Democrats are pushing a vote to restore net neutrality protections the FCC ended in December. Democrats say they now have 50 votes in favor of their bill. One more “yes” vote will guarantee the bill passes. The House will also have to pass the bill, and President Trump will have to sign it. So there’s still little chance this move will be successful in restoring net neutrality. Democrats need just one more vote in the Senate to guarantee passage of a bill to restore the net neutrality rules killed by the FCC in December. In a statement, Senate Democrats said the bill has support of all 49 Democratic senators. Susan Collins, a Republican senator from Maine, also supports the bill, setting the stage for a 50-50 tie vote that would have to be broken by Vice President Mike Pence. One more “yes” vote will guarantee the bill passes the Senate. It only needs a simple majority to pass. But even … [Read more...] about The Senate is one vote away from a symbolic victory on net neutrality
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The pound climbed above $1.38 to hit another post-Brexit vote high
Pound briefly climbs above $1.38 to hit a fresh post-Brexit vote high. Low trading volumes due to a US holiday have helped boost the currency. On Friday, sterling gained as much as 1% on the dollar. LONDON – The pound advanced to a fresh post-referendum high on Monday afternoon as sterling continued its start of year fight back from the last 18 months of weakness against the US dollar. Sterling climbed to a high of $1.382 against the greenback during early afternoon trade, with no obvious catalyst for the upwards move, which was one of roughly 0.6%. By 3.25 p.m. GMT (10.25 a.m. ET) it has retraced some of that move, and is up around 0.35%, just below $1.38, as the chart below illustrates: “Sterling stealthily rose to a fresh post-referendum high on Monday as the dollar rout continued unabated after last week’s drop,” Neil Wilson of ETX Capital said in an emailed message. “With markets a touch … [Read more...] about The pound climbed above $1.38 to hit another post-Brexit vote high
‘Magnificent victory’ after part-time staff at Ontario’s 24 colleges vote to unionize: OPSEU
Approximately 20,000 part-time support staff at the province’s colleges have voted to join the Ontario Public Service Employees Union.OPSEU says 84 per cent of the ballots counted were cast of in favour of joining the union.It says the supervised vote at all 24 Ontario community colleges was held in June 2016, but legal wrangling by the College Employer Council kept ballots from being counted until this week.OPSEU president Warren (Smokey) Thomas called the vote “a magnificent victory for part-time college support staff and for all the people who worked hard for so many years to win union rights for them.”OPSEU has long represented full-time staff at the colleges, but it was illegal for part-time employees to organize. … [Read more...] about ‘Magnificent victory’ after part-time staff at Ontario’s 24 colleges vote to unionize: OPSEU
Congress votes to extend warrantless surveillance law as Trump confusingly tweets his opposition, then backtracks
WASHINGTON—A years-long effort by a bipartisan group of lawmakers to impose significant new privacy limits on the National Security Agency’s warrantless surveillance program fell short on Thursday, as the House of Representatives voted to extend the legal basis for that program by six years with only minimal changes.The vote, 256 to 164, centred on an expiring law, Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act, which permits the government to collect without a warrant from American firms, like Google and AT&T, the emails and other communications of foreigners abroad — even when they are talking to Americans.Before approving the extension of the law, the House voted 233 to 183 to reject an amendment that proposed a series of overhauls. Among them was a requirement that officials get warrants in most cases before hunting for and reading emails and other messages of Americans swept up under the program.The legislation still has to go through the Senate. But fewer lawmakers … [Read more...] about Congress votes to extend warrantless surveillance law as Trump confusingly tweets his opposition, then backtracks
Giorgio Mammoliti, Michelle Holland missed half of recorded council votes in 2017
By Jennifer Pagliaro City Hall Bureau Tues., Jan. 9, 2018 Councillors Michelle Holland and Giorgio Mammoliti missed half of all the recorded council votes taken in 2017. The suburban representatives from Scarborough and North York topped the list as most-truant out of 45 members of council. It is a familiar ranking for Mammoliti this term. He was behind only former mayor Rob Ford in 2015, who was at the time receiving cancer treatments. Mammoliti was again the second most absent councillor in 2016 behind former councillor Ron Moeser, who had also been diagnosed with cancer. Mammoliti was more frequently absent in 2017, missing 49.2 per cent of votes in 2017 compared to 38.8 per cent in 2016. In a statement to the Star on Tuesday, Mammoliti suggested it didn’t matter whether he was absent. Article Continued Below “Vote or no vote, it makes no difference under this administration,” he said in an email that stated the current administration … [Read more...] about Giorgio Mammoliti, Michelle Holland missed half of recorded council votes in 2017