brown is already accusing a potential opponent of exaggerating where he comes from.

Comments | 5,690 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Jan 2, 2013

Watch Peter King Explode at His Own Party on Failed Sandy Relief Vote

The outspoken Republican Congressman from New York, has been blasting his own party's leadership for stalling a bill amidst the fiscal cliff talks that would fund relief for areas affected by Hurricane Sandy

Comments | 3,733 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Jan 2, 2013

Local Government Refuses to Give Local Newspaper Data for Its Gun-Owner Map

The Putnam County Clerk says the Journal News's feature on where gun permit owners live is "clearly wrong," and won't release more records without a fight.

Comments | 2,759 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Jan 2, 2013

Stat of the Day

77% of Americans Will Pay More Taxes in 2013

The heated fiscal cliff negotiations are over — for now — so it's time to assess your wallet: The payroll tax hike cancels out some other tax cuts, but that doesn't necessarily mean your take-home income will decrease.

Comments | 5,368 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 31, 2012

Stat of the Day

17 Million Bits of Horrible Confetti Are Raining on Times Square This Year

Because the only thing better than Times Square is Times Square littered with bright pieces of paper.

Comments | 8,794 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 31, 2012

Hillary Clinton's Blood Clot Is Between Her Brain and Skull, but She's OK

The issue has caused no neurological damage and the Associated Press says the Secretary of State's doctors expect a full recovery.

Comments | 14,852 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 31, 2012

This Secret CIA Mission Would Make for a Really Bad Movie

A cache of recently declassified spy documents of a long forgotten deep-sea adventure reveals a tale that resembles the plot of Ice Station Zebra, a 1968 film that Roger Ebert called "an embarrassment."

Comments | 4,033 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 31, 2012

Stat of the Day

The Lowest-Grossing Movie of 2012 Made $264 (and Starred Christian Slater)

Christian Slater's no-good, very-bad year comes to a depressing end.

Comments | 47,079 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 31, 2012

With Hillary in Hospital, Conservatives Backtrack on Fake-Concussion Meme

How did the commentators who tried to link the Secretary of State's health issues to her Benghazi testimony react to the news that a blood clot had hospitalized her? Well, some apologized. But not all of them. Not nearly.

Comments | 6,897 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 31, 2012

2012's Most Admired People on Earth

Looks like no one will be questioning President Obama or Hillary Clinton's popularity again anytime soon.

Comments | 4,656 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 28, 2012

Stat of the Day

Congress Has Held Up 170 Super-Easy Confirmations for No Reason

Making the rounds Friday was Norm Ornstein's updated essay on the horrors of our slow-moving Congress, which still — still! — cannot strike a deal on the impending fiscal cliff.

Comments | 4,360 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 28, 2012

Firefighter Shooter May Have Stolen Neighbor's Guns

The elaborate trap enacted by William Spengler on Christmas Eve — the one that ended with two firefighters dead and two more seriously injured in Webster, New York — just got even more elaborate.

Comments | 885 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 28, 2012

Fact-Checking the CIA's Fact-Check on 'Zero Dark Thirty'

Should you believe the CIA's latest attempt to continue debunking Hollywood? We break down each agency claim with actual details from Zero Dark Thirty and beyond.

Comments | 9,183 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 28, 2012

Russian Adoption Ban Already Affecting Hundreds of American Families

As Vladimir Putin signed the bill, heartbreaking mid-adoption stories began to emerge, from New York to Ohio to California, of would-be parents to many of the approximately 1,000 Russian children taken in by U.S. families each year.

Comments | 690 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 28, 2012

Shooting at New Jersey Police Station Resurrects 'Armed Guard' Meme

An inmate in New Jersey managed to shoot three officers early this morning, and details remain unclear, but the incident has already steered the ongoing gun conversation on Twitter today.

Comments | 2,586 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 27, 2012

How to Become a Senator in 19 Hours: The Brian Schatz Story

Ten days after the death of Hawaii Senator Daniel Inouye, the governor of Hawaii named Schatz as Inouye's replacement Wednesday night. By Thursday just after lunchtime, Joe Biden was swearing him into the famous book of Senators.

Comments | 1,552 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 27, 2012

NRA President Calls David Gregory Gun Investigation 'Silly'

A rare example of bridge-building for an organization that has blamed the media regarding Newtown and long before that: "I'm not a vindictive guy that wants to go after David Gregory," said NRA President David Keene on CNN Thursday.

Comments | 2,470 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 27, 2012

The Starbucks 'Come Together' Backlash Is More Ridiculous Than You Expected

As baristas declined to partake and customers complained, the downfall of Howard Schultz's utopian dream continued when AOL's Patch network declared an incredibly strange and possibly unethical partnership with Starbucks.

Comments | 8,501 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 27, 2012

Stat of the Day

58% Want to Make it Harder to Buy a Gun

A double-digit jump from last year, when just 44 percent answered likewise, and the highest percentage recorded by Gallup since 2004.

Comments | 2,393 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 27, 2012

Newspaper That Published Gun-Owner Addresses Gets Its Staff's Info Outed

Employees of the Journal-News, which recently published a map of gun owners in two upstate New York counties, are receiving the same treatment — sort of.

Comments | 6,654 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 26, 2012

Is Hillary's Benghazi Testimony Still Going to Hold Up Kerry's Confirmation?

As if the "Where's Hillary?" meme hadn't picked up enough conspiratorial steam, it appears some believe Kerry somehow might not get confirmed as Clinton's successor until GOP Senators successfully drag her to testify about the Benghazi attacks.

Comments | 1,714 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 26, 2012

Stat of the Day

Fastest Bullet Train Could Do DC-to-NY in 72 Minutes

China now has the fastest, longest bullet train in the world. Why don't we?

Comments | 2,767 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 26, 2012

Starbucks Thinks It Can Stop the Fiscal Cliff with These 'Come Together' Cups

The country's biggest coffee company is getting into its country's politics! But how, exactly, will Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz rid Washington of its woe this time?

Comments | 2,069 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 26, 2012

If Chuck Hagel Won't Be Secretary of Defense, Who Will Be?

The suddenly embattled former Nebraska senator's foes have planted enough doubt to make the confirmation process tenuous, maybe even impossible. It's "fair" to say Obama is now looking at other candidates, National Journal reports. Which ones?

Comments | 1,759 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 21, 2012

Stat of the Day

The Human Cost of Each Gun is $644

That covers the "work lost, medical care, insurance, criminal-justice expenses and pain and suffering" associated with gun violence, and might be one to think on over the holidays as the post-Newtown gun debate rages on.

Comments | 2,931 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 21, 2012

Chuck Hagel Is Sorry for Calling Another Potential Appointee 'Aggressively Gay'

The latest storm centers on the would-be Secretary of Defense's comments about would-be ambassador James Hormel 15 years ago — criticism substantive enough that Hagel is now walking it back.

Comments | 3,966 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 21, 2012

Marine Who Brought Shotgun into Mexico to Be Released Today

A U.S. Marine imprisoned in Mexico for bringing a banned shotgun into the country will be released from custody today, reports Fox News, which championed his cause back home.

Comments | 1,234 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 21, 2012

Obama Replies to Gun Control Petitions with YouTube Address

The "We the People" section of the administration web site has been flooded with 32 separate petitions since the Newtown shootings, and early Friday the president released a video response as another vehicle for pushing new legislation.

Comments | 2,586 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 20, 2012

Susan Rice's Tormentors Turn Gaze to Chuck Hagel

The trio of senators who led the months-long wave of criticism against U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice are suddenly focusing their attention on Obama's potential pick for Secretary of Defense.

Comments | 2,340 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 20, 2012

Stat of the Day

4,082 Totally Preventable Medical Disasters Occur Each Year

A new study being passed around cites cites significant errors — sewing a sponge into a chest cavity, say, or operating on the wrong patient — but before you freak out, understand the context.

Comments | 1,724 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 20, 2012

So Who's Going to Replace John Kerry for Massachusetts Senate?

In the (likely) event Kerry is picked to head Foggy Bottom, Massachusetts would hold a special election late next spring or early summer. We dissect the contenders — and their odds.

Comments | 4,574 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 20, 2012

Cory Booker Is Exploring a Senate Run, Announces Cory Booker on Social Media

Speculation had been brewing for weeks, and a report surfaced earlier in the morning that Booker would tweet his intentions, and then came the tweet to the popular (if controversial) mayor's 1.3 million followers late in the morning.

Comments | 960 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 20, 2012

Sarah Palin Picks on 'Time' as Irrelevant for Picking Obama as Person of the Year

Questioning President Obama's record in an election year beyond "driving us over a fiscal cliff," Sarah Palin went on Fox News last night to blast Time's choice.

Comments | 2,013 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 19, 2012

Military Seeking the Death Penalty for One Its Own for First Time in 50 Years

The fate of Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, the American soldier who allegedly murdered nine children and seven adults in March 2012 in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan, may be up to President Obama.

Comments | 3,621 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 19, 2012

Leon Panetta's Dog Is Better at Keeping the CIA's Secrets Than David Petraeus

The defense secretary owns a golden retriever — code name: Bravo; real name: Bravo — who, besides witnessing first-paw the CIA's plans to hunt down Osama bin Laden, is way better at keeping secrets than the disgraced former CIA chief.

Comments | 2,693 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Dec 19, 2012

The Best Lines from Robert Bork Obits

When someone like Robert Bork dies, the inevitable barrage of obituaries becomes something of an art form. Here are the best attempts to describe the conservative legal icon so far.

Comments | 1,045 Views

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